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27th annual Christmas dinner tradition continues at O’Shea’s

    A Drumheller tradition continues this Christmas day at O’Shea’s Restaurant with the annual Santa’s Christmas Dinner.
    The original event was started by three local families in 1983, simply because there were no restaurants open on Christmas Day. It has now become a place to enjoy Christmas dinner in the company of others.
    “The event has been running 27 years. I’ve been involved for 15 years. I remember being a young teenager singing a special version of Jingle Bells with Billie and Brock Wood, Sandy McDonald, my grandfather, Bev Cole with Delmar Adie playing the keyboard. Our goal now is to carry on the great tradition that they started,” said Bob Sheddy, one of the volunteers helping out with this year’s event.
    Local patrons grace the event for a number of reasons. Some may decide not to cook they are not expecting guests, or maybe are too busy to cook a formal dinner. For others it may be impossible to be with family this season because many live out of town, and are not able to travel. For still others it has become a social event where friends celebrate the season.
    “Everyone is welcome at the annual Santa’s Christmas Dinner, and the only prerequisite is having the Christmas Spirit,” said Sheddy. “ In fact, some have made it a tradition to bring their family to the dinner year after year.”
    “Our staff at Century 21 work hard each December planning, organizing and helping the event come together. We all feel very fortunate to be able to give back to the community with events like this,” says Gary Chambers of Century 21 PowerRealty.ca.
    The event has previously been held at the Elks Club, Drumheller Inn, Stavros and Boston Pizza. Most recently, O’Shea’s is the venue. Chris and Heather Jones, (who operate both Boston Pizza and O’Shea’s), have acted in a generous manner allowing their restaurants to be the site of the event for the last few years.
    “We’re honoured to have the dinner at O’Shea’s this year,” commented Cam Christianson, of Canalta. “It’s a great group of people to spend Christmas with.”
    The meal includes a homemade turkey dinner with all the fixings, coffee, pie, dessert, chocolates and great company. Rick Dipietro from Canadian Linen is supplying the white linen tablecloths and festive red napkins, a detail that has remained from the beginning.
    The organizers will also have a shuttle running for those who need a ride to the event. They will also be happy to deliver care packages for those who can’t make it out.
    The organizers are still looking for entertainment for this year. For more information on this event, contact Bob Sheddy at 403-324-2222. On the day of the event, for pickup or delivery, you can call 403-823-2222 or O’Shea’s at 403-823-2460.

Can you spell better than a 5th Grader?

    Wednesday, December 2, Greentree School held their 4th Canwest Canspell competition where students from Grades 5 and 6 competed for the chance to go to the Regionals held in Calgary in March.
    Savanna Richardson, 10, in Grade 5 at Greentree School came out on top and won 1st place. She is very excited about winning and a bit nervous at the thought of going to Calgary.
    Savanna took advantage of her long school bus journey to study and memorize lists of words and it paid off as she beat 15 other local students.
    “My mom and my home room teacher, Victoria Salvatore, also helped me study,” says Savanna.
    Savanna entered the competition after successfully passing the Edmonton spelling test, but her love for the written word is not new, Savanna wants to be an author when she grows up and has already written stories about animals. She also likes to write vampire fiction and is an avid Twilight fan.
    “I found the competition very easy, most of the words were from Grade 2,” explains Savanna, “but there will be words from foreign languages at the next stage!”
    Before she heads to the regional competition in Calgary, Savanna will have to complete a written qualifier, and Anne Morgan, Greentree principal, is confident Savanna will do fine.
    The top speller in each of 21 regional spelling bees will receive a $5,000 Canspell Education Award and will secure a place in the National Final which will take place in Ottawa. A $15,000 Canspell Education Award is provided to the winner of the Canwest Canspell National Final.

Aquaplex waterslide faces uncertain future

    The Drumheller Aquaplex offers all year round fun for everyone. Unfortunately, despite the major renovations carried out in the spring, its waterslide is still in need of structural repairs.
    For five year old Matthew and three year old Ryder, the waterslide is the best thing at the Aquaplex.
    Sarah Sam, their mother, explains “all they want to do when we go to the Aquaplex is go down the waterslide, they have such fun! There isn’t anything else for them to do there as no pool is available for them to splash about in unless I go in with them”, says Sarah, “I think they’d be very upset if they didn’t have it…I’d have to take them somewhere else out of town as there are no other public pools in Drumheller.”
     In view of the age of the waterslide, the conundrum now faced by the town is refit, replace or shutdown until funds can be found.
    Al Kendrick, director of Infrastructure confirmed “it is a major concern for us but is in our budget process right now. We still have some issues we need to address a bit further before we move forward. Right now, this is sitting in the list and we really need to take a hard look at it this year.”
    Although there is no indication of the costs involved at this stage, a refit may not be an option due to the major reconstruction which may be required.
    Kendrick is anticipating that a decision will be made on this issue during the first week of January as the town will need to have the grant application ready to submit for funding. Kendrick stresses that if the slide becomes unsafe at any point in time, it will be closed.
    Councillor Sharel Shoff told Inside Drumheller that following the town’s budget meeting on Monday December 14, improving the waterslide is a high priority.
    No doubt the fate of the waterslide will be eagerly awaited in the New Year.

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