After 10  years, Cuts for Cancer will be going out with a bang, and a little more baldness.
    It is with a heavy heart that Cathy Morse of the Chop Shop is announcing that this year will be the final Cuts for Cancer she will be hosting at her shop. To thank all of those who made it successful, she too will be going under the razor to help those in need.
    For the last 9 years, she has been able to avoid having her locks shaved, because of all the volunteers who have stepped up to donate their hair to raise funds for the Drumheller Area Health Foundation.
    “The reason I am putting mine up is to thank all those who have stepped up over the years and supported the whole cause, it makes me pretty emotional still,” she said.
    For the last nine years Morse has staged the event. It was originally in memory of her mother who passed away from cancer, but as it grew, it was dedicated to many more in the community who were battling, or had battled cancer.
    On top of that, many throughout the years have donated their hair to have wigs made for those who lost their hair because of treatments.
    Funds from Cuts for Cancer have gone into numerous projects at the Drumheller Health Centre to enhance the lives of those who are battling cancer as well as their families.  The support not only comes from Drumheller, but surrounding communities.
    “It is unbelievable how it banded together all kinds of people who felt the same way,” she said. “When you see people hurting, you take things into your own hands to support your local community and hospital.”
    Over its history, the event has raised in the area of $160,000, and has continued to grow each year. She hopes they can top $200,000 on this final outing and is looking for more volunteers to get in the barber chair for a good cause.
    After years of talking people into the hot seat, Morse, now facing the prospect of her losing her own hair is undaunted.
    “I’ve asked people not to laugh at me after they see me February 3,” she chuckles.  “The ladies who have gone under the razor, have all come out looking beautiful, you see their faces, not just their hair. I think it will be a liberating experience.”
    Cuts for Cancer will be held on February 3.  Pledge sheets are available at the Chop Shop.  Those wanting to participate don’t have to shave their heads, the need only show up for a hair cut at the Chop Shop on that day.
     “I am a little sad that this is the end for me but maybe someone can pick it up and continue on,” said Morse.
     So far, Sterling Martin, Jamie Worman, Joe Eccelston, Jeanette Giesbrecht and Patti Naegeli have entered. For every filled pledge sheet, participants will be entered for a chance to win two  vacations in Las Vegas courtesy the Roadhouse Saloon.

    The Bleriot Ferry, which is an integral part of the Dinosaur Trail on Alberta Highway 838 has been operating now for 100 years.
    Some time in 1912, Andrew Bleriot started the Bleriot Ferry. He let others in the area use it free of charge.  Mr. Bleriot himself, brought the lumber for his home down the river from Red Deer on a raft. It proved to be quite an undertaking as they were often stuck on sand bars and a great deal of time was lost. He also brought household furnishings, including a piano on the same raft. Feed and likely seed were also a part of the load.
    In the following year, 1913, the Government of Alberta deemed it a necessity to install a larger ferry at the same site. This ferry was a free ferry and it had a full time operator.
 The first operator was Emil Perreal, who later bought land in the Morrin district. Next was Magnus Johnson, Tommy Johnson, Andy Sutherland, Jimmy Tucker of the Orkney district, Charlie Lewis, Ben Miller from Munson, Bill Henderson from Munson, Jack Lynch, then John Jacobsen from around Pine Lake. When the Dinosaur Trail traffic became heavy in about 1955, the Government hired a second man. Mr. Heaton as foreman and Mr. Lynch as second man, or ferryman’s assistant.
    When the ferry was first installed by the Province, it was called the West of Munson ferry, and was listed by that name until 1966.  It was officially named the Bleriot Ferry to honour its first ferrymen Andre Bleriot.
    The Stanger family history, written by James Stanger, provided some insight on the local importance of the ferry.  He noted that in the summer of 1913, they started to improve the Bleriot Hill, so they could get a road to Munson. Before they started to go to Munson for their goods, they usually went to Carbon, and sometimes to the Ghost Pine Store.
    Area residents donated the work on the Bleriot Hill and the business people of Munson donated the grub and tobacco. In the fall of 1912 there had been a contractor with a bunch of mules staying in Munson till the river froze up so he could cross. The people of Munson hired him to do some work on the east side of the river, he worked about three days and made a kind of track, but it was very steep and took four horses to pull an empty wagon up. The road was surveyed in 1914 and again, local residents donated some work on it.  They got the Munson ferry put in about the 12th of August 1914.
    The Bleriot Ferry continues to be an important link for area residents, and today, an even more important tourist attraction.  The current ferry was commissioned in June of 1997, and was designed by Navel Architects Brandlymr Marine.  The current ferry is 27.6 meters in length and is 10.36 meters wide.  The ferry weights 115 tonnes (230,000 lbs) and can accommodate 99 passengers and one crew member.  It has a load capacity of 62.5 tonnes (137,800 lbs) and can take a single vehicle up to 25 meters in length.  It now takes just one minute and 22 seconds to cross at high speed.  In an average year, the ferry accommodates 83,500 passengers and 28,500 vehicles. 
    The Ferry usually operates from about mid-May until the end of October.  The Ferry had a simple start to accommodate local transportation needs, and it continues to be one of just 7 operating ferries in Alberta.  Starland County is proud to acknowledge the innovation of Andrew Bleriot, and the hard work of local residents since who kept this important historical link alive and well.