Three residents who have continued to show strong support for the community have been honoured with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.
    Heather Colberg, Fred Makowecki, and Bob Hannah were nominated by Mayor Terry Yemen for the honour. Friday, Yemen learned all three were approved to receive medals.
    Heather Colberg’s service to the valley has not gone unnoticed. She was named the 2010 Citizen of the year. Her service is varied; from involvement with local sports teams to supporting Rotary endeavours and the Morgan Jayne Project.  About half-dozen years ago she took over as the organizer of the annual Christmas Food Drive for the local food bank. With her leadership skills she is able to motivate dozens of volunteers to canvass Drumheller and surrounding communities to replenish shelves of the food bank for Christmas and beyond.
    A couple years ago, recognizing the need throughout the year for support of the Food Bank, she began Stuff the Bus. This has become a successful endeavour in its own right.
    Fred Makowecki has also been an important part of the community, but in 2006 he turned a tragedy into a lifeline for literally thousands of people in Roatan who are facing life with AIDS.
    As a tribute to his daughter Morgan Jayne, who passed way at only 18 years of age, he founded the Morgan Jayne Project to help supply infant formula to babies in Roatan to curb the spread of AIDS from mother to child. It has gone on to become so much more. The Morgan Jayne Project was crucial to help establish a clinic for babies in the area, and now supports schooling. It also completes an annual Christmas Wish List for families that would never have the means to celebrate Christmas let alone a visit from St. Nick.
    Makowecki is honoured and humbled by the selection and says the award is great for the project, but should also be shared with everyone in the community who has helped support the cause.
    Bob Hannah has dedicated many years to serving the community, especially those who fought for Canada.  Some of his service included working with the local Cadet Corp RCSCC Furious.  He was also the president of the Drumheller and District Fish and Game Association.
    The majority of his work however has been with the Legion. He was elected as District Commander of the Alberta/NWT Command for one term, then chairman for two terms, vice president for one before going on to become president. He is a recipient of the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal, the Alberta Centennial Medal and the Minster of Veterans Affairs Commendation.

    One of the oldest churches in Drumheller is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year.
    To mark the occasion, St. Magloire’s will be holding a special service on Sunday, October 28, followed by a catered lunch.
    However, that’s not all the St. Magloire’s congregation has been doing to commemorate their centennial year.
    Each month the congregation chose a centennial project, which over the past year has benefitted groups such as the Drumheller and District Humane Society, Drumheller Public Library, Salvation Army, Women’s Shelter, the Special Olympics, and more.
    “We chose to turn it [the centennial] around. Rather than make it about us, we wanted to turn it outwards instead,” said Gisela Sorge, St. Magloire’s congregation member. “We wanted to be able to look back and say we gave to our community. That is our way of celebrating.”
    The centennial year culminates in a Eucharistic service lead by the new bishop of the Calgary Diocese, the Reverend Greg Kerr Wilson on Sunday, October 28. That will be followed by a meal for those in attendance.
    During the meal, there will be entertainment, including a harpist, and then a slide show about the church will be shown.
    St. Magloire’s Anglican Church has been a presence in the Drumheller Valley for 100 years as of this year. The church originally started in Munson on November 11, 1911. Services were conducted by Reverend Morgan, and he served Munson, Rumsey, and Drumheller.

    The name of the church was derived through a group of men arriving from the Channel Islands in Britain. They insisted on the name St. Magloire’s, who is reputed to have lived in poverty, eating nothing but barley bread and a few vegetables.
    In 1912 a new church building was constructed in Drumheller. The first official records started soon after on January 12, 1913. The first recorded congregation had 16 in attendance.
    The church was officially dedicated on August 15, 1915.
    In December, 1952, the original church was replaced with the present building. The cornerstone was laid by Bishop Calvert on May 25, 1955, and the building was consecrated on November 3, 1957.
    St. Magloire’s, in its long history, has seen the major events of the valley.
    The Spanish Flu pandemic hit Drumheller in 1918 and the situation was dire. Drumheller had no hospital and it was Reverend R. Brant—who replaced Reverend Knight—and a few others that helped to transform the school into a clean and comfortable hospital.
    The church fell on hard times after World War I, but was going strong by World War II. Over the years, the church played a pivotal role in the social fabric of Drumheller.
    “The Anglican in Church Drumheller has experienced and survived the history of the valley. The flu epidemic took some members in 1918. The numbers of the church waxed and waned like the population of Drumheller,” said Sorge.
    The centennial service will be held on October 28 at St. Magloire’s Church on 2nd Street West and 2nd Avenue.