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Weekend to End Women's Cancers trek dedicated to friend


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If you are heading to Whifs this Saturday morning, make sure you’re a big tipper, because it all goes to a great cause.

The Drumheller restaurant is playing host to a fundraiser to support Carrie Sine’s  (nee Shymanski) trek in the Weekend to End Women’s Cancers coming up on July 24-25 in Calgary.

The Weekend to End Breast Cancer is a 60-kilometre journey over two days. This is the sixth walk held in Calgary, and it since its inception it has raised more than $21 million for breast cancer research and programming.

Carrie is on the “We’d go Through Hell with Mel” team, and it is walking in dedication of her good friend Melanie Porter, a cancer survivor. The two grew up together in the valley, and have remained close.  Last year Melanie was expecting her second child when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was at 34 weeks. Because the cancer was aggressive, her labour was induced on December 7 she gave birth to her daughter Megan Hope. On December 17, she began chemotherapy treatment. Most recently, she underwent a double mastectomy earlier this month.

The two friends will be at Whifs this Saturday, May 28, for the fundraiser. Melanie will be there pouring coffee, and the serving staff at the restaurant will be donating their tips to Carrie’s walk.

Those who are not able to come out for breakfast this Saturday, and still want to contribute to Carrie’s walk, can go to www.endcancer.ca and search Carrie’s name to make a donation online.

 


Gas leak forces evacuation of eight homes Monday

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    The occupants of eight residences in Greenwood Villa Trailer Court in Drumheller were evacuated on Monday evening, May 24 while emergency crews dealt with a gas leak.
    The Drumheller Fire Department, Badlands EMS, Drumheller RCMP and AltaGas crews were called to the neighbourhood shortly after 5 p.m. after receiving an emergency call.
    Fire Chief Bill Bachynski said the residents of one of the homes were constructing a fence when a power auger ruptured an underground gas line.
    Residents on the south end of the court who were directly affected were evacuated. Bachynski said the crews had to dig up the line and pinch it to curb the flow of gas.
    He says there were no injuries, and the fire department was on scene for about an hour while the gas crew remedied the situation.
    Bachynski says the incident underlines the importance of employing the services of Alberta One-Call. This is a no-charge system for those planning to disturb ground, to have the underground utilities located in advance. To have the utilities marked, a person can call 1-800-242-3447 or go to www.alberta1call.com

Son of original bronc rider, 82, to open Handhills Stampede

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    His father was bucking horses for fun with friends on Sundays, rode the first year of Alberta’s oldest consecutive stampede, and on June 5, Murray Johnson will be opening the 94th annual Handhills Lake Stampede.
    Johnson, 82, a longtime farmer in the Handhills area and son of Fulton Johnson, is honoured to be given the chance to pay respects to the stampede his father started almost a century ago.
    Though he himself has never taken part in the stampede, his father Fulton was a bronc rider who homesteaded their family farm in 1908.
    Fulton and his friends took their Sunday hobby and started what would become a long lived event for the Handhills area, east of Drumheller and south of Hanna.
    “I’m quite proud about that,” Johnson admits. His father rode alongside the original Dick Cosgrave, of which the Richard Cosgrave Badlands Dinosaur Derby got its namesake.
    Murray Johnson, now a Hanna resident, farmed alongside his father until he passed in 1960, and ranched and farmed until 2005. The farm celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2008, and is now rented.
    As to what Johnson will say to open an event that is close to his heart, he says he’ll pay respects to his father and the others who’ve made the event a consecutive success for 94 years.
    “I have lots of respect for the old timers who’ve been a part of it their whole lives. Almost everyone there has some sort of connection to it.”
    Day Lenfesty, an official with the Handhills Lake Stampede, said he and the board of directors are very excited to have Johnson open the stampede on June 4, 5, and 6.
    The rodeo, which features all pro chuckwagon and chariot races, kicks off at 12 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The trade show starts at noon on Friday, with a kickoff party at 9 p.m. and beer gardens until 1 a.m.
   

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