Albert Jensen and his family are seed growers and farm about 11,000 acres near Drumheller, which means they have a large line of farm equipment to look after.  Several years ago he was using a short highway tractor Kenworth T800 to haul grain.  However it became apparent that it was too small a truck for pulling Super B trailers, so he realized that it was proportionally powered quite well to be used as a service truck.  Jensen lengthened the Kenworth chassis by about three feet and had a service body custom built to his own specifications by a dealer.  He equipped the truck with a hoist which has a lift capacity of around 9500 pounds.  It can reach out about 45 feet from the truck, which makes it really handy around the farm.  Halogen lights on the side of the truck provide all the light they need for most field situations, including those late night combining marathons.  The service truck carries 500 gallons of diesel fuel and also has a 250 gallon water tank.  A boiler right on the truck means they can use their pressure washing system in the field even when temperatures slip below freezing. A 260 cubic foot screw compressor gives them plenty of air capacity for jobs such as blowing off farm equipment.  Even though it seems like a large service truck, Jensen says there still isn’t enough room for everything they would ideally like to carry on it. Not including the truck itself, the conversion cost them about $125,000.  Jensen says it’s been a very good investment, especially since they use the truck just about every day.
    Jensen and his service truck will be featured on an upcoming episode of the Prairie Farm Report, on December 14 and 15 and during the week of the 16th along with a number of other farm shop related ideas.
    You can see this Prairie Farm Report episode several times during the week of December 16 on The Rural Channel on Shaw Direct on channel 385 including Monday & Saturday at 7:00 PM- MST.

Kerri Robins
The Drumheller Mail

    A good movie can positively stimulate the senses. It’s entertainment that can be therapy, too.
    “A movie brings people together and I wanted to create that family-type atmosphere for the residents,” says Barb Gallagher, whose 86-year-old mother, Mildred Morse, and her 83-year-old aunt, Mable Hathaway (Morse’s sister), reside at the Drumheller Health Centre on the continuing care unit.
    So Gallagher went to work raising funds through the Drumheller Area Health Foundation to purchase the MovieMate, a portable projector DVD and music player for the health centre’s sensory stimulation program in the recreation therapy department.
    “The MovieMate is a great way to arouse audio and visual senses and it’s easy to use,” says Lisa Orton, recreation therapist at the health centre.
    “We show movies like nature documentary Planet Earth to our lower-functioning residents, for example, those suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s or stroke, to encourage communication in various ways.”
    Morse has dementia and it’s been saddening over the years for Gallagher to watch her mother’s health decline.
    “Mom was a busy lady, so watching her slowly deteriorate is hard,” says Gallagher.
    Gallagher received donations from the Rosedale Fire Hall and the local Co-op, and about $1,100 later, the hospital had a MovieMate projector courtesy of the foundation.
    The goal of the sensory stimulation program is to promote better quality of life for residents. For example, triggers like an arm reaching out, tapping feet, eye contact or simply a smile are communications signalling that residents are stimulated and aware of certain surroundings.
    “The MovieMate gives residents another way to communicate and helps family members see the person they knew is still in there somewhere,” says Jennifer Lahey, recreation therapist at Foothills Hospital. Until recently, Lahey was part of recreation therapy at the Drumheller centre.
    The Drumheller Area Health Foundation is an advocate of the program and Chair Boris Nahornick is pleased with community support.
    “It really is the circle of life,” says Nahornick. “Community members donate to the foundation for hospital equipment and, in some cases, those same members end up benefiting from the equipment they contributed to buying.”

For information visit Drumheller Area Health Foundation at www.drumhellerhealthfoundation.com.