The scenery continues to change, weekly, in Meota. The white Styrofoam cement forms are being placed for the base of the condo development, that will be interesting to watch. The town workshop is closed in and windows in place. The new house north of town is coming along, there are always renovations happening and a lot on Lakeview Avenue is being cleared out. There is still for sale signs here and there. but not many. The company building the condos and the village shop is Wind River not Windy River – that is a boat brand, my mistake.
The smoke situation was not good here on the weekend, but imagine how much worse it was between here and where the fires are. Some found their eyes burning so badly they had to get drops for them and those with breathing problems already would be in rough shape.
There was a surprise house warming party at the home of Arlene Walker Tuesday evening in the new house be side of the fire hall. It was a full house event with enough food for an army, a nice social time of visiting and seeing friends. Adele Feschuk from Turtle Lake spent the afternoon with Beulah Corbiel and then met old friends at the party that evening. Arlene received a few nice gifts, gnomes for her garden in the Norwegian theme and some cash.
Condolences go out to the family of the late Raymond Sarrazin of Spiritwood, another pioneer who will be sorely missed by all who knew him. He was killed in a car accident west of Prince Albert Aug. 25. His funeral was held Sept. 2 in Spiritwood Catholic Church.
Duplicate bridge was played at the Do Drop In Aug. 25 with top score by Marnie and Ray Davie. Second high were Margaret Dyck and Dave Creegan and third were Eric Callbeck and Gerry Fernandes.
A scenic wedding, on the banks of the Turtle River in Ed Tait’s pasture near Meota took place Aug. 8. Ashley, daughter of Bonnie and Ed Tait of Meota, was united in marriage with Chris, son of Dave and Eva Gallagher of Deep River, Ont. A reception and barbecue were held in the tastefully decorated farmyard of Ashley’s parents. The newlyweds reside in Kimberley, B.C.
Canasta was played Aug. 28 at the Do Drop In with top scores by Linda Ard and Arlene Walker. Second were Shirley Gough and Barbara Soloninko and third were Murray McCrimmon and John Soloninko. That evening the four men ended up all at the same table, a rare occurrence.
The Paynton ferry is up and running once more, saving many miles for many people. While the oil patch work may have slowed down in many places, driving north to Edam you can only see new trenching, buildings, cranes here and there, lots of construction happening as the project there continues to be developed further.
Rich Schaffer, of Salem, Ore. passed away Aug. 29 from a massive heart attack. His late wife was Margaret Shepherd, daughter of Jim and Gladys Shepherd of North Battleford. They spent 22 years of their married life in Nigeria, she as a mission nurse and he as a mission pilot. Margaret passed in 2005.
Lefa Sproxton and Vern Burgardt of Meota enjoyed a trip to Fort McMurray earlier in August. They were pleasantly surprised on their many tours of the city and oil patch as to how beautiful a city it is, with no slum areas that they saw. There are some houses for sale and people there say it is quiet compared to what it used to be. Someone said they have the biggest recreation facility, under one roof, in Canada. They took several tours and enjoyed them all. They saw some areas where land has been reclaimed. One tour was of their recycling program – they saw piles of mattresses – like never could be imagined. In the big camps if a bedbug is found that’s how they deal with it – all new mattresses. They were told on the trip to the oil patch to watch where they walked because there is oil on top of the ground, in places. The Western Canada Summer Games were on so there was a variety of people around for competitions. The road to Fort McMurray is now twinned most of the way.
An interesting wedding took place in the farmyard of Avery Shepherd when he was united in marriage with Becky Lockhart northwest of Livelong Aug. 29. Avery lives near his father Jim and they work together. Avery has a herd of bison and his father a herd of cattle. The wedding party consisted of three bridesmaids and three groomsmen, with little Brynnley stealing the show at times. A new large shed had been built where they ate a catered supper. Dancing on the grass followed supper and there was a midnight snack for those still there. Gifts were opened Sunday. Quite a few folks brought their campers and stayed overnight.
Robert and Lanette St. Amant of Meota travelled to Iceland where Robert took part in a marathon. The weather was excellent but his running time didn’t reflect that as his time was the slowest he’s run, in two years. However it was good enough for him to qualify to go to the Boston Marathon. They found the cost of living very high – gas was over $2 a litre. The weather ranged from 11 C to 13 C the whole while and the only day it didn’t rain was the day they left. Every local person they talked to spoke good English. They toured the most interesting tourist sites including the waterfalls, the geysers and the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa). It was a great trip all around.
