The Town of Drumheller is on a list of communities to receive federal funds to replace the flood mapping for the community.

     On Monday, December 17, the federal Government announced it is providing $8.7 million through the National Disaster Mitigation Program for 18 projects. They include new or replacement flood mapping for Drumheller, Medicine Hat, Siksika Nation, Red Deer, and more than 100 kilometres of the North Saskatchewan River, including Edmonton.

“Drumheller is changing the channel on flood readiness. This mapping project, which has been completed by the provincial government, is one of the steps Drumheller is taking towards becoming a flood ready community,” stated Barb Miller Deputy CAO for the town of Drumheller.

The province is contributing more than $5 million to the projects as part of the cost-sharing agreement.

“Our government is committed to investing in flood resilience to better protect Albertans where they live and work,” said Shannon Phillips, Minister of Environment and Parks. “The provincial and federal funding for flood mapping and community risk assessments will help us build safer communities over the long term and ensure Alberta is better prepared for severe weather events in the future.”

Randy Boissonnault, Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre, on behalf of the Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, said “The Government of Canada, in partnership with provinces and territories, is committed to reducing the impacts of flooding on Canadians by investing in projects that allow communities to identify, plan for, and reduce flood risks,of Alberta better prepare for and respond to floods.”

Students at DVSS will be hosting the first ever totally-student run production to cap off the semester later this week when they put on their Christmas Variety Show, featuring mash-ups and reinterpretations of a number of holiday classics.

This Thursday and Friday audiences at the Kaleidoscope Theatre will expect to see several musical performances of classic Christmas songs and scenes and snippets from holiday movies such as Elf, Charlie Brown, Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. Co-director Brandon Holden says the production, with cast members from junior to senior high, will delight audiences with their unique adaptions.

“We were originally wanting to do a single idea, but thought it would be a lot more fun and interesting if we had a celebration of these huge classic holiday movies that already mean so much to everybody,” Holden said. “It’s fun for the audience to see our own interpretation of these movies. We’ve put our own little touches here and there.”

“It’s all these characters that we’ve grown up with on stage being interpreted and given characteristics that were not as exaggerated in the movie, but that we’ve pushed to the forefront to make more interesting and fresh. We definitely wanted to keep the vibe of the shows, but nothing seems like its ‘copy and pasted.”

The production is independent of the school curriculum but is being run in conjunction with the school’s drama department and will provide students with volunteer hours. Tickets will be a monetary donation at the door which will be donated to the Salvation Army for their Christmas drive. Showtimes are at 7 p.m. on both December 20 and December 21 at the Kaleidoscope Theatre, attached to DVSS.

“It’s a fun way to give back to the community,” Holden said.