It’s time to get messy for a good cause.
    On Monday, November 5, there will be a little something on the faces of the volunteers for the seventh annual Boston Pizza Spaghetti Eating Contest.
    The contest is one of the big fundraisers for the Drumheller Salvation Army. The money raised will help stock the shelves of the Drumheller food bank for the Christmas season.
    “It’s a fundraiser for the Salvation Army. We compete to see who can eat a big plate of spaghetti the fastest and who raises the most money,” said Stacey Stewart, general manager of the Drumheller Boston Pizza.
    Prizes include tickets to the Napier Theatre, jackets from the Drumheller Co-op, and more. The grand prize, for the person who collects the most, is an air hockey table from Canadian Tire.
    The contestants will be divided into different categories; 12 and under, 13-17, men over 18, and women over 18. Each category will be awarded prizes for fastest time and most money collected.
“The Men over 18 and the Ladies over 18 have to eat 19.5 ounces of spaghetti. It’s a big order. The kids sizes are the size on our kids menu, which is 6.5 ounces,” said Stewart.
    Last year, the contest raised roughly $5,486.
    “It’s raised over $5,000 the past couple years, which is really great for us and it’s so much fun,” said Lt. Rachel Sheils with the Drumheller Salvation Army.
    To participate, contestants are asked to grab a pledge form from Boston Pizza or download a copy from the Salvation Army website, www.drumsa.org.

Lt. Rachel Sheils with the Drumheller Salvation Army and Melanie Mazereeuw, marketing manager with the Drumheller Boston Pizza, sit down with a big bowl of spaghetti, the size of which is the same as what contestants at the 7th annual Spaghetti Eating Contest must consume on November 5. Pledge forms are available at Boston Pizza and www.drumsa.org.

    Alberta Sustainable Resource Development has opened a salvage fishery at the Berry Creek Reservoir in hopes of harvesting the fish before winter.
    A floodgate on the dam of the reservoir has malfunctioned and the water level may be too low to allow the fish to survive over winter. They hope to harvest the populations that could be lost over the winter.
    Carrie Sancartier, spokesperson for Alberta Sustainable Resources Development explains the dam was built in the mid-1960s and following a review, it was found that it needed rehabilitation to meet today’s safety standards. Work on the dam took place through the summer.
    In mid to late September however, one of the gates was discovered to be malfunctioning.
    “It was stuck in an open position and letting water escape,” said Sancartier.
    She explains attempts to either close the gate or curb the water flow were unsuccessful. They opted to build a coffer dam to slow down the water flowing through, allowing the workers to access the gate to make the fix.
    “The issue was underwater,” said Sancartier.
    Even with the coffer dam in place they are still concerned about the fish.
    “Our scientists were concerned there would not be enough oxygen for the fish to survive the winter so we put the salvage fishery in place,” said Sancartier.
    Species in the reservoir include Northern Pike, Yellow Perch, Walleye, Longnose Sucker, White Sucker and Minnow.
    Drumheller–Stettler MLA Rick Strankman lashed out at the Alberta government for what he sees as mismanagement, which caused the problems in the first place and he questioned the Minister of Environment and Sustainable Resource Development Diana McQueen durung question period on October 23.
    “Mismanagement from this PC government is negatively impacting the economic viability of farmers in this area and is putting our environment at risk,” Strankman said.  “The gateway at the Berry Creek Reservoir needs to be a priority, so we can clean up the area, ensure the safety of the workers on site, and prevent an incident like this happening in the future.”
    He says the situation is leaving farm land at risk and the department has failed to take the advise of the operators of the dam who take care of day to day maintenance.
    Sancartier said the department is working with other parties to develop a plan to manage the reservoir next year.
    “We don’t know what the effects will be, our concern right now is closing the gate. We are taking measurements at the same time to gain a full understanding of what the impacts might be,” she said.
    Those wishing to take advantage of the salvage fishery at the Berry Creek Reservoir can purchase a license at any Fish and Wildlife Office in Alberta. The fishery is open October 23 to November 23. Licenses are available to all residents of Canada and are only $5.
    For more information go to www.mywildalberta.com.