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East Coulee Artist completes second mural

    An East Coulee artist never pictured herself taking on large public installations, but now it seems she has a knack.
     Janet Grabner of Caracol Clay Studio in East Coulee, was content to toil away in her studio, producing unique clay items. That changed when she was commissioned to complete the tree mural at Greentree School. Her work was noticed, and last fall she completed her second installation, this time at Westmount School in Strathmore.
    “I never (considered large public works). I kind of always wanted to work at home, it never really occurred to me,” said Grabner.
    She was invited to complete the clay mural in commemoration of the school’s 40th anniversary.
    “They are part of Golden Hills School Division, and someone was at Greentree School for a meeting, and came up and saw it. One of the teachers called and was looking for something for the 40th anniversary of their school,” said Grabner.
    The mural at Greentree School was a great lesson for Grabner, and she was more confident that she could complete this project in a timely manner. It took her less than a month from start to finish to complete work at Westmount school. The mural included 400 individual raw tiles students and staff designed.
    “Each tile has a word of virtue. Each child did a word. The Kindergarten and Grade One kids did stampings,” said Grabner.
    The tiles were fired and glazed by Grabner and husband John Dalm at their studio in East Coulee. She brought them back to the school and it took her about a week to mount and grout the piece together.
    “I learned at Greentree how it do it efficiently,” said Grabner.
    Now that she has these projects under her belt, she is interested in doing it more.
    “Next month I am going up to Edmonton for the Alberta Crafts Council, and they are holding a show called 'Thinking Big,' and it is about people doing larger public work,” said Grabner.
    She said it was challenging to take on this type of project. Considerations on how to keep 250 pounds of clay secure was not usually a consideration for her. She has enjoyed the process.
    “It was a lot of fun and I want to do more of them,” said Grabner. “I love to walk inside the school and see it, that’s the most exciting part.”


RCMP lay two impaired charges, five 24 hour suspensions over holiday

    The holiday season is on its way out, and for the most part it appears residents were responsible when it came to avoiding hitting the highway after a night of drinking.
    Throughout the holiday, Drumheller RCMP conducted a number of check stops. According to Staff Sergeant Art Hopkins, two impaired driving charges were pursued; one on Christmas Eve and one on New Year’s Day.
    In addition, the Drumheller RCMP issued four 24 hour suspensions for drivers who appeared to be impaired by alcohol. These came on December 17, two on New Year’s Day and one on January 2.
    While these numbers appear low, Hopkins says they are on the rise. Last Christmas check stops resulted in no impaired charges being laid.
    “We did see an increase in drinking and driving,” said Hopkins, “and that is sort of the standard across the country too.”
    In addition to the 24 suspensions for possible drinking and driving, RCMP also issued a 24 hour suspension for a person believed to be impaired by drugs. The Drumheller detachment has two officers trained to determine impairment by drugs.

RCMP looking for owner of bicycle found near break-in

    Drumheller RCMP is hoping a bike left near the site of a break and enter in the Riverside area may provide clues as to the identity of a possible suspect in a number of break-ins.
    A mountain bike was found on 15th Street East on December 29 after police responded to a possible break and enter around 7 p.m. in the evening. A resident of the neighbourhood called RCMP after they noted a light on at a neighbour’s house. The witness  knew the owners of the home were on holidays. He approached the front door and noted there were signs of it being kicked in.
    The witness could only describe the culprit as wearing a dark hoodie.
    A blue Supercycle 18 speed mountain bike with a missing front brake was discovered on the front street near the residence. The next morning another residence near where the bike was discovered was found to have been broken into.
    Drumheller RCMP say there have been a number of homes in the Riverside area over the past few weeks that have been broken into.
    If anyone has further information on this or any other crime they are asked to call the Drumheller RCMP at 403-823-7590, or if they wish to remain anonymous they can call Crimestopers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).


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