The annual Spring Clean-Up, conducted by the Town of Drumheller, may undergo some changes after a host of issues plagued this year’s garbage collection.
    Tammi Nygaard, manager of Drumheller and District Solid Waste Management, was disappointed with how the cleanup went this year.
    “We’ve got some problems. We need to sit down, debrief, and come up with some better suggestions for next year,” said Nygaard. “We had a lot of issues this year. In the last couple years, we were doing quite well getting the message out that things needed to be separated and sorted. People were doing a good job of that.”
    The biggest problem faced by crews was residents were not sorting the items they put out.
    “The problems we experience this year had to do with sorting and separating. The public were just piling things up into huge piles, so when the guys got there, it was a huge mess. It took a lot of time to sort things and collect it all,” said Nygaard.
    Another problem faced by crews were scavengers. Though Nygaard felt it was good that residents were reusing some of the items, their methods left something to be desired.
    “There were a lot of people going around and scavenging ahead of the trucks. There were some that even did it on the same day the trucks were going through and getting in the way. They (scavengers) would make a mess of the piles,” said Nygaard.
    Crews also hauled away an excessive amount of demolition materials. In years past, crews only collected a half-tonne truck worth of demolition material.
    Lastly, Nygaard felt not all of what was collected belonged to residents in Drumheller.
    “The public are abusing it. We think some of the stuff was imported from outside of the community. The guys go to these houses every year and every year they have these huge piles. It doesn’t make any sense how a person can collect that much waste in just one year,” said Nygaard.
    In the end, 202 overtime hours were accrued by staff, compared to the last two years where no overtime hours resulted from the cleanup. The cost, so far, has been estimated to be $119,000.
    Now, the future of the cleanup is up for debate. The Town will work on modifying the program to make next year smoother and reduce costs.
    At the Monday, May 27, meeting of the Committee of the Whole, Drumheller Town Council expressed a desire to keep the cleanup running, but felt crews could be more selective in what they take.
    “Maybe it’s a matter of complacency. Continued complacency regarding sorting could result in the program getting scaled back to the point where it’s not the same as what people want,” said Councillor Jay Garbutt. “I think all would be in agreement to do away with anything that would be considered an abuse of the system, in particular setting limits on what the amounts and be and empowering (crews) to not pick up what they think is abuse.”
    Overall, the amount of items collected was up 25 per cent over last year.

    One of the longest running rodeo’s in the province is flying out the chute this weekend.
    Starting on Friday, May 31, the 97th Handhills Lake Stampede will begin another exciting rodeo.
    The action starts at noon on Friday, with Chuckwagon and Chariot races scheduled for 6 p.m.
    Then, the next day at noon, the rodeo officially opens. Each year a guest of honour opens the Stampede. This year long-time rodeo volunteer Ken Wells was chosen.
    “It’s quite an honour. I’m kind of surprised, there are a lot of people that should be there, too. I volunteered off and on for a number of years, as much as I could,” said Wells.
    Wells was chosen for his years of volunteer service to the Handhills Lake Stampede and the Hanna Indoor Rodeo. Wells first began volunteering when he was 15 and had attended his first Handhills Lake Stampede when he was five.
    “I was about five years old when my parents came back to help out my grandfather on our land south of Hanna. I was about 5 when I went to my first Handhills Stampede,” said Wells. “I started (volunteering) pretty young, helping out at the Handhills. We’d help pulling saddles off the broncs when they were done.”
    Wells, now 82, has a lot of memories from years at the rodeo.

Ken Wells, the 97th Handhill Lake Stampede guest of honour, during his younger years. Wells volunteered with the Stampede and Hanna Indoor Rodeo starting when he was 15-years-old. Over the years he has seen some of the biggest moments and names at the rodeo. The most important thing, he says, is the friendships forged along the way.

    “I got to know a lot of the cowboys over the years. They would stay at our place and give us a hand with the chores,” said Wells. “There are a lot of memories. I wish I could remember all the stories over the years, that would be quite a book. Some you wouldn’t be able to put in a  book! Some of those characters got pretty wild. What I remember most is how many riders are in the Canadian and U.S. halls of fame.”
    In three more years, the Handhill Lake Stampede will be celebrating its centennial. Planning has already begun.
    “We’re two years away. We struck a committee and we’re setting plans in motion for the 100th. We’re trying to get all our projects on the grounds completed. They’re projects that have been ongoing for years and we’d like to have them finished up,” said Day Lenfesty, treasurer of the Handhills Lake Stampede committee.
    The project includes new outside railings, having the corrals and chutes rearranged, and painting.
    After almost 100 years of running, perhaps the most enduring legacy of the stampede is the friendships it kindles.
    “It’s kind of a reunion out there,” said Wells. “Sometimes it’s the only chance you get to see people again you knew when you were younger.”