Plans to bring a treatment and recovery centre to Drayton Valley took a step forward this week. If all goes well the facility could open its doors this summer.
Opportunity Home will offer a 90-day program aimed at providing a safe and clean place for people to go through recovery from addictions and prepare for reintroduction into society. The project is being spearheaded by a group of local business people who saw the need and wanted to do something to help those struggling with substance abuse.
“We aim to put a roof over someone’s head who’s battling addictions,” says the group’s vice president Jennifer Winter. “We want to give them skills and help them assimilate back into society.”
The concept is based on a similar program, known as Freedom’s Door, that has been successfully operating in Kelowna for close to 20 years. It will offer a faith-based program out of a facility to be located 5219, 53 Avenue, close to downtown Drayton Valley. On Wednesday town council unanimously approved a rezoning application for the property. There were no concerns raised at a public hearing prior to the rezoning. RCMP Staff Sgt. Erin Matthews, who was at the meeting to deliver her regular update to council, said she believed that a facility like this would have a positive impact on those in the community who were dealing with addiction.
“I think this is a great opportunity, no pun intended, for Drayton Valley,” she said. “This is definitely something that’s needed.”
Businesses will see some changes to the local Rural Renewal Stream program come into effect on November 13.
The program, offered through the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program, allows business owners to bring in skilled workers from outside of the province or country. It also allows business owners who employ staff on a Temporary Work Visa to endorse them for permanent residency through the program.
At the October 30 town council meeting, Kundiso Nyambirai, the growth services manager, explained that they had 300 applications that they were reviewing. Between March 2023 and August 2024, the Town had endorsed 200 of those applications for consideration to the Province.
Nyambirai explained that the Province has now put a system into place to make it easier to sort through the applications on their end.
The points based system gives a better idea of which applications are most likely to be considered or approved for those municipalities endorsing them. Nyambirai says his department is reviewing the applications to see which ones would have enough points to be considered by the Province.
However, the Province is limited in the number of applications that it can put through. There are more than 70 municipalities and districts participating in the program, and the Province only has 1,900 spots they can approve in 2024.
“We are over-subscribing,” says Nyambirai. “We are endorsing 200 plus people.”
In August, the Town decided to make some changes to the way that the program would work in the community. This included limiting the number of applications to 100 each year, while also limiting the number of applications a business can submit to five. Nyambirai also suggested that limiting applications to workers who already resided in the community could help to ensure that the Town does have housing available for these applicants.
Nyambirai says the Province is currently sorting through 1,000 applications to decide on the remaining spots for the year. Councillor Monika Sherriffs agreed that the Town is sending in a higher than average amount of endorsements, stating that if there are 1,000 being considered and Drayton Valley has sent in 200, then we would be sending in many more applications than other municipalities.
Councillor Amila Gammana disagreed, saying that he believed other communities are likely doing the same. He says the real question is how many of those endorsements are receiving approval from the Province.
Nyambirai says that the municipalities are not made aware of which endorsements are approved. He says that looking into that number by contacting applicants would be very time consuming, so they cannot be sure how many of Drayton Valley’s businesses’ applications have been accepted for the program.
Five creative ways to use print advertising to supercharge your business
Sponsored Content
In the age where there’s a constant drive for more and more content, coming up with ideas of how to promote your business can become a full time job on its own. I mean – you signed up to be a business owner right? Not a videographer, copywriter, or graphic designer. The good news is print advertising works differently from the social platforms that have you constantly chasing the next batch of likes and shares.
Print advertising with your local newspaper gets you off the hamster wheel and connects you with a copywriter, graphic designer, and an ad planner who are actually interested in learning the ins and outs of your business. This person or people will work with you to generate creative ideas within your marketing budget. With their help you can get your creative juices flowing again and find ways to not just push content but to craft creative content that will be seen and prompts action.
Print ads are consumed like fine wine. Readers look at print ads longer and deeper than they do the disruptive advertising found on other media platforms. Tell me in the last time that you’ve binge scrolled your social media feeds – How many ads do you actually remember seeing? I am betting, not many.
Print ads are non-disruptive content for newspaper readers and therefore get the attention they truly deserve. They have a longer lasting impact for readers, and after all, deepening the relationship with customers is really what you are looking to do.
So here are some ways you can position your local business with print advertising.
- Thought leadership: Be a thought leader in the regional landscape of your industry. Use an ad space for how-to content, data presentation on regional trends. Newspaper readers are readers and so are more likely to read long form advertisements with interesting information. You can reuse this information on your website blogs, social platforms, podcasts and the like.
- Be action oriented: Ads are there to move the needle forward. A call to action can be as simple as moving an interested person from the print ad to “Check out our online store” – print to digital is easy to do in both the print and digital formats of your local newspaper. Using click through options and QR codes to specific URLs makes the cross over from print to digital platforms seamless.
- Event marketing: Discovering local events in the community newspaper is one of the top interest points for local readers. But don’t just churn out a generic “Come to our event”. Remember our readers enjoy spending time with the paper. Capitalize on that. When you advertise an event in the newspaper you have an opportunity to make an intimate connection so don’t treat it like a fly by night ad. Make it engaging, personal, and relevant.
- Coupons and promotions: If you are a retailer or a restaurant that has deals and promotions, newspaper readers take notice! Not only does the use of coupons help you track the effectiveness of your ad it also gets people in the door where you can start to deepen your client relationship.
- Minimize or maximize. When people book a print ad they tend to want to throw everything into it. This creates a cluttered, hard to read ad. Instead take the space to promote your one product or service that tends to get people in the door, then cross promote once you are in contact with your prospective client. Alternatively you can also use the space to create an organized product catalogue, or flier page that showcases a number of products but in an organized and thematic fashion.
By contacting your local newspaper you don’t just get an ad, you expand your marketing team exponentially. You get access to our professionals and we help you to figure out the direction you are looking to go with your business.
Hard work and heritage reflected in 4-H
One local youth has seen his hard work with 4-H pay off after being selected as one of 12 youth to show their steers at the 2025 Calgary Stampede Junior Steer Classic.
Hunter Harris is a third generation 4-H member and has been part of the organization since he was 12 years old. Not only does he show cattle for 4-H, he’s also been entering open shows for the past two years. He says showing cattle is just a natural extension of his life as the son and grandson of farmers.
“I think it’s really important to know where your food comes from and I really enjoy showing,” says Harris. He says he also feels like he’s staying true to his heritage working in agriculture, which he is something he is proud of and wants to continue doing.
As an ambassador, Harris got his choice of steer from the OH Ranch this month. At the next Calgary Stampede, he will bring that steer back to show in the Calgary Stampede Junior Steer Classic under a special category for OH Beef.
He says being chosen as an ambassador is an honour and he’s excited to use the opportunity to help educate people about the importance of the industry.
“I think it means putting myself out there and trying to put out a positive image for both the Calgary Stampede and the beef industry as a whole,” says Harris. “As an ambassador, I feel I have the responsibility to try and promote the show world, the beef industry, and this way of life as much as I can.”
Beef showing a competitive sport
He says there is a lot of work that goes into showing and that he considers it a competitive sport, no different than horse showing or dog showing. Each year, Harris works with the steer or heifer he’s chosen. He’s responsible for feeding it, grooming it, and training it, which means spending time with it nearly every day for more than half a year.
“You’ve got to put in a ton of time. You have to be able to halter break it and get it tame,” says Harris. “There’s a process of training it to stand a certain way, how to respond to certain cues when you’re pulling on their halter, and how they should lead and behave in the show ring.”
It’s also important to put time into research about the proper feed for the steer. Harris says the type of food they are fed will greatly impact the standing in competition as well as the sale of the steer for butcher. He says there is a certain balance between fat and muscle that needs to be kept to make good meat.
At the show, all of the cattle get a fitting from the competitors to make sure they look their best when in the ring.
“It’s kind of like hairstyling, but for cows, in a sense,” he says.
Fitting involves cleaning the cow, blow drying them, clipping them, brushing tufts and styling them in certain ways to make the cow look its best in the show.
“It kind of brings out the best traits in them so they look like a better market animal,” he says.
Harris says he plans to attend more open shows this year and hopefully have the opportunity to help educate people about the industry. In the past, he’s spoken with young spectators at events who come up to see his cow and shared a little bit about the importance of the event.
“I just wanted to make sure they were enjoying themselves and that they learned something,” says Harris. “The ladies that were showing [the children] around were learning stuff, too. I think it’s really important to try and connect with everyone on all levels and tell them what an amazing sport it is and how important it is.”
He says that sometimes it can be sad to see the cow go after working with it for so long. But Harris says it’s important for him to remember why he is doing it in the first place, and that families will be fed well because of his efforts.
While Harris is still contemplating what the future could hold for himself in terms of a career, he’s pretty certain that he will likely end up working with cattle and in the agriculture industry. He’s already been working on building up his own herd with his time and money, and a little bit of help from his family. He feels that this will give him a headstart in life and also makes a good choice as an ambassador.
“My parents have been extremely supportive of it, and they’ve helped me out a ton,” he says.
Harris believes his experience in working with his herd makes him more knowledgeable about the industry. He’s been learning about the traditions and the work that goes into maintaining a herd, including breeding, feeding, and the general well-being of the animals.
“I think that makes me a better showman and in a better position to be an ambassador,” he says.
Those who wish to know how Harris’ steer holds up to the other 11 ambassadors will have to wait until the July 2025 Calgary Stampede or hope to catch him at one of the several shows he plans to attend.
Volleyball comes home to Tomahawk
Tomahawk to receive a $1 million dollar upgrade
For the first time ever, the Tomahawk School volleyball team was able to host a home game thanks to their new gym.
Tracey Gilmour, the new principal for the school, says the new gym was a $1 million project. It was started last May and was finally finished on October 16, hours before their opening game.
“They were bringing the scissor lift out as we brought in the net,” says Gilmour.
The Timberwolves went on to win their first home game against the Muir Lake Mustangs.
“They were a little bit worried that actually performing at home would put some pressure on them,” says Gilmour. “But they did great.”
“I was very nervous and excited at the same time,” says Layla Chausse, one of the Timberwolves.
Team practice was a challenge in the past
While the school has always had team sports, Gilmour says it’s been a challenge for the teams to practice, and they’ve never been able to host a game before. The size of the gym wasn’t necessarily the problem. The issue was a large stage that took up about a third of the space in the room.
Gilmour says the stage made it difficult for the students to play any type of sports in the gym. She says small games could work, but a full sized game wasn’t possible.
The previous principal, Fran Bell, really advocated for the students saying they should have equal opportunities to access sports and extracurriculars.
“Parkland School Division stepped up and made that investment in our school,” says Gilmour.
After years of playing away games, the team was happy to finally get to play on their home turf.
“It was really nice to play in the gym for the first time,” says Josie Woodruff, one of the players. “We’re especially grateful to be able to play a home game.” She says their team has never had the opportunity to play in a new gym before.
The fact that they were the very first people to use the gym was something the team enjoyed, as well.
Strocher says winning is just icing on the cake
“We were really excited to have our first home game and be the first ones to play in that gym,” says Isabelle Strocher. She says winning that first game was just icing on the cake.
Up until the home opener, the girls had been practicing outside on a paved area near the school. Gilmour says it hasn’t been easy for the team, but they persevered, and had won every single game going into the home opener.
“Honestly, I think what got them through was their amazing team spirit,” says Gilmour. “I’ve never seen anything like it. They’re so supportive of each other.”
That team spirit has helped the Timberwolves make it into the playoffs this year.
“We’ve finished our placement games,” says Judith Munch. “Now we just have playoffs, and we’re hoping to host one, too.”
Meeting calls for change in town
Members of business community voice concerns over local issues
Some local businesses gathered last week to voice concerns, propose possible solutions, and brainstorm a presentation to put before town council.
Erik Bergen, one of the owners of the Drayton Valley Bakery, held a meeting on October 9 and invited all businesses in the community to come out. Bergen wanted to hear their thoughts on three specific topics: homelessness, essential service administration and the Town’s free enterprise policy.
Bergen says the idea about having a presentation has been on his mind for several months. He says he’s spoken to many business owners who feel frustrated with the Town and the direction council is taking. However, he says he felt that if everybody only talked about it and no one went to the town, nothing would get accomplished.
Along with business owners, the organizers of Warming Hearts and members of the public attended the event.
Homelessness and franchises stir debate
Bergen prepared a presentation for the event, and reviewed it several times as people came and went as they were able. He also had a petition available for attendees to sign.
As he went over his presentation, Bergen says it was difficult to focus on the problems and solutions rather than opinions.
“It did derail a little bit, just because of the opposite points of view, especially regarding the homeless,” he says.
There were some attendees who viewed the homeless issue from a more humanitarian point of view and others that felt a heavier hand was needed. But Bergen says it’s important to
remember that not all homeless people are causing the issue. There are some individuals who are making it difficult for everyone.
“I don’t want to group all people into one basket,” says Bergen. “There are people who are homeless because their house burned down or were dealt a bad hand.”
Another topic that brought up differing opinions was new franchises coming into the community. In his presentation, Bergen argued that by simply leaving the door open for any new businesses in the community, council was putting a strain on businesses that were already established.
According to Bergen, there is about one restaurant (or registered kitchen) for every 95 people in the community. There are more than eight liquor stores and six cannabis stores, 12 pizza places and more than one of some franchises.
He believes that a lack of direction from council in this matter is making it difficult for businesses to do well. Bergen says his concern is protecting the current businesses that the town already has in place and allow them to flourish.
“A lot of these restaurant owners say that they’re one franchise away from closing their doors,” says Bergen.
Town services and the need for improvement
Bergen says that many people have also noticed a disparity in the services the Town offers the community. For example, there are a number of different “nice” things the Town has spent money on like the pumptrack, disc golf, the pool etc. However, there are some struggles with providing basic services such as regular road maintenance, weed control and pest management.
“Maybe they are doing the best they can do, or maybe they got pushed to the back burner,” says Bergen.
He says that he got a lot of feedback from those who attended the meeting. As it was his first time attempting anything like this, there was a learning curve and Bergen says he’s looking forward to making improvements at another meeting that will be held at the beginning of November.
Bergen’s plan is to present a list of complaints with possible solutions to council in November.
Town changing Facility Code of Conduct
The Town is making some changes to its Facility Code of Conduct in an effort to ensure its facilities aren’t being misused.
Cody Rossing, the manager of enforcement and emergency management, presented council with a proposed amendment to the Code of Conduct. Rossing says the Code of Conduct was put in place in August 2016. Since council expressed concern surrounding enforcement of removing homeless individuals from the Civic Centre vestibule, administration reviewed the code and came up with some suggestions.
Rossing says there are several different prohibitions that were not included in the original Code of Conduct. Most of the changes were stronger wording surrounding loitering and failing to comply with signage. While the original code prohibited smoking, it did not mention vaping, so Rossing says they have changed that.
The wording surrounding service animals was also changed to match provincial law.
The proposed changes also give more power to facility managers when it comes to banning individuals from Town facilities. They will be able to ban individuals for up to seven days. General managers and peace officers will also be able to suspend someone for up to six months. CAOs will be able to ban someone for more than six months if necessary.
“It’s putting in those different layers so the CAO isn’t involved in everything,” says Rossing.
He says there are also changes to wording surrounding the appeals process of someone who has been banned for more than 24 hours.
“And it clarifies that if someone is contravening their suspension or expulsion, then they are considered trespassing and law enforcement will be made aware for further actions,” says Rossing.
Councillor Colin Clarke raised concerns about the bans, asking if a ban from Town facilities meant all Town-owned buildings, even if there were tennants operating out of some of them. He says he worried that banning someone from the Omniplex might affect their ability to go to the Food Bank or other necessary services.
Hans van Klaveren, the acting CAO, says that typically the operator is setting those guidelines or rules for their building.
Councillor Tom McGee also spoke about the Warming Hearts Centre as the Town helps to fund the rent for the facility through grants.
In the end, it was decided that if a tenant wanted to have someone trespassed, they would contact Rossing and it would be treated like other businesses in the community. Their bans will only apply to Town owned and operated facilities.
“I’m glad to see we’re addressing this and putting the structure in place to give you the tools to do something about it,” says Councillor Rick Evans.
“I think that, in the end, our residents are going to appreciate our efforts to make the use of our facilities more enjoyable and safe, ultimately.”
Opportunity Home will provide housing and hot meals along with skills training and mental and physiological support to those recovering from addictions.
The aim is for renovations to the building to begin shortly while the group looks for an executive director to oversee the day to day operations, says Art Frey, who has been involved in developing the concept of Opportunity Home and is now focussed on bringing it to reality as the organization’s president.
While the work involved is sometimes daunting, Frey says the group is committed to finding solutions to any challenges that may arise.
“If you help one person out of addiction you’ve been successful,” he says.
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.
Five active members and two retired members of Drayton Valley/Brazeau County Fire Services were awarded the Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal on behalf of the Governor General on November 26.
Retired firefighters Lieutenant Clifford Swan and Brad Charlton of the Breton station were awarded the 20 year service medal, along with Acting Battalion Chief Colin Bredin. Deputy Fire Chief Murray Galavan, Deputy Fire Chief Kamil Lasek, and Battalion Chief Mike Gramlich of the Drayton Valley station were all given their 20 year service medals, as well.
Battalion Chief Mark Raines of the Breton station was awarded his 1st bar for 30 years of service as he has already received an Exemplary Service Medal for 20 years of service.
The members were also congratulated at the November 29 town council meeting.
“That’s a big shout out,” says Mayor Nancy Dodds. “Thank you, and thank you to your families.”
Fire Chief Tom Thomson, who had the honour of nominating the award winners, says the medal isn’t just for the years of service that a firefighter has worked.
“You have to show exemplary service. You can’t just show up. You have to do more than that to receive the reward,” he says.
Even though Thomson nominated the members, they weren’t automatically awarded the medal. Each nomination form was reviewed by a selection committee to decide if they would receive the award.
“All of the members I nominated won,” says Thomson.
He says he chose those individuals because he has seen the effort they put into their positions. “All of them were selected because of their commitment and dedication to the department.”
Thomson says these members have demonstrated leadership, education of staff and the public, working toward fire prevention, and many other qualities that show their work ethic for Fire Services.
Thomson says these medals are normally awarded annually, but with Covid and the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, it has been a few years since they were given out.
“Complacency is dangerous” is the message Drayton resident Maureen Hollingsworth wants to spread.
Hollingsworth, who is a truck driver in the oil and gas industry, had her first opportunity to share her son’s story at a safety meeting held by Plains Midstream on November 15.
“Twelve years, five months, and ten days ago, my life changed,” she says.
On June 5, 2011, her son Colin Stewart, better known as Mouse, went to work in the morning, but didn’t come home in the evening. At the age of 23, Mouse had made a fatal choice at work and forever changed the lives around him.
“It was the day my heart was broken. It was also the day I had to start living without one of my greatest gifts,” says Hollingsworth.
For those in attendance, Hollingsworth shared anecdotes of Mouse. Though he had started out as a premie, Mouse had lived every day to the fullest.
Hollingsworth says that he was always active. He could be found quadding, dirtbiking, horseback riding, and snowmobiling most days. During his downtime, Mouse read.
“He would read anywhere,” says Hollingsworth.
Mouse also had a nephew Xzander, and he spent as much time with him as he could. Whenever possible, Mouse was buying Xzander gifts, many of which were playstation games.
Hollingsworth says the spring of 2011 was very wet. With all of the rain, Mouse couldn’t be out working.
Finally, at the end of May, the weather improved and Mouse and three others went to work.
For ten days the four guys, all aged between 19 and 23, were working long hours. It wasn’t unusual for a day to be 18-20 hours long.
“Not only are they over-houred and fatigued, let’s throw a whole lot of inexperience into the picture,” says Hollingsworth.
One of the 19-year-olds working that day had only been in Canada for five days.
“It’s now a Sunday afternoon and the job is completed. They were done early and were excited to go home. But that’s when complacency came into the picture,” she says.
Mouse’s machine was across the job site. He was tired. So, he hopped onto the back of another machine to catch a ride over to the other side of the job site.
The 19-year-old who was new to Canada, hopped into that machine. He didn’t know where everyone was on the site, and he didn’t walk around his equipment. Instead, he got in, flipped the switch, and that was the end for Mouse.
“Four went to work,” says Hollingsworth. “Three came home. Had [the driver] taken less than one minute and walked around the equipment, I wouldn’t be here talking about safety.”
Hollingsworth says after she was done speaking, Dan Lyons, the man who’d invited her to speak stood to say something. But after a moment of struggling to speak, he suggested a ten minute break for everyone.
“He told me he will never ever forget this,” says Hollingsworth.
She says one of the biggest frustrations she has with the situation is that people always want to know what kind of machine it was or where Mouse was working. For her, it doesn’t matter where it happened or what he was doing. The same lesson can be applied to all industries.
But she says that when she shares it was an industrial farming incident, many act as though that makes the situation non-applicable. Though Mouse died because he wanted to hitch a ride on a manure spreader, the situation is still the same in other industries. There was no walk around, no knowledge of where everyone was, and there was complacency on the worksite.
In 2011, farmers and ranch workers were still exempted from the Labour Code. There were no requirements for safety and they were not covered under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. In fact, when OH&S found out that his death was from a farming accident, they said there was nothing they could do.
“At that time there was no farm safety. None. Zero,” says Hollingsworth.
According to a blog written by Jennifer Koshan of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary, a study done by the Alberta Federation of Labour in 2017 showed “agricultural workers are more than twice as likely to be killed on the job as other workers in Alberta, and 4,000 work related injuries occur on Alberta farms each year.”
It wasn’t until Bill 6 was brought in by the Alberta Government in 2016 that things began to change for the farming industry. Now employers are required to have safety practices and are expected to meet the Alberta Occupation Health and Safety Act requirements for their industry.
“Bill 6 also brought farm and ranch workers who are paid, non-family members into the basic health and safety protections under the Occupational Health and Safety Act as of January 1, 2016. Farm and ranch employers are now obliged to ensure the health and safety of their workers, and the workers are able to refuse unsafe work that presents an imminent danger. OHS officers are authorized to inspect farm and ranch workplaces to ensure that that work is not being carried out in a manner that is unhealthy or unsafe, and serious injuries and accidents on farm and ranch work sites must be reported and investigated,” says Koshan’s article.
After the accident, Hollingsworth and Mouse’s dad Marvin Stewart spoke with the young man who’d been working the manure spreader that day. She says she felt awful for him because he was thousands of miles away from home. “He couldn’t even get a hug from his mom,” she says.
They made it clear to him that Mouse should never have been on the back of the spreader. They told him that Mouse knew better, and that he shouldn’t blame himself for what happened.
“I don’t want another mom to hear these words, ‘Your child has died due to safety reasons,’” she says. “I never want another mother to get a call from her kid saying he just killed someone at work.”
While it’s too late to help Mouse, Hollingsworth says she hopes she can spread the message far and wide. She is already slated to speak at two safety meetings at All Choice Rentals and hopes she has the opportunity to do more.
A historic landmark only officially recognized in 2017 will now have a street named after it.
At the November 1 meeting, town council heard from Hans Van Klaveren, the General Manager of Community Services and Recreation, regarding a petition from a community member who asked to have 49th Street renamed as Drake Street. Council unanimously agreed to the change.
Suzanne Hommy, one of the people behind the push for the name change, says she’s happy with the decision.
Hommy’s son Brett is the current owner of the Drake house located at 5048 49 St., though he was unable to speak with the Free Press due to his work shift. Between Brett and his older brother Colton, the home has been in the hands of the Hommys for fourteen years.
Hommy and Brett were also two of the key players in getting the house recognized as one of the original homes that was built in Drayton Valley. In fact, the owners, William and Ellen (Dora) Drake, were the ones who gave the community its name.
“It took the Town a long time to recognize it and actually give us the plaque,” says Hommy.
The history of the original settlement of Drayton Valley is one that is often overshadowed by the discovery of the Pembina Oilfield, say the descendants of the Drakes who still live in the community.
“A lot of people don’t think of Drayton before the Discovery Well,” says Nicole Coleman, William and Ellen’s great-great-granddaughter, and lifetime resident of Drayton Valley.
Coleman can recall a time in elementary school when assignment was to do a family tree. “I was outright told that I was lying,” she says.
Her mother Kathy Linde and aunt Amy Newberry, say they both had similar experiences in school.
Getting the attention from the Town and County of Brazeau has been challenging for the family. For a while, it seemed the Drakes and their history had faded from the collective memory of the community.
That changed when Mandy and Tyler Layden purchased the home in the late 90s.
Layden says they very nearly passed on the home because it looked run down and strange. “I drove past it three or four months before [we purchased the house] and was like ‘Nope!’” says Layden.
That changed when she had a dream about the house. In her dream, she was walking around inside the house, and when she woke she told her husband they had to take a look inside.
“I fell in love with the bones of the place,” says Layden.
At first, Layden and her husband didn’t know anything about the history of the home. The home inspector had told them the house was built in the ‘50s, based on a permit to have a basement dug for the home in 1955. But Layden said the architecture of the place had her thinking differently.
Layden, who worked for the Town at the time, says one day she was in one of the back rooms and came across a booklet that showed older pictures of the community. Layden took a moment to look through the booklet. She came across a familiar roofline in one of the photos. She was almost certain she was seeing the same house she had, but in a different location. That lunch hour, she went home and took several polaroid pictures of her house from different angles.
“I copied the picture from the booklet for an overhead projector,” says Layden.
Once she had the copy and laid it over the picture of her home, it was an exact match. That was when Layden started digging.
She started with the development file for the lot the house sits on. She found the permit to have the house moved from 50th and 50th, where the Shale Clinic now stands, to its current location in 1955. Janet and Jean (Red) Fuhr had the home moved onto a new basement that had been dug out by horses. In 1966, the Fuhrs would sell the home to the Schubergs.
But Layden didn’t drop the trail there. She began to research everything she could find about the beginnings of Drayton Valley. By looking through history books like To Trail’s End by W.S.B. Loosmore, and Trappers, Loggers, Homesteaders and Oilmen published by the Historical Society, Layden was able to piece things together.
Layden also conducted interviews with Les Tucker, the son of Jack Tucker who took over the post office after the Drakes, Fred Kynoch, the Drake’s grandson, Eleanor Pickup, and Keith Fuhr, the son of Fuhrs that bought the house.
The story that unfurled was one Layden felt the community should know about. As she and her husband worked on renos in the house, keeping as much of the original parts as they could, she began work on talking with the Town about getting the place recognized.
But she couldn’t find anyone who wanted to recognize it. “Nobody was interested,” she says.
Layden discovered that William and Ellen Drake were amongst the first settlers in the area. At first, Ellen was alone in the area with her eight-year-old daughter, Dora (Dolly), for eighteen months. They lived in a tent while William was away working. At the time, Ellen was the only woman in the area.
When William came back, he became the Postmaster starting in 1913. He called the post office Powerhouse due to a proposed dam to be built on the North Saskatchewan River.
When William left to serve in World War I, Ellen took charge of the post in the area. But, after a call from Ottawa, Ellen learned there was already a Powerhouse in Western Canada. They asked her to come up with a new name.
Ellen chose Drayton Valley, as William had grown up in Drayton, England.
When William came back, the family eventually moved to a homestead on 50th and 50th, taking the post office with them. Some historians have said the Drake’s built the home, but the research says otherwise.
Newberry was told by her father that the ghost that is purported to haunt the house was from the man “who owned the house before the Drakes.
The home they purchased was originally built in 1928. Les Tucker, who had spoken with Layden, said he recalled the house being built “by a young man named Albert Black.” Layden also found reference in one of the books from a woman who remembers seeing the house being built in 1928 when she was going to the Eldorado School, which at the time was situated across from the house.
The Drakes purchased the home in 1930 and built a shop onto it. They operated the shop and post office until 1936. While they no longer operated the post office or the store, the Drakes lived in that house until the close of World War II. The Drakes moved to Edmonton, leaving behind their eldest daughter, Dora, who had married Gordon Kynoch.
Newberry and Linde’s father is Fred Kynoch, the son of Dora and Gordon Kynoch. They can both recall efforts that were made to try and get the home recognized.
Newberry says the original homestead was across from where Intercon Messaging now sits. She says there was a sign there at one point. But it eventually fell to the ground and though her mother tried to get the County to put it back up, it never happened.
Later, Ivy Clark, Newberry and Linde’s cousin, tried to get the Town to rename the street, but had no success.
When Layden and her husband sold the home, they were careful to choose someone who respected its history. Colton, Brett’s older brother, originally bought the home, making no changes to the house. When Brett purchased it from Colton, he decided he wanted to do some upgrades to the house, but was careful to keep as much of the original work as possible.
Hommy and her husband helped Brett with the renovations.
“We tried to keep as much as we could. We didn’t throw anything out but the old windows, but they were from the ‘80s,” says Hommy.
They restained the cupboards in the kitchen, though they were not the original cupboards, and Brett installed a dishwasher. The original threshold was kept in place, the original stairs were restained, and the old brick stove chimney that runs through the house was kept. While the Hommys changed the exterior doors, the interior doors are the same.
While Hommy’s sons lived in the house, she began speaking to the Town about having the place recognized. “I told them, ‘I’m not stopping until you give them something,’” she says.
When the plaque was put up on July 1, 2017, Hommy says she spoke to Fred Kynoch, who told her that they had tried to have the street named Drake at one point, but had no success. “So that was my next mission,” she says.
The Drakes’ family says they are very grateful for the efforts that were made on their ancestors’ behalf.
“We don’t learn about history so that it doesn’t repeat itself,” says Jodi Sandercock, Newberry’s daughter. “We learn about history because every single step that our ancestors took led us exactly to where we are standing today. Just as every step we take today impacts the steps future generations take.
“Renaming the street honours those very steps our ancestors, the Drakes, took. The Drakes created a foundation for our family to grow in this community for six generations and counting.”
Coleman agrees with Sandercock. “I would love to see some of the old settlers recognized by renaming buildings and streets,” says Coleman.
Crystal O’Malley, Newberry’s daughter, says she is excited about the change. “I think this will start a conversation and get some dialogue going.”
Linde’s daughter Melissa Linde says she’s happy there is going to be some recognition. “I think my grandpa would be really proud of all of the work that’s put into it,” she says.
“[Layden, Hommy, and Brett] did all of the legwork to make this happen, and that’s important to remember,” says Linde.
Hommy says that while she and Brett appreciate the thanks, they weren’t the only ones who made it happen. “I know they were thanking me, but there’s a whole lot of people before me. I’m just the end,” she says.
Hommy and her husband will be moving out of the country in January, and she is hoping to see the sign go up before then. Brett is also looking to sell the home in the near future, but both of them feel the Drake House’s tale is far from over.
“This story isn’t about the street, or even the family,” says Hommy. “It’s about this house and all of the people who have lived in it.”
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Although not all those dealing with addiction are homeless, that group will be the main focus of Opportunity Home once it opens its doors. Frey says the aim is to work hand-in-hand with services such as the Community Mat Program and the Warming Hearts Soup Kitchen to avoid duplication of services and to make sure they are able to reach those who are most in need of assistance.
Clients will be required to be clean and sober before being admitted to Opportunity Home and to remain so while they’re with the program. In exchange they will receive the support and encouragement needed to give them a chance to turn their lives around.
Initially the facility will accommodate about a dozen male clients at a time, with a plan to open to women as things progress.
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.
Five active members and two retired members of Drayton Valley/Brazeau County Fire Services were awarded the Fire Services Exemplary Service Medal on behalf of the Governor General on November 26.
Retired firefighters Lieutenant Clifford Swan and Brad Charlton of the Breton station were awarded the 20 year service medal, along with Acting Battalion Chief Colin Bredin. Deputy Fire Chief Murray Galavan, Deputy Fire Chief Kamil Lasek, and Battalion Chief Mike Gramlich of the Drayton Valley station were all given their 20 year service medals, as well.
Battalion Chief Mark Raines of the Breton station was awarded his 1st bar for 30 years of service as he has already received an Exemplary Service Medal for 20 years of service.
The members were also congratulated at the November 29 town council meeting.
“That’s a big shout out,” says Mayor Nancy Dodds. “Thank you, and thank you to your families.”
Fire Chief Tom Thomson, who had the honour of nominating the award winners, says the medal isn’t just for the years of service that a firefighter has worked.
“You have to show exemplary service. You can’t just show up. You have to do more than that to receive the reward,” he says.
Even though Thomson nominated the members, they weren’t automatically awarded the medal. Each nomination form was reviewed by a selection committee to decide if they would receive the award.
“All of the members I nominated won,” says Thomson.
He says he chose those individuals because he has seen the effort they put into their positions. “All of them were selected because of their commitment and dedication to the department.”
Thomson says these members have demonstrated leadership, education of staff and the public, working toward fire prevention, and many other qualities that show their work ethic for Fire Services.
Thomson says these medals are normally awarded annually, but with Covid and the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, it has been a few years since they were given out.
“Complacency is dangerous” is the message Drayton resident Maureen Hollingsworth wants to spread.
Hollingsworth, who is a truck driver in the oil and gas industry, had her first opportunity to share her son’s story at a safety meeting held by Plains Midstream on November 15.
“Twelve years, five months, and ten days ago, my life changed,” she says.
On June 5, 2011, her son Colin Stewart, better known as Mouse, went to work in the morning, but didn’t come home in the evening. At the age of 23, Mouse had made a fatal choice at work and forever changed the lives around him.
“It was the day my heart was broken. It was also the day I had to start living without one of my greatest gifts,” says Hollingsworth.
For those in attendance, Hollingsworth shared anecdotes of Mouse. Though he had started out as a premie, Mouse had lived every day to the fullest.
Hollingsworth says that he was always active. He could be found quadding, dirtbiking, horseback riding, and snowmobiling most days. During his downtime, Mouse read.
“He would read anywhere,” says Hollingsworth.
Mouse also had a nephew Xzander, and he spent as much time with him as he could. Whenever possible, Mouse was buying Xzander gifts, many of which were playstation games.
Hollingsworth says the spring of 2011 was very wet. With all of the rain, Mouse couldn’t be out working.
Finally, at the end of May, the weather improved and Mouse and three others went to work.
For ten days the four guys, all aged between 19 and 23, were working long hours. It wasn’t unusual for a day to be 18-20 hours long.
“Not only are they over-houred and fatigued, let’s throw a whole lot of inexperience into the picture,” says Hollingsworth.
One of the 19-year-olds working that day had only been in Canada for five days.
“It’s now a Sunday afternoon and the job is completed. They were done early and were excited to go home. But that’s when complacency came into the picture,” she says.
Mouse’s machine was across the job site. He was tired. So, he hopped onto the back of another machine to catch a ride over to the other side of the job site.
The 19-year-old who was new to Canada, hopped into that machine. He didn’t know where everyone was on the site, and he didn’t walk around his equipment. Instead, he got in, flipped the switch, and that was the end for Mouse.
“Four went to work,” says Hollingsworth. “Three came home. Had [the driver] taken less than one minute and walked around the equipment, I wouldn’t be here talking about safety.”
Hollingsworth says after she was done speaking, Dan Lyons, the man who’d invited her to speak stood to say something. But after a moment of struggling to speak, he suggested a ten minute break for everyone.
“He told me he will never ever forget this,” says Hollingsworth.
She says one of the biggest frustrations she has with the situation is that people always want to know what kind of machine it was or where Mouse was working. For her, it doesn’t matter where it happened or what he was doing. The same lesson can be applied to all industries.
But she says that when she shares it was an industrial farming incident, many act as though that makes the situation non-applicable. Though Mouse died because he wanted to hitch a ride on a manure spreader, the situation is still the same in other industries. There was no walk around, no knowledge of where everyone was, and there was complacency on the worksite.
In 2011, farmers and ranch workers were still exempted from the Labour Code. There were no requirements for safety and they were not covered under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. In fact, when OH&S found out that his death was from a farming accident, they said there was nothing they could do.
“At that time there was no farm safety. None. Zero,” says Hollingsworth.
According to a blog written by Jennifer Koshan of the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary, a study done by the Alberta Federation of Labour in 2017 showed “agricultural workers are more than twice as likely to be killed on the job as other workers in Alberta, and 4,000 work related injuries occur on Alberta farms each year.”
It wasn’t until Bill 6 was brought in by the Alberta Government in 2016 that things began to change for the farming industry. Now employers are required to have safety practices and are expected to meet the Alberta Occupation Health and Safety Act requirements for their industry.
“Bill 6 also brought farm and ranch workers who are paid, non-family members into the basic health and safety protections under the Occupational Health and Safety Act as of January 1, 2016. Farm and ranch employers are now obliged to ensure the health and safety of their workers, and the workers are able to refuse unsafe work that presents an imminent danger. OHS officers are authorized to inspect farm and ranch workplaces to ensure that that work is not being carried out in a manner that is unhealthy or unsafe, and serious injuries and accidents on farm and ranch work sites must be reported and investigated,” says Koshan’s article.
After the accident, Hollingsworth and Mouse’s dad Marvin Stewart spoke with the young man who’d been working the manure spreader that day. She says she felt awful for him because he was thousands of miles away from home. “He couldn’t even get a hug from his mom,” she says.
They made it clear to him that Mouse should never have been on the back of the spreader. They told him that Mouse knew better, and that he shouldn’t blame himself for what happened.
“I don’t want another mom to hear these words, ‘Your child has died due to safety reasons,’” she says. “I never want another mother to get a call from her kid saying he just killed someone at work.”
While it’s too late to help Mouse, Hollingsworth says she hopes she can spread the message far and wide. She is already slated to speak at two safety meetings at All Choice Rentals and hopes she has the opportunity to do more.
A historic landmark only officially recognized in 2017 will now have a street named after it.
At the November 1 meeting, town council heard from Hans Van Klaveren, the General Manager of Community Services and Recreation, regarding a petition from a community member who asked to have 49th Street renamed as Drake Street. Council unanimously agreed to the change.
Suzanne Hommy, one of the people behind the push for the name change, says she’s happy with the decision.
Hommy’s son Brett is the current owner of the Drake house located at 5048 49 St., though he was unable to speak with the Free Press due to his work shift. Between Brett and his older brother Colton, the home has been in the hands of the Hommys for fourteen years.
Hommy and Brett were also two of the key players in getting the house recognized as one of the original homes that was built in Drayton Valley. In fact, the owners, William and Ellen (Dora) Drake, were the ones who gave the community its name.
“It took the Town a long time to recognize it and actually give us the plaque,” says Hommy.
The history of the original settlement of Drayton Valley is one that is often overshadowed by the discovery of the Pembina Oilfield, say the descendants of the Drakes who still live in the community.
“A lot of people don’t think of Drayton before the Discovery Well,” says Nicole Coleman, William and Ellen’s great-great-granddaughter, and lifetime resident of Drayton Valley.
Coleman can recall a time in elementary school when assignment was to do a family tree. “I was outright told that I was lying,” she says.
Her mother Kathy Linde and aunt Amy Newberry, say they both had similar experiences in school.
Getting the attention from the Town and County of Brazeau has been challenging for the family. For a while, it seemed the Drakes and their history had faded from the collective memory of the community.
That changed when Mandy and Tyler Layden purchased the home in the late 90s.
Layden says they very nearly passed on the home because it looked run down and strange. “I drove past it three or four months before [we purchased the house] and was like ‘Nope!’” says Layden.
That changed when she had a dream about the house. In her dream, she was walking around inside the house, and when she woke she told her husband they had to take a look inside.
“I fell in love with the bones of the place,” says Layden.
At first, Layden and her husband didn’t know anything about the history of the home. The home inspector had told them the house was built in the ‘50s, based on a permit to have a basement dug for the home in 1955. But Layden said the architecture of the place had her thinking differently.
Layden, who worked for the Town at the time, says one day she was in one of the back rooms and came across a booklet that showed older pictures of the community. Layden took a moment to look through the booklet. She came across a familiar roofline in one of the photos. She was almost certain she was seeing the same house she had, but in a different location. That lunch hour, she went home and took several polaroid pictures of her house from different angles.
“I copied the picture from the booklet for an overhead projector,” says Layden.
Once she had the copy and laid it over the picture of her home, it was an exact match. That was when Layden started digging.
She started with the development file for the lot the house sits on. She found the permit to have the house moved from 50th and 50th, where the Shale Clinic now stands, to its current location in 1955. Janet and Jean (Red) Fuhr had the home moved onto a new basement that had been dug out by horses. In 1966, the Fuhrs would sell the home to the Schubergs.
But Layden didn’t drop the trail there. She began to research everything she could find about the beginnings of Drayton Valley. By looking through history books like To Trail’s End by W.S.B. Loosmore, and Trappers, Loggers, Homesteaders and Oilmen published by the Historical Society, Layden was able to piece things together.
Layden also conducted interviews with Les Tucker, the son of Jack Tucker who took over the post office after the Drakes, Fred Kynoch, the Drake’s grandson, Eleanor Pickup, and Keith Fuhr, the son of Fuhrs that bought the house.
The story that unfurled was one Layden felt the community should know about. As she and her husband worked on renos in the house, keeping as much of the original parts as they could, she began work on talking with the Town about getting the place recognized.
But she couldn’t find anyone who wanted to recognize it. “Nobody was interested,” she says.
Layden discovered that William and Ellen Drake were amongst the first settlers in the area. At first, Ellen was alone in the area with her eight-year-old daughter, Dora (Dolly), for eighteen months. They lived in a tent while William was away working. At the time, Ellen was the only woman in the area.
When William came back, he became the Postmaster starting in 1913. He called the post office Powerhouse due to a proposed dam to be built on the North Saskatchewan River.
When William left to serve in World War I, Ellen took charge of the post in the area. But, after a call from Ottawa, Ellen learned there was already a Powerhouse in Western Canada. They asked her to come up with a new name.
Ellen chose Drayton Valley, as William had grown up in Drayton, England.
When William came back, the family eventually moved to a homestead on 50th and 50th, taking the post office with them. Some historians have said the Drake’s built the home, but the research says otherwise.
Newberry was told by her father that the ghost that is purported to haunt the house was from the man “who owned the house before the Drakes.
The home they purchased was originally built in 1928. Les Tucker, who had spoken with Layden, said he recalled the house being built “by a young man named Albert Black.” Layden also found reference in one of the books from a woman who remembers seeing the house being built in 1928 when she was going to the Eldorado School, which at the time was situated across from the house.
The Drakes purchased the home in 1930 and built a shop onto it. They operated the shop and post office until 1936. While they no longer operated the post office or the store, the Drakes lived in that house until the close of World War II. The Drakes moved to Edmonton, leaving behind their eldest daughter, Dora, who had married Gordon Kynoch.
Newberry and Linde’s father is Fred Kynoch, the son of Dora and Gordon Kynoch. They can both recall efforts that were made to try and get the home recognized.
Newberry says the original homestead was across from where Intercon Messaging now sits. She says there was a sign there at one point. But it eventually fell to the ground and though her mother tried to get the County to put it back up, it never happened.
Later, Ivy Clark, Newberry and Linde’s cousin, tried to get the Town to rename the street, but had no success.
When Layden and her husband sold the home, they were careful to choose someone who respected its history. Colton, Brett’s older brother, originally bought the home, making no changes to the house. When Brett purchased it from Colton, he decided he wanted to do some upgrades to the house, but was careful to keep as much of the original work as possible.
Hommy and her husband helped Brett with the renovations.
“We tried to keep as much as we could. We didn’t throw anything out but the old windows, but they were from the ‘80s,” says Hommy.
They restained the cupboards in the kitchen, though they were not the original cupboards, and Brett installed a dishwasher. The original threshold was kept in place, the original stairs were restained, and the old brick stove chimney that runs through the house was kept. While the Hommys changed the exterior doors, the interior doors are the same.
While Hommy’s sons lived in the house, she began speaking to the Town about having the place recognized. “I told them, ‘I’m not stopping until you give them something,’” she says.
When the plaque was put up on July 1, 2017, Hommy says she spoke to Fred Kynoch, who told her that they had tried to have the street named Drake at one point, but had no success. “So that was my next mission,” she says.
The Drakes’ family says they are very grateful for the efforts that were made on their ancestors’ behalf.
“We don’t learn about history so that it doesn’t repeat itself,” says Jodi Sandercock, Newberry’s daughter. “We learn about history because every single step that our ancestors took led us exactly to where we are standing today. Just as every step we take today impacts the steps future generations take.
“Renaming the street honours those very steps our ancestors, the Drakes, took. The Drakes created a foundation for our family to grow in this community for six generations and counting.”
Coleman agrees with Sandercock. “I would love to see some of the old settlers recognized by renaming buildings and streets,” says Coleman.
Crystal O’Malley, Newberry’s daughter, says she is excited about the change. “I think this will start a conversation and get some dialogue going.”
Linde’s daughter Melissa Linde says she’s happy there is going to be some recognition. “I think my grandpa would be really proud of all of the work that’s put into it,” she says.
“[Layden, Hommy, and Brett] did all of the legwork to make this happen, and that’s important to remember,” says Linde.
Hommy says that while she and Brett appreciate the thanks, they weren’t the only ones who made it happen. “I know they were thanking me, but there’s a whole lot of people before me. I’m just the end,” she says.
Hommy and her husband will be moving out of the country in January, and she is hoping to see the sign go up before then. Brett is also looking to sell the home in the near future, but both of them feel the Drake House’s tale is far from over.
“This story isn’t about the street, or even the family,” says Hommy. “It’s about this house and all of the people who have lived in it.”
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
“Some of them have had very difficult lives with a cycle of abuse and mental illness leading to addictions. They really need help,” says Winter. “We have a group of very keen people who really want to make this happen.”
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.
