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Kneehill halls receive county support

Copy of Copy of kneehill county new admin building

Community halls continue to face numerous challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and nine community halls in rural Kneehill County will receive support following approval from council at the regular Tuesday, December 14 council meeting.
The request originally came before council during the Tuesday, December 7 Committee of the Whole meeting and was recommended to be brought back before council at a future meeting date.
“Our rural hall policy states (Kneehill County) pays them based on how many times per year they’re rented out; due to COVID they have not been able to rent out as many times as they used to, so funding levels would have gone down in 2022 if we don’t provide them with this,” explained Legislative Services coordinator Carolyn Van der Kuil during the meeting.
There are three funding levels for these community halls-Level A used year-round 20 or more times a year, Level B used year-round or seasonally 10 to 20 times per year, and Level C used fewer than 10 times per year.
Currently, there are seven halls classified as Level A-Huxley Community Association, Sunnyslope Community Association, Wimborne Community Centre, Torrington Community Centre, Swalwell Community Association-and two halls classified as Level C-Hesketh Community Hall Association, and Mount Vernon Community Association; there are no halls currently classed as Level B.
Along with the recommendation to maintain community hall funding at the 2020 levels, Chief Administrative Officer Mike Haugen also presented council with a recommendation to use a portion of unused community grant funds to give these halls a one-time COVID relief grant.
While the relief grant will not use up all remaining budgeted funds, CAO Haugen explained council will determine how the remaining funds are utilized, though the most likely course of action will be to put it into a reserve to contribute to a possible municipal surplus.
This relief grant would help these rural community halls to offset operating costs due to reduced revenue from fewer rentals throughout 2021. It was discussed by council the halls will need to provide accountability for what the funds will be used for.
Council unanimously approved providing the one-time COVID relief funds; the seven Level A halls will each receive $5,000 while the two Level C halls will each receive $1,650.


Dragons forward commits to University of Anchorage

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The Drumheller Dragons announced that 20-year-old forward Carter Belitski has secured a NCAA Division 1 scholarship to join the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in the fall of 2022. The Seawolves were reinstated into D-1 hockey and will resume play in the 2022-23 season.
Belitski is playing his third and final junior season with the Drumheller Dragons. Over the course of his 3 seasons with the Dragons, the Regina, Saskatchewan native has played in 93 games contributing 59 points. As he approaches the 100-game milestone, Belitski is averaging over a point a game this season with 34 points in 30 games played and is set to play in his 100th game in the new year. Belitski developed in the Regina Minor Hockey stream graduating from the Regina Pat Canadians U18 Elite program before moving onto the Dragons.

“Carter has been an instrumental leader with the team over the course of his junior career,” said coach Kevin Hasselberg. “From the time he played his first game he has instilled a level of competitiveness in the identity of the team that makes the Dragons a difficult team to play. His standards are extremely high, and he expects a lot out of himself and his teammates. Our program is better today because Carter has helped shape the culture and strengthen our dressing room.”
The Drumheller Dragons are appreciative of the coaching staff of the Anchorage Seawolves for all their recruiting efforts and invested time following and expressing interest in Carter, and extend a congratulations to Carter, his entire family and support team, with this accomplishment.

Dragons end 2021 in second place in Viterra South Division

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The Dragons finished 2021 with a tenuous hold on second place in the Viterra AJHL South Division, trailing the Brooks Bandits, who only have two losses on the season.
The Drumheller Dragons were in Camrose on Tuesday, December 14, to take on the Kodiaks. The Dragons outshot the Kodiaks 11-5 in the first period and started stacking goals, starting at 4:14 in with a powerplay goal from Tanner Willick. Myles Hilman followed this up about two minutes later, and then Grayson Dietrich scored short-handed at the 12-minute mark. Ty Daneault added another with four minutes left, to go up 4-0. The Kodiaks add their first on the powerplay, but Griffin Asham- Moroz scored with nine seconds left, to make it 5-1 after one.
The Kodiaks scored in the second period, but Daneault added a powerplay goal at the midway point of the third as the Dragons went on to a 6-2 win.
The Dragons were back home on Friday, December 17, for their last home game of the year, and faced off against the Okotoks Oilers. Again they didn’t waste any time as Daneault scored 1:10 in. This was followed by powerplay goals from Sam Simard and Dietrich respectively. The Oilers added one, but Vann Yuhas put the Dragons up 4-1 after one.
After a scoreless second period, the Okotoks scored just 24 seconds into the third period and added another four minutes later, but it was too little too late as the Dragons went on to a 4-3 win.
The Dragons wound up the year heading to Brooks to take on the Bandits. Hilman opened the scoring for the Dragons on the powerplay midway through the first period, but Brooks tied it up early in the second. Hillman added his second of the game two minutes into the second, but Brooks again tied it back up. Finally, with less than six minutes left in the game, the Bandits scored the winner, ending the game with a score of 3-2.

The Dragons have a 22-11-3 record and are 20 points behind the Bandits and just a point ahead of the Kodiaks. They are back on the ice in the new year on Tuesday, January 4, to take on the Olds Grizzlys.


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