Once again a Drumheller pool prodigy showed his skill and brought home a trophy.
Shawn Bulechowsky competed in the Valley National Eight ball Association (VNEA) World Pool Championship in Las Vegas from May 24 to June 3. He played with his team the Relentless, which play out of Kokos Bar and Grill in Calgary as well as an individual.

In the individual competition he placed 17th out of 180 top international players.
“I was up 5-2 and the guy sharked me, and he ended up beating me 6-5,” explains Bulechowsky. In his next match he also fell 6-5 and settled for 17th.
There was redemption in the team competition as His team Relentless went on to place 4th.
“I brought myself home a Charlie! (trophy),” he explains.
Bulechowsky regularly competes at the VNEA Championship and this was the second trophy he has won.

Austin Veno guides his team of Canadians, Monty and Max, through the pylons while pulling the log skid in the Verdant Valley Draft Horse Competition on Saturday, July 29. Each participant is scored out of 100 points. They earn their 100 points if they complete the course or lose it all if unable to. As well as the competition, wool spinning demonstrations, live entertainment, and antique automobiles and machinery were on display for spectators to enjoy during the day.

mailphoto by Terri Huxley

Brendan Christensen whistles to his team of Canadian Draft Chore Horses; Patch and Napoleon as they attempt to back into the keyhole obstacle for the Verdant Valley Draft Horse Competition on Saturday, July 29.

mailphoto by Terri Huxley

Two Drumheller musicians had the opportunity to bask in the bright lights at the Calgary Stampede.

Ashton Lal, Grade 12 student at DVSS and Abby Fooks, who just graduated, already have a reputation as premier musicians in the valley. The two teamed up and entered the Calgary Stampede Talent Search.

Ashton said it was a good experience.

“We auditioned last month and made it in,” said Ashton. “So we played in the preliminary round last Saturday.”

The pair performed “Somebody that I used to Know” by Gotye. Ashton played ukulele and percussion, and Fooks sang.

He said there was really strong competition and they weren’t able to make it past the preliminary round. However, it was a good experience to get up in front of a large enthusiastic crowd.

This wasn’ttheir only opportunity to perform on the grounds.

“We still got to perform gigs around the Stampede. We played on Friday and Sunday and that was a lot of fun,” said Ashton, explaining they had a prepared30-minute set list.

This was Ashton’s first time at the talent search, Fooks competed last year.

The Martian landscape of Drumheller was used to the fullest last weekend as the first Canadian International Rover Challenge took on the hills.
The University of Saskatchewan Space Design Team has organized the weekend. There was also a team from Carleton University in Ottawa and observers from the Missouri Institute of Design and Technology.
“The premise of the competition is there is an establishment of habitation on an extraterritorial body, in this case, Mars, and the university teams have to design a rover that assists that establishment,” explains Justin Gerein, a member of the Saskatchewan club.
The rover teams were challenged with tasks such as retrieval of items in rough terrain or simulating prospecting for things such as resources or signs of life.
This is the first year of the Canadian event. Many of the students have traveled to other competitions including the United Kingdom, and the premier University Rover Challenges at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah.
Gerein said Drumheller is well suited for the competition.
“It offers more opportunities for terrain that would be like on Mars; the dry, the rough, the iron rich soils,” he said. “We could have gone to the Badlands of Saskatchewan and found similar terrain, but there is infrastructure here to support attendance.”
The challenges took place throughout Saturday and Sunday at Midland Provincial Park and McMullen Island. Spectators came out to check out the action.