On Friday, June 9 at 7:36 PM, Beiseker RCMP, Alberta Sheriffs, Carbon Fire, Linden Fire Departments and EMS were dispatched to a collision on Highway 21, approximately 2 kilometres north of the Highway 9 intersection.  

Initial reports are that extreme weather, including heavy hail and rain was occurring at the time of the collision between a southbound vehicle with 3 occupants and a northbound SUV with 1 occupant. 

Upon arrival, it was determined that STARS air ambulance was required for one of the patients and an alternative landing zone was set up due to inclement weather in the area of the collision.

 Tragically, a 16-year-old female passenger was pronounced deceased on scene. A 67-year-old female was transported to the STARS landing zone and was then airlifted to a Calgary area hospital with critical potentially life-threatening condition.  A 43-year-old female was transported by ground ambulance to a Calgary area hospital in serious non-life threatening condition. 

 The lone 58-year-old female driver of the Northbound SUV was transported to Three Hills hospital in non-life threatening condition. 

A Collision Analyst was contacted and is currently on scene investigating.  Traffic on Highway 21 was rerouted for a short time and was cleared. 

The name of the deceased will not be released by RCMP.  Beiseker RCMP would like to express their condolences to the family during this time. 

Big Valley star Zeke Thurston claims his third top win for saddle bronc from the Calgary Stampede on Sunday, July 16.
With an outstanding score of 90 points on Timely Delivery during the opening round on Sunday, Zeke was able to rise above in the final four.
On his final ride of the day in the final four, Thurston rode the famous Northcott Macza horse ‘Get Smart’, netting him the $100,000 win.
“Every jump I thought I was going to get bucked off,” puffed Thurston, moments after his thrilling 92 point ride. “That horse bucks so hard. He’s probably only 800 pounds, but that’s one of the strongest horses I’ve ever been on.”
A cowboy is only as good as the horse underneath him.
“Honestly, that horse could buck you off any day of the week. I was just lucky to stay on.”
Following the three-peat trend, this is not the first nor the last time Zeke and Get Smart have encountered each other. Ironically enough, the two horses and the Big Valley local worked together to win the Ponoka Stampede two weeks ago and plan to see each other again next weekend.

Zeke’s championship score was just a half point higher than the 91.5 turned in by his friend Layton Green on Wild Cherry moments before.
“That was pretty special to be riding against your buddy that you’ve known since you were eight years old,” insisted Zeke. “We grew up riding steers together, came up through high school rodeo, learned to ride broncs together, and now to be competing against him at Calgary, it’s pretty cool. He made an awesome ride. I knew I was going to have to do something to set myself apart. Turns out I had the buckier horse, was all.”
Zeke, who just turned 23 on Saturday, hasn’t thought too much yet about making his mark in history as the first saddle bronc rider to notch three consecutive wins with the $100,000 paydays attached.
“That’s crazy to me. You know, a lot of guys will go their whole careers and maybe never win this rodeo and to win it three years in a row, that’s unbelievable,” Zeke explained.
Family, especially Zeke’s mother Lynda, was beyond proud to watch her own blood make history.
“It feels pretty exciting, it actually took a little longer this time to sink in I think,” Lynda laughed. “It was a pretty great round of bronc riding. It was awesome to watch four outstanding horses and four good cowboys and yeah, it was close but I’m really proud of the ride that Zeke made. It was a heck of a ride.”
Thurston’s takehome from Stampede was $110,000, with the cash he won earlier in the week; while Green gets the $25,000 bonus to go with his earlier $13,000 take.
Taking the third place bonus of $15,000 for a 90 point ride on Stampede Warrior was Taos Muncy. Sterling Crawley also received a $10,000 bonus for his 89 point ride on Magic Carpet in the Showdown round.

TOPS king Steve Belmore of Calgary walks along the alley with queen Nadine Pacey of Whitecourt. Both reached and exceeded weight loss goals set at the beginning of the year. Belmore lost 28.00 pounds while Pacey lost 84.50 pounds thanks to the support group and program. (Photo courtesy of Frozen Motion Photography)

With 102 chapters represented out of a total of 176 within Alberta, 639 people visited the valley to take part in the annual function on May 27 and 28.

This year, Drumheller had the privilege to host the two-day event, utilizing the Badlands Community Facility (BCF).

Taking Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) is an international weight loss program and support group which focuses on health, fitness, and well-being.

At this event, a king and queen are announced to highlight their overall weight loss success by meeting and or exceeding their goals.

Nadine Pacey of Whitecourt lost 84.50 pounds and Steve Belmore of Calgary lost 28.00 pounds, making them the queen and king for the year.

Over the weekend, members participated in activities and sessions surrounding a ‘spy’ theme with a special graduation ceremony on the Saturday evening.

TOPS members become KOPS (Keeping off pounds sensibly) members. Once someone becomes a KOP they remain a KOP as there are only two ranks.

Special pins are given to members as they take on different roles or are recognized for their participation over the years. The focus is on people’s successes rather than failures within the program.

The Town of Drumheller has officially launched a consultation on three possible options to create a more vibrant and beautiful downtown. The options suggest new benches, bike racks, a possible raised sidewalk, and other interesting items.

The options will be available from July 14 at 2 p.m. to July 30 at 8 p.m. at the Badlands Community Facility (BCF) foyer. The options are also available online at the Town Website. www.dinosaurvalley.com to have your say.

“The feedback that we get from this will help us to create a more polished look and feel for downtown, which we expect will lead to increased business investment and employment.” explained Mayor Terry Yemen.

The results of the consultation will be used to implement one of Town Council’s 2017 Economic Development priorities by beautifying the Central Business District.
This project is partly funded by the Government of Alberta’s CAREs grant program, which was approved in March 2017.

Option One

Option Two

Option Three

Four Badlands Rugby Football Club (RFC) players joined the Bow Valley Barbarians, also known as the ‘Ba-Baas’, for their game on Friday evening against the Calgary Saracens on July 14.

The game was held on field one at Calgary Rugby Park, the same field where just last month the Canadian national team hosted Georgia.

“Imagine centre court at Wimbledon, well this would be the Rugby equivalent in Calgary, not bad for our first game,” remarked April Harrison, a club member.

The weather was polar opposite to that game, with clear skies and temperatures soaring to 27 degrees for the 6:30 p.m. kick off.

The Ba-Baas, a developmental team out of Bow Valley RFC, welcome players from multiple teams that might be new and in need of some game experience.

Six Badlands players from both the Senior Men’s and Senior Women’s teams, attended training at Bow Valley on Thursday ahead of the Men’s game.

Short enough players for a full side, the Saracens agreed to a ‘friendly’ game of 10’s, playing 25 minutes each way.

For three of the four Badlands players, this was their first ever game of Rugby, but the training had clearly paid off as two of them scored Trys! You score a ‘try’ when you move the ball into the in-goal of the other team and “ground” the ball. That is the only place a try is scored.

The Ba-Baas put in a great effort and a last minute Try from Dustin Clark, one of the Badlands boys, brought the score to within one point.

“Despite our inexperience and a narrow loss, the Badlands players fit into the Barbarians side comfortably. The other three guys have never played rugby before and they performed well beyond my expectations,” said Andrew Beattie, Badlands RFC player/coach.

“The experience the four of us gained at the training session and in the game on Friday is immeasurable," he added.

The other Badlands Try came from ‘Left Wing’, Brady Kaiser, who showed his pace when he saw a gap in the Saracens’ defence and sprinted for the try line early in the first half.

“I was a little wary of joining the team at first because I literally didn’t know a thing about the sport but the guys and gals in Drumheller and Cochrane really make it fun,” he said. “It’s a great chance to get out for some exercise and forget about the weekly grind for a night. I’m super excited to keep playing rugby for years to come.”

Salen Prasad rounded off the Badlands cohort and put in a resounding effort at ‘Loosehead Prop’.

“I couldn’t be more proud of this group of rugby newcomers that left it all out on the field,” said Salen Prasad. “The Bow Valley squad welcomed us with open arms and even though we came up one point short, we won’t be hanging our heads anytime soon! There’s a big future for rugby here in the Badlands.” 

Badlands players are planning to join the Ba-Baas for more games in the coming weeks. Beattie encouraged people from Drumheller and the surrounding communities to think about joining in Canada’s fastest growing sport.

“We’ve already had a couple of clubs ask if we’d be interested in setting up an exhibition game. We get new players along to training most weeks and if we could get say, five more, we could for sure do that,” encouraged Beattie.

A woman whose name has become synonymous with compassion is beinghonoured by the Canadian government for her meritorious acts to support families and children who face poverty and Aids every day of their lives in the Roatan.

Drumheller residents and supporters of the Morgan Jayne Foundation know the name Valerie Nelson well. She is the founder of Familias Saludables in the Roatan. This is the organization that administers the Morgan Jayne Project and has been instrumental in saving hundreds of children by stopping the spread of Aids from mother to child. It operates a clinic and works closely with theCharmont Academy allowing those children a shot at a proper education. 

 She announced via social media that she would be receiving the Meritorious Service Award from the Governor General in Ottawa later in June at a special ceremony. She is humble and accepts the award for all those who have supported the work she does.

 “This is a thank you to every one of you who have helped build Familias Saludables and theCharmont Academy, through monetary donations to help us do what we do, through volunteering to help us get stronger and caring about our families and our children,” she said. “You have saved hundreds of babies, educated thousands on AIDS and other issues, supported women and families, provided an education to 60 children, fed them, dressed them and made them safe, and changed the world of families in a small third world country that many of you have never even visited.”

Fred Makowecki has known Nelson for many years, from when he adopted his daughter.

“It couldn’t have happened to a better person, She has worked her entire life, whether it be in Alberta with adoptive families, up north with indigenous youth, in Africa with Aids programs and now this program,” said Makowecki. "With this, she went here and said ‘wow these children are in a bad state and dying at a horrific rate. I just can’t go home, I have to do something.’”

 She has spent more than a decade working in Roatan. The Morgan Jayne Project came on about 11 years ago to support the work. While there have been successes, the work still continues

What is unfortunate is we have been going 100 miles per hour for 11 years and then the economy takes this horrific dive and with it goes earning power for families in the province and business support, so we are definitely short,” said Makowecki. “We are struggling every day just to look after the kids we have in school, struggling to get the formula down to them and the day to day stuff.”

The awards presentation will be held on June 23 in Ottawa. Makowecki says they hope to host her in the valley shortly after this date.

“She’s changed my world,” said Makowecki.

Photo courtesy of Jill Clayholt Photography

Delia grads walked the stage on June 30 and received their diplomas, although it was not the stage originally planned.
    A scheduling conflict meant that the Delia Community Center was not available, and as such the grads moved the event to Munson, to the new facility there.
    The eight grads didn’t let that slow them down one bit, arriving in style in bright red vehicles.
    Andrew Echlin, Shea Fullerton, Saige Hall, Brailey Hickle, Cole Hoover, Xander Kipling, Matthew Kuvaja and Cree Moostoos all enjoyed their time to shine in front of family and friends while speakers gave them advice and shared moments from their past and well wishes for their futures.
    Superintendent Cam McKeage noted that it was an outstanding and diverse group of grads that stood before the community.
“Always remember to help others along the way,” he noted.He recommended learning from their mistakes and using patience, persistence and determination to help them through life.
    Delia Trustee Ed Brinkman noted that talking to the community was often difficult for him.
    He noted that Robert Fulghum had it correct when he wrote the book Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.
1. Share everything. 2. Play fair. 3. Don’t hit people. 4. Put things back where you found them. 5. CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS,” Brinkman quoted.
    MLA Rick Strankman was on hand to present the grads their diplomas, but also took a moment to speak to them, noting that “one thing I’ve learned is sometimes fun turns out to be trouble!”
    Guest speaker Blair Raugust, who taught the grads in shop, discussed what made each grad special to him .“We will all encounter times of trouble,” Raugust noted.
    The community and the grads, families would help grads “get through it.”  “We all set goals and we all have a picture of what your future will look like. You need people to support that. People to look up to and keep you on track.”
    As the graduates used a Walt Disney quote for their theme Raugust elected to finish his comments on a Disney quote aswell.
    “You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”
    In her salute to the parents Hall noted that they were ”sorry for all the grey hairs caused.” “We’re so grateful to have you by our side.”
    In his salute to the teachers Hoover noted that “each one of you have had an impact on us grads.”
    Valedictorian Kipling noted that there was nowhere else he’d rather grow up than Delia. “You’ve spent the last 18 years of our lives preparing us for the next stage of life,” he noted to the parents.
    To his fellow graduates he noted that they had always pushed him to be his best self. “I have no doubt each of you will be successful – Never settle for mediocre,” he said. “Whatever you do, do it well.”