The Shrove supper held at the Do Drop In on Feb. 13 was a success though fewer people showed up. It was still a nice sociable gathering of folks who like pancakes and various dressings and a visit with friends.
Sorry that I missed the highlight of the seniors meeting Feb. 9 when Darlene Soucess spoke to our group reporting on her third trip to the Ukraine, with her daughter-in-law. In her fascinating manner she described how the country changed over the years and how she learned so much about the people and the land. She goes again this summer and is looking forward to learning and experiencing even more.
Wednesday, Feb. 7, saw a couple hours of complete white-out here in Meota. You couldn’t see across the street. However, here such conditions are not usually too dangerous, but when heavy fog lay over the bridge over the Bow River in western Calgary, closing off visibility, this resulted in a 50-car pile-up, last week. The road was closed for five hours while they towed and hauled cars away, and cleaned up the mess. There were nine people taken to hospital but no casualties. There was ice to add to the problem, also.
Duplicate bridge played at the Do Drop In on Feb. 13 found top score go to Glen and Julie Moore followed by Gerry Fernandes and Joyce Antoine and Robert Iverson and Liz Rotzien. Playing in the city Feb. 15 found top score go to Jean Lawes and Fraser Glen, second were Margaret Dyck and Joyce Antoine and third place went to Cletus Scherman and Ann Crozier.
Norwegian Whist was played in Tower 2, Feb. 16, and saw Judy Walker take top spot, second to Carol Huys, then Eric Callbeck and fourth Yvonne McPherson. It was a nice day and good to get out to travel to this gathering of 19 people and enjoy their company, and a nice lunch, for the afternoon.
The noon luncheon at the Community Complex Feb. 16 consisted of scalloped potatoes and ham and cole slaw, and a variety of desserts, all very tasty. Head organizer taking the place of Pearl Hawkins is Shirley Gies who has the ‘Food Preparation Certificate’ and was assisted by many willing staff of workers, and a voice you could hear when she gave her report. The next luncheon will be March 16 with stew and biscuits honoring St. Patrick’s Day, so come and enjoy, wearing your green outfit!
My 17-year-old great grandson, Jake Sandstrom, grew up in Valley Ridge, within sight of the ski hill, WinSport, west of Calgary. He is one of the top Nor-Am freestyle skiers in Canada and was interviewed by Calgary TV and was on Global News Hour at 6 p.m. on Feb. 9. WinSport ski hill has seen a variety of changes since the 1988 Olympics were held there. They have a variety of terrain parks that include Olympic caliber slopestyle jumps and rails for skiers and snowboarders, indoor trampolines for the athletes to perfect their jumps and the best halfpipe in the country. There’s even a progression park for the young kids to start out in.
Jake goes to Aspen, Colorado, this week, for a week, then to Mammoth Mountain, California and then to Stoneham and LeRelais in Quebec, for competitions and training in each place. Lastly will be Spring Camp in either the Yukon or Whistler, depending on weather and snow conditions. This week, the Alberta Winter Games are being held in Fort McMurray and Jake’s brother Eric and his father Neil are away in Fort Mac volunteering in support of the skiing events. Greg Lambert, who lives at Fort Mac, is on the hill supporting alpine events while Neil is Chief of Competition for the Freestyle events (slopestyle and moguls). So with schoolwork, working jobs and travelling they are a busy, busy bunch.
A Fashion Show was held at the Edam Lady Minto Health Care Center, Feb. 18. The show was enjoyed by a full house and was most interesting, as old wedding dresses were modelled by various ladies and teenagers. Some were purchased in North Battleford and some were hand made. One cost $30 and another glittery one was $500, all very different. Two of the dresses had been made by a resident Jean Arnott, and were worn by her daughters Diana Shepherd and Wendy Gansauge. Jean had also made the bridesmaid dresses for five girls for each of them. Nancy Milnthorpe wore her original gown of many years ago, the oldest one of the day. MC for the program was Charlotte Greening and escort for all the brides was Marcel Cadrin. What a nice idea to get these dresses out of the trunk where we could see them all, together, it was appreciated very much.
Highway 16, in northern B.C., has been closed four times in later winter because of avalanches within a 35-mile stretch between Terrace and Prince Rupert.
A very large cougar has been killed in the Thompkins area of southern Saskatchewan after killing at least a dozen head of cattle in the last couple months.
