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Golf tournament hosted for local boy’s drive for kidney disorder solution

    Sinking a birdie on a par three is a feat most adults would love to pull off on the golf course.
    But to hear of young Daylen Ostapowich, 7, sinking it is a story in itself, let alone the fact the young boy has been fighting kidney disease for all of his known life.
    Daylen suffers from Nephrotic Syndrome, a disease that inhibits his kidneys from filtering out toxins that spill into his blood. Mixed with the immune suppressant medication he’s prescribed, this can even make a bug bite or common cold a week-long ordeal.
    “Daylen knows this is his life, he knows he’s different, but for him this is the norm. He just trudges on, through hospital visits and daily medication,” says his mother Theresa.
    “I get my strength from him… he’s my inspiration.”
    The cause of his health problems isn’t nearly as profound as what the young “trooper” is doing about it.
    Daylen can sure golf, and for the first time he and his family, spearheaded by his mother, will be hosting a fundraiser with the Drumheller Golf and Country Club to raise money for the Daylen Ostapowich Kidney Research Fund with his favourite pastime - golf.
    Their goal is to get a chair at the University of Calgary in Nephrology, and in order to do that the Southern Alberta Chapter of the Canadian Kidney Foundation is planning on raising $1.5 million, which will be matched by the Alberta government, in order to set up a field of research into the syndrome at the university.
    Drumheller’s golf course will be hosting the tournament on July 30 where all proceeds will be directed to getting a chair in place to study the disorder affecting Daylen.
    “We are wanting to raise funds as much as possible to get the chair going, and hopefully get some more money into this kind of research to find a cure or other possible medications to help people with kidney disease,” says Theresa.
    Their goal for the tournament is $10,000 to be put into the fund.
    To participate in the tournament, tickets can be bought at the Drumheller Golf and Country Club, or by contacting Theresa at 403-823-9833.

Summer school in session for student performers

    As much as students count down the seconds on the clock as the school year ends, you would think that most teachers are eagerly awaiting the summer to begin.
    For Tom Stolz, he heads back to his office and blows up his air mattress.
    The Canadian Badlands Performing Arts Summer School is already in session. In all, 54 students have made their way from throughout the province and beyond to board at St. Anthony’s School, work on their performing arts craft and earn high school credits. Along the way they get valuable stage experience performing in the Canadian Badlands Passion Play.
    This is Stolz’s eighth year with the school, and it has been affiliated with the Christ the Redeemer School Division for four years. Through this partnership, students are able to earn their Advanced Acting 15-25-35 credits, and now this year they are able to earn credits in TEAM Leadership.
    “In my 23 years of teaching, this is the best thing I have done,” said Stolz.
    Summer School began on June 30 and continues to July 18.
     While to some it sounds like easy credits, it is a rigorous schedule for the students. Stolz explains that every day at the summer school is like 10 regular school days. The fundamentals of singing, acting and dance are all explored. The students work with professional educators and performers to hone their skills as well as develop confidence, self-awareness, auditioning and leadership skills.
    He says why it works so well is because the students are motivated and make a considered decision to enrol. Because of the students’ focus, he says discipline is not an issue. There is a also a strong camaraderie among the students.
    The theatre school keeps students coming back as well. He says many of this year’s councillors are former students wanting to come back and support the program.

LaVerne Erickson to receive ALTO Award

    Throughout his career, LaVerne Erickson has worn many hats. He has been called everything from an educator to a big idea man.
    Visionary seems to fit very well.
    Erickson has played a role in creating Rosebud School of the Arts, Rosebud Theatre, The Canadian Badlands Passion Play, Chemainus Festival Theatre and Canadian Badlands. He is being honoured by Tourism Alberta.
    It was announced this week that Erickson will be receiving the ALTO Ambassador Award for his contributions to the tourism industry. It will be presented in October at the 10th annual Travel Alberta Industry Conference at the Fairmont Banff Springs.
    “It puts me at the top of the Alberta pile,” laughs Erickson. “You don’t plan to do it to get recognition. I like to think about it as nation building, if we all build better communities we would have a better country.”
    Erickson has always seen the big picture right from the beginning, founding the Rosebud School in 1973. Rosebud Theatre was born in 1983, and using the same model, he went on to be a founding member of the Chemainus Festival Theatre on Vancouver Island in 1993. A year later, the Canadian Badlands Passion Play was created. It has blossomed into a national, if not international annual summer attraction.
    “Simply put, Rosebud Theatre, Rosebud School of the Arts and many other arts and culture icons in the Alberta Badlands would not exist today without the vision, passion and tenacity of LaVerne Erickson,” says Bob Davis, executive director of Rosebud Theatre. “Through his unbridled enthusiasm and optimism, LaVerne has attracted support and cooperation for ideas and dreams that have influenced thousands of tourists in Alberta, building a legacy that will endure for generations to come.”
    Erickson takes these great achievements in stride.
    “I think the biggest challenge isn’t with the projects, the biggest challenge is with my personality, being a visionary,” he said. “When I see something that I think is possible, I really commit to it and am passionate about bringing it about. When I started these things, people didn’t believe me. In my mind, I see what I expect to come, but other people, when they see no physical proof of it, they think ‘there is a daydreamer.’
    “We should have a lot of visions come about in our communities, but visionaries don’t play a role in our society anymore. Everything that comes about is because it fits in with some common bureaucratic structure, so having my personality makes me sort of an oddball.”
    Davis recognizes Erickson’s skills.
    “Like a true visionary, his energy, passion, cooperative spirit and innovative ideas create synergies that would not otherwise materialize,” said Davis. “LaVerne can see, feel and believe what might be possible. His favourite saying is ‘A rising tide lifts all ships’ – a phrase that inspires people to this day to continue the work he helped start.”
    And he isn’t done yet. Erickson also became a founding member of the Canadian Badlands. His vision is to market the area as a tourism icon on par with the Canadian Rockies. It is now a limited non-profit corporation with more than 60 municipalities as members.
    “Currently Canadian Badlands is Canada’s largest municipal tourism organization, so that is a huge achievement, but we are still limited to Alberta,” he said. “We have to expand into Saskatchewan and bring in the Badlands experiences that are just over the border.”
    He wants to build Canadian Badlands into a financially sustainable and independent organization.
    “Right now it is highly dependent on federal and provincial grants, and it would be nice to be in business for itself so instead of looking for grants, it could be giving out grants and turn into a financial engine. That is my vision, to turn it around so it is a growth engine for all the member communities that participate.”
    A volunteer industry committee, which oversees the awards program, selects the ALTO Ambassador recipient.
    “LaVerne is a visionary who has demonstrated how big ideas can make small towns in rural Alberta huge tourism destinations,” explains Emilia Hovorka, member of the Strategic Tourism Marketing Council and chair of the selection committee.

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