Drayton Valley is partnering with the University of Alberta once more; this time in an effort to study economic growth.
On August 4, it was announced that Drayton Valley, EndPovertyEdmonton and the university were awarded a research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanity Research Council of Canada. The grant is for $285,506 and is meant to help study the different economic development approaches in Drayton Valley and Edmonton over the next three years.
All Saints Anglican Church
We participate in the Anglican Liturgy, which comforts and sustains us. Many have said that
Firearms repair and maintenance
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B.D. Lock and Key Ltd.
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Breton Dental Clinic
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Drayton Valley Alliance Church
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“We have partnered with the University of Alberta initially to improve our programming needs here for our community and with that we have been fortunate enough to be the recipient of two grants and this is the second one,” says Nancy Dodds, town councillor.
The study will look at the unique challenges and triumphs of both rural and urban economic development and will inform future policies and practices to create inclusive economic development.
There are approximately 187 accidents in town each year within Town limits. That’s according to data from Drayton Valley Enforcement Services.
Cody Rossing, the Manager of Enforcement Services and Emergency Management for the Town, says data from 2016-2023 has helped map out intersections in the community that sees the highest number of collisions. The intersection at 50 Street North and Hwy 22 has had eight collisions, the highest in the community. The second highest number was at the intersection of 50 Street and 50 Avenue.
“Anything along Highway 22, the Town doesn’t have jurisdiction over, pertaining to road designs or changes,” says Rossing.
He says getting the data from the Province regarding collisions along Highway 22 is something they haven’t been able to do before. Now that they have the data they can start mapping out the high incident intersections and starting brainstorming ways they can address some of the problem areas. Rossing says those areas will have more focus from the community peace officers.
Rossing says they are trying to develop strategies on how to reduce collisions in the community on a whole, particularly those that result in fatalities.
“There’s different things we can use like engineering and controls,” says Rossing. “But for enforcement services, how are we strategically educating and enforcing in those areas?”
He says there are a number of factors that can contribute to collisions. Over the past eight years there have been 434 caused from unsafe speeds, 245 were intersection related, 163 that are weather related, 114 from road surface conditions, 51 involving animals, and 417 were from drivers performing improper actions.
With speed being the most prominent cause, enforcement services have been taking action to find out where speeding is most common and increasing patrols. The digital speed signs that were purchased with funds from the Community Safety Committee don’t have cameras on them, but they do record the speed and report that data back to enforcement services.
On March 6, officers intercepted a vehicle driving 102 km per hour in a 50 km zone.
“That vehicle was pulled over, a court summons was issued to the driver to compel them to court. If they don’t attend court a warrant will be issued for them,” says Rossing.
If they are found guilty, they could face a fine of up to $2,000 and/or a license suspension.
Rossing says anyone who is over the speed limit by more than 51 km per hour will face an automatic court summons.
This was not the only incident of speeding. On March 5, the digital speed signs picked up on a vehicle driving 111 km per hour in a 60 km per hour zone. They also pulled over a vehicle going 50 km per hour over the limit that same day.
“That is strictly within the Town of Drayton Valley boundaries,” says Rossing.
There are a number of reports enforcement services can get from the digital signs, including the amount of traffic on a road and the times that see the most traffic. Using this data, enforcement services can ensure they deploy units during the busiest times of the day to the areas where speeding is common.
Like William Shatner, Mike Myers, Wayne Gretzky’s dad and God help us, Celine Dion, here at the Free Press, we are Canadian.
There’s been a lot of talk recently about US ownership of some of this country’s most prominent businesses and institutions. At the Free Press we are certainly not prominent, nor do we want to be institutionalized. But still, it seems like a good time to point out to anyone who’s interested, that we are exactly what we appear to be.
We are 100 percent locally owned. There are no hidden shareholders or outside interests. All of our staff live in either Drayton Valley or Brazeau County, apart from our designer, Brittany. She’s from here, but currently telecommutes from somewhere in British Columbia, which I have to confess, makes me a little jealous sometimes.
What else can I tell you? The Free Press is printed for us by some nice people in St. Albert. The printing press is owned by Great West Newspapers, which is also a Canadian company.
The paper we’re printed on comes from the Alberta Newsprint Corporation in Whitecourt. Incidentally, the paper is made from offcuts and waste from the lumber industry so we’re not cutting down trees to make the paper.
Once the paper has been printed it’s picked up and brought back to town by Drayton Valley’s own Rocket Express. At that point it’s back to us as we deliver it throughout the community.
Now you may be wondering why I’m telling you all this. Would the Americans really be interested in owning a tiny little paper in a small town in Alberta?
Well, you’d be surprised. A good chunk of Canada’s print media is currently in American hands, and that includes a number of community newspapers in this province. Postmedia is 66 percent owned by Chatham Asset Management, a hedge fund based in New Jersey. Who are Postmedia? They are the owners of the National Post, the Calgary Herald, the Edmonton Journal, the Calgary Sun, the Edmonton Sun and a host of other newspapers, both large and small, from coast to coast.
That situation may not be quite as bad as it sounds. I was the editor of the Drayton Valley Western Review (kids, ask your grandparents) for 10 years. During my time there the paper was owned by a succession of large, soulless corporations based in central Canada. They did absolutely nothing to impact the way we covered the news. I barely heard a peep in over a decade. I always suspected that was less to do with high journalistic standards at corporate headquarters, and more down to the fact they were only dimly aware we existed and probably couldn’t find Drayton Valley on a map, but either way the effect was the same.
So corporate ownership, whether it’s American or not, probably isn’t the best thing ever, but it isn’t necessarily fatal to Canadian news.
But I do think there’s an important distinction between a paper like the Free Press and some of the others; and it’s this. If you take out a subscription or buy an advertisement with us you can be confident that your money is staying close to home. And especially these days, that seems like a good investment.
A local auctioneer has chanted his way into the history books after securing himself a first place position at the 2025 Canadian All Around Auctioneer Championship.
Prior to the 2025 CAAAC, Justin Mayer had already earned a trophy at the 2020 Canadian Bid Catching Competition. He is the first to hold a title for both competitions.
Mayer, at 29-years-old, says he’s been participating in the CAAAC for more than a decade. His mentors and many of the auctioneers he grew up listening to have all competed in the competition and some have won.
“It’s a pretty prestigious award,” says Mayer.
A good auctioneer is someone who can present themselves in a professional manner, with confidence in your body language and hand gestures. They have to be well spoken and comfortable with public speaking. The auctioneer chant, which requires rhythm, clarity, and speed to be considered such, is also an important technique that auctioneers must master.
“You should be able to almost dance to an auctioneer’s chant,” says Mayer
When he entered the CAAAC, Mayer participated in two rounds. The preliminary round ruled out everyone except for the top five. Those five then moved onto the final round.
In both rounds, five judges ranked their skills on a scorecard, and the person with the best overall ranking took home the award.
Mayer is not the first member of his family to take home the CAAAC title. His uncle Ron Sekura also held the title, and for Mayer, that makes the win even sweeter.
“He’s passed on, so it’s pretty cool for me to have the title with him,” says Mayer.
As a kid, Mayer was surrounded by some of his biggest mentors in the auctioneering world. His uncle, stepfather Corey Sekura, and grandfather, Wendell Sekura, all encouraged his love of auctioning.
He says he loves the sport because of the high energy atmosphere and the chance to meet people.
“When you’re up on the stand in front of the crowd selling, it’s up to me to present, in lots of cases, people’s livelihoods and their entire life, whether you’re selling a farm or a disbursement sale. It’s up to you, as the auctioneer, to generate excitement and do your homework in front of the crowd in order to bring top dollar for people,” says Mayer.
Over the years, Mayer has met many people and he says he enjoys the connections
“I know somebody from every town,” he says.
Now that he’s taken the title for the CAAAC, he is eligible for the International All Around Auctioneer Championship and from there he can head off to the World Championship.
For many, the decision to go to the international championship would be easy, but Mayer says he’s not sure what he’s going to do.
“I grew up in an auction family, and for me and my family to win this competition was a big deal,” says Mayer. “Now that I’ve won it, I kind of feel like I achieved what I wanted.”
However, Mayer has been receiving encouragement from Rob Bergevin, a Canadian International and Worlds competitor, to go to the International Championship.
“I beat him this year and he’s really trying to convince me to go to the International because he thinks I have a shot at it,” says Mayer.
Mayer’s love of auctioneering resulted in him going to Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Montana in 2013. Since then, he’s been building up his reputation as an auctioneer across Alberta and British Columbia.
He says his uncle and stepfather were always in his ear, pointing out areas where he could do better and giving him advice to improve his skill.
“Grandpa Wendy was a big factor in that as well,” says Mayer.
For several years, Mayer spent a lot of time travelling to municipalities across the province and British Columbia to local auctions. However, once the pandemic hit, many auction houses opted for online auctions as a way to still run the business while meeting government regulations. Since that time, it’s not uncommon for auctions to be held online.
“But I still travel around,” says Mayer. “I still do lots of auctions. I’m never going to stop. It’s too exciting.”
Over the years, Mayer has worked for Team Auctions, as well as auctioning off classic cars. He also works for a lot of charity auctions.
When his children were younger, they struggled with the amount of time that Mayer was away. Now that they’re older, he says they appreciate it more. His daughter has even been asking for lessons, and has been practicing reading off a list of numbers that she has on her wall.
Mayer says he’s grateful to everyone for their support and encouragement over the years.
“I’m tremendously thankful to my mom, my dad, the Sekura family, my wife and my kids. They have all been there for me. They’ve all shaped me,” says Mayer. “Probably my biggest influence in all of it was my Uncle Ron, and my dad, Corey. They really shaped me and supported me.”
Members of local indigenous groups are working toward opening a charter school with the goal of offering students an education that goes beyond academics.
Charlene Bearhead, a member of the board for the Roots of Resilience not-for-profit society, says the group is applying to the Minister of Education to be able to open a charter school in Drayton Valley, with a goal of opening in September.
The society is hosting an information night on February 13 from 5-7:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Express.
Bearhead says her 40 years of working in education has made it clear that the system is failing children and staff as human beings.
“I’m always a big believer in doing the best you can to try to work with what exists already and do what you can to help guide that,” says Bearhead.
She worked within the system, and recently served as a school board trustee, but she says people weren’t ready to progress with changes she feels need to be made.
The goal of opening the charter school is to offer a learning experience that encompasses a child’s entire wellbeing, including mental and spiritual health, along with teaching Alberta’s curriculum. While the students will learn from methods that indigenous people have always used for passing on knowledge, Bearhead says the school isn’t just open to indigenous children. Any child in the area from Kindergarten to grade 12 will be welcome to attend.
One thing that Bearhead wants the public to be aware of regarding charter schools is that they are still public schools. Roots of Resilience will be funded in the same manner that Wild Rose School Division and the St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School Division are.
“One lady said to me, ‘This sounds so amazing Charlene, but I really struggle with anything that takes away from public schools,’” says Bearhead. “I had to say to her ‘This is public education. This is public school.’”
She says there are only provisions for charter schools in Alberta. Charter schools receive the same funding for facilities, transportations, and other expenses, and the same requirements to follow the Alberta curriculum and the Education Act. Just like any other public school, parents do not have to pay extra to enrol their children in a charter school.
“But they are intended to be schools of choice,” says Bearhead. “They give parents and kids a choice in their education.”
However, charter schools are not without controversy. According to the website of Alberta Teachers’ Association, “there is only one pot of money for schools in Alberta. When money is diverted to private and charter schools, it leaves public schools in a funding shortfall.”
Bearhead says charter schools have to offer a unique approach to education that isn’t available in the geographic area. Bearhead says it’s important to the RoR society to define the holistic success for the school, which means the students will be doing better in body, mind, and soul, as well as academically.
She says that pushing people hard to do well academically while ignoring all other aspects of the student’s progress doesn’t work well. For Bearhead, it’s important for educators to meet the students where they’re at, value them as human beings, offer them a safe environment, and offer opportunities for the students to see themselves reflected in what is being taught.
Along with the regular curriculum, Bearhead says they plan to offer language programs for those who are interested in learning the language of their ancestors to help those students connect with their heritage.
Wendy Snow, the Interim District Captain in the Otipemisiwak Metis Government for District Eight and member of the RoR society, says she feels her own children would have benefitted from what the proposed school will be offering.
Snow says she has two children as well as a niece that she is the guardian of. With all three of them going to school in Drayton, she says they went to almost every school in the community.
“I found that it was very lacking as far as teaching to our culture,” says Snow.
She says every year she would fill out the demographic forms, indicating that her children were indigenous, knowing that the school division would get additional funding for those students.
“I found that all of the funding in the Wild Rose School Division went to Rocky Mountain House,” she says. “All the programming, all the culture stuff, everything went to Rocky Mountain House.”
Like Bearhead, Snow wanted to work with the system and try to help improve things. She ran twice for school board trustee, but did not get elected.
“I’ve always wanted to see more funding and programming and culture stuff in this area, just like there is in Rocky Mountain House,” says Snow.
Bearhead says the RoR school will resonate with indigenous children.
“An indigenous pedagogy, or approach to education, is about physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual [well-being]. Whatever that means to you. Everyone is indigenous to somewhere,” says Bearhead.
She says public charter schools are smaller and have unique approaches to education.
“They are actually intended to be models for how education could happen in any or all public schools,” she says.
Bearhead says when the students see themselves reflected in the content they’re learning, they have a better chance of relating to it and absorbing it.
By making the students the centre of the system, educators can focus on the whole child, not just the content they’re supposed to be learning. She says each student has different strengths, weaknesses, interests, and paths. In their school, they plan to help students excel at their strengths, offer support for their weaknesses, and encourage their interests and plans.
Another important part of education is offering the students a safe space.
“If kids are terrified, if kids are being bullied, if kids don’t feel safe, how can they focus on learning?” says Bearhead. “That’s just human instinct. That’s survival.”
She says if students are feeling ostracized, alienated, or left out, it’s more challenging for them to learn.
Roots of Resilience will also offer hands-on learning for students. This experiential learning will be land-based, which means there will be more of a balance between indoor and outdoor learning. She says there are many different areas of the curriculum that can be taught outdoors beyond science and physical education.
“For me, when you do something, rather than just read about it or hear about it, it becomes ingrained in you,” she says.
Snow says she wants to see children in the area have an opportunity to choose an education that best suits them.
“I think it just gives them a great basis for success later on in life,” says Snow.
Grade 4: Let's learn about the Newspaper
Introduction
My name is Mrs. Brandy Fredrickson (I am Ruth’s mom) and I own the Drayton Valley and District Free Press newspaper. I used to be a reporter a the Drayton Valley Western Review…20 years ago. In this job I met some amazing people and learned so much about my community. My co-workers from 20 years ago are now my staff and we still have a lot of fun writing about Drayton Valley.
Question: What is one thing (person, place, team) that makes Drayton Valley a special place for you?
What is a newspaper?
A newspaper is a collection of stories, photos, advertisements, columns and letters that represent the collective news and mood of your community at a given point in time.
Types of Newspaper
National Newspapers: National Post, Globe and Mail
Provincial Newspapers: Edmonton Journals, Calgary Herald
Regional/Local Newspapers: That Us! Often these papers are locally owned, family started and some are 60-100 years old.
Other Regional:
Activity 1: Get to know the newspaper
Activity: Seek and Find
What you need: 1 piece of paper, 1 pencil, 1 Free Press Newspaper
- Get into groups of 4
- On a piece of paper write down numbers 1-5
- Find these 5 things in the paper
- Bring your answers up to me and shake my hand when you’re done
- Two Fastest teams get a treat
And Go....
- What is the tagline under the “Free Press” masthead on pg. 1?
- Who wrote the letter about the ski hill (name)?
- Who took the photo on pg. 11?
- Name one business in the business directory?
- Who is the editor of newspaper (name)?
Layout Discussion:
How is a paper the same as a magazine? How is the newspaper different than a book?
Getting in front of eyeballs: How is the newspaper distributed?
Making sure the newspaper is seen is a big part of having a local newspaper. Distribution channels helps to make this happen. The Free Press has 3 distribution channels.
1. Email Subscriptions
2. Canada Post mail subscriptions
3. Free pickup in retail locations
Discussion:
How does your teacher share information with you? And how do you share information with your parents?
Activity: Watch Video of the printing press
Fact Checking and Credibility
“Thou shalt not lie.”
Discussion: Why do you think it is important not to lie?
Credibility is the foundation of any newspaper. If your readers cannot trust what you are writing you won’t have an audience for long. This is why our editor spend much of his time fact checking, and rechecking facts in the stories we publish.
Activity 2: Is it True?
In your groups look at your newspaper and tell me if this headline is true.
Is this headline true?
- Town Council passes interim budget
- Volunteer database up and running
- Town billing changed despite strike
Activity 3: Examine a story
Mrs. Fredrickson Read: “Councillor Responds to Allegations”
What are some facts in this story that would need to be checked?
Activity 4: "Telephone " fact checking
- Get into 2 long lines
- Teacher select 2 people to be “fact checkers”
- Beginning at the start whisper message into your neighbours ear, and continue down the line.
- Once the message gets to a fact checker, the fact checker will give a thumbs up to continue telephone if the message is correct or go back to the start of the line to restart the telephone if the message is incorrect.
Here are some sources we use to check facts:
Call people to confirm information
Voice record interviews
Use multiple sources
Discussion
What ways can you check the facts for school projects or school gossip?
Jobs at a newspaper
Running a newspaper requires a team. Each person contributes to the success of the paper. Below are some jobs that people have to making a successful local newspaper.
Activity 5: Who does what?
In groups of 4 go to and PAGE 9 of the newspaper and label who did what.
E = Editor
R = Reporter
GD = Graphic Designer
C = Columnist
S = Sales
Activity 6: Conducting an Interview Speed Style
Interviewing people is a major job of a newspaper reporter. To conduct a good interview you need these three elements:
1. Questions; open ended
2. Paper and pen, or recorder
3. Listening ears and eyes
Open Ended Questions
Open ended questions are questions that get people talking. The are not yes or no questions. They are “How,” “Who,” and “What” questions.
Example: How did you feel winning the basketball game? What inspired you to write that story?
Recording Tool
Never go to a newspaper interview without a recording device; Paper, pen, voice recorder or texting device. Reporters often quote and paraphrase their subjects and accuracy is key.
Quote: “I love to teach,” Kormysh said.
Paraphrase: Kormysh said she loves teahing.
Active listening
Active listening means you are listening with your ears (close your mouth), your eyes and your body language. The key to a good interview is to get the other person talking this means you have to stop talking.
Speed Interview Game
1. Take out a piece of paper.
2. Write down 1 open ended question you can ask a classmates
4. When I say go, find a classmate and ask your question. Listen.
5. Record their answer.
6. Find someone new when I say “Switch”
7. Discussion: Report on what you learned? How accurate was your reporting?
Final Activity 7: Photo and Feedback
Take the handout and answer the following question.
A. What is one thing I learned about the newspaper?
B. Gather for a Group Photo
Police in Drayton Valley have seen an increase in the last year of arrests made under the Mental Health Act. Earlier this month Staff Sergeant Ryan Hoetmer told town council that calls of that type have seen a steady increase over the past several years, and they remain a big drain on resources for the Town.
Hoetmer explained that when the officers take somebody into custody under the act, they then take that person to the Centennial Centre for Mental Health in Ponoka. He says the drive itself eats up several hours of the officer’s time, but they also have to wait until staff at the centre take over.
He said the Centennial Centre has been working to make the intake process more efficient. In the past, officers have had to wait a couple of hours. Now, he says they make a call when they are on their way, and usually the intake is complete within half an hour.
When asked how long people are kept at the hospital, Hoetmer explained that they were normally kept for a week or two. At most, he believes they might be kept for a month.
Many of their calls under the Mental Health Act are from people the RCMP are already aware of, and Hoetmer says it can be a challenge keeping on top of those cases.
He says the RCMP bring the subject into the hospital. Once they are deemed healthy enough to depart, the person is often sent back to their community in a cab. After that, the individuals are in the same position they were in prior to the process beginning.
“I’m a big believer that there’s a bit of a gap there,” said Hoetmer. “When they are sent in a cab back to Drayton, they’re put back into the same position as before. There is no follow up program or some place for them to go in between.”
He said often RCMP watch the individuals as their mental health slowly declines until they have the grounds to apprehend them again.
Councillor Amila Gammana asked Hoetmer if he felt the reason people were being released on such a short timeline was due to a lack of resources. Hoetmer said he wasn’t sure what the reason for it was and that Alberta Health Services would better be able to answer that.
“I would hope it’s not a resourcing concern, that when the doctor is making their determination they are healthy enough to leave the facility,” he said. “But they have pressures, I’m sure, just like everybody else.”
Mayor Nancy Dodds asked Hoetmer if he’d seen an increase in resources since the new pillar ministries had been put into place, but Hoetmer says thus far they haven’t seen a change.
“We still have our one [Regional Police and Crisis Team] that operates out of Rocky, but as I’ve talked about before they are in our community maybe once a week,” said Hoetmer.
This means if there is an emergent issue that requires a response, the RPACT are not the ones who are responding to the call. It is instead left to the members of the Drayton Valley detachment.
“They do lots of follow up for us, but it’s our members that are doing the apprehensions and are going to the crisis when it’s happening,” said Hoetmer.
“While there are certainly structural differences between Edmonton and Drayton Valley, the lessons from each community should be mutually reinforcing and ultimately make our collective work better,” said EPE Executive Director Erick Ambtman. “Drayton Valley’s economic transition, resilience in the face of ongoing challenges, and their ability to address these challenges with initiatives like the Zero-Fee tuition program and other strategies is of particular interest as we think about the future of our inclusive economy work at EndPovertyEdmonton.”
With an increase in demand for the Drayton Valley Food Bank, volunteers are concerned the facility may not keep up for much longer.
Heather and Phil Bell, the vice president and treasurer respectively, have been with the Food Bank for several years. During that time they’ve noticed a concerning trend in the uptick of users.
So far this year, they have given out hampers to 2,275 people, a stark contrast to the 2023 number of 1,653. Last year was a record year for hampers and this year has blown it out of the water.
Alberta food bank sees increased demand
The Bells says a lot of the hampers are going to families who have parents that work.
“The Food Bank, I feel, is an essential service right now, considering the need,” says Phil. “It’s something that’s heavily relied on.”
If things continue the way they have been, they’re expecting to hand out 2,556 hampers by the end of the year.
“It’s not just a blip, either,” says Phil. “This is going to continue on.”
Phil says that though they’ve seen increased usage, the generosity of the community has continued to keep up with the demand. Between food donations from local stores and food drives, the food bank has already received around $270,000 of in-kind donations.
“We have such a generous community,” says Heather. “It’s amazing.”
Heather says they are grateful for the building they’re in and the Town’s generosity in letting them use it for free. She says the location is perfect because it allows people more privacy than a location in a busier part of the community.
“But we’re outgrowing the building,” says Heather. “We’re at the point with our freezer and fridge capacity that the building can’t take anymore fridges and freezers without upgrading the electrical system.”
Space is a challenge for Drayton Valley food bank
Fridge and freezer space are vital in the Christmas season. Heather says in the past, they’ve had to turn away donations of a side of beef because they don’t have the space. Some companies have set up freezers in their buildings and offered the extra storage. Some volunteers also store some items as well.
The Bells say a sea can or some other place where they could store dried goods would be extremely helpful, as well. As it is, they have to store enough food in their building for roughly 30 hampers each pick up day.
At the beginning of November, the volunteers changed their system, and now only offer hampers on Thursdays. Phil says one recent hamper day saw volunteers hand out 86 hampers in three hours.
Creating that many food hampers also has its challenges. There isn’t a lot of room to put the hampers together and organize them, though Heather says they’ve developed a good system. Volunteers are now prebuilding hampers with dried goods for different sizes of families. On pick up days, all they have to do is go to the fridge and freezer to top the hamper off, and it can go out the door.
Thanks to a grant from the Family and Community Support Services, the Food Bank now has a part-time employee that can help with a lot of the administrative tasks. However, some recent Standards of Excellence put forth by the Federal Government is putting pressure on them as well.
The Standards of Excellence requires all Food Banks to have certain policies and procedures in place if they want to continue to be registered with Food Banks Alberta and Food Banks Canada.
Heather says it’s a great idea in theory, but the 78 page document is a massive undertaking for a busy food bank run by volunteers. Their employee is working on some of the documents, but it’s still a challenge.
“A lot of them are great ideas, but for small food banks, it’s quite overwhelming to comply with that,” says Heather.
Originally, the food banks had until March 2025 to have everything in place, but after feedback, they’ve given the smaller food banks more time to work on it.
The Bells say there are many ways for the community to help out the food bank and they won’t turn down donations if they can help it. They have more volunteers who are going through the orientation and are grateful for the continuing generosity of the community.
Community members often perform their civic duties in a variety of ways; some vote, most pay their taxes, and some volunteer their time.
The initiative, This Is Drayton Valley (TIDV), is hoping to make it easier for residents to find ways they can volunteer in their community. They’ve launched an online platform, www.lets-volunteer.com, that helps connect organizations to residents who are looking for a place to volunteer their time.
Jessica Doucette, the chair of the Healthy Community Coalition, says the idea for the platform first began when the HCC were brainstorming ways to offer programs for the clients in the Youth Hub. The biggest obstacle was finding volunteers to help out with the programs.
“We came up with this idea about creating an online platform that would make it easier for people to access volunteer opportunities,” says Doucette.
She says at that time, they were mostly considering the Youth Hub and looking for younger volunteers. They felt that an online platform would be the best way to reach out to that demographic.
When Kickstand Alberta became the parent organization of the Youth Hub, they found more challenges. As they were a newer provincial body, they weren’t ready to take on the project for all of their Youth Hubs. Doucette says rather than scrap the idea, they decided to offer it to the larger community.
“We realized it was actually an issue for everybody,” she says.
Originally, they had approached the Chamber of Commerce, who had already tried to make a similar platform. But as the HCC works under the Red Cross, they were told it wasn’t appropriate for them to work with an organization that only represented businesses. They continued to look and finally connected with Ryan Fynn, one of the founders of TIDV, to bring the idea to life.
The platform has been active for a couple of weeks, now, and as of November 22, there were 14 volunteers and 12 organizations on the site.
Fynn says the platform is similar to dating websites, in that the volunteers input information into a profile and then they can be matched with an organization that would best suit them. He says volunteers are encouraged to list things they are passionate about, their relevant skills, experience as a volunteer, how much time they want to commit, and which days they are open to help. Organizations can search for volunteers based on those parameters.
“For an example, River Valley Players is looking for a part-time musical director,” says Fynn. “If a volunteer says they are passionate about music, they will be connected to them.”
Doucette says the platform can also help people connect with someone with specific skills. “We just recently did a survey through the community parenting coalition, and we found that there’s a large majority of people that are willing to share their gifts with others,” says Doucette. “We just don’t ask the right questions.”
Fynn says it would also work well for finding volunteers for events. By listing their events and indicating what’s all involved in the positions, residents with profiles can find them and help out.
An Edmonton man has been charged with attempted murder after an incident that took place near the Brazeau Dam last week.
Just before midnight on Saturday November 9, the Drayton Valley RCMP received a 911 call reporting possible shots fired near the dam. As members arrived, they received an update that a female had been shot by a man with a .22 calibre rifle. The suspect, who is believed to have been part of a group who had been hunting in the area, was arrested and taken into custody without incident. Officers administered first aid to the female victim, who was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, until emergency medical services arrived on the scene. The female victim was transported to the University of Alberta hospital where she was listed in critical but stable condition.
Leomer Serios Valencia, 43, has been charged with attempted murder, using a firearm in the commission of an offence, pointing a firearm, assault and uttering threats. After a telephone bail hearing Valencia was remanded in custody pending an appearance in Drayton Valley court.
Corb Lund played the Eleanor Pickup Art Centre stage for a raucous sold-out audience Thursday evening.
The Hurtin’ Albertans acoustic duo backing Lund were Grant Siemans on guitar and Sean Burns playing upright bass About a quarter of the 224 capacity seats were purchased as VIP tickets. At 5PM, the three front rows were filled as a solo Corb Lund was greeted with cheers, sat on the edge of the stage, and began singing VIP favourites, telling backstories and conversing. After the warm and friendly performance, knowing their seats were reserved, VIPs ticket holders shopped for merch in the EPAC lobby or went for a meal and refreshment to a downtown restaurant.
Several VIP super-fans commented that it was well worth the premium to be up-close and personal with Lund.
EPAC’s doors remained open as rush seating meant coming early for a preferred perch. The merch table was double-staffed as demand was high for CDs and vinyl LPs, “It’s Better with Cows Around” hoodies and Lund album cover poster three-packs. Lots of stock meant no one was disappointed. Long before the 7:30 curtain it was rare to find two seats together, however. A group of five young men just arriving before the curtain were quickly ushered to the remaining seats.
With the theatre full, an excited ambiance and the clock ticking down to showtime, it was no surprise that when the house lights dimmed, introduction completed, and Corb Lund with the Hurtin’ Albertans appeared from stage right, pandemonium reigned.
Joyful hoots and hollers, cheers, yahoos and multiple long, wavering, high-pitched vocal trilling filled the auditorium. The band, looking fresh and ready despite being midway through a long tour of Europe/US started what was only their second performance of this acoustic set.
The show opened with two songs from Lund’s 2007 Horse Soldier Horse Soldier album. The opening bars of the title track were greeted with cheers of recognition and rewarded with loud applause as was “Especially A Paint”. The set list dipped into Lund’s deep catalogue from a long career: “May you Always have Cows Around” (Cabin Fever 2012), “Devil’s Best Dress” (Losin’ Lately Gambler 2009), “Truth Comes Out” (Hair in My Eyes Like a Highland Steer 2006) and “The Cardplayers” ( El Viejo 2024).
A tribute to the late Ian Tyson included past collaborations and Tyson songs: “Someday Soon” (1964), “The Rodeo’s Over” (Hair in My Eyes…2005), and “La Primera” (Ian Tyson Lost Herd 1999). Many fan favourites peppered the performance. Prior to the intermission we were treated to “Hard on Equipment”, “This is My Prairie” , and “Big Butch Bass Bull Fiddle”. After the break, Lund introduced his next two songs as “hillbilly music” which drew cheers of anticipation. “Family Reunion” brought out the banjo and it stayed out for “Truck Got Stuck”, “Rye Whisky, Rye Whisky” and “Time to Switch to Whisky” . The audience sang backup for both. They even performed a verse and chorus “a capella” after which Lund said “buy a t-shirt, cuz we bought too many, thanks and goodnight!” But the EPAC audience was not yet ready for their good times to end. After lengthy applause, hoots and hollers, and a prolonged chant of “Corb, Corb, Corb” finally earned them their encore: a Lund solo of “S Lazy H”. It’s a plaintive ballad chronicling a family’s loss of their sixth generation ranch. The lyrics, “I have lived with the sorrow/And I will die with the shame/For now the bank owns what’s left/Of the S Lazy H” clearly tugged at the audience’s hearts. When the Hurtin’ Albertans rejoined Lund onstage, cheers banished melancholy as “Five Dollar Bill” was warmly welcomed and earned another standing ovation fitting for a memorable evening of great melody, lyrics and artistry.
I talked with Corb Lund backstage shortly after the final song and asked him how his evening was.
“It was super fun! It’s a cool little theatre. I like it!…
We were just in Europe. I think they find cowboy stuff exotic. Europeans like that about us. I know about Alberta and our regional culture, so people here pick up on the subtleties more. It’s a little different here cause people know what I’m talking about. I grew up just outside of Taber/Cardston, so I’m pretty used to small town Alberta life.”
I asked him about the set. “It’s only the second night we’ve been doing this acoustic trio, but it’s been really fun. It’s kind of different from the big loud band. I like that too, but it’s been kind of neat because there’s a lot of space to play with. Like the guys, especially Grant (lead guitar), when he’s playing his acoustic instruments there’s so much space in the theatre for it to speak. This was a blast. Thanks for having us.”
Grant Siemans has been playing with Corb Lund for 21 years. Lund gave him props explaining that any instrument he (Epiphone guitar) and Sean Burns don’t play, Grant does! I asked Siemans to expand. He listed off what he used for this acoustic trio set. “The mandolin is a Gibson F5 that’s actually Corb’s. It’s about 10 years old. It sounds awesome! The resonator is a 1931 National. I got a steal of a deal with that one because somebody painted it brown in the 1940’s. Nobody wanted it, which was awesome! It looks baaad! The banjo; Epiphone gave us. It was a new model. I asked him about the unique guitar and playing style Siemans used for most of the evening’s performance. “That’s a Manouche guitar (gypsy jazz guitar), a Djanko Rhinehart style guitar. It was made by a Winnipeg luthier named Al Beardsell, Beardsell Guitars.” The acoustic trio has no drum kit, so Siemans played manouche guitar Le Pompe style and imitates the drum kit’s cymbals, keeping rhythm and also the chording of the melody. “I like the playing, practicing, learning. It’s not work for me.”
Pleasant duty, indeed. Especially for the night’s audience!
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.
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.
In Drayton Valley the study will focus on the Town’s zero fee tuition initiative and how it contributes to opportunities for Drayton Valley residents and supports the local economy.
“We are really excited to be partnering with the University of Alberta. Not only have we enhanced our access to programming for our community and we are just excited to have them as a partner at the table but to be part of a second grant together is just really such an amazing opportunity for our community,” says Dodds.
With an increase in demand for the Drayton Valley Food Bank, volunteers are concerned the facility may not keep up for much longer.
Heather and Phil Bell, the vice president and treasurer respectively, have been with the Food Bank for several years. During that time they’ve noticed a concerning trend in the uptick of users.
So far this year, they have given out hampers to 2,275 people, a stark contrast to the 2023 number of 1,653. Last year was a record year for hampers and this year has blown it out of the water.
Alberta food bank sees increased demand
The Bells says a lot of the hampers are going to families who have parents that work.
“The Food Bank, I feel, is an essential service right now, considering the need,” says Phil. “It’s something that’s heavily relied on.”
If things continue the way they have been, they’re expecting to hand out 2,556 hampers by the end of the year.
“It’s not just a blip, either,” says Phil. “This is going to continue on.”
Phil says that though they’ve seen increased usage, the generosity of the community has continued to keep up with the demand. Between food donations from local stores and food drives, the food bank has already received around $270,000 of in-kind donations.
“We have such a generous community,” says Heather. “It’s amazing.”
Heather says they are grateful for the building they’re in and the Town’s generosity in letting them use it for free. She says the location is perfect because it allows people more privacy than a location in a busier part of the community.
“But we’re outgrowing the building,” says Heather. “We’re at the point with our freezer and fridge capacity that the building can’t take anymore fridges and freezers without upgrading the electrical system.”
Space is a challenge for Drayton Valley food bank
Fridge and freezer space are vital in the Christmas season. Heather says in the past, they’ve had to turn away donations of a side of beef because they don’t have the space. Some companies have set up freezers in their buildings and offered the extra storage. Some volunteers also store some items as well.
The Bells say a sea can or some other place where they could store dried goods would be extremely helpful, as well. As it is, they have to store enough food in their building for roughly 30 hampers each pick up day.
At the beginning of November, the volunteers changed their system, and now only offer hampers on Thursdays. Phil says one recent hamper day saw volunteers hand out 86 hampers in three hours.
Creating that many food hampers also has its challenges. There isn’t a lot of room to put the hampers together and organize them, though Heather says they’ve developed a good system. Volunteers are now prebuilding hampers with dried goods for different sizes of families. On pick up days, all they have to do is go to the fridge and freezer to top the hamper off, and it can go out the door.
Thanks to a grant from the Family and Community Support Services, the Food Bank now has a part-time employee that can help with a lot of the administrative tasks. However, some recent Standards of Excellence put forth by the Federal Government is putting pressure on them as well.
The Standards of Excellence requires all Food Banks to have certain policies and procedures in place if they want to continue to be registered with Food Banks Alberta and Food Banks Canada.
Heather says it’s a great idea in theory, but the 78 page document is a massive undertaking for a busy food bank run by volunteers. Their employee is working on some of the documents, but it’s still a challenge.
“A lot of them are great ideas, but for small food banks, it’s quite overwhelming to comply with that,” says Heather.
Originally, the food banks had until March 2025 to have everything in place, but after feedback, they’ve given the smaller food banks more time to work on it.
The Bells say there are many ways for the community to help out the food bank and they won’t turn down donations if they can help it. They have more volunteers who are going through the orientation and are grateful for the continuing generosity of the community.
Community members often perform their civic duties in a variety of ways; some vote, most pay their taxes, and some volunteer their time.
The initiative, This Is Drayton Valley (TIDV), is hoping to make it easier for residents to find ways they can volunteer in their community. They’ve launched an online platform, www.lets-volunteer.com, that helps connect organizations to residents who are looking for a place to volunteer their time.
Jessica Doucette, the chair of the Healthy Community Coalition, says the idea for the platform first began when the HCC were brainstorming ways to offer programs for the clients in the Youth Hub. The biggest obstacle was finding volunteers to help out with the programs.
“We came up with this idea about creating an online platform that would make it easier for people to access volunteer opportunities,” says Doucette.
She says at that time, they were mostly considering the Youth Hub and looking for younger volunteers. They felt that an online platform would be the best way to reach out to that demographic.
When Kickstand Alberta became the parent organization of the Youth Hub, they found more challenges. As they were a newer provincial body, they weren’t ready to take on the project for all of their Youth Hubs. Doucette says rather than scrap the idea, they decided to offer it to the larger community.
“We realized it was actually an issue for everybody,” she says.
Originally, they had approached the Chamber of Commerce, who had already tried to make a similar platform. But as the HCC works under the Red Cross, they were told it wasn’t appropriate for them to work with an organization that only represented businesses. They continued to look and finally connected with Ryan Fynn, one of the founders of TIDV, to bring the idea to life.
The platform has been active for a couple of weeks, now, and as of November 22, there were 14 volunteers and 12 organizations on the site.
Fynn says the platform is similar to dating websites, in that the volunteers input information into a profile and then they can be matched with an organization that would best suit them. He says volunteers are encouraged to list things they are passionate about, their relevant skills, experience as a volunteer, how much time they want to commit, and which days they are open to help. Organizations can search for volunteers based on those parameters.
“For an example, River Valley Players is looking for a part-time musical director,” says Fynn. “If a volunteer says they are passionate about music, they will be connected to them.”
Doucette says the platform can also help people connect with someone with specific skills. “We just recently did a survey through the community parenting coalition, and we found that there’s a large majority of people that are willing to share their gifts with others,” says Doucette. “We just don’t ask the right questions.”
Fynn says it would also work well for finding volunteers for events. By listing their events and indicating what’s all involved in the positions, residents with profiles can find them and help out.
An Edmonton man has been charged with attempted murder after an incident that took place near the Brazeau Dam last week.
Just before midnight on Saturday November 9, the Drayton Valley RCMP received a 911 call reporting possible shots fired near the dam. As members arrived, they received an update that a female had been shot by a man with a .22 calibre rifle. The suspect, who is believed to have been part of a group who had been hunting in the area, was arrested and taken into custody without incident. Officers administered first aid to the female victim, who was suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, until emergency medical services arrived on the scene. The female victim was transported to the University of Alberta hospital where she was listed in critical but stable condition.
Leomer Serios Valencia, 43, has been charged with attempted murder, using a firearm in the commission of an offence, pointing a firearm, assault and uttering threats. After a telephone bail hearing Valencia was remanded in custody pending an appearance in Drayton Valley court.
Corb Lund played the Eleanor Pickup Art Centre stage for a raucous sold-out audience Thursday evening.
The Hurtin’ Albertans acoustic duo backing Lund were Grant Siemans on guitar and Sean Burns playing upright bass About a quarter of the 224 capacity seats were purchased as VIP tickets. At 5PM, the three front rows were filled as a solo Corb Lund was greeted with cheers, sat on the edge of the stage, and began singing VIP favourites, telling backstories and conversing. After the warm and friendly performance, knowing their seats were reserved, VIPs ticket holders shopped for merch in the EPAC lobby or went for a meal and refreshment to a downtown restaurant.
Several VIP super-fans commented that it was well worth the premium to be up-close and personal with Lund.
EPAC’s doors remained open as rush seating meant coming early for a preferred perch. The merch table was double-staffed as demand was high for CDs and vinyl LPs, “It’s Better with Cows Around” hoodies and Lund album cover poster three-packs. Lots of stock meant no one was disappointed. Long before the 7:30 curtain it was rare to find two seats together, however. A group of five young men just arriving before the curtain were quickly ushered to the remaining seats.
With the theatre full, an excited ambiance and the clock ticking down to showtime, it was no surprise that when the house lights dimmed, introduction completed, and Corb Lund with the Hurtin’ Albertans appeared from stage right, pandemonium reigned.
Joyful hoots and hollers, cheers, yahoos and multiple long, wavering, high-pitched vocal trilling filled the auditorium. The band, looking fresh and ready despite being midway through a long tour of Europe/US started what was only their second performance of this acoustic set.
The show opened with two songs from Lund’s 2007 Horse Soldier Horse Soldier album. The opening bars of the title track were greeted with cheers of recognition and rewarded with loud applause as was “Especially A Paint”. The set list dipped into Lund’s deep catalogue from a long career: “May you Always have Cows Around” (Cabin Fever 2012), “Devil’s Best Dress” (Losin’ Lately Gambler 2009), “Truth Comes Out” (Hair in My Eyes Like a Highland Steer 2006) and “The Cardplayers” ( El Viejo 2024).
A tribute to the late Ian Tyson included past collaborations and Tyson songs: “Someday Soon” (1964), “The Rodeo’s Over” (Hair in My Eyes…2005), and “La Primera” (Ian Tyson Lost Herd 1999). Many fan favourites peppered the performance. Prior to the intermission we were treated to “Hard on Equipment”, “This is My Prairie” , and “Big Butch Bass Bull Fiddle”. After the break, Lund introduced his next two songs as “hillbilly music” which drew cheers of anticipation. “Family Reunion” brought out the banjo and it stayed out for “Truck Got Stuck”, “Rye Whisky, Rye Whisky” and “Time to Switch to Whisky” . The audience sang backup for both. They even performed a verse and chorus “a capella” after which Lund said “buy a t-shirt, cuz we bought too many, thanks and goodnight!” But the EPAC audience was not yet ready for their good times to end. After lengthy applause, hoots and hollers, and a prolonged chant of “Corb, Corb, Corb” finally earned them their encore: a Lund solo of “S Lazy H”. It’s a plaintive ballad chronicling a family’s loss of their sixth generation ranch. The lyrics, “I have lived with the sorrow/And I will die with the shame/For now the bank owns what’s left/Of the S Lazy H” clearly tugged at the audience’s hearts. When the Hurtin’ Albertans rejoined Lund onstage, cheers banished melancholy as “Five Dollar Bill” was warmly welcomed and earned another standing ovation fitting for a memorable evening of great melody, lyrics and artistry.
I talked with Corb Lund backstage shortly after the final song and asked him how his evening was.
“It was super fun! It’s a cool little theatre. I like it!…
We were just in Europe. I think they find cowboy stuff exotic. Europeans like that about us. I know about Alberta and our regional culture, so people here pick up on the subtleties more. It’s a little different here cause people know what I’m talking about. I grew up just outside of Taber/Cardston, so I’m pretty used to small town Alberta life.”
I asked him about the set. “It’s only the second night we’ve been doing this acoustic trio, but it’s been really fun. It’s kind of different from the big loud band. I like that too, but it’s been kind of neat because there’s a lot of space to play with. Like the guys, especially Grant (lead guitar), when he’s playing his acoustic instruments there’s so much space in the theatre for it to speak. This was a blast. Thanks for having us.”
Grant Siemans has been playing with Corb Lund for 21 years. Lund gave him props explaining that any instrument he (Epiphone guitar) and Sean Burns don’t play, Grant does! I asked Siemans to expand. He listed off what he used for this acoustic trio set. “The mandolin is a Gibson F5 that’s actually Corb’s. It’s about 10 years old. It sounds awesome! The resonator is a 1931 National. I got a steal of a deal with that one because somebody painted it brown in the 1940’s. Nobody wanted it, which was awesome! It looks baaad! The banjo; Epiphone gave us. It was a new model. I asked him about the unique guitar and playing style Siemans used for most of the evening’s performance. “That’s a Manouche guitar (gypsy jazz guitar), a Djanko Rhinehart style guitar. It was made by a Winnipeg luthier named Al Beardsell, Beardsell Guitars.” The acoustic trio has no drum kit, so Siemans played manouche guitar Le Pompe style and imitates the drum kit’s cymbals, keeping rhythm and also the chording of the melody. “I like the playing, practicing, learning. It’s not work for me.”
Pleasant duty, indeed. Especially for the night’s audience!
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.
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.
Drayton Valley builds reserves
Drayton Valley, Alberta, is planning for sustainable utilities by building reserves for future water and sewer infrastructure.
Jordan’s Principle Grant funding delays are disrupting education in an Alberta schools
As of December 20, Wild Rose School Division will be laying off 46 Educational Assistants due to the division not receiving the Jordan’s Principle grant from the Federal Government.
Drayton Valley Ski Hill Closes After 60 Years | Challenges with Weather, Insurance, and Volunteers
After 60 years of operation in the community, the Drayton Valley ski hill has closed its doors.
Randy Beckett, the president of the Drayton Valley Brazeau Snow Club, says there were three main factors that went into the decision to shut down: weather, insurance, and lack of volunteers.
Drayton Valley Food Bank relies on generosity
Explore the growing demand for the Drayton Valley Food Bank as it tackles record-breaking hamper distribution, facility challenges, and rising standards. Learn how community generosity keeps the vital service thriving in Alberta despite obstacles.”
