He arrived early in the morning on Thursday and he is the apple of his mother and father’s eye.

 Easton Kirkpatrick, son of  Wes and Ashley, is the Drumheller New Year’s Baby. He arrived at 4:40 a.m. on January 2.

The six-pound, nine-ounce baby boy is the Hussar family’s first child, the first grandchild on his father’s side and the second on his mother's.

He was due on January 1, but he let his parents ring in the New Year before he decided to make his appearance. 

The healthy baby was delivered by Dr. Maseka.

Little does Baby Easton know that he and his family are about to be showered with gifts from generous New Year’s Baby sponsors including Rocky Mountain Equipment, Yavis Family Restaurant, Wade’s Jewellery, Hi-Way 9 Express Ltd, McDonald’s Restaurant, Vietnamese Noodle House, Centre Street Insurance, Jerry’s Liquor Store, DeMott Floors, Extra Foods, Kneehill Soil Services, Canadian Tire, SJ Fashions, Boston Pizza, Valley Truck and Car Wash,  Top Waste-Peaches Portables, Sublime Food and Wine, Tug’s Pop Culture and Sports, Tim Hortons, The Paint Shop, Sunrise Auto Sales, Auto Value Parts, H&H Optical and Hearing Centre, Riverside Value Drug Mart, Image Crafter Signs, Drumheller Public Library, Vintage Tap House, O’Shea’s Eatery and Ale House, Sandstone Lanes, Bevan Scott Hair Salon and Spa, Freson Bros, The Brick, Reality Bytes, Dry Canyon Collectables, Shoppers Drug Mart, Proven Diesel, The Inn and Spa at Heartwood, SD Roofing, The World’s Largest Dinosaur,  Cervus Equipment, Sun Life Financial, Subway Restaurant, Shoppers Place, M.H. Enterprises, Drumheller Equipment, Pizza Hut, Fountain Tire, Badlands Community Facility-Drumheller Aquaplex, Napier Theatre, Oasis Car Wash, A&W Restaurant and Century 21 Power Realty. 

In a holiday tradition, St. Anthony’s School hosted its annual alumni games on Thursday, December 19. They invited former players back to play versus the current teams for an evening of fun and camaraderie. The St. Anthony’s junior varsity girls team, above, played well but the alumni won by a single point, while on the men’s side, the young legs of the current St. Anthony’s team bested the alumni.