Over Easy, Please - May 17, 2013

Library Board Chair Resigns

Dallas Kristiansen, who most re-cently served as chair of the Fort Saskatchewan Public Library Board, has resigned from that board, OEP has learned.

Kristiansen was sharply criti-cized in an opinion piece by our Editor, Judy Sellin, in a May 3, 2013 articled entitled “Board Chair should resign, says editor.”

Confi rmation of Kristiansen’s resignation came on Tuesday af-ternoon, with the Library’s Ex-ecutive Director, Angela Kublik, stating: “I can confi rm that Mr. Kristiansen has resigned from the board.”

Former FSPL Board Vice-Chair Ian Hunt is now serving as Chair.

Edmonton arena to proceed

A controversial proposed arena in downtown Edmonton will be con-structed starting next spring.

The fi nal piece of funding for the downtown arena was approved by City Council late Wednesday, paving the way for the project to move ahead, and open in 2016.

According to the City of Edmon-ton, on May 9, members of the Capital Region Board (CRB) rep-resenting 95% of the population served by the board supported Edmonton in applying for its al-location under the provincial Re-gional Collaboration Program. The City has said it will submit the application as soon as the pro-gram’s guidelines are defi ned.

However, according to a state-ment released by Fort Saskatch-ewan Mayor Gale Katchur last week, CRB support was only “in principle,” meaning that Fort Saskatchewan and other munici-palities “are not bound as an in-dividual municipality in any way” regarding future support.

Volume 3, Number 29 Price: FREEFort Saskatchewan, Alberta • Friday, May 17, 2013

By REECE SELLIN

Near ly one half of Fort S a s -k a t c h -e w a n C i t y C o u n -c i l lors ’

taxpayer-funded “Promo-tional Fund,” has been spent on golf tournament entry fees and golf-related expenditures.

Details of the Promotional Fund spending obtained by OEP from the City of Fort Saskatchewan ear-lier this week reveal that the Fort’s councillors spent a total of $8,844.51 from January 1, 2011 to

March 31, 2013, the pe-riod for which expenses were requested by us.

The total allowable ex-pense for each Councillor was doubled from $500 per year in 2011 to $1,000 per year in 2012, on the reccomendation of the City’s compensation com-mittee.

Of that amount, $3,633.18 (or 41 per cent) was spent on golf tournament entry fees, golf balls, and gift cards for charity golf tour-naments.

No formal policy exists on how those monies may be spent.

Also, although much of

the fund spending direct-ly supported local com-munity initiatives, not a single dollar was spent to directly support local mi-nor sports.

Moreover, ex-Councillor Ed van Delden spent the least -- more specifi cally, he spent nothing at all from his Promotional Fund alottment.

Public attention on the fund and other expens-es came to the fore last month, when Council-lor Frank Garritsen in-troduced a motion that would have seen all Coun-cil expenses published on the City’s website.

CONTINUED ON P. 3

Over Easy, PleaseThe next issue of OEP will be published May 31st

LOCAL

MAJOR LIBRARY DONATION P. 3

THE ISSUE

A RETURN ON OUR GIVING? P. 2

35 days until Summer!

Published in print and online every Friday

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GIVING? P. 2Published in print and online every Friday

NEARLY HALF OF COUNCILLORS’ PROMO FUNDS SPENT ON GOLF

Over Easy, Please May 17, 2013 Page 2

Spring SaleOn Now!

Over Easy, Please is published weekly on Fridays. We are located in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, and are a publication of Tuckbook Inc. Our website is located at www.overeasyplease.com. Over Easy, Please welcomes opinions and comments. Please note that we reserve the right to edit comments for length, style, legality and taste. Comments sent to us or posted to our website may be reproduced in print and/or electronic format. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. Therefore, the views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of Tuckbook Inc., and/or any/all contributors to this publication. We reserve the right to reject or remove advertising that we deem contrary to our ad philosophy, at our sole and exclusive discretion. Please view our contact information on page 8. This newspaper is not edible.

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The IssueA return on our giving?

By OEP Editor JUDY SELLIN

If you were given $1,000 to d i s t r i b -ute over a one year period to charities, organiza-

tions or to assist someone in an endeavor, would your giving be any different than how Fort Saskatchewan’s city councillors chose to spend their individual promotional funds allotted to each of them by the City?

Do keep in mind the promo-tional funds each councillor is allotted comes from your tax dollars. In addition, in 2011, the fund amount for each coun-cillor was increased from $500 to $1,000 per year.

Perhaps $1,000 does not seem like a great amount to some, but take into account that six councillors were allotted that amount. When OEP requested the promotional funds expendi-tures of Fort city councillors, it was very interesting to review what each councillor chose to do with your tax dollars in the name of giving and in the name of charity.

For me, a person who is a giver and actually wrote a book en-titled Random Acts of Giving, I am more of an extrovert giver, therefore my opinion on ‘giving’ may be signifi cantly different than most people. Neverthe-less, the promotional fund, as I understand it, was meant for the purpose of giving back to the community -- although there is no set policy on this at this time. Having said that, it seems apparent that each councillor understood the over-all intent of the fund, as it has seemingly been spent on chari-table causes.

One could debate that there is no right or wrong way to give, however, if you are giving by using tax dollars, then ques-

tions may arise, and sometimes those will be less about the amount and more about the what, where and the why of your charity choices.

Perhaps our age, our life’s ex-periences as well as our sen-timents do affect the way in which we give or do not give. I personally believe how we give, and to what or whom we give, really speaks volumes as to who we are as a person. But, would the giving choices of our city councillors be different if they were using their personal money? This is a hypothetical question, of course, but I hon-estly believe some councillors would probably be more gen-erous while others would be extra-frugal, if they gave at all.

Here is one of my questions: Do we need a return on our giving, be we city councillors or not? Is giving not just as rewarding if we cut a cheque for $100, op-posed to cutting a cheque for a golf tournament and another golf tournament... knowing that there is usually a luncheon and/or a dinner...

Call it networking or call it a social outing, but I am of the opinion that when golfi ng adds up to 41% of how the council-lors’ promotional fund was spent, it does imply a main source of giving was through golf tournaments, and certainly should cause us to have a look at why there was not more giv-ing to other local organizations and endeavors.

Councillor Tom Hutchison has been teeing off the most with his promotional fund spend-ing, by attending 8 golf tourna-ments since May of 2011, and his 9th golf tournament oc-curring this year with a $300 registration already paid from his promotional fund. In addi-tion, Hutchison’s promotion-al spending on golf included $46.20 on City golf balls and $100.00 in December of 2012 on Tim Horton’s Gift cards for charity golf tournaments.

Councillor Stew Hennig is a close second, teeing off on 7 golf tournaments with his 8th golf

tournament also occurring this year, and a $300 registration already paid from his promo-tion fund. In addition, Hennig’s promotional spending from the fund included $92.40 on golf balls.

Councillor John Mather is third, teeing off on 3 golf tour-naments with a 4th golf tourna-ment also occurring this year, with a $300.00 registration al-ready paid from his promotion fund. In addition, Mather spent $46.20 from the fund for City golf balls.

Frank Garritsen spent $46.20 from his promotional fund for City golf balls, but did not use any of his promotional funds for golf tournaments.

Don Westman did not spend any promotional funds on golf tournaments or golf balls.

It is not that golf tournaments are not popular as fundraisers, because they are, and are used a great deal for that purpose. There is nothing wrong with golf either, per say, although there are still many who can-not afford a day on the green, even if they wished to.

But I stress there are many other organizations & charities here in the Fort, and even indi-viduals with an endeavor that would really have appreciated the fi nancial support from the councillors’ promotional fund.

Hold on though, because there were some councillors that were diligent in making their giving choices varied. Two city councillors -- Don Westman and Frank Garritsen -- each actually added to one of their charitable donations by getting really physically involved. For Westman, it was scaling a 29- storey hotel in downtown Ed-monton, representing Fort Sas-katchewan in the Easter Seal Drop Zone fundraiser, while Garritsen, for his part, did a walk for breast cancer. Both councillors spent funds from their promotional funds to also sponsor these charities.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6...

May 17, 2013 Page 3Over Easy, Please

COUNCIL, CONT.

That motion, however, was quickly tabled by several other members on Council, but will be returning for further debate at Council’s June 11th meeting.

A listing of all Councillors’ Promotion Fund expendi-tures is listed here. This information is included for purposes of transparency.

COUN. FRANK GARRITSEN

3/31/2011 - Walk to End Breast Cancer Association: $300

4/30/2011 - Sponsorship - Am-bassador Band to Cuba: $100

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

2/29/2012 - STSS Donation: $100

5/31/2012 - Stephie’s Bike Tour Donation: $250

6/30/2012 - First Fort Saskatch-ewan Scouts - Donation: $100

7/12/2012 - FS Life Church - Aug 11 Event Sponsorship: $100

7/19/2012 - Walmart - Candy for Canada Day Parade: $100

7/31/2012 - Johnston Promo-tional Products - Two Dozen Golf Balls: $46.20

9/21/2012 - Terry Fox Sponsor-ship: $45.71

12/31/2012 - Families First Soci-ety Donation: $258

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

2/8/2013 - EIPS Brentwood Young Speakers Scholarship: $100

3/7/2013 - STSS Donation: $200

3/31/2013 - Laugh Like MADD Donation: $100

COUN. JOHN MATHER

5/9/2011 - Sturgeon County May-or’s Golf Tournament Reg: $300

6/7/2011 - Miss Teen Fort Sas-katchewan Donation: $150

8/29/2011 - Economic Develop-er’s Association of Canada Golf Registration: $180

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

5/31/2012 - Chamber of Com-merce Golf Tournament Regis-tration: $75

7/31/2012 - Johnston Promo-tional Products - Gotta Luv It Golf Balls: $46.20

12/17/2012 - Boys & Girls Club Donation: $300

12/17/2012 - Families First Soci-ety Donation: $300

12/17/2012 - Fort Saskatchewan Food Bank Donation: $150

12/17/2012 - Pioneer House Club 50 Donation: $100

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

3/27/2013 - Ecole Rudolph Hen-nig Park Donation: $75

3/31/2013 - Recreation for Life Golf Tournament Registration: $300

COUN. STEW HENNIG

5/9/2011 - Sturgeon County May-or’s Golf Tournament Registra-tion: $300


7/13/2011 - Economic Develop-ers Assoc. of Canada - Golf Reg-istration: $100

7/15/2011 - Nordegg Sports Ltd. - Golf Fee: $100

12/31/2011 - Xmas Cards: $12* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

5/31/2012 - Recreation for Life - Golf Registration: $285.71

7/9/2012 - Fort Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce - Golf Registration: $75

7/17/2012 - Dollarama - Canada Day Parade Candy: $52

7/31/2012 - Johnston Promotion-al Products - 24 City Golf Balls: $92.40

8/14/2012 - RCMP Victim Services Unit - Charity Golf Tournament Registration: $110

9/5/2012 - Strathcona County - Capital Region Municipal Golf Tournament: $123.81

9/21/2012 - Terry Fox Sponsor-ship: $67.62

12/10/2012 - Candy for Santa Pa-rade: $60

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

3/14/2013 - Music for Hope Do-nation: $100

3/31/2013 - Recreation for Life Golf Tournament Registration: $300

COUN. DON WESTMAN



7/4/2011 - Fort Sask Hospital Foundation Donation: $100

7/5/2011 - City Bikers MS Bike Tour Donation: $100

11/30/2011 - Cancer Foundation Donation: $100

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

3/31/2012 - Easter Seal Cam-paign Donation: $200


7/12/2012 - FS Life Church - Sponsorship: $100

9/21/2012 - Terry Fox Run Spon-sorship: $67.62

10/17/2012 - Pioneer House Club 50 Boys & Girls Club Rental Do-nation: $250

12/3/2012 - Families First Dona-tion: $182.38

12/31/2012 - Movember Founda-tion Donation: $100

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

3/14/2013 - Music for Hope Do-nation: $200

COUN. TOM HUTCHISON

5/9/2011 - AB Municipal Services Corp Golf Tourn Reg: $150

7/6/2011 - Victims Services Golf Tournament Registration: $100

9/16/2011 - Boys & Girls Club Golf Tournament Reg: $100

9/26/2011 - Military Family Re-source Centre Yellow Ribbon Dinner: $150

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

5/3/2012 - Recreation for Life Golf Tournament Reg: $285.71

6/13/2012 - RCMP Golf Tourna-ment Registration: $110

6/30/2012 - Urban Development Institute (Gtr. Edmonton) Golf Tournament Reg: $180.95

7/24/2012 - Boys & Girls Club Golf Tournament Reg: $100

7/31/2012 - Johnston Promo-tional Products 24 City Golf Balls: $46.20

8/31/2012 - Urban Development Institute New Horizon - Golf Tournament Reg: $125.00

12/11/2012 - Starbucks - Food Bank Donation: $50.00

12/11/2012 - Tim Hortons - Gift Cards for Charity Golf Tourneys: $50.00

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

3/31/2013 - Recreation for Life - Golf Tournament Registration: $300

COUN. ED VAN DELDEN

No promotional fund expenses were recorded for Councillor van Delden.

Major library donation

The Fort Saskatchewan Lions Club presented the Fort Saskatchewan Public Library Board with a dona-tion of $50,000 last Thurs-day afternoon. The Lions are sponsoring the Library’s Early Literacy and Learn-ing Zone as part of the Li-brary Board’s “Enrich the Experience” fundraising campaign.

“The Library Board is thrilled that the Lions have stepped forward to be the fi rst major sponsor,” said Library Board Chair, Ian Hunt. “We know how hard the Lions work, and it means so much to the Li-brary Board that they have chosen to support this vital community resource.”

“The Public Library is such an important part of our community,” said Don West-man, President of the Lions Club. “The Lions are proud to support the Library as it expands to meet the grow-ing needs of the residents of Fort Saskatchewan.”

Funds raised during the campaign will be used for the development of collections,

the addition of technologies such as smart boards and teleconferencing, and the purchase of signature piec-es of furniture and artwork for the Library’s expansion, which is currently under construction.

Once the expansion is com-plete, the library will have a total space of 16,000 sq ft.


SCARS Pet of the Week - Billy Martin

I’m just so good I have two names. Billy the kid here, and a whopping 3 years old now! I am a big BIG boy, weighing in at about 115lbs, but I am tall...

I come to my foster mom’s mid thigh, and she’s not short. I love people and other dogs, but do best with the females dog-gies.

I think cats need a good chas-ing and possibly a good chew-ing. I love horses but some-thing about cattle makes me want to chase them too.

I have separation anxiety so please don’t leave me alone, but with another dog I’d be just fi ne once I settled in.

Oh yeah, I forgot, I love to jump fence...pretty much any-thing under 8 feet is fair game!

For more information on how you can adopt this pet, contact SCARS at www.scarscare.org or 780.466.7227.

Dingers by Ken Schotsch

Sunny Smiles Pets of the Week

Inspirational Thought

“Drained of emotion, money is nothing. It has no power except the power we give it. And what we give it determines what it gives back to us.” -- Grainne O’Malley

Spiritual Thought“For every unfair thing, God has prearranged vindica-tion.” -- Joel Osteen

Random Act of Giving Suggestion

Get together with siblings and friends and have a young per-sons’ garage sale, donating a portion of the proceeds to a lo-cal charity.

Two Thumbs DownWho is responsible for the much needed cleaning up of the mess and debris at the north end of the parking lot at Corner Stone Centre?

High FiveTo those have announced that they are running in the mu-nicipal campaign.

Book of the WeekAlexis Hilts - Author of ‘Yorky The Terrier’ -- Grade 4 stu-dent, Edmonton, Alberta -- www.bookweek.ca

Song of the WeekHockey Please Come Back-- Brett Kissel.

A Spoonful of Sugar...

... sprinkled over pie crust prior to baking gives a touch of variety to the appearance and taste.

Funny YokesQ: Why was the chicken laughing?A: Because the yoke was not on him.

Q: What kind of plants do Hens grow?A: Eggplants.

Did You know?

That by pushing a pencil into the soil of a houseplant, and if it comes out dry, it needs watering?

Community Info

Fort Saskatchewan Public Library: 10011-102 Street. Mon-Thu: 10a-9p, Fri: 10a-5p, Sat: 10a-5p, Sun: 1p-5p (closed Sun in Jul + Aug)

Commuter Bus Ser-vice: Mon-Fri, Clareview <-> to Fort Sask. Departs Sherridon Dr and 99 Ave 5:34a, 6:04a, 6:34a, 7:19a, 4:16p, 5:16p, 5:46p, 6:28p, 7:08p. See www.fortsask.ca or call 780.442.5311 for full route details or more info.

Walk In Medical Clinic: 9368 Southfort Drive, next to Shoppers Drug Mart. Call 780-997-0177 for info.

2-month-old sibling pups, Bentley and Harley, were sniffi ng around in front of Aunty Sue’s Restaurant earlier this week.

Canada Day Organizing Committee Chair Judy Wolfe (C), joined by Canada Day Entertainment Coordinator Kelly Thompson (R), are pre-sented a $3,000 cheque from ATB Financial by Manager Ed Sperling

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SUDOKU

To complete Sudoku, fill the board by entering numbers 1 to 9 such that each row, column and 3x3 box contains every number uniquely.

For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org

If you like Sudoku you’ll really like ‘Str8ts’ and our other puzzles, Apps and books. Visit www.str8ts.com

The solutions will be published here in the next issue.

No. 125 Tough Previous solution - Medium


By Fort Sask Life Church Pastor BILL OLSEN

I listened to a very wise man give a p u b l i c s p e e c h the oth-er day who said

something I hope I never forget. He stated, “People don’t want to be fi xed, they want to be valued.” In my line of work, many people come to talk to me about their problems and the hard things they are going through.

They are often asking for guidance or help in fi nd-ing solutions to the cycles they’re caught in. I’ve al-ways liked being able to help people with whatever the issues are or with what-ever they might be work-ing on... it always gave me a sense of satisfaction and purpose.

At fi rst I thought this was okay, but I started notic-ing something that wasn’t good... many of these people kept returning, either with new problems or with the same old ones disguised as something else. I fi nally fi g-ured out that this was re-ally becoming a huge waste of time, as nothing was re-ally being accomplished. I needed a different strategy.

It seems to me that most of the on-going issues a person might have in their life, come from a place of

Heart & Soul: Value

pain caused by a series of events that are traumatic and negatively reinforced by signifi cant people that should be the source of en-couragement and strength for them.

For example; a child who is molested or abused has the most precious of things bru-tally ripped out of their life; they no longer ever feel safe, so they distrust. They’ve been violated, lied to, and assaulted physically, emo-tionally and spiritually.

These children then grow up with something that is so evil that it becomes at-tached to the very core of who they are, and they have no idea what to do with it. As they grow, depending on their environment, they de-velop various barriers that hinder them socially which then can become the source of cycles that many times, are almost (I say almost) impossible to overcome. Some do well... others really don’t.

The person I was recently listening to has developed a set of questions that can be asked of children that can very accurately predict when these children will be-gin to “check out,” and when various behavioural issues begin to show themselves.

He can tell quite accurately, as well, what is going on in how they relate to oth-ers. This information then can be used to begin early prevention or interaction that can help these kids from falling off the tracks and can be helped to lead a healthy social lifestyle.

The deepest and fundamen-tal foundation for it all, is the fact that these people want to be and need to be valued... when they are not... everything can fall apart, or at best, life can be extremely fragile.

If we’re honest with our-selves, we all want to be valued. Nobody gets up in the morning on purpose and says “please do something to me that will nullify my existence”. No, we look for affi rmation and desire to be valued by someone... in our family or close relation-ships, in the workplace, or in the place of business.

I needed to come up with a different strategy for help-ing people. I stopped giv-ing advice and began to ask questions: the newest be-ing: “I’ve heard your story, I value you. Now, what does the next chapter look like? Maybe I could help you to begin writing it with you, so you can write the one after that, on your own. What is one thing you can do that will cause change to begin?” I’m fi nally realizing that if a person is truly valued, the issues and cycles begin to take care of themselves because the foundation that was once destroyed is being rebuilt.

A self-centred act was the cause that crushed the foundation, value is what restores it... Once the foun-dation is restored, incred-ible lives can be built! Have a great day!

GARAGE SALEJosephburg Community Church

May 25, 20139:00 am - 8:00 pm

21380 Twp. Rd. 550Intersection of Twp. Rd. 550 & Hwy 215

Josephburg

Luncheon tickets

availableTickets are now available for Fort Saskatchewan’s annual Seniors’ Week lun-cheon.

This year’s luncheon will take place on Wednesday, June 5, 2013, from noon to

2:30pm at the Dow Centen-nial Centre’s Agrium Soc-cer Field. Entertainment will be provided by Kennedy Jenson.

Tickets can be picked up at City Hall located at 10005 – 102 Street from now until May 24th.

For more information on the luncheon, contact FCSS Se-niors Coordinator Tammy Lautner at 780.992.6623 or [email protected].

Roses F� Rosa


Odds, Sods and Nods

“One for the Show”

By STUART MCGOWAN

Greetings to one & all!

Well an-other one has come and gone. No, I don’t mean win-

ter. I mean a show. That’s right, a show. As a mem-ber of the local community theatre group, the Sheep-town Players, we had a great show called “Polter-Heist” at the Lakeview Inn & Suites on May 10 and 11 that went over very well with all who came to see it. If you were one of the ones who didn’t see it, you missed a very funny show. Those who came are already talk-ing about coming to next

years’ show and buying a tables’ worth of tickets. Yes, they liked it that much. We had people that came from Red Deer and Airdrie to see the show, and weren’t dis-appointed with what they saw.

The cast for the show were and are a dedicated group of volunteers who rehearsed, sold tickets, produced, built the set and picked up things like the silent auction items (thanks to Teresa who ar-ranged all the items) and the pop and liquor.

‘Nods’ go to Cerys Wilson (who was in the show and directed it), Tim Kubasek, Justin Amos, Carole Mc-Gowan, Ashley Friemark and Krystal Courtepatte for such dedication to the show. Behind the scenes thanks to Samantha Berard, Renee Guenette, Lori Nelson, Gail Petty and Nichole Silva for running the bar, taking tick-ets, tracking the silent auc-

tion items, running lights and sound and prompting. Special thanks to Ben Myck-an who was our Master of Ceremonies for the show. Also cheers to MIX 107.9 for coming on board as a major contributing sponsor for the Sheeptown Players!

The other show that I was involved in (in the same time frame) was the Peoples of The North Saskatchewan Festival that was put on by the Fort Saskatchewan His-torical Society, with over two hundred volunteers that helped to make the two day event (held on May 9 & 10) such a success.

Somewhere in the neigh-bourhood of 1,200 students and public took in the event over the two day period. Some came from as far away as Boyle to attend.

The events and demonstra-tions were incredible. The tug of war, the potato sack

races, the egg carrying race, the water bucket race, the pioneer laundry, wood cut-ting, the blacksmith shop, quill writing, weaving, the Red River cart ride, the Old Schoolhouse, the Church, the Hospital, the Native dancing demonstration (put on by the Alexander First Nation, complete with their regalia), butter making, ice cream making, milk-ing demonstration and of course, one the stars, Bailey the Buffalo.

But my point, and I do have one, is that these events were made possible by vol-unteers. Without this valu-able asset, none of this would be possible. I encour-age all reading this to be-come involved and support the events like these that make our incredible City the great place that it is.

I encourage you to support the arts and culture here. Don’t say, “I’ll go to the next

event” or “I’ll go to the next show” or “I will help out next time”, because there may not be a next time if you don’t get involved this time. There are too many events over the years that I have seen cease because of lack of community support. As much as people enjoy what they see, it is only because volunteers make it happen and the public in general come to see.

The arts and culture do not get much Government fund-ing and there have been cuts very recently. It is an easy target. Sports is well sup-ported and yes, they have a number of volunteers too, but you need both to have a well-balanced and well-rounded community.

In closing, have a great long weekend and drive safely. I want you to be back to read my next “Odds, Sods & Nods”. Cheers for now!

Letters“ALL COUNCILLOR

EXPENSES AND PER DIEMS SHOULD BE PUBLIC”

I am writing this to try and clear up some of the confusion and miss-information that is being circulated in regard to per diems and other expenses by City Councillors. First of all I want to make it perfectly clear that I am in favour of all Councillor Expenses and per diems being made as transparent and accessible as possible.

When I questioned the recently presented motion to post these statements on the City website, I asked if this was to include all of our expenses and per diems, or just the ones paid directly by the City. Our City Manager, Our Mayor, and the presenter of the motion all stated that they were consid-ering only those paid directly by the City.

This is where the problem comes in. As a member of the Capital Region Assessment Services Board, I receive up to three per diems of $160.00 each plus mileage for at-tending Board meetings. Council members sitting on various different Boards or Com-missions also receive per diems and ex-penses from those agencies that vary from similar to what I get up to thousands and thousands from the Capital Region Board.

I am not opposed to most of these expenses as I see good value in them. The point is that this is money paid to us that comes di-rectly or indirectly from the tax payers and these statements all should be made public, very transparent and accessible.

This motion was tabled to give our Admin-istration some time to come up with a plan to make this happen. The could look to the City of Saint Albert or many other places to get a plan that makes sense and works very well.

Coun. Don Westman, Fort Saskatchewan

THE ISSUE, CONT.

The expense summary of the promotional fund is posted for you as the reader to pe-ruse (see page 3). I note that Ed van Delden did not use the fund at all.

If you are a taxpayer, you are entitled to know where your tax dollars are being spent. Of course, councillors have lives out-side municipal politics, and it is there that their charity endeavors is their personal business. For me, I grew up believing char-ity began in the home, so does charity of this kind really need to be at the discretion of individual councillors, when charity is per-haps better served by a motion and a vote?


SALONSCOMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

SOUPS, SUBS & SANDWICHSHOPS

BARBER SHOPS

Fort Saskatchewan’s Categorized Business Section

JANITORIAL & CLEANING

PET CARE

GELATO

Tales of Wags & Whiskers: Maliha’s

Story - Part 2BY CAROLE MCGOWAN

I hope ev-eryone is enjoying our long-await-ed summer. Isn’t it won-derful to not tug on boots and shrug into your w a r m e s t

jacket just to trudge through snow to your vehicle? Total bliss!

This is the second and fi nal chapter of Maliha’s story.

As a result of the abuse Maliha suffered to her face and head, her jaw didn’t work properly and the muscles around her face had atrophied. This caused excess loose skin and her eyes sinking back into their sockets. Due to this, her fur was rubbing against her eyes and irritating them, causing infections and ultimately had the potential to cause blindness.

The vets at the Westlock Vet Clinic removed the excess skin around her eyes to tighten up the skin and keep the fur out of her eyes. Her foster mom said it was like a doggie facelift!

Maliha is a rare exception to the “dogs hate vets” theory. She has spent so much time at the vets, she knows the drill. The fi rst thing she does when she happily enters the clinic is

to greet her friends at the front desk, and then she hops on the scale to get her weight checked.Maliha’s foster family have to keep her mouth and nasal passages scrupulously clean to avoid infection. Due to the amount of care and expense she requires to keep her comfort-able and healthy, she is in per-manent foster care with SCARS and the amazing family who contributes so much love and care to her well being.

With her foster family’s permis-sion, I have taken this direct quote from Maliha’s webpage:

“I see Maliha as a symbol for all that is good and all that is challenging about animal res-cue (and life for that matter). Everyone has given their best for this little dog and despite all those best efforts the outcome is not what we hoped for. We have all experienced loss in our lives from little things to big things and this event is some-where within that scale. We try, more often than not we succeed, but sometimes we fail.

Maliha’s spirit touches something in everyone she meets and although I don’t see it right now, I have to believe this unfortunate outcome will result in something positive.

Her SCARS journey will not end the way I had hoped or planned with a healthy dog be-ing adopted by a family who needs her, but there must be something else

she is meant to do that I did not imagine. Things don’t always work out as we want, but Maliha has gifted much to SCARS - new volunteers, new foster homes, donations, greater awareness of animal abuse issues and what SCARS does, even caus-ing people to think a bit more about their actions or be just a bit more forgiving in their own lives. For these things we can be truly grateful. It is now up to us to use the lessons Maliha has taught us to make a difference in our lives and our communi-ties.”

Sadly there are so many abused and neglected animals in need of care. I am proud to be a vol-unteer and supporter of Second Chance Animal Rescue, and hope that my articles encourage others to consider volunteering to speak for those creatures that cannot. We can make a difference!

Church ListingsFort Saskatchewan Life Church50-10420 98 Ave. (Back of Fort Mall). Sunday Service/Kids Church @ 10:15a. Wed. Service @ 7:00p. Culture Shock Youth, Fri @ 7:00p. 780-992-9673. www.fslifechurch.ca.

Fellowship Baptist ChurchPastor Jim Paulson. Worship Service: Sun @ 10:30a. Prayer: Tues @ 7:00p. Awana Children’s Program Thurs @ 6:30p. 9932 - 101 St., Fort Sask. (Ac. from Legacy Park) 780-992-0880.

Church of the NazarenePastor: Stephen Conklin. 9802 104 St., Fort Sask. 780-998-2451. www.fortnaz.ca. Join us Sunday @ 11a for Worship. Sunday School @ 9:50a.

Josephburg Community Church21380 Township Road 550 (intersection of Twp. Rd. 550 & Sec. Highway 830) Aas you enter the hamlet of Josephburg. Ph: 780-998-9331 Fax: 780-998-9305. Pastor: Rev. Audrey Daleywww.josephburgcommunitychurch.ca

Partridge Hill United ChurchCorner of TWP 542 and RR 220. 780-895-7378. Debbie Brill, Minister. Worship Service: 9:30am. www.partridgehillunitedchurch.com

First United Church10409-100 Ave., Fort Sask. 780-998-4060. Rev. Danielle A. James. All welcome. Sunday Wor-ship & Sunday School: 10:00a.

Holy Protection Orthodox Church. Saturdays: Great Vespers, 5p. Sundays: Divine Liturgy, 10a. 281 Fort Mall, 10421 99 Ave. 780-708-2877. All Services in English.

St. George’s Anglican Church.Reverend Maude Parsons-Horst. Regular wor-ship times: Sunday @ 8:30am Holy Communion (BCP) and 10:30am Holy Communion (BAS) with Sunday School. 10029 – 99th Ave, Ph: 780-998-3620.


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Biscuits and Gravy: Lest We

ForgetBy BRIAN [email protected]

Ever sit down and listen to a story from a family m e m b e r r e c a l l -ing the events of

a war from long ago? Per-haps look upon the face of a veteran and get a tale of the bygone days? Well, that seems to be a pastime of mine, or at least a situation I often have the privilege of running into. By merit of my hobbies, I often get the pleasure of hearing a tale or two. This past weekend, I had the distinct privilege of be-ing invited, along with my association the First Special Service Force Living History Association, to Sylvan Lake to participate in an event hosted by the Voices of the Veterans Canada at Sylvan Lake. Standing in uniform, there I noticed an older gentleman standing along the fence nearby, watching us with interest. He nev-er would come around the fence or engage any of my members in conversation, so I decided to take a stroll. Walking up, I began to chat with the feller. Turns out he was not only a delight to talk to and a veteran, but a very dynamic veteran at that. This gentleman had served with the 2nd Battal-ion Royal Canadian Engi-neers as a Wasp Operator.

Now, the Wasp was a T-16 weapons carrier rigged with a fl amethrower. The gentle-man, as he told his stories to me, laughed and com-plained that he hated the Wasp due to the fact that he never got any leave to go into town, because his face was always covered in the purple goop they used at the time to treat minor burns. As the day went on, I met more and more fi ghting men of days gone by. Such as a rather energetic man de-spite his age, and one who was beaming ear to ear when he walked up. Sport-ing a white wooden cane with a horse’s head on the top, he looked at the patch on my uniform sleeve. His eyes widened as he ex-claimed that he couldn’t be-lieve that after 70+ years, the American Special Forces were still wearing the same uniforms. After I explained to him what my association did, and that our uniforms were indeed out of date and why, he smirked. He told me a few of his friends wore the same patch, and went on to talk about his days as a stretcher bearer for the 5th Field Ambulance in Italy. The gentleman, as he made his way through our encampment, explained that he never once got any leave time in Italy. In fact, all the view he got was as they traveled through, as his leave time was spent tending to the wounded. But at last one lady came that nearly took my breath and my heartbeat away. A tiny woman in her 80s was standing at the edge of our camp. She was look-ing around, and one of my

men had spoken with her and ran to get me. As I talked with her, it turns out her husband was a ser-geant with the First Spe-cial Service Force, the unit we honor with our associa-tion. Although we honor all, our mainstay focus had always been the FSSF. But, as I spoke with her, she ex-plained he had passed away that September, but with an enormous smile she thanked me for what we were doing.

She explained that it meant everything to her to see the memory being kept alive, and that she was proud of us and proud of her husband for the legacy that was be-ing perpetuated. She shook my hand with tremendous force and even explained that coming to see us was a Mother’s Day gift from her daughter. From Erskine to Sylvan Lake, she had come just to embrace the living legacy her husband had fought so hard to fulfi ll. Her words and appreciation meant the world to me, not to mention the vice-grip like strength of her hand shake. Folks, remember our vet-erans. Remember the sac-rifi ce that they have given to us. Remember that our future and our present both are only here and only of-fers the pleasures and con-veniences we have because of our fi ghting soldiers. As Veterans Day moves on, re-member that it is them who has given the freedom you have today. Lest we forget for forgetting will only en-sure that we do not know the meaning of sacrifi ce and will ensure that we will have to learn that meaning the hard way.

Flimsy Whimsy: Hose

By JAI MURUGAN [email protected]

A l a s , hail the m i g h t y hose! The g e n i u s who in-v e n t e d it (Jan Van der H e i d e n , D u t c h ,

1652) was without doubt a practical man, and thinker on shortcuts to hard work.

My guess is he never fully realised the later implica-tions beyond fi re fi ghting, which begs the question: Why didn’t they open a dyke and channel it?

The medical uses of today such as ramming it through the oesophagus or the other direction to take pictures of yucky innards probably were beyond his wildest imagination. Back then sharp rusty blades were the implements of explor-atory surgery. That painful thought increases admira-tion for the Dutch chap.

Some later genius who lived a couple of generations lat-er apparently didn’t like the fl ailing and leaking of the original cloth and leather

varieties so he improved on it, building a metallic one and called it a pipe. This only increased the accelera-tion of society’s evolution from agrarian to industrial to technological, debatably not a humane progression at all, yet seemingly in-evitable. Kinda hard to go back and change Van der Heiden and ilk to dimwits. But the real acclaim and glory for the hose isn’t in practicality at all; it’s in play. Steal and carve a piece of mirror, combine with hose, and you have periscope. Wait until Moth-er isn’t watering the garden with lead from said, and you have your own backyard fountain or fi endish water weapon, infi nitely superior to Bobby’s eighty-nine cent water gun. Be careful. If Mother’s not aware, it may be she who comes unsus-pectingly around that cor-ner of the house.

Remove from tap and you have a sound corridor, a telephone system with no bells, even allowing for a more profound and au-dible version or talking to yourself, perhaps being the origin of the term ‘hoser’, defi nitely not in the same genetic line as those hose geniuses of lore.

I say, “All glory to the hose!”

The First Creamery

By WALTER MELNYK

T h e c r e a m -ery was built on the North-west side of town across the

road from the Gillespie ele-vator. About once a month, mother would give me a 10 lb. Burns can full of cream to take to the creamery on a Saturday. That was my spending money for the month.

Walking down the railway

track with the can of cream was quite a chore, for we lived about two miles from town.

That was about 9 o’clock in the morning, and you had to wait until about 3pm be-fore you got your cheque. You can bet your botom dollar that your cream was not special but they would grade it #1. I was too young to complain, so I was happy to get a total of 35 cents for my troubles, but did I feel rich. Of course, I would treat Eileen and Joe with an ice cream cone for each of them. Sometime after that, the creamery burned to the ground, so for a long time, there was no creamery in Chipman.

THE 30s’ DUST STORMS

Summer holidays were sup-posed to be a vacation. For me, it was totally different. Field work had to be done so my job was to harrow the summer fallow. I’d have to walk behind the harrows for a week at a time. It was very dry & topsoil started to move like snow in the win-ter. I had to wear goggles and then you couldn’t see much past the horses. The dirt convered the second wire along the fenceline, and the ditches were half-fi lled with topsoil. Sometimes it was so bad you could hardly see the sun. Seventy-some years went by and you can walk along some fence lines and see how the dirt piled up. That was the dirty 30s.

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Over Easy, Please - May 17, 2013