Another Drumheller resident has been honoured to receive the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, and this time it was from the Health Minister.
    For about 22 years, Lyle Blumhagen has been the publisher of Canadian Paramedicine, a unique magazine for emergency responders.
    On November 19 Leona Aglukkaq, Federal Health Minister, presented the medal to Blumhagen on Parliament Hill.
    “Lyle is such a good and deserving person who I consider a very dear friend to not only me but to all EMS workers in Canada, and on a global basis as well,” said Christopher Skelton, an EMS worker in London, Ontario who has contributed to the magazine.
    The Paramedics Association of Canada nominated him, and it was supported by the Paramedic Chiefs of Canada. The nomination was for his work with the magazine to advance the profession in Canada, as well as international work.
    The magazine was founded in 1978 with Blumhagen as publisher for roughly a dozen years of its history. It has a circulation of about 5,000 hard copies, plus 500 electronic subscribers, and a reach of 90 per cent of emergency responders. His audience comes from across Canada, as well as some international subscriptions.  According to its website, it has been recognized by the Paramedics Association of Canada as their official EMS magazine. 
    “It started as a trade magazine, but the way I have developed it, it is more of a professional journal, but it is not peer reviewed,” Blumhagen told The Mail. “It is very well recognized by the key leaders and players in paramedicine in Canada.”
    Beyond the magazine he has acted on the part of the paramedicine community to make presentations to the government on the profession. Internationally he sits on the steering committee for the International Paramedic Organization. This is a new group that works to develop the profession and promote best practices internationally.
    “That’s a really exciting group to be a part of. Since we formed on election weekend in April 2011, we’ve gone from ground zero to being invited to sit on a World Health Organization health sub-committee,” said Blumhagen.
 Blumhagen is a graduate of the SAIT Journalism Arts program and has worked in magazines his whole career.

(l-r) Lyle Blumhagen accepts the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal from Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq and her parliamentary assistant Colin Carrie on November 19 in Ottawa. He was nominated by the Paramedics Association of Canada to recognize his service to the industry through his magazine, Canadian Paramedicine.

    Great progress is being made on the Standard Hall and they are aiming to be able to cut the ribbon early in the new year.
    The community has been working hard to make the hall a reality and broke ground in the summer.
    According to Ron Corbiell building project chair, the bulk of the exterior work on the hall is complete. Inside the insulation work in the ceiling and the walls are complete and the electrical is about 80 per cent.
    “By the end of December we're going to be pretty close,” said Corbiell. “By the time they do the finishing touches and painting, and the floor, we're probably looking at late January or February.”
    He said while they have had a few delays because of the weather they have made great progress and he is very happy with the contractor.
    The Hall Association sent a letter to supporters in late November updating their progress. The committee hoped to have 80 per cent of the funds in place before they commenced work, but it became apparent that access to funds would not be available unless construction had begun. They are waiting on a number of grants from the county as well as the provincial government. The Lions club has also been generous, and the group has a casino coming up. They are still looking at more fundraising.
    Last weekend the Standard Lions hosted their annual Dinner and Auction and are planning to dedicate all the funds raised to the hall.
    Brett Gates, a Standard Lion, said the evening grossed more than $97,000, and he expects they will clear about $88,000 to put towards the hall.  While it was not the best ever, it was better than last year’s event.
    Some of the top items included the traditional chrome shovel, which fetched $8,000 and was purchased by Getz and Associates of Strathmore. Tervita purchased center-ice logo rights for the Standard Arena for $3,000. The retail items alone fetched more than $40,000.
    The hall, when completed, will have a state of the art kitchen and banquet seating for about 350.