News | DrumhellerMail

Lacher to carry torch in Camrose

    A Drumheller student will be hoisting the Olympic Torch high as it makes its way through the Province in January.
    Chris Lacher, son of Tony and Linda Lacher is in Grade 11 at St. Anthony’s School. He opened an e-mail last August that played Open Happiness, the theme song of a new Coca-Cola campaign. A moment later it told him he had been selected as an Olympic Torch bearer.
    “I’m proud to be a part of it. It is one of the longest relays in Olympic history,” said Lacher.
    Lacher had been gunning to be a torch bearer. He applied through the iCoke website and through the RBC websites, but it was through the Sogo Active Campaign that he was selected.
    Sogo Active is a program supported by ParticipACTION and Coca-Cola. It is an endeavour to inspire young people to be more active. For two months late last winter Lacher joined up and began recording his daily activity, and setting weekly goals. If he met his goals he was entered in a draw. They picked a busy time for Lacher as it was during minor hockey playoffs, and Lacher plays for the midget Raptors.
    Beyond hockey, Lacher is very busy with his community service. He often volunteers with the local Lions Club and plays piano at St. Anthony’s Church. He also spends time on Fridays at Sunshine Lodge volunteering with some of the senior member of the community.
Lacher received confirmation of his status as a relay participant in October. He has also received his uniform, including the iconic red mittens (one way to tell if the mitts are used by torch bearers is the maple leaf on the palm of the gloves has a grip). He also received some promotional material to help cheer on the flame.
    He will be running the torch on Friday, January 15 at noon near Camrose. He will be attending with his parent and some close friends to take in the moment. His older brother and sister, who now reside in Edmonton will also come down to watch Lacher run his part of the relay.
    Lacher’s leg of the relay comes just a day before the Olympic Torch Relay Celebration in Drumheller.
    The Mail is interested in the story of more torch bearers as the event continues to draw closer. Please contact 403-823-2580 or e-mail news@drumhellermail.com.

Bounty set for Rod Morse at Cuts 4 Cancer

    He knew his time was coming.
    After seven consecutive Cuts 4 Cancer events, Rod Morse knew there would eventually be a bounty on his head… or his hair more precisely.
    The Cuts 4 Cancer has become a tradition in the valley started by Cathy Morse in memory of her mother who passed away after a battle with cancer. It has been held on February 3 for the last seven years.
    This year her husband Rod is on the chopping block. He is going all out and has already began to grow his hair out, including his beard.
    “No one has seen me without my goatee for 15 years,” he laughs.
    Cancer has struck his family, not only through his mother-in-law. Rod’s father Ron Morse died about a year ago from cancer. He is going under the razor in memory of him.
    To see Rod’s head as bald as the day he was born however doesn’t come cheap. They have set a bounty of $5,000. The highest bidder gets the first swipe.
    Cuts 4 Cancer is simple. On February 3 from 10 a.m. to 3p.m. there will be a full complement of haircutters on staff at The Chop Shop. They will be using their scissors to cut hair and raise funds for the Drumheller Area Health Foundation. Individuals can come and get a hair cut knowing the funds are going to a good cause. They can also follow in Rod’s footsteps and collect pledges to see their manes cropped in tribute to those who are fighting cancer or who have lost their battle.
    Cathy says more heads on the chopping block are welcome. They have set a goal of raising $20,000 at the coming event.
    The money raised will be used to go to the Drumheller Area Health Foundation support of a fund they keep in trust for those with cancer and their families to help them cope financially during their battle. Families can apply, for example, if their loved one is undergoing cancer treatment out of town and the need support for some eligible expenses incurred.
    For more information on the event contact Cathy at The Chop Shop at 403-823-2460. She will gladly take pledges on behalf of Rod.

Community Futures outlines vision for healthcare training at former hospital site

    Community Futures hosted a public forum at the Civic Centre on Monday November 30, to introduce a project they have been working on, and share their vision with the community on the possibility of bringing post secondary education in Drumheller.
    Community Futures explained this project was at the early stages and the purpose of this public meeting was to get feedback from the community to check what the focus should be.
    “The vision is post secondary education in Drumheller with specialized medical services delivery” explained Jordan Webber, Project Lead for Community Futures.
    Webber said that following regional studies, using measurements such as earning potentials and quality of life, health came out on top. As the former hospital was recently sold to new owners and became available for a project within the community, teamed with opportunities in the health sector, Community Futures saw the possibility to provide health training and medical delivery in Drumheller. Webber went on to explain that the bottleneck in rural health being practicum placements, merging the medical delivery with the health training would provide the practicum placements that a project like this needs to have a critical mass of students to make the project sustainable.
    Community Futures is sourcing funds to complete a business plan and currently looking at engaging a 2 year LPN program and later maybe expanding this to EMTs, RANs, lab technicians etc.
    Currently the healthcare system is very good at acute care, however Alberta Health doesn’t cover some other sectors such as chronic and diagnostic needs. Under this model those specialized services could be brought to the area.
    “This is also the opportunity to draw specialists to Drumheller to provide services we don’t currently have”, Webber stressed, “research on this project still needs to be done to ensure the right fit and what would work here.”
    Webber then explained they truly believe the impact of post secondary education would put a positive economic spin to the town and make the future of Drumheller and the region more sustainable.
    The organizers explained this can only happen with the support from the community and Community Futures wants to engage with the community to make the project a successful one.
    “This has to be a community driven project...We are here to plan the project and get it up and running but the community will be running it internally”, highlighted Ken Edwards, from the Poet Group, a company which specializes in strategic risk analysis and hired to come up with a sustainable model for this project.
    They are primarily looking at drawing students from the local area but can also look at broader areas.
    “A lot of coordination has to come together and we have met with the local doctors, the hospital, specialists, the Drumheller institution, and   a lot of different stakeholders,” confirmed the organizers. “We need to hear from the community what they would like to see here, we already know the hospital system here would be interested to have practicums.”
    Following the opener, the public was then asked for their questions and feedback.
    Q. What can we do? A: Think about what focus this should have, what do you see happening in your town?
    Q. Have they looked at alternative medicine? A: Not yet, we are trying to stay mainstream to create a solid program.
    Q. What about approaching other schools? A: The bigger colleges such as Red Deer may not have it in their scope to have the resources to promote Drumheller or to draw students to Drumheller in a way to make an educational facility here successful in the long run
    Q. Where is resistance expected? A: From the community if they feel this is forced upon them so we want to make sure that this is a business model and as much as this will be part of the community, it shouldn’t be a welfare model.
    Q. So what is the next step?
    A: Developing a business plan, which is expected to happen in the next 4 to 5 months.
    Community Futures also needs to engage one or two people from the public to be part of the committee.
    There will also be public meetings every 6 weeks to show progress and get feedback.
    For further information about this project, please contact Jordan Webber of Community Futures on 403.823.7703.

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