Craig Stanger of Cenovus presents a $1,000 cheque to Dale Telford of the Drumheller Girls Softball Association (DGSA). Each year, Cenovus donates money to employees who volunteer by clocking their hours. “So if I put in so many hours, they put in so much money,” said Stanger. The money donated will be put towards new baseball equipment within the league.

Former Drumheller resident Justin Turner and project partner Abilee Kellett of Robert’s Creek BC placed 2nd in the international 2017 RESNA Student Design Competition in New Orleans last week.
The two Master of Occupational Therapy students at UBC in Vancouver designed “ChairStairs”, a wheelchair-mounted folding staircase, which allows independent chair-to-floor transfers for manual wheelchair users (https://www,youtube.com/watch?v=lmky01Xor9w for 1.34 min).

RESNA, Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America, holds an annual Student Design Competition, which is “a multidisciplinary showcase of innovative assistive technology designs created by students in engineering, design, and health related fields at the undergraduate and master level”, said Dr William C. Miller, Department of Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Medicine at UBC.

Turner and Kellett were among 8 finalist teams selected from 76 worldwide entries. This earned them funding from the US National Science Foundation for their return flights, conference registration, one year RESNA membership, and three nights at the Hilton Riverside hotel for the annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Justin Turner, who lived in Drumheller 1992-2003 and the summers of 2010 and 2011, is the son of James Turner and the late Corey Favell. He and Kellett earn their MOT degrees this July, and share a prize of US$700.00. First place went to a team from the University of Central Florida in Orlando, who won US$1,000.00 for the design tŰthbrush.

Turner said, “The other finalist teams were all from medical or other kinds of engineering backgrounds, and had very sleek, refined prototypes for which they had been given big budgets and worked closely with professors, so I feel especially proud that Abby and I did so well, since it was just the two of [us in] our work (though we got feedback from some clinicians and professors on our presentation, which was helpful). We beat 74 other teams from around the world to get to this point – very good feeling!”

On May 8, the Drumheller Chamber of Commerce Business Advocacy Committee brought forth new changes to the current purchasing policy instilled by council.

The chamber was proactive in its thinking by examining, researching, and comparing other communities to Drumheller, ultimately creating amendments to the policy.

“We had been working on this policy for several months doing our due diligence researching other community examples and then we crafted our policy recommendations which were put forward to the town back in May,” said Heather Bitz, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director. “It was well received.”

The policy amendments give local suppliers preference, where all bids or quotations offered for consideration are deemed equal. Town administration included a clause that the Town will post bid opportunities for goods and services between $5,000 and $75,000 on the Town website. A pre-tax differential of five per cent up to $25,000 for local suppliers has also been incorporated.

“I think it’s an opportunity for local businesses to be aware or more aware of the opportunities available to them to do business with the Town of Drumheller by the Town being more transparent on the opportunities they are looking for to post on their website for goods and services they require,” said Bitz.

Both the chamber and advocacy group are excited to take this next step forward with the town by paving the way for local businesses.

“This is very much an advocacy win for the chamber,” Bitz added. “This is our first official attempt in doing advocacy in this way by presenting a policy recommendation to council. It was a lot of hard work and effort put into it by our committee members. We are happy to work with the town on incorporating some change.”

The Drumheller Co-op Cardlock on South Railway Avenue has been a hive of activity as it undergoes a complete renovation.

Brent Walker, general manager of the Drumheller Co-op, tells The Mail that the project is progressing on schedule.

“The tanks are all in place, the piping is mostly in place and they are looking at doing backfilling this week,” he said.

“All the curbs are in place, and all the piles for the light standards and everything are concreted in.”

The project is a complete overhaul of the cardlock. This includes new tanks, pumps, infrastructure and increased capacity.

“We had four pumps and now we have seven,” he said. “I believe we had one pump for regular fuel and now I believe you can get it on four pumps. There shouldn’t be any more need to wait there anymore.”

The previous cardlock was installed in 1997. The renovation will bring the card lock up to modern standards and codes. It will also be more visually pleasing

“There will be some new signage, it will definitely be a lot cleaner,” he said.

The project is slated to be completed mid-August.

“We were off schedule by about five days, but I think we have caught the majority of them up,” he said.

“It will be nice to get it all up and running again.”

The staff at the Drumheller Institution showed their support for a negotiation team in Ottawa this morning as many waited outside the gates.

The reason for the slowdown as a union action as contract talks get underway.

“When our negotiation team went into negotiations this morning in Ottawa, they were able to say that the checks across the country are doing what they can because we don’t have the ability to strike because we are a federal service. It comes down to a matter of being creative in our ways of showing solidarity for that team,” explained Jake Suezle, local union president of the Penitentiary.

For the Drumheller penitentiary, not much else is expected to change beyond today’s demonstration.

“It has nothing to do with local management or local labour relations, it’s a show of solidarity from the Atlantic region all the way to the Pacific. Just that all the institutions are on the same page and are all supportive of the negotiation team as they go into their meetings,” said Suezle.

The act was only temporary as shortly after everyone was allowed to proceed.

“What we didis we blocked entry into the institution until shift start time and then at start time it was slow entry and really what that was was because everyone across the country does it at the same time,” said Suezle.

“This was just a little bit of a creative show of solidarity towards that negotiation team.”

At approximately two o’clock p.m. on Sunday afternoon, the Drumheller Fire Department was notified of smoke coming from a coulee southwest of Drumheller, due west of the Penitentiary and responded with two trucks and eleven firefighters. Upon arrival, they found a deep coulee full of spruce trees and tall grass engulfed in flames.

After sizing up the fire and evaluating the risk of the fire spreading, the team requested mutual aid assistance from the Dalum Fire Department, Rosebud Fire Department, and Munson Fire Department. A tour helicopter provided some aerial reconnaissance for them as well. With lots of equipment and great teamwork, the fire was brought under control within a couple of hours.

The cause of the fire is not known, but just as a reminder, there is a fire ban in the Drumheller area. This advisory represents a severe fire risk with respect to open air fires.

Open air fires include fires for the burning of weeds, grass, leaves; fires related to recreational uses in non-approved containers; and the burning of coal, straw and/or other materials. Please note the following regarding the fire ban restriction.

PROHIBITED:

Incinerators (for farm and acreage use)

- All Fire Permits suspended

- All Fireworks

- Regulated burning barrels

- Solid fuel barbeques (charcoal briquettes)

- Recreational fire pits under Bylaw 04.07

ALLOWED:

- Internal household fireplaces

- Gas or Propane stoves and Barbecues that are CSA approved or UL certified

- Portable propane fire pits that are CSA approved or UL certified

- Catalytic or infrared-style heaters

- Fires contained within approved facilities and appliances in designated camping and recreational areas.

- Camp stoves

Natural gas and propane barbecues are not affected by this fire ban restriction.

This fire ban takes effect Friday July 28, 2017 at 4:00 P.M. and will remain in effect until further notice. This fire ban restriction is for all properties contained within the Municipal Boundaries of the Town of Drumheller.

Local youth golfer Daylen Ostapowich (14) has won two silver medals at his first back-to-back tournaments of the season.
Ostapowich’s first tournament of the year was held at the Henderson Lake Golf Club in Lethbridge where he placed second overall.
“It was a pretty good tournament – two-day tournament.”
Then on July 4, Ostapowich participated at the Innisfail golf tournament, to claim his second victory.
“I only lost by one stroke but I enjoyed it,” said Ostapowich.
The versatility of the sport is what keeps bringing him back.
“It’s just something I enjoy doing, even if I’m at home, I just love the sport,” said Ostapowich.
While practice makes perfect, Ostapowich plans on taking his passion for golf to the top with hopes of playing at the Professional Golfer’s Association (PGA).
“I usually try to get out there as much as I can,” he said. “My dream is to go to the PGA.”
Weather dependant, a typical golf season can last until October or November.
“It can sometimes be like October or maybe a bit past if you’re lucky,” said Ostapowich.
Ostapowich plays right here in the valley at the Dinosaur Trail Golf and Country Club.
“The front nine is a pretty simple golf course but the back nine is a bit more of a challenge,” said Ostapowich.
Ostapowich has a few more tournaments ahead of him including one at McKenzie Meadows in Calgary.
When asked on how to get others involved in the sport, Ostapowich gladly shared some expertise of his own.
“I’d say just try it out, swing a couple clubs and give it a try.”

Ironosaurus Wrecks made his official debut at the Badlands Community  Facility Saturday, June 8. The newest dinosaur installation named Hensley, was designed and built by Knibb Construction. They held a short ceremony with prizes and cake. (l-r) Parker and Austin Knibb are joined by Jennifer Madsen and Shannon Healy to cut the ribbon and welcome Hensley.
mailphoto by Patrick Kolafa

After eight years, the Dinosaur Valley Half Marathon continues to buck the trend with strong attendance.

The annual road race, which features the Family 5K Walk and Run, the Encana 10K and the Half Marathon went Sunday morning, September 10. It was another great year and going into the race, event chair Morgan Syvertsen said their registration was the highest ever for the half marathon.

“We had 156 signed up,” Syvertsen told the “Mail”.

There were 109 signed up for the 10K and 166 signed up for the 5K Family Fun Run. Once again, McDonald’s in Drumheller offered free registration for the family run and 55 took advantage of the opportunity. Syvertsen said there was a healthy crowd of walk-ups that signed up for the race.

McDonald’s was also on site with its McCafe trailer and Freson Bros. had a barbecue for racers. There was also face painting and massages, making a festive atmosphere for the athletes.

The weather cooperated beautifully as smoke-free blue skies were abound with virtually no wind.

“That (smoke) was a real concern, there were some people who said they weren’t going to race,” said Syvertsen.

He is grateful for the strong volunteer support that did everything from manning aid stations to working as course marshalls and ribbon presenters.

He was very happy with the race. This year the proceeds from the races went towards the Canadian Badlands Aquatic Club and members of the swim team were on the course, manning an aid station.

The overall winner of the 21K race was Jeffrey Nicol of Lethbridge and Nick Sereda had the top local time. In the 10K, Jackson Frantz of Calgary was the top finisher, and Cam Morrison of Drumheller finished third. In the 5K, Erik Amwlinckx finished first, and the top Drumheller finisher was Braydon Berdahl. Kate Messom of Drumheller was the top placing female with a blistering 24:01 time.

Another Dragon is on his way to playing at post-secondary level as Cody Young commits to the University of Alberta Augustana University for the 2017-2018 season.
    The 1996-born forward, originally from Saskatoon, will be playing for the Vikings in the Alberta College Athletics Conference (ACAC) Men’s Hockey League.
    “He also played a huge role helping Drumheller make the playoffs during an injury-filled season. He was a player that left everything he had on the ice and will be a valuable addition to the Augustana Vikings Men’s Hockey Program,” said Dragons head coach Kevin Hasselberg.
    Young came to the Dragons from the Spruce Grove Saints in November of the 2016/17 season. With the Dragons, he played 42 games with 19 goals and 15 assists.
    Over the course of Cody’s junior hockey career, he spent time with the Kindersley Klippers, Spruce Grove Saints, and the Dragons for career totals of 70 goals, 94 assists for 164 points. Cody was also selected to represent Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge during the 2014-15 season.
    “Cody had a tremendous junior career contributing to the success of the three Junior Programs he played for. He was instrumental leading the Kindersley Klippers into the playoffs in both of his seasons in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playing 19 postseason games,” said Hasselberg.
 As a Viking, Young will be joining former Drumheller Dragons Cody Fiala and Curtis Skip, and a number of AJHL alumni.

While the preseason sample size is small, it appears that hockey fans in the Valley have an exciting season ahead watching the Drumheller Dragons.

The team was in Camrose for a preseason tournament. On Wednesday, August 30, they played the Whitecourt Wolverines and won 7-4. The next day they faced off against the Camrose Kodiaks and won 8-5, and on Friday, they topped the Spruce Grove Saints, 5-3.

For one thing, it appears they have some firepower.

“Everybody loves to score,” said head coach Kevin Hasselberg.” “ think in the preseason we just take the reigns off and let the kids go. I think there are other things we can focus our attention on as coaches as far as getting our team prepared, but when it comes to the offense, for sure, you just really have to let the horses run and I think that these guys are thoroughbreds”.

They showed they could be creative and put the puck in the net, and I think moving forward for Drumheller fans, it has got to be exciting.”

He said the team also showed a strong kinship, especially early in the season.

“One of the biggest things is the leadership and the camaraderie in our dressing room. Our guys are already having fun and doing things that typically teams at this time of the year would probably wouldn’t do because they are familiarizing themselves with the new coaching staff. They are also very familiar with each other, although there are some new players in there as well. I just love the camaraderie, and love the fact when they are at the rink they are having fun,” said Coach Hasselberg.

This is reflected in their play on the ice.

“It showed through in our performance. We were down a couple goals on two different occasions, they found a way to collect themselves and climb their way back into the hockey game. I don’t think a team that is uptight or nervous about a situation would have been able to do that,” said Hasselberg.

The preseason continues this Wednesday, September 6 when the Dragons host the Olds Grizzlys for their first home game, a very familiar opponent.

“I think as much as we are having a lot of fun here, and there is excitement surrounding a hockey team, I would venture to say there is probably a lot of excitement with the culture change that is happening in Olds,” he said.

“They are experiencing the same things and they have had some preseason success. So obviously they are going to be coming into Drumheller with a lot of enthusiasm and energy as well.”

Game time is 7:30 p.m.

(mailphoto by Terri Huxley)

The Drumheller Dragons are busy on the off season fortifying their lines, and a have added to their roster after completing a number of transactions.
    On June 16 they announced the completion of future considerations from a transaction finalized on January 10, with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons. Last January Captain Stefan Wood requested a trade, and this week the Dragons acquired 98 born forward Brett Edwards.
     Edwards brings experience. The Grande Prairie native had 24 goals and 22 assists for 46 points in 114 games. Brett has 14 play-off games under his belt and was part of last year’s Oil Barons run to the final four in pursuit of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Gas Drive Cup. During that run, Brett scored 2 goals and added 2 assists.
    “Edwards is an experienced player from a respected program. He will add to the speed and depth of our team and will be relied upon to create in the offensive zone. We believe Brett will contribute on the special teams and he will be trusted in key situations during games,” said Dragons coach Kevin Hasselberg.
    This came a week after the Dragons picked up forward Dawson Bruneski. The team completed the futures from a transaction finalized on December 31, 2016 with the Whitecourt Wolverines. In exchange for 97 forward Evan Tschumi, the Dragons received the playing rights of 97 born defenseman Josh Bishop and now will add 99 forward Dawson Bruneski to complete the trade.
    “Dawson is a welcome addition to our hockey team. He is familiar with returning players on the current Dragons Roster and has earned the respect of his peers already at just 18 years of age. We believe Dawson can be an offensive contributor combined with his efforts to play a 200 foot game. His courage, grittiness, and selfless play will help forge the culture of our team as we head into the 2017/18 season,” said Hasselberg.Bruneski of Camrose Alberta played in 56 games last season and had 5 goals and added 13 assists for 18 points.
     Dragons’ prospects will be arriving in Drumheller for Main Camp on August 25th for fitness testing. The first ice sessions are scheduled for August 26. A full schedule will be made available on the Dragons website in early August.

After a busy summer, the Drumheller Co-op Cardlock was officially opened for members to use.

The Co-op held a grand opening for the facility on Railway Avenue on Thursday, August 31. The project has been on the Co-op’s drawing board for years as the site was in need of an upgrade.

The renovation includes new tanks, pumps, infrastructure and increased capacity.

Today there are seven pumps for patrons to use. The site has had a complete overhaul including new underground tanks, new signage, larger lanes and space to maneuver.

The previous cardlock was installed in 1997. The renovation will bring the card lock up to modern standards and codes.

On hand to celebrate the grand opening were members of the Drumheller Co-op board, as well as Joe Bowhay, a District Director for Federated Co-op as well as Mayor Terry Yemen.

They celebrated the day with a free barbecue for residents and patrons.

Pictured above: At the ceremony are (l-r) Director Barry Fullerton, General Manager Brent Walker, Federated Co-op District Director Joe Bowhay, Co-op Board President Eric Poettcker, Mayor Terry Yemen, Chamber President Brock Harrington and Director Kathy Little.
(mailphoto by Patrick Kolafa)

The Dragons showed continuous improvement as they battled their way through the preseason, and are now set for their home opener this Friday.

The Dragons hosted the Olds Grizzlys on Wednesday, September 6, and won 5-3 pushing their preseason record to 4-0 and outscoring their opponents 25-15.

On Friday night, September 8, they hosted the Brooks Bandits and then traveled to Brooks on Sunday for a matinee game.

These games were a lot closer as the Dragons won Friday 3-2, but fell 5-4 in overtime Sunday.

They ended the preseason 5-1. Coach Kevin Hasselberg says he like the progress the team has made.

“You have to learn to be a good team in all situations, and this last game in Brooks was a situation that served our team very well and we are extremely happy with the results moving forward even though we didn’t end up on the right side of the score sheet.

We learned a lot about each other and something to build on moving forward,” said Hasselberg.
Drumheller has a long history with the Brooks Bandits, and this game served as a starting point for the team in its progression.

“We feel that any of our players can compete with anybody now, and it is just about getting better every single day,” said Hasselberg. “That is our goal and that is what we want to do, and I know the players are building for that as well and excited to be a part of that.”

The Dragons officially open the regular season this Friday at home versus the Camrose Kodiaks. For Hasselberg, he wants his team to focus on the basics.

“The game is so simple, we just have to make sure we are playing hard consistently over the full 60 minutes of the game, and we are playing on the right side of the puck,” he said. These are two things we are really focused on right now. I know the players are going to work hard this week in practice and the coaching staff is going to be working just as hard. Our goal is to be better than our last game and I know our guys are ready to do that.”

Witches, dragons, superheroes, butterflies, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and more filled the halls of Greentree School for the traditional Halloween parade on October 31.
Grade six students were the first to start the parade. They would walk around the next grades classroom before moving to the next.
The class that was waiting would file behind the other class to continue the parade. When all the classrooms were reached, they would head to the gym where excited parents took pictures.
Later in the day, Downtown Drumheller was flooded with more impressive costumes. Business owners and staff waited out in the cold or in the front entrance of their buildings and handed out numerous amounts of candy.
The Pioneer Trail Seniors Centre said they have seen a year as high as 900 children due to perfect weather conditions.
The overall temperature for the day was resting around 2 degrees celsius with a skiff of snow which immediately melted. By the end of the day, the snow had turned to rain.
mailphotos by Terri Huxley

Sully Farmer, 1, was dressed as a dragon for Halloween. As everyone waited for the costume covered kids to arrive, Farmer would occasionally move around and retrieve his ball before throwing it again, enjoying every minute of it.

Mr. Robert Rowland led his grade one class around the gym during the parade.

Many were excited to take photos of the variety of costumes the students had to offer. The three blind mice were even in attendance.

Students waved to happy parents during their single-file parade.

Kayla Clark takes a photo of one of the classes on the stage. She was dressed up as a mounted Giraffe.

Vanessa Pitre began her Halloween in Downtown as a Penguin.

Larry-Lo Morton of the Pioneer Trail Seniors Centre dressed up and asked children to toss a ball into a bucket to win some candy. The entire centre was dedicated to Halloween with a ball toss, a fishing game, and more.

(l-r) Chad Stern, left, and Clint Keller stood outside handing out candy. They had mounted a skeleton dinosaur to the back of their truck to get into the Halloween spirit.

The Hatt family dressed up with a Star Wars theme in mind.
Pictured above: Geoff Hatt; Janelle Hatt; Brody Hatt; Devin Hatt.

Beckett Norman gets handed a piece of candy from Century 21 staff.

Beckam Jensen was elated to hand out candy. Here he is showing off some of the loot before giving it away to another trick-or-treater.

Emily Lowry was monkeying around for Halloween and helped hand out candy.

Mike and Carol Tudor dressed up as ‘Sick and Tired’. They stood outside Third Avenue Arts to hand out candy.