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South American adventure includes dinosaurs and hockey

    A Drumheller family is heading on a voyage that includes dinosaurs, museums, gauchos and maybe a little bit of hockey.
   Tyler Eddy is a project and interpretive planner at the Royal Tyrrell Museum and his spouse Kelly Eddy is a director at the Atlas Coal Mine. This month the two are taking their two young sons Emery and Eli on an Argentinean adventure. According to Kelly it is an opportune time for the family to take on an extended (3 month) voyage before their children begin school.
     For Tyler a big part of the trip is to satisfy some of his own interest in dinosaurs, but as a planner, it is also for professional development.
   “It was inspired by wanting to do something travel based before our kids got into school, secondary was wanting to learn a new language and third, wanting to learn new skills,” said Eddy. “ Our oldest starts school in September and we want to expose them to a lot of new things as well.”

Tyler and Kelly Eddy and sons Eli and Emery will be heading south to Argentina to learn about some of their museums and also to play in a Chilean hockey tournament.

   He has made contacts through museum conferences and will be visiting a number of museums.
   “I want to see some of the palaeontology, they have some similar aged rocks there and in certain cases there is much older geology than we have around here, so more of a span, of more recent and much older rocks in closer proximity to each other,” said Tyler. “They have a lot of different species of dinosaurs that we don’t have here, more long necked dinosaurs down there.”
     He adds that one museum he will be visiting, its lead scientist, Professor Rodolfo Coria described Argentinosaurus.
   “That is going to be a big highlight to go to his museum which is called Museo Carmen Fune,” said Tyler.
   They will also see Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio in Patagonia, one of the premier palaeontology museums in South America.
   “It is a lot like the Tyrrell Museum. It is a big museum in an out of the way place. They don’t have a huge population either,” said Tyler. “ They are a significant site in a small town.”
   They hope to do some volunteer work at the museum while they are there, although the field season will be over by then.
   The Museo Paleontológico Egidio Feruglio will also give him a chance to focus more on his profession rather that just getting his fix of cool dinosaur stuff.
   “Because I am going to be at that site a little longer, we hope to learn about their business and how they interpret,” said Tyler. “Another thing I am interested in is because my Spanish is at a beginner level, I want to look at and study how learners of a new language take in the interpretation at different sites. The Tyrrell Museum has many international visitors. They are obviously using visual cues to learn about the dinosaurs here, but I want to put myself in that situation and see what it is like.”
   He says the Tyrrell, staff and his supervisor are supportive of his trip and see it as a valuable opportunity. The Royal Tyrrell Museum Cooperating Society has also stepped forward to help support his experience financially.
   Beyond the world of dinosaurs and museums, there is another important all Canadian aspect to the trip, hockey.
   Tyler is an avid fan and also coaches FunTeam. Tyler has been in contact with a Facebook group called Ice Hockey Ushuaia, a group in the southern most reaches of Argentina.
   He also follows the “Travelling Goalie,” who has travelled the world to play hockey, including Ushuaia. In fact, the Travelling Goalie is organizing a Canadian team for a tournament in July. Tyler is signing up to be on the team.
   “We are getting ready to play in a tournament in Punta Arenas Chile. The goal of the tournament is to raise awareness of ice hockey in the area. I don’t think it is well established… they have a three on three rink, but they want to build an Olympic-sized one down there.”
   He hopes to also be able to give something back to the community there. This could possibly be done by donating some equipment or teaching some sessions for youngsters.
   The family is heading out on April 28. To keep in touch with the Eddy's, click here for a link to their blog.

Cleanup gets ready to take out the trash

    Bring out your trash.
   In two weeks, starting on April 29 and running until May 9, the Town of Drumheller will be cruising the streets and alleys for Drumheller’s unwanted items in the annual Spring Cleanup.
   Residents can bring almost anything they wish to get rid of to their garbage. Town staff will then take it away free of charge.
   This year is slated to run much like the last, with East Coulee and Nacmine the first two areas covered. Over the following week, crews will migrate to the centre of town.
   Residents are encouraged to discard almost anything, but there are a few rules.

Norm Panisiak (left) and Markus Goodhope toss a few odds and ends into a bin during the Town of Drumheller’s spring cleanup last year. The 2013 cleanup is slated to begin April 29. This year, tires with rims will be accepted during the cleanup.

   “People have to go to Town Hall to pay for their freon appliances to be removed. They get a sticker there, which has to be put on their fridge,” said Tammi Nygaard, operations manager of the Drumheller and District Solid Waste Management Association.
   Residents are also asked to organize their items to help crews efficiently collect as many items as possible. Also, items must be on the ground, not in trailers or trucks.
   Last year, crews were extremely grateful for how well residents sorted their items.
   As with previous years, barrels with lids will not be accepted.
   “We are not accepting barrels with lids on them. We don’t know what is in them or was in them. Alberta Environment doesn’t allow any landfills to accept them. If people want us to take them, they have to be steam cleaned and the lids taken off,” said Nygaard.
   One new item added to the acceptable items list is tires with rims, which were not allowed last year.

Encana’s responsible practices recognized

    Encana has been recognized for its environmental and social consciousness.
   The company, which has some operation in the Drumheller area, received the President’s Award at the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers’ (CAPP) Responsible Canadian Energy awards.
   “We are extremely proud to have received this year’s President’s Award, which we believe reflects our commitment to continuous improvement,” said Mike McAllister, Executive Vice-President & President, Canadian Division. “Responsible development is a key component of our business model throughout our operations and it’s important that we as an industry continue to improve our performance in that regard. These types of initiatives help support our business, improve our relationships with important stakeholders and help continually raise the bar on our environmental, safety and social performance.”
   The President’s Award is presented to companies that have demonstrated “exceptional environmental, health and safety, or social performance.

Despite there no longer being the opportunity for Stuff the Chuck with the WPCA event in Drumheller, Encana continued its support of the local food bank last summer, contributing to Stuff The Bus. The company was awarded for its work in communities where it operates.

   Encana has been recognized for three separate endeavours. And two of these apply to its local operations, according to Luigi Vescarelli, community relations advisor for Encana.
   Encana’s Responsible Products program is a company-wide effort to manage chemical additives used in hydraulic fracturing. According to a release this program was developed in conjunction with third party toxicologists and it allows Encana to make, “thorough, objective and accurate assessments of its hydraulic fracturing fluid systems for potential impacts to human health or the environment using widely-accepted toxicological criteria.”
   Vescarelli says they employ hydraulic fracturing to extract oil and gas in some of their deep wells in the Horseshoe Canyon Play.
   Another endeavour of Encana, for which they were recognized is the Race against Hunger. This is a partnership between the WPCA Pro Dodge Chuckwagon and local community food banks. During a WPCA event, they organize a large-scale food drive.
   While Drumheller no longer has a WPCA event, Vescarelli said they teamed up last summer with the Stuff the Bus local initiative led by Heather Colberg and was able to make a significant impact on families in the area that use the Salvation Army Food Bank.
   “It falls under the same program, supporting foodbanks in the areas we operate in,” said Vescarelli.

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