It has been a long, tough fall season for the farmers trying to combine. October was almost a write off. Weather did clear a little allowing the combines to roll again in mid-November. The farmers struggled and got as much combined as they could before another light snowfall brought everything to a halt.
When they did combine it was surprising how dry the grain was, but there was also a lot of tough grain taken off. This will likely be the end of combining for this year. They could do more by the grain freezing dry, but it will still be tough.Â
The years are slipping away so fast and we are losing many of our older people. I just got word of the passing of Muntin Simonson of Emma Lake. Muntin was one of the first students at Rayner Heights School when it opened in 1946. He walked a few miles to school with his brothers and sisters. In 1954 his father had to move to Prince Albert Hospital for treatment for tuberculosis. They later moved to Emma Lake. Muntin passed away on September 15 at the age of 79. He would have been 80 years old in November 2016. He was a busy man in the community and handy man around Emma Lake. He will be missed by all his family and friends. Sympathy to the families at Prince Albert and Emma Lake.
In early October we got word of Glenn Custer of Saskatoon passing away. Three weeks after Glenn passed away his wife Arline Custer (nee Trambull) of Ruddell died in late October. Sympathy to all the families.
William (Bill) Custer of Red Deer, Alta. passed away Nov. 27 at Red Deer. He was 85 years old. Bill was born to David and Linda Custer of Baljennie and attended old Baljennie school. He married Ether Wintersgill and continued to live on the farm and help his dad do the farm work. They moved the old Monarch School teacherage and made it over into a home. They later moved to Battleford and he worked for a farm machinery company. They lived on an acreage west of Battleford on hHighway 16. Later they moved to Saskatoon to raise their family of four children, later moving to Red Deer. Bill was a lovely man who enjoyed his woodwork hobby.
The Western Development Museum has had two work bees in the last month. Volunteers were in again from the Saskatoon Western Development Museum as well as a few county volunteers. They are busy working on antique tractors, repairing to get them mobile and running again. There are more bees for the volunteers planned for Jan. 6 and 20.
