Have April showers brought May flowers? Well, to date, there haven鈥檛 been as many showers as we had hoped so here鈥檚 hoping. We鈥檒l see.
There was excitement in town this week as a major Fuel up to Win contest winner was announced at a press conference at Delta Co-op April 12. Jeffrey Allen was the $100,000 grand prize winner.
In addition to his $100,000 windfall, Allen鈥檚 prize includes a $25,000 community donation, which will be shared evenly by five organizations and projects in Unity and neighbouring communities: STARS Air Ambulance, Unity and District Heritage Museum, Town of Macklin 鈥� outdoor community rink project, Town of Luseland 鈥� rink cooling plant project; and Town of Wilkie 鈥� SaskCan Community Centre renovation.
Each recipient of the $5,000 charitable donation gave a few words stating their appreciation at being named a beneficiary.
Speaking of the co-op, the Unity food store location will celebrate their 10th anniversary of the building completed in April 2006. The new store doubled the size of the grocery department and more than doubled the number of freezers while increasing the size of the meat and produce departments as well as expanding the bakery and adding a deli. These expansions created 20 new jobs.
鈥淚 remember how exciting it was to learn of the Delta Co-op鈥檚 intention to construct the new food store, and how the town was even more excited to learn that the store was to be retained in the downtown,鈥� said Town of Unity director of economic development, Carey Baker.
鈥淭he decision to build and locate downtown was one of the most influential developments in the Town of Unity in recent years, providing good access to groceries for our visitors and residents, and retaining opportunities for our other downtown businesses to succeed through the sustained shopping traffic.鈥�
The 10th anniversary celebrations of this Unity food store location include a week of promotions, specials and draws as well as anniversary cake cutting and coffee April 25 to 29.
Volunteer firefighters spent the weekend of April 9 in auto extrication training, learning how to safely cut apart vehicles to remove trapped victims.
Fire Chief Leroy Timmermans stated his appreciation to Country Ford in Wilkie and Unity Motor Products in Unity who loaned brand new vehicles for firefighters to see where the safety features are on new vehicles. Lonestar Towing was able to get the crew some donor vehicles to practise on and removed the spent vehicles once training was complete.
If you鈥檙e wondering why you are still seeing vehicles at the curling rink, the club has enlisted the help of volunteers to do some maintenance for a fresh new look next season, including carpet replacement and a paint job.
Revolution Dance is midway through competition season and still performing very well at their events. You won鈥檛 want to miss their year-end recital May 13 and 14.
The ball diamonds are officially in use. This is exciting for players and coaches alike as well as ball fans who are anxiously awaiting some ball games to watch. Events start with Softball Fever camp and baseball camp May 14, followed by Minor Ball Day May 15.
Friday night slo-pitch league is set to begin April 29 and runs until June 24, however they are looking for teams to sign up. Contact Mike Gerlinsky at 306-228-7095 to get your team registered.
Annual meeting dates in the community coming up are: Unity Composite High School Community Council, April 25 at 7 p.m. in the home economics room, nominations accepted; Unity Skating Club, April 25 at 7 p.m. in the board room at the Unity Health Centre, also looking for new members; Unity Minor Hockey May 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Armada conference room, concerns and kudos will be addressed with everyone welcome to attend.
Kids at Unity Public School are ready to recognize Earth Day in a variety of ways. Students will take turns throughout the day using reduced lighting in their classrooms. The Grade 3s will be doing announcements which have an environmentally friendly theme throughout the week. Students will also do a yard and town cleanup. Also, UPS will be asking students to try and pack a 鈥渓itterless鈥� lunch on this day to help students understand how much garbage they could prevent by using containers rather than plastic bags.
St. Peter鈥檚 School is proud of all of their musical numbers with choirs and bands that were successful at the recent 90th annual Unity Music Festival. This Saturday, first holy communion and confirmation take place at 7 p.m. in St. Peter鈥檚 Parish. The Grade 6 class is actively preparing for their upcoming dessert theatre drama performance to help fund their year-end trip.
At UCHS, the drama students brought home a lot of hardware for their production the Greek Mythology Olympiaganza, including certificates of merit for the backstage crew. Molly Mabbett won runner up for the Bob Hinitt Outstanding Technical Award. This stage manager, just beginning her UCHS drama career in Grade 8, won runner up for best stage manager by a one point difference from the winner. Kennedy Mielke and Tyson Moon won acting awards of merit for their roles and Kenny Coons won an outstanding acting medal. Drama directors, Ms. Mamer and Mr. Wood, won runner-up medals for both technical crew and technical production awards. The entire UCHS production was also runner-up, by another close tally, to Hanley for best overall production. Landon Solomko, recognized for the multiple roles he played in this production and demonstrating the spirit of the festival, was awarded a Shining Star Award as chosen by directors of the festival. This was the final UCHS drama production for graduating students Iza Belle Lucenio, Sharlee Zazalak and Billy Robertson.
Congratulations to UCHS who, under the leadership of Eva Ward, Caprice Sherwood and Kennedy Mielke, held a challenge at the school and raised $1,027.09 for their 鈥淔ree the Children鈥� campaigns, proving coins can make a difference.
UCHS track students are in active practise mode. Badminton season is still very much in full swing with both junior and senior divisions playing in league and tournaments preparing for upcoming district playdown events. UCHS held their Day of Activation, hosted by the ACTIVATE committee, April 20 with guest speaker Uncle Adams and contest entries and winners were revealed. More details will be in next week鈥檚 edition.
Parkview Place seniors鈥� home has said a sad farewell to former manager Sharon Del Frari and welcomed new manager Paula Sittler. Everyone was sad to see Sharon go as she breathed new life into activity at and promotion of Parkview Place in the community, leading to many new relationships being created. However Paula has done a wonderful job of maintaining this lead and, with her fabulous smile and enthusiasm, has generated a whole new legion of fans both inside Parkview Place and within the community.
The local Legion gents were able to sell out their 50/50 tickets early and award Stu Robertson top prize with Michael Johnson winning second prize. The Legion is set to hold a fundraising barbecue at Unity AG Foods May 19 starting at 4:30 p.m.
The museum folks are still revelling in their surprise donation from the Fuel Up to Win grand prize winner from Unity. President Pat Uzelman was gracious when accepting the $5,000 awarded to the museum April 12. Uzelman said it will go a long way to help out with the many projects on tap for the museum this year.
You can always support the museum by attending a weekly Sunday brunch, the main fundraiser for the museum.
Coffee row 鈥� their coffee might get cold but the camaraderie and friendship are always warm and inviting. You don鈥檛 have to have a membership as anyone is free to join. There are no membership requirements and, no matter the venue, there is always room at the table for one more. There was plenty to talk about this week, starting with the big win in Unity and progressing into spring seeding, weather predictions, theories for this year鈥檚 Rider season as well as anticipation for all the excitement lined up at the ball diamonds this year. So you see we keep busy in Unity with activities and wisdom from our friends on coffee row. Until next time 鈥�
