The Community Matt Program is in place again after it was nearly cut due to lack of funding from the provincial government.
Lola Strand, the coordinator for Family and Community Support Services, says now that Premier Jason Kenney has made the announcement for additional funding, the program will be going ahead.
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Strand says normally the mat program is started earlier in the year. However, because they just received notification of the funding, they are hoping to have it start up by Christmas.
Originally, the mat program was started in 2015 and run by volunteers. In 2019 the program was run by staff, and it has continued that way since then. Currently, Strand says they are looking for Mat Program Supervisors so they can get the program operational.
Strand says because of the late start to the program, town council wanted to make it clear that if there were an emergency where temperatures dropped below a certain level, the program would open up temporarily.
Emily Hickman, the mat program manager, says she hopes this will be the last year they have to run the program as they are looking into other options for the future.
“We’re hoping to replace it with something more sustainable, just because relying on the whims of the provincial government to know whether or not we’re going to be able to provide this service is very stressful,” says Hickman.
Right now, she says she can’t give many details about the alternative project. Hickman says the project they are looking at isn’t a guarantee, but if it goes through it would rely less on government funding.
While the program has needed volunteers in the past, Hickman says that isn’t the case right now. They have staff to overlook the service.
What they do need are donations.
The parent advisory council at Winfield Elementary are worried about the future of their school.
Carolyn Schwindt, the president of the school’s PAC, says some motions that the Wetaskiwin Regional Public School Division recently put forward in their board meeting are concerning.
Schwindt says this year the division has a new superintendent, Mike Wake, and Schwindt says that he’s been great to work with so far. However, she doesn’t agree with some of the ideas brought forward for calculating when a school should be closed.
“There’s always been discussion in Wetaskiwin Public Schools on the potential need for closure,” says Schwindt. “We’ve got low enrollment across the board in all schools.”
Schwindt says there are many factors at play when it comes to the enrollment at Winfield. Currently, the school has 63 students and also houses the community’s public library. Schwindt says there are multiple programs that use the school, such as the playschool and gymnastics club.
The motions that were put forward suggested that the school be closed if enrollment was below 60 students. Schwindt says if the number for closure is that close to the number of currently enrolled students, no one can really be certain if the school will stay open from year to year.
She worries this could affect whether teachers look for positions at the school. Or perhaps parents would move their children prematurely because the school might close.
She says since the pandemic, there has been an increase in the number of home-schooled students in the area, which has lowered student enrollment. Allowing families to pick a school of choice for their children also affects the numbers in the schools.
Schwindt says Wake has been focusing on the reason for low numbers and has been actively looking for solutions to the problem.
His most recent proposal was to ask the provincial government for funds to build a K-12 school for the Buck Lake family of schools in the Alder Flats area. Another area that was considered was the Pigeon Lake family of schools becoming consolidated.
But Schwindt says those two school families have schools spread out over a large area. Already, some students are looking at bus rides that are an hour or more in some of those areas. Should the schools be consolidated, many of those bus rides could increase significantly.
As it is, students who choose to go to high school in WRPS rather than the Breton High School with the school of choice option, have to travel to Buck Mountain High School. The distance from Winfield to the Buck Mountain school is 27 kms, and takes about seventeen minutes of straight drive time.
Another thing Schwindt worries about is what would happen to the community should the school be closed.
As of 2011, Winfield had 244 residents. One of the major employers in the area is the school and its closure could have a ripple effect throughout the community.
Schwindt says she has spoken to Wetaskiwin County Council about the issue, but there is little they can do.
Kathy Rooyakkers, the councillor for Division 6 in Wetaskiwin County, says the idea of the school potentially being shut down next year worries her.
“It will affect them big time,” says Rooyakkers.
Rooyakkers says that unfortunately the County cannot stop anything WRPS plans to do. She says they have the opportunity to meet with the division a few times a year, where they discuss issues that concern both the County and the division, but all they can do is give their opinions about the situation.
“At the table, we don’t get a decision,” says Rooyakkers.
She says it’s frustrating, but there isn’t much they can do. At this point, she says the County has not discussed what they would do should the school be closed. She says there may be some other options that could be considered, such as creating a charter school, but council can’t make any changes…
Full story in the April 4, Free Press. Become an email subscriber at www.dvfreepress.com.
County spends on fire suppression
Brazeau County is set to spend $560,000 to improve fire suppression in two underserved parts of the municipality. Last week council approved $250,000 for a 210 cubic metre concrete water tank in Lindale and $310,000 for a similar tank and water well in Buck Creek.
The move is the result of a study conducted last year that outlined gaps in water sources for residential fire suppression. Lindale and Buck Creek were identified as areas that did not have access to an adequate source of water that was close enough to be practical in the event of a blaze.
According to the County, the Lindale tank will replace the current holding tank, and will provide year-round fire suppression for structure fires as well as assisting in case of wildfire in the area. A water well and the below ground tank near the Buck Creek lift station will provide fire suppression for structure fires as well as assisting in the event of wildfire. Water will be available all year round with no risk of freezing. If drilled to a lower aquifer, the water well will not place residents’ wells at risk.
Meanwhile, with the wildfire season now underway, CAO Kent Edney said that Incident Command System training, which is offered by the Government of Alberta, was being rolled out to staff. Edney said ICS 100 training was now mandatory for all employees. ICS 200, 300 and 400 were also being provided to those who are eligible. Councillors were scheduled to attend ICS 402 training, which is designed for elected officials, last week.
Two training sessions for public contractors held last month have enabled the County to draw up a list of “first calls” in the event of an emergency. The sessions sparked considerable interest, with 55 people attending in Breton February 21 and 112 in Drayton Valley two days later.
A review and update of the County’s Municipal Emergency Plan is expected to be completed by early April.
Tax help is here
It’s tax time in Canada, and while the costs of having taxes done aren’t a big deal to some, for others it can be prohibitive.
Gina Matalski, a tax specialist at GM Accounting and Tax Services, is working with Drayton Valley Family and Community Support Services to help those who struggle to afford having their taxes done.
Matalski says the Income Tax Program has volunteers in the community, who have received training provided by the Canada Revenue Agency, do the tax returns. She says people drop their information off at her office, and then a volunteer comes to get the information and files it.
“Then, if I don’t have time to do them myself, I contact the volunteers and let them know that there are some to be picked up,” she says.
Right now there are seven volunteers who have stepped forward to help out, but Matalski says the more people they have volunteering, the faster they can get things done.
While the program aims to help as many people as they can, Matalski says there are some restrictions for who can use the program, and only personal taxes can be done. She says anyone who has employment expenses, or anything outside of the norm, would not qualify for the program.
“It’s basic, basic income tax returns,” she says.
Individuals who wish to use the program must have less than $35,000 in taxable income for the year. Couples can use it if they make less than $45,000 and families cannot have more than $52,000 in earnings.
“This is my second year for the free tax program,” says Matalski, “but I’ve been doing personal tax returns for five years.”
Matalski says she signed on to the program because she wanted to help the community out.
She says the price for doing personal taxes can be high, depending on who is being used to file the taxes and it’s not fair for low income earners.
“When individuals and families that are already struggling to make ends meet every day have to go and pay between $150 and $200 to have a tax return done is ridiculous,” she says.
She said last year the program helped 500 individuals with their taxes.
Those who qualify for the program can drop their tax information off at 5136 – 54 St. on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
School division looks a professional education
The Wild Rose School Division has been considering options for offering professional education for students.
At the January 23 board meeting, the Director of Instruction Jen Lefebvre presented trustees with an outline of different academies and collegiates the division could partner with.
The analysis report says academies are branded, specialized programs that don’t necessarily need an academy to put into place. Collegiates, which were announced as an official designation in Alberta Education in 2022, are schools that offer specialized programming that is geared toward guiding a student for different career paths.
Superintendent of WRSD, Brad Volkman, says there are many divisions that offer academy courses such as Flight Academies or Fire Academies and WRSD wanted to do some research on the feasibility of bringing some of these courses to the division.
Lefebvre brought an analysis that spoke about the benefits, drawbacks, and costs of some of those programs.
Volkman says one of the programs they were considering was a flight academy. However, since there is no funding from Alberta Education to help with the program, it would be too expensive to run.
“The cost is borne by the students,” says Volkman. “That includes instruction from a certified flight instructor, transportation costs to the airport, and there’s a pretty big insurance requirement.”
He says Lefebvre looked into different courses offered by other divisions and felt it was too much. “We’re hearing from some places that the cost is $20,000,” says Volkman.
After hearing the costs, the division felt there would be a limit as to which students could afford the enrollment for the course.
“Equity is very important to Wild Rose School Division, and we tend to not put a lot of resources into something that would impact only a few students who could most afford it.”
Volkman says while the flight academy is not an option at the moment, they are looking at other courses. One they were excited about was the firefighting training. According to the report, WRSD is currently looking to see if they can mitigate some of the transportation issues involved.
Frank Maddock High School is also partnering with Drayton Valley Ford as a focus for students in mechanics. Both Frank Maddock and Breton offer a full cosmetology course which helps students achieve apprenticeship level when they graduate. Breton also has received a grant to offer a welding program at the school.
Review examines wildfire response
The local response to last summer’s wildfire was generally well handled, but there are areas that need improvement.
That’s the conclusion of an after action review that came before Brazeau County council this week. The final report, which stretches over 40 pages, was prepared by Transitional Solutions Inc. of Sherwood Park, a company that was hired jointly by the County and the Town of Drayton Valley
“The primary objective of this wildfire after-action review is to conduct a thorough and impartial assessment of the incident response within the municipalities of Brazeau County and the Town of Drayton Valley, emphasizing a holistic approach aimed at learning, improving future responses, and fostering a culture of continuous enhancement within its firefighting and emergency management practices,” reads the introduction.
The review is based on interviews with 24 key stakeholders, along with a survey of municipal staff involved in the wildfire response, a tour of the area and an examination of relevant documents.
Major recommendations in the final report advocate for comprehensive training in Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) setup, improving systems and processes, refining emergency plans, and developing proactive crisis communication strategies. For the Buck Creek Fire the ECC took three days to get set up and start running smoothly. That delay is blamed on a breakdown in communication.
“Council, Administration, and staff would greatly benefit from further understanding and utilizing the Incident Command System (ICS) and how it applies in situations like a wildfire event. Both Brazeau County and the Town of Drayton Valley need to utilize the quieter winter months before the start of the 2024 wildfire season to ensure compliance with legislation and have systems, services, and personnel ready, willing and with capacity to respond,” according to the report.
On Tuesday County CAO Kent Edney said steps had already been taken to address the areas highlighted in the report. That included making sure county staff were as well-prepared as possible in the event of a similar wildfire in the future.
“There’s quite a bit of training and activity that came from this report that’s going to be accomplished by the end of the month,” he said. “We should be in good shape by spring.
The review also has a lot of good things to say about how the fire was handled. This was an unprecedented event that escalated rapidly, providing a number of serious challenges, forcing the evacuation of more than 7,000 residents and threatening infrastructure and property valued in excess of $2 billion.
“It is imperative to emphasize the pivotal role played by municipal staff, first responders, and supporting agencies, who demonstrated collective cooperation, unwavering commitment to problem-solving, and relentless dedication,” says the report.”They supported the triumphant resolution of this unparalleled wildfire event. The success achieved in managing this crisis was inherently linked to the collaborative efforts and tireless determination demonstrated by responders, underscoring the significance of their integrated approach amidst some challenging circumstances.”
Edney said the full report would be posted on the County website.
Five teams leave league
The Alberta Junior Hockey League is now an 11 team organization. The defection of five breakaway teams to the British Columbia Hockey League was confirmed last week.
“We are disappointed – but not surprised – that the five defecting clubs now intend to drop out of the AJHL to immediately participate in an unsanctioned exhibition series,” the AJHL said in a statement.
The defecting teams are the Brooks Bandits, Okotoks Oilers, Blackfalds Bulldogs, Spruce Grove Saints and Sherwood Park Crusaders. In recent years those organizations have been the most successful in the AJHL. Prior to their defection, four of them occupied the top four places in the league standings for the current 2023-2024 season.
With the five teams now removed from the rankings, the Whitecourt Wolverines jump to top spot on 59 points. The Drayton Valley Thunder sit in tenth place on 34 points. Those two teams met in a rescheduled game on Sunday afternoon, with the Wolverines winning 3-0.
Last week the AJHL thanked the 11 remaining teams for their support as the league looked to move forward. It also indicated that it may be looking at adding more teams before too long.
“The AJHL has a strong future. We are grateful for the messages of support our players and coaches have received from hockey fans across the country over the past week,” the league said. “We also appreciate the expressions of interest coming from various partners and stakeholders who are exploring the possibility of becoming part of our great league.”
It’s still not clear what format the playoffs will take in the downsized AJHL. The regular season continues without the five clubs that are now part of the British Columbia League. That schedule sees the Thunder host the Calgary Canucks on Friday evening before heading to Olds on Sunday to take on the Grizzlys.
“If somebody wants to help the program out, we do take financial donations which can be made payable through the Town of Drayton Valley,” she says.
Hickman says they can also take some items, though their space for storage is limited. Some of that includes winter gear, such as gently used coats, waterproof gloves, toques, or scarves. She says some items, like crocheted afghans, are too bulky for their clients to carry around, so while the thought is appreciated, they would prefer blankets that can provide adequate warmth while being compact.
The parent advisory council at Winfield Elementary are worried about the future of their school.
Carolyn Schwindt, the president of the school’s PAC, says some motions that the Wetaskiwin Regional Public School Division recently put forward in their board meeting are concerning.
Schwindt says this year the division has a new superintendent, Mike Wake, and Schwindt says that he’s been great to work with so far. However, she doesn’t agree with some of the ideas brought forward for calculating when a school should be closed.
“There’s always been discussion in Wetaskiwin Public Schools on the potential need for closure,” says Schwindt. “We’ve got low enrollment across the board in all schools.”
Schwindt says there are many factors at play when it comes to the enrollment at Winfield. Currently, the school has 63 students and also houses the community’s public library. Schwindt says there are multiple programs that use the school, such as the playschool and gymnastics club.
The motions that were put forward suggested that the school be closed if enrollment was below 60 students. Schwindt says if the number for closure is that close to the number of currently enrolled students, no one can really be certain if the school will stay open from year to year.
She worries this could affect whether teachers look for positions at the school. Or perhaps parents would move their children prematurely because the school might close.
She says since the pandemic, there has been an increase in the number of home-schooled students in the area, which has lowered student enrollment. Allowing families to pick a school of choice for their children also affects the numbers in the schools.
Schwindt says Wake has been focusing on the reason for low numbers and has been actively looking for solutions to the problem.
His most recent proposal was to ask the provincial government for funds to build a K-12 school for the Buck Lake family of schools in the Alder Flats area. Another area that was considered was the Pigeon Lake family of schools becoming consolidated.
But Schwindt says those two school families have schools spread out over a large area. Already, some students are looking at bus rides that are an hour or more in some of those areas. Should the schools be consolidated, many of those bus rides could increase significantly.
As it is, students who choose to go to high school in WRPS rather than the Breton High School with the school of choice option, have to travel to Buck Mountain High School. The distance from Winfield to the Buck Mountain school is 27 kms, and takes about seventeen minutes of straight drive time.
Another thing Schwindt worries about is what would happen to the community should the school be closed.
As of 2011, Winfield had 244 residents. One of the major employers in the area is the school and its closure could have a ripple effect throughout the community.
Schwindt says she has spoken to Wetaskiwin County Council about the issue, but there is little they can do.
Kathy Rooyakkers, the councillor for Division 6 in Wetaskiwin County, says the idea of the school potentially being shut down next year worries her.
“It will affect them big time,” says Rooyakkers.
Rooyakkers says that unfortunately the County cannot stop anything WRPS plans to do. She says they have the opportunity to meet with the division a few times a year, where they discuss issues that concern both the County and the division, but all they can do is give their opinions about the situation.
“At the table, we don’t get a decision,” says Rooyakkers.
She says it’s frustrating, but there isn’t much they can do. At this point, she says the County has not discussed what they would do should the school be closed. She says there may be some other options that could be considered, such as creating a charter school, but council can’t make any changes…
Full story in the April 4, Free Press. Become an email subscriber at www.dvfreepress.com.
Brazeau County is set to spend $560,000 to improve fire suppression in two underserved parts of the municipality. Last week council approved $250,000 for a 210 cubic metre concrete water tank in Lindale and $310,000 for a similar tank and water well in Buck Creek.
The move is the result of a study conducted last year that outlined gaps in water sources for residential fire suppression. Lindale and Buck Creek were identified as areas that did not have access to an adequate source of water that was close enough to be practical in the event of a blaze.
According to the County, the Lindale tank will replace the current holding tank, and will provide year-round fire suppression for structure fires as well as assisting in case of wildfire in the area. A water well and the below ground tank near the Buck Creek lift station will provide fire suppression for structure fires as well as assisting in the event of wildfire. Water will be available all year round with no risk of freezing. If drilled to a lower aquifer, the water well will not place residents’ wells at risk.
Meanwhile, with the wildfire season now underway, CAO Kent Edney said that Incident Command System training, which is offered by the Government of Alberta, was being rolled out to staff. Edney said ICS 100 training was now mandatory for all employees. ICS 200, 300 and 400 were also being provided to those who are eligible. Councillors were scheduled to attend ICS 402 training, which is designed for elected officials, last week.
Two training sessions for public contractors held last month have enabled the County to draw up a list of “first calls” in the event of an emergency. The sessions sparked considerable interest, with 55 people attending in Breton February 21 and 112 in Drayton Valley two days later.
A review and update of the County’s Municipal Emergency Plan is expected to be completed by early April.
It’s tax time in Canada, and while the costs of having taxes done aren’t a big deal to some, for others it can be prohibitive.
Gina Matalski, a tax specialist at GM Accounting and Tax Services, is working with Drayton Valley Family and Community Support Services to help those who struggle to afford having their taxes done.
Matalski says the Income Tax Program has volunteers in the community, who have received training provided by the Canada Revenue Agency, do the tax returns. She says people drop their information off at her office, and then a volunteer comes to get the information and files it.
“Then, if I don’t have time to do them myself, I contact the volunteers and let them know that there are some to be picked up,” she says.
Right now there are seven volunteers who have stepped forward to help out, but Matalski says the more people they have volunteering, the faster they can get things done.
While the program aims to help as many people as they can, Matalski says there are some restrictions for who can use the program, and only personal taxes can be done. She says anyone who has employment expenses, or anything outside of the norm, would not qualify for the program.
“It’s basic, basic income tax returns,” she says.
Individuals who wish to use the program must have less than $35,000 in taxable income for the year. Couples can use it if they make less than $45,000 and families cannot have more than $52,000 in earnings.
“This is my second year for the free tax program,” says Matalski, “but I’ve been doing personal tax returns for five years.”
Matalski says she signed on to the program because she wanted to help the community out.
She says the price for doing personal taxes can be high, depending on who is being used to file the taxes and it’s not fair for low income earners.
“When individuals and families that are already struggling to make ends meet every day have to go and pay between $150 and $200 to have a tax return done is ridiculous,” she says.
She said last year the program helped 500 individuals with their taxes.
Those who qualify for the program can drop their tax information off at 5136 – 54 St. on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Wild Rose School Division has been considering options for offering professional education for students.
At the January 23 board meeting, the Director of Instruction Jen Lefebvre presented trustees with an outline of different academies and collegiates the division could partner with.
The analysis report says academies are branded, specialized programs that don’t necessarily need an academy to put into place. Collegiates, which were announced as an official designation in Alberta Education in 2022, are schools that offer specialized programming that is geared toward guiding a student for different career paths.
Superintendent of WRSD, Brad Volkman, says there are many divisions that offer academy courses such as Flight Academies or Fire Academies and WRSD wanted to do some research on the feasibility of bringing some of these courses to the division.
Lefebvre brought an analysis that spoke about the benefits, drawbacks, and costs of some of those programs.
Volkman says one of the programs they were considering was a flight academy. However, since there is no funding from Alberta Education to help with the program, it would be too expensive to run.
“The cost is borne by the students,” says Volkman. “That includes instruction from a certified flight instructor, transportation costs to the airport, and there’s a pretty big insurance requirement.”
He says Lefebvre looked into different courses offered by other divisions and felt it was too much. “We’re hearing from some places that the cost is $20,000,” says Volkman.
After hearing the costs, the division felt there would be a limit as to which students could afford the enrollment for the course.
“Equity is very important to Wild Rose School Division, and we tend to not put a lot of resources into something that would impact only a few students who could most afford it.”
Volkman says while the flight academy is not an option at the moment, they are looking at other courses. One they were excited about was the firefighting training. According to the report, WRSD is currently looking to see if they can mitigate some of the transportation issues involved.
Frank Maddock High School is also partnering with Drayton Valley Ford as a focus for students in mechanics. Both Frank Maddock and Breton offer a full cosmetology course which helps students achieve apprenticeship level when they graduate. Breton also has received a grant to offer a welding program at the school.
The local response to last summer’s wildfire was generally well handled, but there are areas that need improvement.
That’s the conclusion of an after action review that came before Brazeau County council this week. The final report, which stretches over 40 pages, was prepared by Transitional Solutions Inc. of Sherwood Park, a company that was hired jointly by the County and the Town of Drayton Valley
“The primary objective of this wildfire after-action review is to conduct a thorough and impartial assessment of the incident response within the municipalities of Brazeau County and the Town of Drayton Valley, emphasizing a holistic approach aimed at learning, improving future responses, and fostering a culture of continuous enhancement within its firefighting and emergency management practices,” reads the introduction.
The review is based on interviews with 24 key stakeholders, along with a survey of municipal staff involved in the wildfire response, a tour of the area and an examination of relevant documents.
Major recommendations in the final report advocate for comprehensive training in Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) setup, improving systems and processes, refining emergency plans, and developing proactive crisis communication strategies. For the Buck Creek Fire the ECC took three days to get set up and start running smoothly. That delay is blamed on a breakdown in communication.
“Council, Administration, and staff would greatly benefit from further understanding and utilizing the Incident Command System (ICS) and how it applies in situations like a wildfire event. Both Brazeau County and the Town of Drayton Valley need to utilize the quieter winter months before the start of the 2024 wildfire season to ensure compliance with legislation and have systems, services, and personnel ready, willing and with capacity to respond,” according to the report.
On Tuesday County CAO Kent Edney said steps had already been taken to address the areas highlighted in the report. That included making sure county staff were as well-prepared as possible in the event of a similar wildfire in the future.
“There’s quite a bit of training and activity that came from this report that’s going to be accomplished by the end of the month,” he said. “We should be in good shape by spring.
The review also has a lot of good things to say about how the fire was handled. This was an unprecedented event that escalated rapidly, providing a number of serious challenges, forcing the evacuation of more than 7,000 residents and threatening infrastructure and property valued in excess of $2 billion.
“It is imperative to emphasize the pivotal role played by municipal staff, first responders, and supporting agencies, who demonstrated collective cooperation, unwavering commitment to problem-solving, and relentless dedication,” says the report.”They supported the triumphant resolution of this unparalleled wildfire event. The success achieved in managing this crisis was inherently linked to the collaborative efforts and tireless determination demonstrated by responders, underscoring the significance of their integrated approach amidst some challenging circumstances.”
Edney said the full report would be posted on the County website.
The Alberta Junior Hockey League is now an 11 team organization. The defection of five breakaway teams to the British Columbia Hockey League was confirmed last week.
“We are disappointed – but not surprised – that the five defecting clubs now intend to drop out of the AJHL to immediately participate in an unsanctioned exhibition series,” the AJHL said in a statement.
The defecting teams are the Brooks Bandits, Okotoks Oilers, Blackfalds Bulldogs, Spruce Grove Saints and Sherwood Park Crusaders. In recent years those organizations have been the most successful in the AJHL. Prior to their defection, four of them occupied the top four places in the league standings for the current 2023-2024 season.
With the five teams now removed from the rankings, the Whitecourt Wolverines jump to top spot on 59 points. The Drayton Valley Thunder sit in tenth place on 34 points. Those two teams met in a rescheduled game on Sunday afternoon, with the Wolverines winning 3-0.
Last week the AJHL thanked the 11 remaining teams for their support as the league looked to move forward. It also indicated that it may be looking at adding more teams before too long.
“The AJHL has a strong future. We are grateful for the messages of support our players and coaches have received from hockey fans across the country over the past week,” the league said. “We also appreciate the expressions of interest coming from various partners and stakeholders who are exploring the possibility of becoming part of our great league.”
It’s still not clear what format the playoffs will take in the downsized AJHL. The regular season continues without the five clubs that are now part of the British Columbia League. That schedule sees the Thunder host the Calgary Canucks on Friday evening before heading to Olds on Sunday to take on the Grizzlys.
She says they have noticed that some people have donated clothing items by leaving them in a park for someone to find. But she says this isn’t a very practical way to get the items to those who need them. “All it takes is a snowfall or rainfall and those items get wet and frozen and are no good to anyone,” she says. The preference is to have the items donated to them so they can see them properly distributed.
In the past, clients were able to cook some food for themselves when they used the mat service. However, Covid has made that difficult, and right now the clients are not allowed to use the kitchen. Hickman says donations of home cooked meals or baked goods also can’t be accepted because of government policies.
What they do instead of the meals, says Hickman, is put together a bag of snacks for their clients. This might include fruit cups, granola bars, puddings, hardy fruit like apples or oranges, and other similar items. She says if someone would like to donate those types of food, they would be able to use them.
Hickman says other items to consider are things like laundry soap, feminine hygiene products, and thermos’ with a good seal on them.
Fire training proposal for Lodgepole
A new proposal could see the creation of a fire rescue college in Lodgepole.
In a presentation to Brazeau County council last week, Erik Ives spoke regarding the Canadian Fire Rescue College (CFRC) which is exploring Lodgepole as a campus location to train firefighters.
Air cadets mark 60 years
The Drayton Valley Air Cadets Squadron 733 will be celebrating their 60th anniversary this year with a barbecue open to the public.
Staff Sergeant stepping down
The Drayton Valley RCMP Detachment is looking for a new Staff Sergeant as the current man in charge, Troy Raddatz, heads into retirement.
Concern over Winfield School
The parent advisory council at Winfield Elementary are worried about the future of their school.
