A strong contingent of Zone 2 athletes was at the 55-plus Winter Games in Edmonton from April 7-10.
Drumheller is part of Zone 2 and this team represented around 200 of the 1,100 athletes that competed in Edmonton. Zone 2 President Linda Traquair was excited by the participation and the results.
Some local members of the team came home with a collection of medals.
In Pickleball, in the Mixed Doubles age 55, Laurie and Duane Bolin won gold, and Irv and Corinne Gerling took the silver medal in the Mixed Doubles age 70. In the Men’s Doubles, age 65 Irv Gerling and Bob Chambers took bronze, and in the Women’s Doubles, age 60 Laurie Bolin and Corinne Gerling took sixth place. In the Men’s Doubles age 55, Duane Bolin and Robert Thomas won gold.
The bowling teams also did well. The 65 -plus team, consisting of Sandra Irwin of Hanna, Tillie Llewellyn, Wendy Sisson, Debbie LaPlante, and Carol McLean won bronze. The 75-plus team, consisting of Remie Defoor, Jim Milman, Margaret Nielsen, and two competitors from Okotoks won bronze. Linda Traquair won bronze in the 55-plus scratch.
The Zone 2 Women’s hockey team, the Rundle Deuces, which includes Alison Ostergard and Karen McMillan competed at the games and came home with a bronze medal.
Already the team is preparing for the summer games in Peace River from June 16-20. So far six of the eight spots for crib are Drumheller teams. A competitor will be playing in Slow-pitch, and Jim Millman will be competing in cycling. There are also golf athletes getting ready to compete.
“We are just doing the competitions for photography and arts and crafts,” said Traquair, adding on Sunday April 24, the qualifier for floor shuffleboard is in Drumheller.

The process from complaint to resolution for unsightly property infractions was discussed during the regular Tuesday, April 5 Wheatland County council meeting, following a request from Division 1 Councillor Shannon Laprise.
Councillor Laprise noted there were concerns from Cluny ratepayers about ongoing unsightly property concerns in the hamlet with no apparent resolution to date.
“I know there’s a process and our (Unsightly Property) bylaw covers that, but it feels like it’s not getting resolved to the level our county residents are content with,” Laprise said.
Senior Peace Officer Kris Permann shared, while cases are immediately assigned as they come in, enforcement proceedings cannot go ahead right away. Officers must first conduct an inspection of the property, and these must be conducted off-property or with permission from the landowner to allow entry.
If an inspection cannot be conducted off-property, a Notice of Entry may be issued giving a date and time an officer will enter the property for inspection.
However, if the property owner refuses entry, the next proceeding is to gain an injunction through the Court of Queen’s Bench, and this process can take anywhere from weeks to months.
Even once permission has been granted, the officer must specifically catalogue everything required to bring the property back to a level of compliance.
In most cases, Bylaw Officers will try to work with the resident or property owner toward voluntary compliance; if this can be achieved they will enter into a verbal agreement to bring the property to compliance before proceeding with the next steps-a warning letter or remedial order.
Officer Permann noted about 90 per cent of complaints received are for overgrown grass and weeds. Landscapers can be brought in to bring the property to compliance, but large-scale property clean-up is “a little more complicated” and requires carefully detailed cataloguing and item storage.
“Just because they’re not seeing anything happening doesn’t mean there are not things going on behind the scenes,” Officer Permann stated, adding he is currently working on two unsightly property cases that have been ongoing for four and seven years.