There are few loves that last from high school, but that is the story of Don and Linda Ewing.
Don tells the Mail he was in Grade 12 and the manager of the senior boy’s basketball team. Linda was in Grade 11 on the girl’s team.
“One bus trip, on the way to Strathmore, is when our romance started. We’ve been married over 50 years,” Don tells the Mail.
He said she was really cute and just a nice person and that piqued his interest.
When asked what he thought she saw in him? “It may have been my humour, it couldn’t have been my good looks,” he chuckles.
Being a senior, the next year he began studying engineering at the University of Calgary. He soon decided it wasn’t for him. The distance became even greater, but they kept on.
“By Christmas, I was looking for a job and did get one with Canadian Utilities, and I worked power line construction up north, so that put me even further away,” he said.
The couple was married in the summer of 1969. The wedding was at Knox United Church, and the reception was at the golf course. That fall, Don began the next step of his career, and began studying education in the fall.
“We were again quite separated back then physically but it worked out,” he said.
During his first year of studies, Linda was working for the school division, and Don had received a bursary to study from the school division, with the provision he would return and teach for three years. That’s when he learned where their love began, would also be where his long-time career would be.
At the end of that first year, Linda moved to Calgary and got a job at the School of Nursing.
“It was in the same building as education, so it worked out really fine,” he said.
When he graduated, they made the valley their home. Linda worked at AGT (Telus), Social Services, and is currently working at Anderson Drug located in Freson Bros.
A few years later they started a family with two children; Ryan in Drumheller and Chad in Kitchener, Ontario. They have twin grandchildren, Brody and Duncan, who are now the third generation to study at DVSS.
When asked the secret to 52 years of marriage, come this July 19, Don says, “To me, it is not to stress out over stupid things. If you stay away from that, it will save a whole lot of problems.”

The Town of Drumheller appointed its Returning Officer for the upcoming municipal election in October of this year.
In previous years, the nomination period would open in June of the election year; however, this was changed for the 2021 election and the nomination period opened on January 1, 2021.
“Normally (the Returning Officer) is the Director of Corporate Services,” Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Darryl Drohomerski told the Mail. “In the absence of one, it defaults to the CAO.”
Drohomerski added, “Basically (the role) is to make sure the election is held fairly and transparently.”
The Returning Officer is required to choose voting locations, recruit and train election workers for both advanced polls as well as the October 18 election, and provide potential nominees with information on the roles and expectations of council members.
While the change in the nomination period may be beneficial in larger municipalities, such as Calgary and Edmonton where candidates may need more time to campaign and fundraise, Drohomerski notes “it seems pretty early” for other, smaller municipalities and has “caught people off guard.”
So far, Drohomerski says he has received some inquiries for general information about the upcoming election, as well as some nominations, but there has been “no real, significant interest to date.”
Anyone interested in becoming a member of council is encouraged to reach out to CAO Drohomerski for more information.