Every two years, the Rotary club gives residents a chance to do some Christmas shopping and to support a good cause.
    The Rotary Radio Auction is back, and already there are dozens of items donated by local residents and businesses ready to be auctioned come October 19 and 20. 
    And what a collection they have, everything from high-end electronics to tools, tickets and household items. There is something for everyone on the list. One of the featured items this year is a hand made Chuckwagon donated by former Drumheller residents Dale and Karen Hunter.
    “This item is sure to attract a lot of interest. We anticipate individuals, organizations and businesses will be stepping up to place bids for this very special item,” says auction committee member Jim Fisher.
    The wagon is a to-scale replica of Colt Cosgrave’s famous wagon.
    The radio auction is simple. A list of items on the block will be published in The Drumheller Mail, and on auction day, listen to Drum FM on the radio and call in your bids for the items. Local notables will be on the airwaves talking their way to the best price for the best items.
    An even more exciting way of participating is to head down to Greentree Mall. The auction will be at the Former Liquidation World location from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Hi-Way 9 Express has stepped up once again to sponsor the wine and cheese during the event. Other sponsors supporting the auction include Sun Life Financial, Riverside Value Drug Mart and Scotiabank.
    The funds raised by the Radio Auction will be going toward a new Rotary project, to raise a clock tower. The plan is still in its infancy and the club is talking with the town as to a location to place the four faced clock tower, a monument to Rotary’s presence in the community.
    Rotary Radio Auction chair Delphine Viczko says they could always use more items to support this great cause. For more information, contact Viczko at 403-823-9767.

    Naturalist Charlie Russell was reported to have crash landed on the Piikani Nation in Southern Alberta Shortly after stopping in Drumheller.
    Some residents may have noticed the uncanny buzz of a Rotax engine, or a tiny ultralight swooping over downtown on Wednesday afternoon.
    It was just the Bear Man of Kamchatka.
    A couple years ago residents may have heard Charlie Russell speak when a screening of  the documentary "Edge of Eden" was presented at the Royal Tyrrell Museum. This time his stop was quite a bit briefer.
    The Piikani Nation RCMP issued a press release last Friday that an ultralight aircraft with one occupant crash landed on the reserve. The site was three kilometres south of Highway 3 in an empty field. The pilot was able to walk away from the crash to a nearby residence  to get assistance.
    Cst. Forrest Anderson of the Piikani Nation RCMP said that the pilot’s injuries were non-life threatening, but did not release his name. The Pincher Creek Voice  reported the pilot was Russell.
    On Wednesday afternoon, he touched down his Kolb Mark 3 ultralight aircraft with a float on the Red Deer River for a break.
    Russell was coming from Wood Buffalo National Park enroute to his home near Waterton. He was in Northern Alberta working with the BBC and the CBC on a documentary on wolf predation on buffalo.
    His flights in the tiny craft were not only for commuting, but also, during filming, he would go up and spot for the film crew before they would fire up their considerably more expensive helicopter and filming equipment to shoot a scene.
    His stop in Drumheller was for fuel. Jes Nielsen, who lives alongside the Red Deer River, met Russell earlier this year on another stopover. Now when he hears the buzz of Russell’s plane he heads down and picks up the pilot to give him a quick lift to a gas station for fuel, saving him from lugging an armful of jerry cans to the nearest filling station.
    Around 4:30 p.m., Russell was taxiing down the river, hoping to get home before dark. RCMP reports said he encountered bad weather on his commute. The Transportation Safety Board has been notified of the incident and the cause of the crash is still under investigation.