Happy birthday today to my dad, mother-in-law and sister-in-law who all share a birthday Feb. 22.
Why is Mother Nature so mad at us this winter? Did Father Time give her a hard time and this is her way of getting back at him? Feb. 13 brought another round of winter with zero visibility at times, strong wind gusts, heavy wet snow and blowing snow, along with -1 temperatures that kept it all packed on the roads. To top it off, a bout of freezing rain hit with the same system. We got to experience more of the same Feb. 17. I don't know about anyone else but I am good and ready for winter to be gone instead of camping out indefinitely.
The boys', girls' and mixed team all returned to the Northland Power Curling Centre in North Battleford to compete at Senior High School Regional Curling Playdowns.
Spencer Powell's team of Spencer at skip, Cody Thompson at third, Todd Bazley at second and Zak Bos at lead certainly made a name for themselves in this senior division. All Grade 9s, they handily won their first game. Their second game, with only three players due to one player absent for a provincial hockey playoff, lost to last year's provincial gold medalists by only three. They won again Saturday morning but did, unfortunately, lose their second game that day to eliminate them from contention.
The girls' team had the same wins and losses as the boys. The girls' team, skipped by Kyla Van de Meutter, backed up by Heather Wood, Megan Babchuk and Robyn Sperle, and Powell's team will be strong contenders at next year's high school playdowns.
The mixed team was made up of Grade 12 students skip Jonathan Neigum, third Shelby Solomko, second Justin Sopyc and lead Mickayla Brandle as well as alternates Devin Boser and Kylie Walz. Walz was subbed in for Brandle who is recovering from a knee injury. This experienced team could not find the win column to repeat as regional winners and won't advance to provincials.
Coach Kyla Snell had another busy weekend of coaching all three teams at the regional competition. These teams wanted to thank all the parents, grandparents and friends who came out to support them on their two weekends of play. They also were quite impressed that the icemaker, alternate icemaker and local curling rink manager and her husband came to watch and support them on their Saturday morning of play. A big thank you to NBCHS coach and teacher, Evan Reid, who was always very welcoming and encouraging, and always had time to answer questions in addition to putting in endless hours running both the district and regional events very smoothly.
Junior curling teams head to districts in Kerrobert Feb. 26 and 27. Spencer Powell's team still qualify as juniors and will represent UCHS in the boys' division. The girls are Robin Sperle, Cyane Sperle, Caitlyn Ireland and Caprice Sherwood and the mixed team is made up of Lyndon Jellison, Daphne Boser, Dakota Kloster and Marina Gampe.
Next up for UCHS to cheer for will be the junior and senior basketball teams, heading to district and conference playoffs the first part of March.
Students from UCHS and St. Peter's, along with other schools in the area, will be attending We Day in Saskatoon Feb. 27. Energy and excitement are building for this long anticipated event and we can't wait to hear back from those kids who were fortunate enough to earn a ticket to attend.
This is the last full day of school break for UPS and staff and students will return to class Feb. 25. That will also be the last week of collecting pennies for their Telemiracle fundraiser.
St. Peter's School will also head back to classes Feb. 25 where they will be busy with Lenten preparations. The AR reading challenges continue and the school is preparing students participating in music festivals for their performances in early April.
The undefeated Midget A team just keeps on rolling. They are undefeated in league playoffs as they easily won their first round of this playoff series against Rosetown. This sends them to the league semifinal. They also swept their two-game total point series with Rosthern, winning their away game 9-3 and their home game 6-0. They now wait for the winner of North Battleford and Martensville to determine who they play next in their provincial title quest in the provincial northern final.
Congratulations Blake Robertson and Alex Pernitsky who made the Zone 7 midget hockey team to compete in March in the annual zone hockey tournament.
The bantam team came up against a tough Meadow Lake squad in their first round of provincial playoffs and were unable to advance. They are still in contention for the league title.
Both peewee teams have advanced to the second round of their league playoffs. The combined peewee provincial team is still playing in provincial playoffs, as they beat Turtleford in the opening round, advancing them to the next round.
The atom division had both Unity teams facing off in their league playoffs with the Atom Red Lazers taking the first game with a 6-5 score.
The Miners captured a win in their first league playoff game against Eatonia. They squared off again against the Eatonia Huskies and won game 1; however, Feb. 16 the team fell to defeat leaving the series tied. Game 3 was supposed to be played Feb. 17 however the team was unable to travel due to poor weather road advisories and the future date will be announced.
In provincial B playoffs, the Miners travel to Biggar tonight, Feb. 22, and return home for the next game Feb. 23 at 8:30 p.m. in the two-game total-point series.
Unity Curling Club is rooting on club president Glen Heitt as he takes part in Senior Men's Provincial playdowns in Assiniboia which started Feb. 20 and run through the weekend. Glen's wife, Wanda, who curls with Team Darlene Gilles and Brad Heidt's wife Tracey along with Darlene Kloschinsky, have headed to Senior Women's Provincials in Martensville at the same time. They are looking to defend the title they won in Gravelbourg last year.
It is exciting to have local teams competing in these events as Unity will be hosting the 2014 Senior Men's and Senior Women's Provincials!
Next up at the curling rink is the annual oilman's bonspiel, from Feb. 28 to March 3. This is followed by the Bramiche Farms Annual Ladies' Bonspiel March 16 weekend, followed by the annual year-end funspiel. And there are always regular league nights to always have plenty of live action curling to watch and it's free. Call the curling club at 228-2212 if you need any further details.
Coming up March 1 is the Unity Skating Club's annual ice carnival with the theme of A Few of My Favourite Things. Advance tickets are now on sale at Our Drug Store and Unity Credit Union. You won't want to miss the fabulous decorations and skating numbers of our skating club.
Also March 1, Delta Co-op asks everyone to join them in celebrating with long-time employee, Wayne German, as he serves cake from 1 - 3 p.m. in honour of his last day with Delta Co-op. Wayne served the Co-op for 36 and a half years before choosing to retire in 2013.
You won't want to miss March 3 at 2 p.m.at 2nd Avenue Cinema, as this is the popular Trailerfest with absolutely free admission. Moviegoers can come for a program approximately 45 minutes in length to see previews of all the new releases due out this spring and summer. Door prizes will also be drawn for.
The museum is still hosting their Sunday pancake brunches which continue every Sunday until the end of April. For only $6 you get a hot meal. You can beat the crowd before church as it starts at 10 a.m. and it goes until 2 p.m. The proceeds from these brunches go a long way toward museum upkeep, hall costs and future events.
Won't you help out the local Legion branch? Due to some recently applied for grants not being approved, the members are looking to fundraise a $5,000 shortfall in their efforts to maintain and update the veterans' area of the local cemetery. Handmade collection boxes are set up at 10 places around town; the boxes were made by Legion member Si Campbell. You can also purchase memorial trees by inquiring at the town office.
Two individuals will be receiving Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medals at this year's Celebrate Unity event. If you didn't purchase tickets before Feb. 20, they are still available at a cost of $45. This year's event will be held March 4 at the community centre. This is an evening to recognize outstanding individuals and groups in the community, as well as new and retired businesses over the past year. The evening begins with cocktails at 5:30 p.m., followed by supper at 6:30 p.m. , program at 8 p.m. and the group Hoja following the program. Tickets are available at Unity Credit Union, Sunrise Wellness Spa and Bricin Financial.
Coffee row folks are reviewing their thumbs-up or thumbs-down votes for teams that will appear at this year's Tim Horton's Brier, in addition to their opinions on the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the reappearance of Colleen Jones at the event. The "rowers" are also putting in guesses on what remains in store for winter, commenting on all that winter has dealt our area so far, as well as making some spring predictions. This is a fun group full of laughter and optimism. So you see we keep busy in Unity with activities and wisdom from our friends on coffee row. Until next week
