News | DrumhellerMail

Rainy weather slows Highway 9 roadwork

    The wet weather experienced in the area this summer has severely hampered the construction work on Highway 9.
    Contractors are grade widening a portion on Highway 9 from its intersection with Highway 21, and putting the final paving overlay on the section of Highway 9 built two years ago.
    Dennis Grace, Alberta Transportation’s construction engineer in charge of the project, told The Mail that due to the weather conditions, they have been delayed by approximately 35 days.
    “So far they (contractors) are half way completed with the grading work, the earth moving component of it,” confirmed Grace.
    He said when the contractors were able to work, the progress was slow due to the wetness.
    “It has been a terrible summer that way,” said Grace, adding that progress in the next few weeks should give them a better idea of when the project will be complete.
    “Paving was supposed to start in August, we are looking at starting it in September now because of all the delays.”
    Originally planned to be completed by mid-October, Grace said it looks like construction work will go beyond that, depending on the weather.
    Grace said drivers should use the detour in place when it has been raining due to the road condition, and confirmed they have only received one damage claim so far.
    The detour goes through Carbon on Highway 836, along Highway 575, going through Acme then via Highway 806.

RCMP Musical Ride at Stampede Grounds August 11

    Don’t try returning your tickets for Drumheller’s first ever hosting of the RCMP Musical Ride: the event is a go despite misconception over recently cancelled shows elsewhere in Alberta.
    The traditional RCMP display of equestrian showmanship will be held at the Stampede Grounds on Wednesday, August 11.
    This year’s tour came to a halt after one of the horses contracted a contagious bacterial infection, but returned July 23 with a show in Edmonton.
    Drumheller’s event will go ahead as planned.
    “It is a phenomenal opportunity for Drumheller to host this,” says Staff Sergeant Arthur Hopkins of the “ballet of horses”.
    The Drumheller detachment will play a minor role in the ride, but will be in attendance and on hand if needed.
    Proceeds from the August 11 event are going to Big Country Victim Services, which support victims of tragedy from Oyen, Hanna, and Drumheller, and the Drumheller Agricultural Society, who is providing the Stampede Grounds.
    The event will feature two performances, one at 2 p.m. and one at 7 p.m.
    The Stampede Ground barn, turned stable for the event, will be open the night before (Tuesday) for interested visitors to meet the horses first hand.
    Today, in keeping with tradition, the Musical Ride is performed by a full troop of thirty-two riders and horses, plus the member in charge.
    The Musical Ride consists of the execution of a variety of intricate figures and cavalry drill choreographed to music.
    Demanding utmost control, timing and coordination, these movements are formed by individual horses and riders, in twos, fours and eights at the trot and at the canter.
    Months of training, practice and many kilometres around the riding school make horse and rider one.
    The horses must not only appear in the Musical Ride, but on Parliament Hill, in parades, special events and have the ability to travel and adapt to different environments, not to mention hours of petting and photo-taking the horses must patiently endure.
    “This is a great opportunity for the community to benefit from,” says Hopkins.
    The native dancer who was well received at the 2010 Olympic celebrations in Drumheller will be performing at the Musical Ride.
    The Musical Ride was developed from a desire by early members of the North-West Mounted Police to display their riding ability and entertain both themselves and the local community.
    Considering the original Mounted Police members had a British military background, it was inevitable that the series of figures they performed were traditional cavalry drill movements.
    Although legend has it the first Musical Ride was performed as early as 1876, the first officially recorded Musical Ride was performed in Regina under Inspector William George Matthews in 1887.
    The Musical Ride, consisting of twenty men, was put on public display for the first time in 1901. Over the years the popularity of the Ride has grown and it has become a familiar sight throughout most of the world.

Local artist swipes World Body Painting Championship title

    Local resident face and body painter Lucie Brouillard can relax for a while now, she has finally achieved a long time ambition.
    On Sunday, July 18, in Austria, she became the World Champion Body Painter in the brush/sponge category, a title that had eluded her for the past three years, coming third place on each of her attempts.
    “I don’t know, I felt very confident this year. That’s the one I wanted. So it’s all done. I have the feeling it is done now,” she told inSide Drumheller.
    When Brouillard featured in our February, 26 edition of inSide Drumheller, she had just come back from Las Vegas, where she had won the first North America Body Painting Championship and brought home her 13th award at top championships.
    She set off for Austria determined this was going to be her year, working with the same model as she painted in Las Vegas, Viktoria Law.
    “When we won in Vegas, we collaborated very well together, we get along and I like her because she has, in my eyes, the perfect body for painting. The feeling of winning as well creates a great bond. She has been doing this for seven years and has never won the first place, so for her, too, it was really nice,” said Brouillard.
    Good choice, some might say, as models were affected by the heat in Austria, in the high 30s everyday. “I was lucky because my model was half Asian so she didn’t sweat as much as the other models. Working in this heat becomes quite a challenge,” she explained, adding many models fainted during the contest.
    While body painters could work in teams of two, and for each theme were allocated six hours to paint their model, Brouillard decided to do it alone, and that got her a new nickname: “The Painting Machine”.
    The themes for the painting this year were “Sub Cultures“ and “Sources of Power” and Brouillard won by nine points in the brush/sponge body painting category.
    “The competition was close,” she said, “There was a lot of good quality work there.”
    At the World Championship this year, Brouillard slid down one place in the face painting category, coming second.
    “Actually, I was happy to get second, it gives room for another person. A Mexican artist won first place. She really did a beautiful piece.”
    With the world title for body painting under her arm, Brouillard is now concentrating on her longer term plans: to teach body painting at an international level.
    “It’s looking good. So far, I am booked as an instructor in Brazil in January, and I am going to Australia to teach and to judge a competition in February. And that all came in the last week, before I got this title... My aim is to be a good instructor, enough that people really want me and I’ll say, ‘Okay, I’ll go, but you don’t need to pay me, just pay the fare for me and my family [her partner and her two children]. That’s my big plan, so I can bring my family with me to visit the world.”
    Brouillard said she will not be entering the competition next year. “You need to give the chance to other people. I have had everything I wanted, now I just want to teach. I am happy, I got my wish.”

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