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89-year-old bridesmaid saves the day

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It was a joyous Thanksgiving weekend for the Cardamone family as they celebrated the wedding of Ryan and Maria.
One person beaming from the wedding party was grandmother Anna May, 89.
She arrived at the wedding at St. Anthony's Church on Saturday, October 12 to learn that unfortunately one of Maria’s bridesmaids was unable to attend.
“So then we had to quickly decide whether we just go with it and have an odd number of bridesmaids versus groomsman, however then we thought it could be wonderful and special if my grandma filled in as the fourth bridesmaid. Although very last minute, she seemed to be very happy to fill in and be a part of the wedding party,” said the groom, Ryan.
She was happy to fill in.
“One of the bridesmaids was ill, so they just asked me if I would stand in with one of the groomsmen who was going to have to walk down the aisle by himself,” Anna May explains.
“I ended up carrying her flowers and entered the church on the arm of this young groomsman. It was very nice.”
The groomsman was Ryan’s friend Kole Ashbacher. He is a professional saddle bronc rider and is ranked in the top 10 in Canada.
“So after the ceremony, my grandma made a comment that she was lucky she got to walk with ‘such a handsome young man.’ So we told her more about him; he competes professionally in rodeos. She then commented ‘well ooooh maybe I should start watching rodeo,’” chuckles Ryan. “We all had a good laugh about it all.”
She said it worked out well and looked natural.
“It looked like it seemed to be intended that way. I was the only grandmother there, so they figured it would be suitable if I stood in with him,” she said.
She walked down the aisle with the young man (whom she considered very handsome). She said she did not stand with the bridal party during the ceremony but sat in the pew with her son and daughter-in-law.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, she accompanied the groomsman out.
With her bridesmaid duties completed, she enjoyed the rest of the wedding sitting with the parents.
The Groom Ryan was happy his grandmother was able to stand in.
“My wife and I are both so glad that my grandma was happy to fill in last minute as a Bridesmaid and that she enjoyed being a part of our day even more. We really appreciated it,” he tells the Mail. “She enjoyed filling the role.”
“It was an honour for me to do that, and everybody was quite thrilled for me,” said Anna May.

Salute a Veteran banner project grows to 87

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What was started as a humble way to honour veterans six years ago has grown into a fixture in the community on Remembrance Day.
In 2018, the Drumheller Genealogy Club, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 22 and the Town of Drumheller unveiled a unique way to honour veterans. That summer, they offered residents the opportunity to sponsor a banner to be hung in the downtown core with a photo of a veteran. This may have been a family member or friend, or an honoured member of the community who served.
The project was inspired by a Legion in Harriston, Ontario. It has since spread across Canada.
At the time, the organizers of the project aimed to hang 20 banners. In that first year, there were 39 banners. The first hung was World War II and Korean War veteran Stan Baird, a Legion lifetime member.
The project continued to grow, and today, there are 87 banners hung throughout downtown as well as at the Badlands Community Facility.
This year they have added four more banners, including Frederick Lingard George Bermingham, Obeline Leonier Grenier, Claude Barthwick Morden and George Doveton Greentree.
The banners are made by Image Crafters in Drumheller and are hung by the Town of Drumheller staff.
The goal of these banners when they were originally installed six years ago remains today, as Genealogy Club member Debbie LePlante said at the unveiling,
"We hope everyone will walk around and look at these banners and be reminded our wish is to extend the period of remembrance leading up to Remembrance Day on November 11, to say thank you to those brave men and women who served, and that we must never forget the sacrifices any Veteran has made so that we can live in a free democratic society like we have in Canada.”

Drumheller council propose five per cent water, six per cent sewer rate increase

Town of Drumheller council adopted the 2025 Utility Operating and Capital budgets, which were presented during the regular Monday, November 4 council meeting.
Chief Financial Officer Victoria Chan explained the 2025 Utility Operating budgets of $4.6 million for water, $2.9 million for wastewater, and $517,430 for solid waste and recycling have managed to be balanced without necessitating subsidization from the Town’s 2025 Operating and Capital budgets through property tax revenues. This will also include an anticipated surplus of $500,100 for water operations which Ms. Chan noted could be contributed to reserves to help offset future maintenance and repairs or reduce financing requirements.
While these utilities can be supported through its user-pay system, Ms. Chan explained in order to accommodate rising costs, including the addition of two new positions for Plant Operator and Assistant Lead Plant Operator at the water treatment facility, as well as increasing costs for chemicals, natural gas, and other necessary items for operation, administration is proposing a five per cent increase to water rates in 2025, and a six per cent increase to wastewater rates.
Ms. Chan explained, for the average residential user, based on an average monthly consumption of 20 cubic metres, this would result in an estimated increase from $2.3058 per cubic metre to $2.4210 per cubic metre in 2025 for water servicing, and for wastewater from $2.5579 per cubic mitre to $2.7113 per cubic metre.
When comparing Drumheller to other municipalities with similar populations, Ms. Chan shared Drumheller residents are spending less than residents in the other municipalities, including Drayton Valley, High River, and Lacombe.
Average monthly water charges for the comparable municipalities was $70.46, while Drumheller residents pay $64.27; residents of Drayton Valley pay an estimated $80.89 per month for the same water consumption, while High River residents pay $95.44 per month and Lacombe residents pay $87.40.
Likewise, with wastewater the average cost was $67.84 while Drumheller residents pay $61.93 per month; Drayton Valley was slightly below this at $55 per month while High River residents paid $89.20 and Lacombe residents paid $84.06.
Even with the proposed increase, Drumheller residents would still pay below the average.
Council gave first and second reading to the proposed 2025 Utility Rates Bylaw; the item will come back for third reading at a future council meeting.