The Village of Delia was a busy place on Saturday, November 6 when the High School hosted an 8 team Senior Girls Volleyball tournament in their new school.
Teams from Airdrie, Drumheller, Hanna, Oyen, Duchess, Trochu, and Consort were all in attendance at the inaugural tournament in the new Delia School. The construction of Delia School was completed 5 months ahead of schedule which has allowed the school to move in early and they were keen to start hosting events right away and showcase the gym that was made possible through DSES community fundraising.
Teams were treated to a state of the art facility and the players provided some top-notch volleyball entertainment.
The final match of the night found Delia playing Drumheller (DVSS) in the gold medal game. Both teams left everything they had on the court and the fans were on the edge of their seats until the very last play. In a third set and a score of 15-13, the hometown Delia Bulldogs were the champions and won the gold medal in their first home tournament.
The bulldogs were thrilled with their victory and head coach Steve Nielsen said he could not be more proud of his girls and how hard they fought to win the gold. If you missed this tournament Delia is happy to be hosting Senior High Girls Volleyball Regionals on Friday, November 12 and Saturday, November 13.

As the years go on many of the brave men and women who fought and died for our freedom in World War II are becoming more scarce, leaving us to dig in and make an effort to recognize those sacrifices.
Often, even when they are with us, they are hesitant to share those memories and experiences for a myriad of reasons.
Robbie Britton’s father, Robert Britton, has a long military history and was never one to talk about it much. She has taken it upon herself to request his service records and learn more about the years he spent overseas and then back home.
“All he ever said was ‘it all wasn’t that bad,’” said Robbie. “There’s a lot of history buried in these cemeteries.”
Robbie said she always wanted to learn more about her father’s service and she requested the documentation from Ottawa, she said it took about a year and a half to get it.
Robert Thomas Britton enlisted in the Military in June of 1940, at about the age of 22. He was from Snowflake, Manitoba and joined with the Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders out of Winnipeg.
In the documentation, his reason for joining was “Patriotic.”
According to his military records, he spent some time in Lethbridge, Winnipeg, and Shilo, Manitoba before he sailed from Halifax on the SS Monarch of Bermuda in October of 1941. He was fully trained in Infantry in Canada and he was transferred to Ordinance.
It appears, from his records, he spent much of his time overseas in England. He worked for eight months as a carpenter in the Mobile Bath Section of the Medical Corps. In December 1943 he was in France, and then by July 1944, he was in Italy.
While in Italy, the records are vague but he was a casualty. He suffered burns to his back and arms.
His service record showed 66 months of total services.
The records show an application for permission to marry Iris Lora Spink. She was born in London and was working in the Highgate Hospital in London. There was a note on his file that she would not marry until she finished her nurse’s training, and he did not wish to stay in England. He was granted permission to marry in September of 1945.
He returned to Canada in November of 1945 and was discharged in December. He was awarded the 1939-1945 Star, the Italy Star, the France –Germany Star the Defence Medal, CVSM and Clasp, and the 1939-1945 War Medal.
There is documentation he planned to apply to the Veteran’s Land Act (VLA) to secure land for farming, and even had a quarter section on the mind in Snowflake, Manitoba that adjoined land of his father and brother. While it does not show whether he was able to secure land under the VLA, he did take up residence in Winnipeg where he worked for Winnipeg Central Heating.
In 1950, he ventured back to the military. His wife passed away, and he married Edith Patricia.
Robbie was born in Edmonton.
“My dad was part of the Royal Canadian Ordinance Corps after the military, so we moved around because of that,” said Robbie.
He stayed with the military until at least 1965.
“When the prison opened here in Drumheller, they hired mostly military personnel so a lot of us moved here,” she said.
She undertook the exercise of requesting the documents to learn more about her father.
“Now that I am a young senior, I don’t have stories for my kids, so I have those documents and have them copied, and I am going to give them each a copy and try to find some information so we have some sort of history,” she said. “It has helped me understand.”