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Bonspiel provides more to love

    When there is a bonspiel in Rumsey, often the action on the ice can go on late into the night.
    On Thursday night, the action may go on even longer.
    You see, Thursday night is Oyster Night. The Rumsey Ag Society has a longstanding tradition of serving the libido-enhancing tidbit for dinner, and participants at the bonspiel gobble them up.
    “We go through about 40 quarts,” said Rhonda Lund who, for the last few years, has been serving them up at the lunch counter along with Lori Cawiezel.
    With about 15-16 oysters per quart, that’s a good dose of the tiny but mighty aphrodisiac.
    “People come from everywhere… a lot of them come just specifically for oysters,” said Lund. “Everybody enjoys them.”
    Although she couldn’t specify if wives or husbands enjoyed them more, she does say the mixed bonspiel is the most popular event.
    Tim Primrose doesn’t mince words.
    “The wife and I both love oysters, as far as the men and women in general, I bet the men probably look forward to them more,” he said.
    He also vouches that the oysters help with “curling,” and maybe a bit with marital harmony. In fact, two of his children were born in the fall, roughly nine months after bonspiel season.
    Looking at her birthday book, Lund agrees there is a good sum of fall babies.
    Becky Kowalchuk seems to enjoy the oysters as well.
    “They are deep fried and they are so good. They are quite large, about four inches long, and you might get six to eight on your plate, it’s really good. Need any more details than that?” she asks.
    The men’s bonspiel is from January 23-28, the ladies is February 6-11 and the mixed is March 5-10. There are also other events throughout the season.
    Good thing they are running a number of bonspiels, as it seems some can’t get enough.
    According to Lund, who refused to mention names, after a bonspiel one year, the leftovers were laid out upstairs for volunteers to help themselves. A couple took advantage, and grabbed a roll of foil, wrapped the remaining oysters up and put them in their pockets for later.
    “Maybe that’s what keeps them coming back for more,” laughs Primrose.
    It’s curling season in Rumsey, get ready to get your rocks – shucks, that’s too easy.


Gleichen RCMP tackle grave mystery

    Gleichen RCMP has a novel request, and is looking for the identity of someone long since passed.
    On November 9 of last year, a Wheatland County resident reported to the Gleichen RCMP that they had found a gravestone on their property. 
    Police responded and recovered a gravestone, which was engraved with the name “Father Frank Crummy” with the dates 1869-1952 also inscribed.
    The RCMP initiated a search for the rightful owner or the proper location for the marker, but have not come up with any leads so far.
    They have turned to the public for information about the origin of the stone in hopes of having it returned to its proper location.
    If has anyone has information about the stone or Father Frank Crummy, they are asked to contact the Gleichen RCMP at 403-734-3056. Or they can call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).

Tyrrell speaker series showcases unexpected and rare fossil

    The Royal Tyrrell Museum speaker series, after taking attendees on a balmy trip to Australia, is bringing things back home with  presentation about one of the major finds of 2011.
    The Suncor ankylosaur, an armoured dinosaur, made international news in the spring of 2011. Workers at the Suncor Mine noticed rocks riddled with odd textures and patterns.
    The workers sent photos to the Tyrrell Museum, where scientists initially thought it was a plesiosaur, a marine reptile, flipper. Dr. Don Henderson, curator of dinosaurs, and Darren Tanke, technician, flew north and found something unexpected, an ankylosaur.
    “It was unexpected to find a dinosaur in this location because the (rock) formation was laid down in the sea and dinosaurs are land animals. As well, ankylosaur finds are rare, so this was a significant find,” said Dr. Henderson.
    The Tyrrell team and Suncor had the difficult task of removing the 110 million year old fossil. Now, the fossil is at the Tyrrell Museum and is currently being prepared.
    Dr. Henderson will present the story of removing the fossil from the oilsands at the third speaker series talk of 2012. The talk will be held on Thursday, January 26, at 11 a.m. in the museum auditorium. For more information visit www.tyrrellmuseum.com or to view previous talks, youtube.com/user/RoyalTyrrellMuseum.


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