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WPCA drivers roll through town, drumming up support for tarp auction

    The Badlands Dinosaur Derby is coming up sooner than expected, and two WPCA Dodge Pro Tour drivers were in Drumheller last week drumming up support for the upcoming tarp auction.
    The tarp auction is coming up on April 6. This is a chance for local residents and businesses to bid on a chuckwagon tarp for their favourite driver at this year’s event scheduled in Drumheller for the Father’s Day Weekend.
    Chuckwagon drivers Jerry Bremner and Rick Fraser met with local businesses and officials to spread the buzz about the upcoming events.
    The Badland Dinosaur Derby has enjoyed success every year it has run, with hundreds coming to the Stampede Barn to take in the Half Mile of Hell. Bremner says Drumheller is a one of a kind event.
    “It is a unique venue, it is something you wouldn’t see anywhere else in the world,” said Bremner.
    The Ag Society has been busy improving the facility for the drivers and the fans. Bremner appreciates the efforts and said volunteers are crucial to the event.
    Before the action on the track takes off, the action on the auction block will heat up.
The tarp auction goes on Tuesday April 6. While the live auction will be at the Deerfoot Inn and Casino in Calgary, Drumheller will be one of the uplink hosting venues. The reception begins at 4:30 p.m. and the auction kicks off at 5p.m. In Drumheller, there will be food and drinks. It is a great opportunity for Drumheller residents to meet some of the WPCA drivers and to get behind the event.
    During the same auction, tarps for events in Grande Prairie, Medicine Hat, High River, Bonnyville, Strathmore, Dawson Creek and Rocky Mountain House, will be sold.
    While in the past the uplink has been via satellite, this year they are making the auction internet based. This means bidders will be better able to watch the bids come entered in real time. This will allow bidders from across the province to see the auction live without any time lag.
    For those interested on bidding on a tarp, but can’t wait for the auction to come, they can place a pre-bid online by going to halfmileofhell.com and registering to bid. The pre-bidding will be cut off 24 hours prior to the start of the live auction. The pre-bid will be starting value for the tarp. If the pre-bid is not increased at the live auction, it will stand.
    Westjet is also in on the action. As a sponsor of the WPCA, they are offering two tickets to anywhere they fly. Every paid successful bidder will be entered into the draw.
    For more information, see www.drumhellerstampede.com. or www.wpca.com.

Speaker Series continues with Dr. Scott Sampson

    The Royal Tyrrell Museum 25th anniversary Speakers Series continues Friday, March 12 with Dr. Scott B. Sampson.
    Dr. Sampson is a Canadian-born dinosaur palaeontologist, evolutionary biologist, and educator who presently serves as Research Curator at the Utah Museum of Natural History, University of Utah.
    He is also pursuing a range of new projects focused on education. Appearing as “Dr. Scott the Palaeontologist,” he is presently appearing on the PBS children’s series called Dinosaur Train, produced by the Jim Henson Company. Sampson was also the primary scientific consultant and on-air host of the four-part Discovery Channel series Dinosaur Planet.
    On Friday, March 12, at 11:00 a.m., Dr. Sampson will speak on some of the latest ideas and controversies from his recently published book in a lecture entitled, Dinosaurs of the Lost Continent.
    Sampson’s talk will explain how it was only recently that palaeontologists have learned that most dinosaurs—among them horned, duck-billed, dome-headed, and armored plant-eaters, as well as giant tyrannosaur meat-eaters and smaller “raptor-like” predators—existed on a “lost continent” known as “Laramidia.”
    He will look at how so many giant animals were able to co-exist on such a diminutive landmass, why most of these dinosaurs were adorned with bizarre bony features such as horns, crests, domes, or spikes, and what factors may have led to the great extinction of dinosaurs at the close of the Mesozoic Era.
    Sampson’s recently completed book, Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life (University of California Press, 2009), is the first comprehensive review of dinosaur palaeontology for a general audience in more than two decades. After the talk, there will be a book signing event. Copies will be available for purchase.
    The Speakers Series are free lectures. This being the 25th anniversary of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, the Speaker Series is dedicated to 25 years of discovery: highlights of palaeontological research at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

The gloves are off, let bidding commence

   The gloves are off, and now there may be some friendly fisticuffs as to who will claim ownership of the gargantuan gloves.
    Sliding a bright red pair of mittens onto the claws of the World’s Largest Dinosaur put Drumheller on the map as part of its Olympic Torch Celebrations. On Tuesday night, the Drumheller Fire Department removed the mittens.
    Now the gloves will be on the auction block in support of the Badlands Community Facility.
    Tara Semchuk, of Bit’s and Pieces, constructed the mittens that helped kick off the National Red Mitten Campaign. She confirms that the giant red mittens will be listed on eBay to be sold to the highest bidder.
    “We chose the community facility because it is sports related,” said Semchuk.
    She explains they were looking at how best to support the sports community in the spirit of the Olympics, and came to the conclusion the recreation facility would be almost universal in supporting a number of different groups.
    “How do you pick one sporting group over the others? The community facility will be used by all groups in town,” said Semchuk.
    They have no idea what the mittens will fetch, but one indication revealed when the mittens came down, demonstrates they may be a hot commodity.
    The Fire department found a sizable barbed fishing lure lodged in the mitten, giving the appearance that someone may have already been trying to hook themselves a prize.
    The mittens are being cleaned and prepared, and they hope to have them listed by next week. The mittens are 3 metres long and 1.8 metres wide.

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