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YWCA annual charity BBQ returns on July 13

Max Pahtayken
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YWCA annual charity BBQ returns on July 13

Prince Albert YWCA is hosting their seventh annual Fundraiser BBQ in partnership with MR MIKES on July 13, 2026.

“We would really like to hit the 500 mark again and surpass what we did last year,” YWCA Fund Development Officer David Hambleton said while expressing his high hopes for this year’s barbecue.

The barbecue will be held in the Mr Mikes parking lot in Prince Albert shopping centre on Monday July 13, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The parking lot will be filled with live music, family activities, seating, and shade under gazebos and umbrellas.

Lake Country Co-op is the beverage sponsor for the barbecue, donating pop and water to event so all funds made from the barbecue go directly back to YWCA support programs, essential services, and housing initiatives for vulnerable community members, women and youth.

The YWCA also provides settlement services and community connection programs for newcomers and refugees.

The YWCA is selling individual full-sized Mikes Classic Burgers for $8.00, with a combo option available for $10.00 that includes pop or water, and a bag of chips.

Plenty of activities will be available for families with children, such as henna and facepainting, jumbo jenga, bean bag toss, and colouring sheets.

Anyone who comes to the charity barbecue has a chance to win a gift basket by entering into the raffle held between the YWCA and Mr Mikes.

Mystery Train, Kelly Kawula, and David Arsenault will each be performing in the parking lot for visitors and customers to enjoy.
101.5 Beach Radio will also be on location, with entries into their summer draws and contests.

“We will have music going for the entire event,” explained Hambleton.

The YWCA is also offering a new pre-order option for pick-up or delivery for orders consisting of 10 burgers or more.

“Sometimes the line gets a little bit long, which is great but not everyone has time to be in the line, and bigger orders can slow the line down,” said Hambleton.

Pre-orders can be made by filling out a short form on the ywca.princealbert.ca website, and payments are due upfront. Delivery orders must be within city limits of Prince Albert and a $10.00 delivery fee is applied.

Customers must choose their pick-up time, which can be found at a specially marked table in the parking lot.

Prince Albert Chamber of Commerce sponsors free parking spots downtown

Max Pahtayken
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Prince Albert Chamber of Commerce sponsors free parking spots downtown

The Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures have sponsored 12 free two-hour parking spots in downtown Prince Albert.

The yellow chamber-branded parking stalls provide free parking for downtown customers for two hours, located off the corner of Central Avenue and 12th Street East.

“We just really wanted to make it easier for residents to enjoy our downtown core because there is a lot that is here,” said Patty Hughes, CEO of the Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce.

The project came to life during discussion between the Chamber and Community Futures when talking about helping businesses located in the downtown area.

“We were thinking about how sometimes people talk about the parking so let’s take that barrier away,” Hughes explained.

Hughes believes the parking stalls will greatly support the hard-working business owners by bringing some traffic to downtown, and the accessible parking will provide customers with a positive experience.

The stalls opened on July 6, 2026, and will be available for at least six months. Hughes expressed the Chamber is interested in implementing the stalls full-time.

Hughes said the Chamber’s focus is to make downtown easier to explore for residents and customers.

“They know they can shop for two hours, (and) they don’t have to worry about having change in their pocket,” said Hughes.

Hughes hopes that the stalls will bring not only visibility and success to downtown businesses, but also exposure for the Chamber.

The stalls are visibly marked with yellow bags labelled with the Chamber’s logo and “FREE PARKING” over the parking metres.

The Prince Albert Chamber has sponsored six spots, with Prince Albert Community Futures also sponsoring six spots, providing twelve two hour free parking stalls for shoppers. The spots can be located half a block of off Central Avenue, on 12th Street East.

Science fiction time travel art collection shows in Grace Campbell Gallery

Max Pahtayken
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Science fiction time travel art collection shows in Grace Campbell Gallery

Max Pahtayken

Daily Herald

Marjorie Roden’s “The Napkin Manifesto” collection is made up of 39 pieces that tell the complex story of time travel and connection despite differences.

All pieces are available for sale at Grace Campbell Gallery in John. M Cueleneare Public Library, half of proceeds going towards JMC Library Mahon Auditorium. The Napkin Manifesto collection opened to public on July 6, 2026, at 2:30 p.m. and is available for viewing from July 6 to August 25.

“(It’s) a little bit scary to be honest, but I wanted to get it out there,” Roden says when asked how it felt to have the collection on display.

Roden is a graduate student at the University of Regina in the Media Arts program for Film and TV Production.

Roden has her degree in Physical Geography and Visual Arts from the University of Saskatchewan, with certificates in business, art, and media. She describes herself as a typical Canadian with a mixed heritage including Norwegian, English, Irish, Scottish, roots and First Nation lineage from Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation.

Half of the funds from the sale of the art pieces will go into renovation of the JMC Library Mohan Auditorium. The Mohan Auditorium holds a special place in Roden’s heart, from featuring a few of her films including “Finding Margaret,” and another film Roden calls a “Hockumentary.”

Roden’s “Hockumentary” was shot on her cell phone from the stands while she attended games as a fan.

The film features a local hockey team, telling the story of the team’s regular season. Roden explains she did not make a profit from the film, only that it was made for “pure enjoyment.”

The Napkin Manifesto is a collection of concept art for a TV series set to be based in Prince Albert for Roden’s Master’s in Fine Arts project.

“Doing this artwork has helped me shape my writing a little bit better” explains Roden.

The scene is set two hundred years in the future in Prince Albert. The story follows a young woman named Eliza, who is searching for her mother.

In pursuit of her mother, Eliza has ideas on how to keep Canada together when racial differences and prejudices have taken control. Along Eliza’s journey, she becomes involved with three time travellers who both help and disrupt her pursuit.

Later in the story, Eliza attends grad school, meets her father, and has setbacks with her physical health.

The first five pieces explain the “pilot episode” while the majority of the other pieces focus on only one episode each throughout the series.

Roden was inspired to write the story a few years ago at a Canada Day celebration in Winnipeg, where she saw graffiti made by Canadians who did not agree with the celebration.

Roden said she saw both points in the different opinions on Canada Day celebration through her mixed European and First Nations background.

“Everyone is human but there has to be a way to get everyone together,” Roden says.

Roden encourages viewers to provide feedback and thoughts on the collection.

“I feel the most respectful thing I can do is to show this to (the) people of Prince Albert and get feedback from them (and) to be as respectful as I can to the community,” Roden says.

Roden has created an email for the public to contact her directly with detailed thoughts, emotions with attention to specific pieces in the collection.

Roden says she will only check the responses after the showing is over.

You can contact Marjorie Roden about “The Napkin Manifesto” at napkinmanifesto26@outlook.com.

PACI and Creighton advance to 3A Sr. Boys Basketball regional tournament

Max Pahtayken
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PACI and Creighton advance to 3A Sr. Boys Basketball regional tournament

Max Pahtayken, Daily Herald

The Prince Albert Collegiate (PACI) Golden Bears and the Creighton Kodiaks are both advancing to the 3A Boys Basketball Regional tournament after qualifying at the 3A Senior Boys Basketball Conference Tournament at PACI on March 8-9.

This is the Golden Bears’ third time going to basketball regionals since 2007. The Bears were expected to go to regionals in 2020, but were unable to go due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The Bears went to regionals in Unity, in 2022.

In an interview with the Daily Herald, Golden Bears head coach Curtis McCallum says he is enthusiastic about advancing to the regional tournament.

“We are excited to move on to regionals. It feels pretty good to move on with this team, with the boys. I feel like they’re excited, I’m excited. They’re excited to have one more week of basketball, (that’s) the main thing. I think they’re going to have a lot of fun there. It will be a great way to end the season.”

Number 15 Logan McCallum, is a grade twelve for the PACI Golden Bears. Logan is finishing his last year in high school, and will graduate in June 2024. In an interview, he said the season has been slow for his team, but he is also excited to go to regionals.

“We started off not winning much, but now we’re going to regionals…. I’m very excited about regionals. It’s my first time for basketball.”

However, this is not the first time the Creighton Kodiaks have been to the regional tournament. Head Coach Ian Clark said in an interview the squad is looking forward to the tournament.

“We make it to regionals pretty frequently. I can’t remember the last time we didn’t…. Our season has been up and down. We were able to string together some wins throughout the season. We played in some pretty hard tournaments against some pretty good competition. It prepped us for conferences and regionals.”

Five teams participated in PACI’s conference tournament; the PACI Golden Bears, Creighton Kodiaks, Ahtahkakoop Chiefs, Rhoda Hardlotte Memorial Keethanow High School (RHMKHS, Stanley Mission) Northern Braves and Senator Myles Venne (SMVS) Huskies.

The first game took place on Mar. 8 at 5:45pm between the Ahtahkakoop Chiefs and the SMVS Huskies. The Chiefs won the tipoff. The Huskies quickly started to dominate both keys, offence and defence. By the end of the first quarter the Huskies were up by seven points 17-10.

In the second period, the Chiefs made a comeback, but it was not enough to tie up the score. At the end of the second period, both teams racked up four team fouls each, but the Huskies still held the lead, 36-33.

The Huskies started to heat up in the third period, finishing it 57-37. During the third period, PACI’s best defence, a cage for the stage lights, blocked a shot from the Chiefs. Many teams throughout PACI’s history have been blocked by the stage lights, due to the small gym size and low ceiling.

The top scorer for the Chiefs was No. 19 Kain Ahenakew with 22 points, and the Huskies No. 21 Zy Roberts with 31 points.

In the fourth period, both teams started to have fun and showed good sportsmanship between them. The Huskies won 78- 52, advancing to the 11:00 am game against the Creighton Kodiaks on Saturday. In an interview, Chiefs Head Coach Bryce McCallum says he is not disappointed in the outcome of the game, and he enjoys just seeing his team play.

“The guys all had fun. They haven’t had a basketball team on the reserve for about 4 years. There’s a lot of learning going on. Each game, even though they lost a lot of games, they’re always in good spirits. It’s awesome being around that energy. They don’t care if they lose, they’re always very positive about it.”

At 11:00 am on Saturday, game two started between the SMVS Huskies and the Creighton Kodiaks.

The Kodiaks started to press a full court man-on-man which frustrated the Huskies. In the end of the first period, the Kodiaks started their lead against the Huskies 34-11. In the second quarter, both teams struggled to put a lot of points up. By the end of second period, the Kodiaks were still continuing their 41-25 lead.

In the second half of the game, the Kodiaks gained momentum and the Huskies were unable to break  it and make a comeback. The Kodiaks beat the Huskies 101-53, advancing to the playoff game, and the regional tournament as one of the top two qualifiers in the conference tournament. Despite the final score both teams showed good sportsmanship.

The top scorers for the Kodiaks were No. 5 Ronan Hlady with 23 points, and No. 7 Leland Feurstein following close behind with 22 points. For the Huskies, No. 10 George Halkett scored 20 points for his team.

Head Coach Lorne Charles of the SMVS Huskies said in an interview with the Daily Herald, that he is glad his team got to play. Charles said that his team will practice more and play hard next season.

“My boys felt pretty good about it. They don’t get to compete a lot, like Creighton does. I think they did the best that they could. They had fun, enjoyed the game, (and) had a good time out there. That’s all they wanted…. Our season has been pretty slow because we live in northern Saskatchewan. We don’t get a lot of time to travel and go on leagues and compete with other (teams). In the north, I think we have only two other teams to compete with and that’s about it. We don’t get a lot of play time. Other than that, we just do our best. Practice, (and) play when we can.”

The captain of the SMVS Huskies, No. 22 Brayden Ratt, said in interview that he is sad about their loss and their season ending. Brayden is a grade 12 at Senator Myles Venne School. He has played basketball for 7 years with the Huskies.

“I am pretty sad that we lost, and we’ll be going home tonight. I really thought that we would have them. We didn’t have the opportunity to score on them, (because) they had big guys. We have big guys too but they had better opportunities. Probably next time we’ll get them…. This is my last year. I’m not going to leave them. I’ll probably come back to coach these guys. I know I won’t be able to play but I don’t want to leave this team. Coaching will be next year.”

Game 3 started at 12:45 p.m. between the Prince Albert Collegiate (PACI) Golden Bears and the Rhoda Hardlotte Memorial Keethanow High School (RHMKHS) Northern Braves from Stanley Mission. The game’s momentum went back and fourth in the first half, but in the second half the Bears would raise the intensity. The Bears worked hard for their 66-43 win against the Braves. Their win advanced them to the next game and to the regional tournament as a top two qualifier.

The top scorer for the Braves was No. 14 Edmond Natomagan with 15 points, and the Bears #8 Keagan Elliott with 26 points.

The final game started at 4:45 p.m. between the Kodiaks and the Golden Bears. The Kodiaks won the tipoff. The Kodiaks started the game with their full court man press. By 5 minutes in the first period, the Kodiaks doubled the Bears’ points 10-5. With 38.4 seconds left in the first period, the Bears had the foul bonus. The Kodiaks finished the period in the lead 22-13.

In the second period, the Kodiaks used 2 timeouts to break the Bears’ momentum. By the end of the second period, the Kodiaks were still up 57-25. The second half of the game, the Kodiaks stopped pressing the Bears, but that was not enough for the Bears to make their comeback. The Kodiaks took their victory against the Bears 85-43.

The top scorer for the Bears was No. 8 Keagan Elliott with 18 points. Ronan Hlady No. 5 for the Kodiaks finished the game with 26 points.

The top two teams from this tournament will move on to regionals. The Kodiaks placed first in this conference, which will give them a better seed in the regional tournament. The Golden Bears also advanced to the regional tournament, despite their loss.

sports@paherald.sk.ca

PACI hosts annual senior boys basketball home tournament

Max Pahtayken
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PACI hosts annual senior boys basketball home tournament

Article by Max Pahtayken/Daily Herald

Prince Albert Collegiate hosted their annual home tournament for senior boys basketball on Mar. 1-2. In the past, the tournament has been hosted in December, but this year under first year Coach Curtis McCallum they hosted it in the first weekend of March.

The PACI Golden Bears played the Nisto Awasisak Warriors in the bronze medal game on Saturday afternoon, losing 76-48. The bronze medal game was the second time PACI played Nisto during the tournament, their first game taking place on Friday night. The first game got heated at the end of the game due to the close final score after PACI’s comeback in the fourth quarter. The Nisto Warriors beat the Golden Bears 52-50 in their first face-off then again in the third place game taking home the bronze bear trophy.

Coach Curtis McCallum says in an interview with the Daily Herald that he is content with the outcome of the third place game against Nisto.

“Its a competitive sport, so the competitive side of things took a little bit over and they got to a mental game where our boys, both teams, showed their competitive side of the sport which is, for high school boys, is something that we see often, but both teams handled themselves well (in) in the second match. They came together, they patched things up between them, and things were good. In the light of things, yeah competitive does get in the way of how they interact with each other on the court. But overall (in) high school you tend to bump heads and then you do see some reactions. Overall I think they both did a great job the next game with making up with one another and they played very well together the next game. Going forward, again it’s always tough to deal with a loss especially when you’re going for placement, so the boys will come back and think about what they could do better.”

McCallum says he is satisfied with PACI’s performance this weekend and will work on further improvement in his team for the conferences coming up Mar. 8-9.

McCallum is a first year teacher and coach at PACI this year. He says that he is enjoying his time at Prince Albert Collegiate due to it’s smaller size and the smaller community. During the interview, McCallum said that he knew he wanted to coach basketball this year because he played it in his youth and it was something he really enjoyed growing up. McCallum says it’s been challenging finding a balance between teaching, coaching and family.

“Coming in as a first year teacher, it’s a lot. You’re handling your own subjects and then plus you do your coaching, your extra (curricular). It’s been a good start, for myself it’s been difficult to manage and that coaching side with practices and planning games and also doing grading, teaching and plus I have a newborn at that time. In September he would’ve been three months so doing that and having time away from my family was also hard.”

Max Pahtayken/Daily Herald Prince Albert Collegiate Golden Bears played gets his shot blocked by Nisto Awasisak Warriors player in the first game of PACI’s annual Senior Boys Basketball home tournament on Mar. 1-2.

Eight teams were invited, but only seven teams played last weekend: the PACI Golden Bears, Churchill Chargers, Ahtahkakoop Chiefs, Kinistino Blues, L.P. Miller Bears, Bernard Constant Community School (BCCS) Thunderbirds, and Nisto Awasisak Warriors.

On Friday, the first game kicked off between the Golden Bears and the Ahtahkakoop Chiefs from Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation. Through hard work, PACI managed to secure their spot in the winners bracket, beating the Chiefs 76-44.

The second game on Friday was between the Bernard Constant Community School (BCCS) Thunderbirds from James Smith Cree Nation and Nipawin’s L.P. Miller Bears. Despite the Bears having a significant lead throughout the game, both teams managed to have fun and support each other. L.P. Miller Bears advanced to the winners bracket with a final score of 72-37 against the Thunderbirds.

Game 3 was the PACI Golden Bears second game of the day against the Nisto Awasisak Warriors from Cumberland House Cree Nation. Due to the fallback of the eighth team invited, the Warriors had no one to play to decide their standing in the bracket so PACI filled the spot. The Warriors won 52-50 against the Golden Bears after a competitive game sending them into the winners bracket.

The last game of Friday night took place between the Kinistino Blues and the Churchill Chargers from La Ronge. Game four was a very fast-paced and competitive game with two players from La Ronge fouling out. The Chargers won against the Blues 66-57, which would send the Chargers into the winners bracket to play the Nisto Warriors on Saturday afternoon.

Max Pahtayken/Daily Herald Churchill Chargers player finishes lay-up guarded by L.P. Miller Bears during the championship game at Prince Albert Collegiate’s annual home basketball tournament on Saturday.

Saturday morning’s game 5 was set to start early at 8:30 between the Ahtahkakoop Chiefs and the BCCS Thunderbirds, but due to a miscommunication the Ahtahkakoop Chiefs were forced to forfeit for their absence.

The actual first game of the morning, the sixth game of the tournament, started at 9:30 am. The PACI Golden Bears played against the L.P. Miler Bears in the semi-finals. The L.P. Miller Bears fought hard for their placement in the championship game, winning 64-48 against PACI. This sent the PACI Golden Bears to play for third place.

Game 7 took place between the Nisto Warriors and the Churchill Chargers. The Chargers won 71-53 and advanced into the championship game set to take place against the L.P. Miller Bears at 5:30 pm, Saturday afternoon.

The Ahtahkakoop Chiefs played game 8 against the Kinistino Blues in the consolation bracket. The Blues secured their 41-24 victory against the Chiefs through consistent ball movement and strong defence.

The third place game took place between the Nisto Warriors and the PACI Golden Bears. After their first fiery game, both teams managed to patch their relationship on the court to play a great game of basketball. In the end, the Nisto Awasisak Warriors took home the bronze bear trophy after their 76-48 win. Game 9 was PACI’s last game of the tournament which landed them a fourth place standing.

The last game for the consolation bracket was set to be played between the Kinistino Blues and the BCCS Thunderbirds. Game 10 featured plenty of free throws as players from both teams racked up fouls each quarter. The Blues took home the consolation title in fifth place with a 80-37 win against the Thunderbirds. The BCCS Thunderbirds placed sixth in the tournament, followed by the Ahtahkakoop Chiefs in seventh place.

Game 11, the last game of the tournament, took place at 5:30 pm Saturday evening. This gold place game would determine the champions of this year’s PACI senior boys basketball tournament. Both the L.P. Miller Bears and Churchill Chargers would leave their hearts on the court. In the first half, both teams fought hard for each and every point. The point difference by halftime was less then 10, with the Chargers in the lead.

After a light-hearted and comical choice of music during halftime by PACI students and co-ordinators, the game became even more intense. Every ball possession was a chance to take the championship title. The Churchill Chargers came back even stronger in the third and fourth periods, which led to one player from the Bears to foul out. The Chargers began to dominate the court, taking their well deserved victory against the Bears for the golden bear trophy. Nipawin’s L.P. Miller Bears took home the silver bear trophy, standing in second place.

Prince Albert Collegiate is hosting the 3A Boys Basketball Conference tournament for the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association this up-coming weekend, Mar. 8-9. Coach McCallum says he is excited for this weekend, and is comfortable with the teams coming to PACI this weekend.

“We have five teams, including us so there will be La Ronge/Senator Myles Venne, Ahtahkakoop will be back, Ahtahkakoop was at our last tournament, Creighton, Stanley Mission and PACI. I feel pretty comfortable with all the teams being there, as I’ve seen half of them play. I’ve seen Creighton, (and) Ahtahkakoop play. I don’t know so much about Senator Myles Venne or much about Stanley Mission. Those two are gonna be a little toss-up…. I know PACI, we haven’t played them this year at all. I don’t think the players can remember if they played them either in the past. It’ll be good, it’ll be a lot of fun. It’s a single team elimination so I’ve told my team we have to come out strong, considering we play the Saturday morning game that they’re well rested and they’re prepared for playing against Stanley Mission on Saturday morning.”

The first game will take place on Friday, Mar. 8 at 5:45 pm between the Senator Myles Venne School (SMVS) Huskies from Lac La Ronge Indian Band and the Ahtahkakoop Chiefs from Ahtahkakoop Cree Nation. The second game will be at 11:00 am on Saturday morning, between the Creighton Kodiaks and the winner of game 1. The third game will follow behind at 12:45 pm on Saturday afternoon, between the Stanley Mission (Rhoda Hardlotte Memorial Keethanow High School) Braves from Stanley Mission Cree Nation and Prince Albert Collegiate (PACI) Golden Bears. The final game will be at 4:45 pm, teams playing will be the winners of game 2 and game 3. The top two teams will advance to the 3A Boys Basketball Regional Tournament.

editorial@paherald.sk.ca