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Bob Rawlusyk presented with Robert Clark Legacy Award

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Former Drumheller resident Bob Rawlusyk has hockey roots that run deep, and start in the valley. Last Saturday, July 20 he was awarded the Robert Clark Legacy Award at the Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame gala in Red Deer.
This is the second year the award has been presented. It recognizes exceptional leadership in hockey. It celebrates individuals who exemplify Clark’s passion, leadership, collaboration, and unwavering integrity in their efforts to advance and enhance hockey.
Bob Rawlusyk fits that bill.
As a youth Rawlusyk, like many Drumheller kids, spent the winter on the ice and the summer on the ball diamond.
“In fact, I started coaching at 18 years of age, when I was still playing!” he tells the Mail.
He was playing in a commercial league that was around town, and he played with many members of the 1961 Juvenile Miner team. However, when he was too old to play on the team, he started coaching.
“I played with Glen Brost, Max Mestinsek, Alex Young, Danny Mallich, Jimmy Mcdonald and all of those guys for years. We just put them all together, and we ended up going through the whole province and winning every series we played in,” said Rawlusyk.
He also began coaching little league and girl’s softball and was a lifeguard at the swimming pool.
He coached the 1963 Miners Alberta juvenile baseball team to a provincial title. That same year, he played on a senior men’s baseball team that also won provincially.
The team continued to win more, but Rawlusyk had moved to Stettler to begin his career in recreation.
I taught swimming at Buffalo Lake, and then in the fall, I started to work for the rec department,” he said.
He moved up in his career to assistant director and then director of the recreation department in Stettler.
“When I moved here to there, I got into a good thing, and Stettler is quite a bit different from Drumheller and, I enjoyed both towns,” he said.
All the while continuing to coach and lead teams of all kinds of sports.
In his first year in Stettler, he put together a juvenile baseball team, and they advanced to the first round of provincials but fell to … you guessed it, Drumheller.
He also had success with girls’ softball. He coached one team for four years at the juvenile level. The same players continued to the Junior level, where they won the province and competed interprovincially.
In 1991, he was tasked with organizing national games between Canada and Russia, advised the World Junior Hockey Committee in Red Deer and was the director of the World Under-17 Hockey Championship.
He retired from Stettler Recreation about 15 years ago, and has been enjoying his retirement. A few months ago, he received a call from former teammate Max Mestinsek and learned he was nominated.
“It is kind of nice to get recognized, but I don’t like to brag about these things and say much about myself,” he said. “If I made an impact on some kids along the way, I think to me that is important.”
The Alberta Hockey Hall of Fame induction gala was in Red Deer at the Gary W. Harris Centre on Saturday, July 20. This year’s inductees included Jarome Iginla, Craig MacTavish, Kelly Kisio and Shannon Szabados.
Born in Acme, Robert Clark has a legacy that started in politics and spread to hockey. He served as MLA for the Didsbury and Olds Didsbury Constituencies from 1960 to 1981. In 1987, he was hired as general manager of the Olds Grizzlys and was part of the team’s winning legacy, winning three consecutive AJHL championships between 1992 and 1994. He later served as president of the team and chairman of the AJHL from 1998 to 2007.


Drumheller RCMP respond to semi in ditch

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On July 26, 2024, at approximately 5:30 a.m., Drumheller RCMP along with Fire Departments from Munson and Drumheller, and EMS responded to reports of a semi truck in the ditch on highway 56 near the top of North Hill on the outskirts of Drumheller.

It was found that a semi truck with a full load of cargo was southbound and entered a ditch. The lone occupant was not injured and was not transported to hospital. The semi truck sustained significant damages. There was minimal disruption to traffic.

RCMP continue to investigate.

Family navigates Red Deer River on homemade raft

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Newcastle Beach has become a popular place for locals and visitors, but last Thursday, it looked like a construction site on the west end of the boat launch.
In fact, it was the conclusion of a family adventure on the high seas– well, the Red Deer River.
The Smith family of Camrose spent three days on the river on a homemade raft, christened the G.O.A.T. boat (Greatest Of All Time). Julie Smith, the matriarch of the family, tells the Mail her husband Gary hatched the idea of putting together a raft.
“Gary got the idea of a river raft float from some friends of ours that had done it on a bit of a smaller scale,” she said, and the idea took shape. “All year Gary collected free lumber from Home Hardware and repurposed worn-out furniture from friends of ours and the city’s kick-it-to-the-curb weekends.”
The plastic barrels used as floats came from his brother, who scavenged them from his job, and this left Gary only needing to purchase a bit of hardware and plywood. He assembled the boat in the garage, and in the end, it was a double-decker raft equipped with tarpaulin walls to use at night as a sleeping area. It was outfitted with a table, camp stove, homemade flag, hammock and storage.
The boat was disassembled, trailered, reassembled and launched, untested, from Tolman Bridge on Tuesday, July 9. On board were Julie and Gary, as well as their daughters,
Paige, 16 and Shelby, 14. Their eldest Avery, 19, was unable to go on the the three-day cruise.
The family spent the days lazing onboard, swimming, fishing and enjoying the scenery.
“I’ve lived in Alberta my whole life and never been able to experience those views. It was breathtaking. Our daughter Shelby even celebrated her 14th birthday aboard the ship! We made good time, and the raft floated very smoothly. We enjoyed meeting other canoe groups as we passed each other on the river.”
At night, they would beach, make dinner, set up their walls and bed down. They enjoyed great weather for the trip, and landed on Newcastle Beach on Thursday afternoon.
“It was a perfect place to dock and celebrate our successful trip. We worked as a family to disassemble the craft and load it back into the trailer. We were met with lots of friendly people on the beach as we worked. After all our hard work, we stopped for some McDonald’s and then drove home,” said Julie. “We really appreciated Drumheller for being a great end point to our adventurous journey. It was a great time to spend bonding with our family, away from technology and the busy lives we have the rest of the year. We hope to go again next year!


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