TOPS king Steve Belmore of Calgary walks along the alley with queen Nadine Pacey of Whitecourt. Both reached and exceeded weight loss goals set at the beginning of the year. Belmore lost 28.00 pounds while Pacey lost 84.50 pounds thanks to the support group and program. (Photo courtesy of Frozen Motion Photography)

With 102 chapters represented out of a total of 176 within Alberta, 639 people visited the valley to take part in the annual function on May 27 and 28.

This year, Drumheller had the privilege to host the two-day event, utilizing the Badlands Community Facility (BCF).

Taking Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) is an international weight loss program and support group which focuses on health, fitness, and well-being.

At this event, a king and queen are announced to highlight their overall weight loss success by meeting and or exceeding their goals.

Nadine Pacey of Whitecourt lost 84.50 pounds and Steve Belmore of Calgary lost 28.00 pounds, making them the queen and king for the year.

Over the weekend, members participated in activities and sessions surrounding a ‘spy’ theme with a special graduation ceremony on the Saturday evening.

TOPS members become KOPS (Keeping off pounds sensibly) members. Once someone becomes a KOP they remain a KOP as there are only two ranks.

Special pins are given to members as they take on different roles or are recognized for their participation over the years. The focus is on people’s successes rather than failures within the program.

The Town of Drumheller has officially launched a consultation on three possible options to create a more vibrant and beautiful downtown. The options suggest new benches, bike racks, a possible raised sidewalk, and other interesting items.

The options will be available from July 14 at 2 p.m. to July 30 at 8 p.m. at the Badlands Community Facility (BCF) foyer. The options are also available online at the Town Website. www.dinosaurvalley.com to have your say.

“The feedback that we get from this will help us to create a more polished look and feel for downtown, which we expect will lead to increased business investment and employment.” explained Mayor Terry Yemen.

The results of the consultation will be used to implement one of Town Council’s 2017 Economic Development priorities by beautifying the Central Business District.
This project is partly funded by the Government of Alberta’s CAREs grant program, which was approved in March 2017.

Option One

Option Two

Option Three

Four Badlands Rugby Football Club (RFC) players joined the Bow Valley Barbarians, also known as the ‘Ba-Baas’, for their game on Friday evening against the Calgary Saracens on July 14.

The game was held on field one at Calgary Rugby Park, the same field where just last month the Canadian national team hosted Georgia.

“Imagine centre court at Wimbledon, well this would be the Rugby equivalent in Calgary, not bad for our first game,” remarked April Harrison, a club member.

The weather was polar opposite to that game, with clear skies and temperatures soaring to 27 degrees for the 6:30 p.m. kick off.

The Ba-Baas, a developmental team out of Bow Valley RFC, welcome players from multiple teams that might be new and in need of some game experience.

Six Badlands players from both the Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s teams, attended training at Bow Valley on Thursday ahead of the Men’s game.

Short enough players for a full side, the Saracens agreed to a ‘friendly’ game of 10’s, playing 25 minutes each way.

For three of the four Badlands players, this was their first ever game of Rugby, but the training had clearly paid off as two of them scored Trys! You score a ‘try’ when you move the ball into the in-goal of the other team and “ground” the ball. That is the only place a try is scored.

The Ba-Baas put in a great effort and a last minute Try from Dustin Clark, one of the Badlands boys, brought the score to within one point.

“Despite our inexperience and a narrow loss, the Badlands players fit into the Barbarians side comfortably. The other three guys have never played rugby before and they performed well beyond my expectations,” said Andrew Beattie, Badlands RFC player/coach.

“The experience the four of us gained at the training session and in the game on Friday is immeasurable," he added.

The other Badlands Try came from ‘Left Wing’, Brady Kaiser, who showed his pace when he saw a gap in the Saracens’ defence and sprinted for the try line early in the first half.

“I was a little wary of joining the team at first because I literally didn’t know a thing about the sport but the guys and gals in Drumheller and Cochrane really make it fun,” he said. “It’s a great chance to get out for some exercise and forget about the weekly grind for a night. I’m super excited to keep playing rugby for years to come.”

Salen Prasad rounded off the Badlands cohort and put in a resounding effort at ‘Loosehead Prop’.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this group of rugby newcomers that left it all out on the field,” said Salen Prasad. “The Bow Valley squad welcomed us with open arms and even though we came up one point short, we won’t be hanging our heads anytime soon! There’s a big future for rugby here in the Badlands.” 

Badlands players are planning to join the Ba-Baas for more games in the coming weeks. Beattie encouraged people from Drumheller and the surrounding communities to think about joining in Canada’s fastest growing sport.

“We’ve already had a couple of clubs ask if we’d be interested in setting up an exhibition game. We get new players along to training most weeks and if we could get say, five more, we could for sure do that,” encouraged Beattie.

The Drumheller RCMP arrested two people involved in the theft of a truck near Carbon last Monday night, September 4.

The RCMP were called at about 8:30 p.m. Police report a red Silverado, showed up at a farm. The culprits allegedly stole the complainant’s white GMC truck. They drove it a short distance before abandoning it, and then took a Dodge truck.

They tried to leave the area, but drove into a fence tangling and damaging the truck, causing it to smoke. They then crashed the truck in a coulee and fled on foot.

Because of the location, the Drumheller RCMP engaged the Three Hills detachment for support.

Police located a male and female lying in the grass and they were taken into custody.

A female youth was released and is facing two counts of possession of stolen property and a charge of mischief. An adult male is also facing these charges. Both are from the Drumheller area.

Staff Sergeant Kevin Charles says it is important for people to secure their property.

“I think people in rural areas have a more honest viewpoint and are more trusting and keys tend to be left in vehicles and vehicles tend to be left unlocked and that affords these criminals to take advantage of the trustworthy nature of people,” he said. “It used to be the big city where you had to lock up your stuff but now criminals know they can go to rural areas and small towns.”

A woman whose name has become synonymous with compassion is beinghonoured by the Canadian government for her meritorious acts to support families and children who face poverty and Aids every day of their lives in the Roatan.

Drumheller residents and supporters of the Morgan Jayne Foundation know the name Valerie Nelson well. She is the founder of Familias Saludables in the Roatan. This is the organization that administers the Morgan Jayne Project and has been instrumental in saving hundreds of children by stopping the spread of Aids from mother to child. It operates a clinic and works closely with theCharmont Academy allowing those children a shot at a proper education. 

 She announced via social media that she would be receiving the Meritorious Service Award from the Governor General in Ottawa later in June at a special ceremony. She is humble and accepts the award for all those who have supported the work she does.

 “This is a thank you to every one of you who have helped build Familias Saludables and theCharmont Academy, through monetary donations to help us do what we do, through volunteering to help us get stronger and caring about our families and our children,” she said. “You have saved hundreds of babies, educated thousands on AIDS and other issues, supported women and families, provided an education to 60 children, fed them, dressed them and made them safe, and changed the world of families in a small third world country that many of you have never even visited.”

Fred Makowecki has known Nelson for many years, from when he adopted his daughter.

“It couldn’t have happened to a better person, She has worked her entire life, whether it be in Alberta with adoptive families, up north with indigenous youth, in Africa with Aids programs and now this program,” said Makowecki. "With this, she went here and said ‘wow these children are in a bad state and dying at a horrific rate. I just can’t go home, I have to do something.’”

 She has spent more than a decade working in Roatan. The Morgan Jayne Project came on about 11 years ago to support the work. While there have been successes, the work still continues

What is unfortunate is we have been going 100 miles per hour for 11 years and then the economy takes this horrific dive and with it goes earning power for families in the province and business support, so we are definitely short,” said Makowecki. “We are struggling every day just to look after the kids we have in school, struggling to get the formula down to them and the day to day stuff.”

The awards presentation will be held on June 23 in Ottawa. Makowecki says they hope to host her in the valley shortly after this date.

“She’s changed my world,” said Makowecki.

The Valley Bus Society has officially expanded its routes to outer communities in the Drumheller area.
Places like Carbon, Delia, Dorothy, East Coulee, Michichi, Morrin, Munson, and Rosedale will now have access to a transit system.

“Right now we do every Wednesday out to East Coulee area so I’m thinking of getting a weekly schedule going between the seven communities,” said Barbara Drever, Valley Bus manager.

Even smaller communities linking to Drumheller will have access like Nacmine, Newcastle, and Rosebud.

These new routes will, for now, include senior and disabled citizens but everyday folks who need a transit system have the potential to expand to the public.

“It’s not just for seniors or people with disability – we have kids. Right now during the summer, we are helping camps taking kids out and about and we do drive home service for weddings.”

With many complications to work out, the valley bus board must contemplate all options to make sure that opening to the public is a realistic plan.

“Our hours of business are limited too. We need to talk to the directors and see if it’s even feasible to do,” Drever said.

This step will help bring family’s closer together.

“We do more than just Drumheller area. I’m finding that the senior's families come and enter’s Drumheller and spend the day with their mom or dad so it’s bringing people together from other communities and even Drumheller,” said Drever.