News | DrumhellerMail

Canada Day party staying at Drumheller Memorial despite road construction

   Canada is set to celebrate 143rd birthday on Thursday and Drumheller will celebrate yet again with the same enthusiasm as any other year.
   Although road construction is being done in front of the big dinosaur, Canada Day events for the valley will still take place at Memorial Park, but many are spaced out across town.
   Starting at 7 a.m. Thursday, the annual Kinsmen Pancake Breakfast will take place at Riverside Value Drug Mart.
After this the parade will begin at 10 a.m. until noon, then live music and entertainment will be held on Centre Street afterwards.
   Food will be plentiful around town, with CO-OP roasting smokies, and IGA serving beef on a bun starting at noon.
The rest of the day’s events will be held at Memorial Park and the Splash Park, if construction is finished, a release says.
   Highland Dancers will kick off the opening ceremonies at 2 p.m., with live acts by the Russell Brothers and Eight Bit Evolution, as well as crafts, face painting and more to do at the park starting at 3 p.m.
   The cutting of Canada’s birthday cake and the singing of its anthem will be held at 6:30 p.m., with more live music leading up to the fireworks celebrations at 11 p.m.

Drumheller-Stettler constituency remains intact, adds Paintearth

    Many area municipalities are breathing a sigh of relief, as only small changes were suggested to the Drumheller-Stettler Constituency electoral boundaries.
    The Alberta Government charged the Alberta Electoral Boundary Commission with realigning electoral boundaries to reflect the population, and to add four more seats. An interim report was filed in February of this year with sweeping changes that lumped Drumheller and Brooks being included in a single riding, and Wheatland County being included with communities to its west. The final report was submitted to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly on June 24, and it appears the suggested changes were not as drastic as the interim report suggested.
    Drumheller-Stettler will remain intact, although now it includes a small portion of the of Olds-Three Hills-Didsbury riding to the west and it also encompasses the County of Paintearth.
    This conclusion falls in line with submissions made by Councillors Karen Bertamini and Andrew Berdahl, who made submissions to the commission at a public meeting.
    “This was our first option,” said Berdahl. “I think the changes are reasonable. I still have some concerns about the size of our constituency, but I think the commission has done a good job in difficult circumstances.”
    Ross Rawlusyk, CAO of Starland County, said the county also felt the inclusion of Paintearth to the Drumheller-Stettler Riding was an attractive option.
    “It makes sense,” said Rawlusyk. “We have a lot more in common with Paintearth than we do in Newell. And there are a lot more similarities in agricultural practices and the same school issues and population issues. There is a lot more commonality there.”
    He agrees with Berdahl that the one issue that still faces the electoral division is sheer geographical size.
    “How many Canada Day Parades can an MLA go to?” he chuckles.
    Ben Armstrong, Reeve of Wheatland County, is relieved about the report, as the Brooks-Strathmore riding remained intact. His concern was that Wheatland would be included with more urban populations changing the dynamics of the riding.
    “With the numbers as they are now, if you take the boundary and move it where you’re looking at moving it, you’d change the dynamics. The numbers change. The numbers don’t concern me that much. If we’re a little less or a little more, that’s not an issue; it’s the dynamics of what you’re making that area into,” he told the commission at a hearing in Brooks.
    He is satisfied the commission made the right decision.
    “It sounds like they took most of our comments to heart,” said Armstrong. “Our biggest problem is that Chestermere is totally urban. It has no link to rural people.
    “It sounds like they were listening to us. That is pleasing because with some of the things we have been talking to them about, they haven’t been listening to us.”
    Part of the commission’s responsibility was to add four more seats. The commission suggested two more in Calgary, one in Edmonton and one in the rural area.
    CAO of Kneehill County, Kevin Miner’s biggest concern was that rural Alberta would lose representation.
    “It sounds like they ironed out a few of the problems that were there. For us it is not always just ‘what does it do to Kneehill County’ but we think of this in terms of the number of rural MLAs. That is a larger issue for us and to protect that may be more important to us.”

Drumheller to bloom without blooms this year

    Drumheller will not be entered in the Communities in Bloom (CiB) competition this year, co-chair of CiB, Trish Parker, recently announced, but will remain a Friend of Communities in Bloom.
    When CiB judges visited the area last year, the Drumheller valley received 4 blooms and a special mention for community involvement for overall performance in criteria that highlighted the community’s effort in environmental responsibility and beautification.
    Impressed by much about what Drumheller had to offer, the judges also found the area was missing many of the fine details to be awarded the top 5 blooms Drumheller received in 2006 and made recommendations on how to improve the grading.
    Parker told inSide Drumheller, “The CiB judges who visited us last year gave us some excellent recommendations and we are working on implementing their suggestions. We have decided to spend our efforts doing this instead of bringing the judges to town this year.”
    She added that the group was still working diligently on beautifying Drumheller “One Block at a Time” and that they had partnered with many stakeholders to beautify the entrance to Historic Downtown by the Atco Electric building.
    In July, the group is also organizing a Garden Tour in partnership with the Garden Club and the Badlands Community Garden Society.
    “CiB in Drumheller is only a small part of bringing this town to a world-class tourist destination. All parts of the community must get involved and work together to make this happen,” Parker concluded.
    Some of the recommendations pointed to a need for the Town of Drumheller to increase personnel to look after the green spaces.
    Al Kendrick, infrastructure services director told inSide Drumheller the town has addressed some of the problems mentioned in the judges’ report, adding they were not big enough to hire an expert from Olds College to dedicate time to tree and urban forest management but they hire contractors when needed.
    “I don’t think people realize the size of Drumheller. It is 125 square kilometers, and for what we have for staff, they do an absolutely excellent job of going around and keeping it in pretty reasonable condition in my opinion,” Kendrick said, adding the department was tied to a three-year budget.
    Councillor Sharel Shoff told inSide Drumheller she felt the town should be looking at the green space as beautifying Drumheller is important for the residents and also for visitors.
    “The budget is due in the fall but we are already talking about it a little bit now,” said Shoff.
    “I will check to see what the budget is and what we are spending it on and if there is any chance of having a little help.”
    In the meantime, Parker said that the CiB would welcome new members to join and help create an award winning community.

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