Christmas came to the Roatan thanks to the spirit of giving shown by Drumheller.
 This year supporters of the Morgan Jayne Project were able to fill the Christmas wish list for children served by Familias Saludables, and sent nearly two tons of gifts to the small organization in Honduras.
    The organization held its annual Christmas party on December 24. Valerie Nelson of Familias Saludables said there were 178 children on the list, and of those, 85 came to the party. The rest of the gifts were hand-delivered to the families.
    The Wendy’s restaurant was the venue for the party. This is a place the children were not used to going to, and after a while they took a shine to the playground, which they were not normally able to play on because it was reserved for paying customers. They also warmed up to the free game at The Games Company amusement centre across the street.
    “The manager was so in awe of these kids’ laughter, he told me he’d never seen such happy kids with no fighting, and he let them all do everything again,” said Nelson.
    Back at the restaurant they enjoyed burgers and fries. They were just cutting the cake when Santa arrived. Nelson explained the different ways the children opened their gifts. Some tore into them with wild abandon, while for others, it was their first Christmas.
    “One little girl, age five, tried two times to give her present back to Santa. As I explained it was for her she looked at me and told me it couldn’t be because ‘Santa never comes to me.’ My voice wobbled as I told her ‘He does from now on!’”
    Local grocery stores also contributed to the Christmas party and the families were able to go home knowing they had groceries to fill their shelves for the time being.
    One youngster who was visited by Santa this year was Wesley. The little boy, named after a Morgan Jayne Project volunteer in Drumheller, was born to a young, malnourished, addicted mother and weighed only 2 lbs, 15 ounces at birth. His twin died. The doctor at the pediatric unit said he would not survive much longer. With the help of formula and medicine, supplied by the Morgan Jayne Project the youngster responded with a fight, feeding hourly. A month later, he is four and half pounds and thriving.
    Nelson has praise for supporters of the project.
    “Of course the real Santa is you; you’re the ones who have brought such joy to these children,” she said. “Thank you for bringing joy to children at Christmas. Thank you for bringing joy to the whole family. Thank you for the nights these children will not go to bed hungry. Thank you for allowing these children to feel special and cared for. Thank you for making a difference.”

    Media were given the opportunity to tour the fitness facilities in the Badlands Community Facility on Friday, January 6. It is estimated the fitness side of the building is between 80 to 90 per cent complete and the entire facility will be open mid-February.
    Last week was an important time for the Community Facility. The fitness equipment had arrived and was in the process of being installed by Apple Fitness.
     “The list of equipment is quite extensive and we hope we have met the needs of a multitude of people and demographics in the Drumheller area. There is equipment for young and old that is easy to use and is what the community desired for their fitness regime,” said Guy Latour, Business Manager of the Community Facility.
    The brands that are being installed are some of the highest quality in the market, such as Life Fitness and Hammer Strength.
    “These equipment lines are actually the exact same lines, and in some cases products, that you’d find in all the professional teams in Alberta and North America,” said Trevor Irwin, a Commercial Sales Representative for Apple Fitness.
    The fitness area is divided into two floors. The main floor will focus more on members who have more experience working out. The weight training equipment, such as free weights, benches, leg press, chest press, and cable cross over will be on the main floor.
    One of the more sophisticated machines on that level is the dual adjustable pulley. It has a touch screen monitor connected to it that will display workouts that can be done using the machine.
    Adjacent to the main level of the fitness centre is the fitness studio, a mirror-lined room that can accommodate various classes, such as gymnastics, or dance. There will also be spin bikes in the studio as well.
    The upper level of the fitness centre is the cardio and circuit training centre.
    The Life Fitness cardio machines, such as treadmills, recumbent bikes, and elliptical, all have 17-inch monitors mounted on top. The screens will be hooked up to Shaw Cable, allowing users to independently watch television.
    Another feature of the Life Fitness equipment is that members can create profiles online, download workouts created by professionals to a USB drive or onto an iPhone/iPad application, plug in to the machines, and be able to store results and track progress.
    The upper floor also has the Trixter upright bikes. The bikes are programmed with various courses, such as a flat street or mountain, that users can race on. Should the Trixter bikes become popular, additional bikes and a large screen can be added so users can race against one another, similar to an arcade.
    The upper floor also has equipment that is accessible to handicapped or persons with reduced mobility.
    There is also an extensive selection of weight machines on the upper floor as well. The machines are meant to be intuitive and easy to use.
    “Great for elderly, deconditioned users, or users new to exercise,” said Irwin.
    Despite the amount of equipment, there’s room for more depending on user demand.
    “We haven’t fully expanded this facility to the max yet. A lot of demand comes from users, you can’t anticipate everything. We still have a lot of flexibility in the design,” said Irwin.
    Community Facility staff will also be available to help orient users on the proper use of the equipment.
    The running track begins on the upper floor of the fitness centre. The track is suspended over the field house. The track will be divided into several lanes, with the outside lane being 149 metres long.
    The field house is almost done and will be large enough to have one full soccer and lacrosse field, three basketball and volleyball courts, and six badminton courts. There will be curtains that can be used to divide up the courts.
    The far side of the field would have a state of the art digital scoreboard that could display any conceivable sport.
    Latour explained that with the amount of equipment, the facility will be able to accommodate quite a few different sports, some of which are a little unusual.
    “We’re capable of doing in this gym, with the equipment we’ve ordered, close to 30 different sports and we’re going to play some of those. We’ve got a lot sports we’ve ordered the equipment for that people don’t always do or aren’t really popular. We’re going to try to promote them once a month,” said Latour.
    There would be drop-in times where members casually stop by to play different sports. The field house could also host large tournaments. The Community Facility has already been booked to host the regional football combine next year, where rural, high school players are scouted for universities.
    Memberships are currently available at the Aquaplex. So far roughly 50 memberships have been sold.
    “There are a lot of local people working in the building, and they didn’t say anything up until now. As soon as the fitness equipment came in I had six plumbers and the drywallers asking about memberships,” said Latour. “It’s about seeing what there is to offer.”
    Residents may soon get a chance to see what is on offer at the Community Facility. There is no definite date of completion, but it is estimated the building will be open mid-February.