It was announced three weeks ago that Unity residents Ruth and Duane Hume won a million dollars in a lottery. Ruth grew up on a farm east of Mayfair and attended school in Mayfair, finishing Grade 12 there. Her mother, Ruby Huard, moved to Unity at least 20 years ago and still lives there. Ruby and her late husband raised a large family. Congratulations to the Humes. Ruth indicated her husband could quit his distant employment to be closer to home.
Dueling piano performances sponsored by the parent association of John Paul II Collegiate May 1 was most enjoyable. Two talented musicians put on a great performance at the Alex Dillabough Centre. Four women from this area attended.
Our son Greg from Red Deer was here this past weekend. We don鈥檛 see much of him in the winter because there are deadlines to meet that time of year when you are a chartered accountant.
Baby Cooper Sevick from Maymont with parents Kinley and Amanda and siblings Parker and Keri were guests at Mayfair All Saints Church May 3. Cooper was baptized by Father Allen from Hafford. He is almost nine months old. We also celebrated his sister鈥檚 third birthday (April 27) that afternoon.
Mayfair鈥檚 art show and sale May 3 at the community hall was successful, attracting many people from near and far.. The featured artists were: Doreen Kalmakoff and Lori Dyck, Blaine Lake; Dorothy Schmid, Medstead; Mavis Bellisle and Kathy Cross, Spiritwood; Nancy Stroo , North Battleford; Linda Price, Meeting Lake; and Gail Leohndorf, Bev and David Kowarchuk, Madison Price and Janette Klassen,聽 Rabbit Lake. Local artists participating were Dora Brown, Edna Rogers, Adgerine McNutt, Buck Scotton, Alice Grigor and Connie Giesbrecht.
The hall was tastefully decorated with the theme Spring Has Sprung. Guests drank from fine glass teacups placed on linen tablecloth. We were treated like royalty. Speaking of royalty, a few women were adorned with fashionable hats because of William and Kate鈥檚 new arrival and perhaps heir to the British throne someday. The new baby鈥檚 name is Charlotte.
Former resident Willy Alkin, a meticulous carpenter, builds birdhouses and the artists took them home to paint and decorate. Not one of them was the same. There was a silent auction on the birdhouses. The colourful birdhouses had people bidding enthusiastically.
An event like this needs volunteers who enjoy what they are engaged in. The local library branch Creative Corners will benefit from the proceeds.
Becky Bulmer and longtime boyfriend Daniel Bezmutto were recently engaged. Becky graduated from Maymont Central School four years ago, but was a student in Mayfair School until its doors closed in June 2005. She will be receiving a degree in communication disorders from Minot, N.D. a few weeks from now. Daniel, a farm boy originally from Hafford, is employed as a welder with Schmidt鈥檚 in North Battleford.
The annual round dance sponsored by the Gold Eagle Casino at the Agriplex in North Battleford was a learning experience. The feast started at 1 p.m. with prayers and words of wisdom from an elder, while sweetgrass was smoked by a group of First Nation men. Everyone sat in a circle on the floor, while some disabled or elderly people sat in chairs. Various foods were served by younger men, some of whom were carrying heavy metal pots of different soups. The helpings were large and the spectators were to take the extra home in containers.
The round dance went from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m., but I stayed for only a couple of hours to observe and ask questions of an informative First Nation woman who resides at Muskeg First Nation near Leask. A few years ago I took a SIAST course about different cultures and did remember some of what I learned while attending this wonderful function. The announcers were William (Boyko) Stone and Dennis Carter. A large number of people from surrounding reserves participated and I recognized some of them. I haven鈥檛 seen Sylvia Pooyak from Sweetgrass Reserve for a long time, but I remember my oldest son Curtis and her son Darren played hockey together in Battlefords Minor Hockey Association 25 years ago. Darren has been employed by the City of North Battleford for a number of years. Sylvia has been working at the casino for several years.
Krivosheim, Oscar Lake and Bohkarn School Districts have a newly published history book that includes families, schools, historic events, pioneering days and practices and names of local wild flowers and birds. A retired vice-principal, Mary Puto who taught at Mayfair School, spearheaded this book. It is available for purchase by phoning Mary at 306-549-4911 or at the RM of Meeting Lake in Mayfair. As a member of the school staff, Mary was well respected by both students and parents and is well known throughout the Battlefords. No job is too large for Mary to tackle. The next few generations will gratefully benefit from this book.
This is a bizarre story and I have two witnesses to back me up. Homeward bound from the Rivers West awards evening two passengers, Margaret and Connie, and I decided to tour Spruce Lake. We saw what we thought was a lovely large deer statue motionless in a yard. All of a sudden it moved. It was alive and seemed quite tame. I stopped my truck and it came walking up to my window, so I brainlessly opened it up, put out my hand and actually petted the deer. It didn鈥檛 appear to be in any rush to go anywhere. After a couple of minutes we slowly drove away. I decided to turn the vehicle around so the other two passengers could experience the same thing, but after about three minutes the animal disappeared. We decided residents in this hamlet probably feed adult 鈥淏ambi鈥� and it was having a feeding on supper scraps.
I鈥檓 told this could not be a rabid animal because deer do not get rabies. Next week I will write about another strange happening, which did not have a good ending for a large animal.
