The Hussar Ag Society improvised this year with its annual Stag Auction and was able to raise about $30,000.
The annual event was cancelled last year due to COVID-19. Despite this the community was supportive and they were able to garner donations to keep the arena operating. This year however they partnered with Premier Auctions for an online auction and had a successful event.
“We are just over $30,000,” said Ag Society president Kyle Gordon.
“We have a good amount of local support from the businesses and the farming community and people in town. We are pretty lucky.”
There were some great items with more than 100 donated including generators, a kerosine heater, a beer fridge, and even fishing trips. One featured item that goes back almost as far as the Stag Auction, which has been going since 1976, is Old Faithful, a shovel. It went to Roman’s Construction of Strathmore for $1,550.
Typically they would also auction off centre ice advertising, however this year, they declined to sell it.
“We didn’t think it would be fair the people didn’t get their advertising for a whole year due to COVID, so we pushed that one-off,” said Gordon.
The funds raised at this year’s event were dedicated to the new ice plant at the Hussar Arena.
“We had a new ice plant put in last year, so we are just working on paying the rest of it off,” said Gordon.
He adds the utilities at the arena are increasing and this adds another challenge. They are grateful for the support. Gordon says their programs at the arena are starting to return after COVID. He says the arena is booked solid through the season.

Three Hills RCMP are prepared to do their part so roads are safe from impaired drivers during the holiday season.
The Mounties in Three Hills will be putting particular focus on impaired driving during December.
According to a press release, the detachment is well equipped with officers trained in the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, which provides enhanced skills in detecting alcohol and drug impairment. The detachment is also well equipped with roadside screening devices to detect a multitude of substances that may cause impairment.
The RCMP notes drivers should be aware of new legislation passed in the last few years, provincially and federally to make roads safer.
As of December 2018 and the passing of Bill C-46, mandatory alcohol screening in Canada became law. This means police officers can demand any lawfully stopped driver provide a preliminary breath sample to test for alcohol without reasonable suspicion the driver has alcohol in their body. This means if you are pulled over or at a check stop, you can expect to provide a breath sample.
“In December 2020, a total of 560 impaired drivers were removed from the roads,” says Supt. Gary Graham, Alberta RCMP Traffic Services.
In December 2020, Bill 21 became law in Alberta and it includes changes to the Immediate Roadside Sanction (IRS) program. This provides immediate and escalating consequences for impaired drivers
Increased impaired driving consequences under the new IRS Program include driver’s licence suspensions of 15 months for the first offence, longer for repeat offenders; first offence fines of $1,000, with increasing fines for repeat offenders, vehicle seizure of 30 days, mandatory education programs for offenders, drivers can pay for the Ignition Interlock Program (IIP) after 90 days of suspension with extended periods of IIP for repeat offenders, and depending on the circumstances, criminal code charges can still be laid by the police officer.