Endiang Express
By Les and Rosemary Stulberg
As the saying goes, “When it rains, it pours” and this was so true for our district as the area received another three and a half to five inches of rain the end of last week and on the weekend. Some dugouts that were nearly dry are now running over. Although great for pastures and moisture reserves for next year, the timing was not nearly as good for the Byemoor Fair and Slo-pitch Tournament which were soggy to say the least. The hardy ball players braved the weather conditions and played their games despite the rain on Friday and Saturday. Some donned rain coats and boots but most just got soaked. The one pitch rule was used to speed up the games.
Byemoor was over-flowing with holiday trailers and tents for the tournament, many arriving as early as Tuesday to get a prime camping spot. However, following the monsoon, many trailers and tents in the lower areas were standing in water.
The fair parade went ahead as scheduled in the rain. The best parade entry was awarded to Art Wasdal with his truck load of sunflowers. Thanks to all who came out despite the rain.
There were 547 entries in the bench show, which was down from last year, largely due to the rain affecting entries in the flowers and horticulture sections. The fair’s Grand Aggregate winner was Joyce Clausen who also won top honours in Horticulture and Flowers. Other winners included: Cereal and Forage – Linda Hoover; Horticulture (Jr.) – Wynne DeMaere; Home Economics (Open) – Irene Brooker, (Jr.) – Wynne DeMaere; Needlework (Open) – Brenda Meyer, (Jr.) – Leotti Carlgren, (Over 70) – Dot Wasdal; Photography (Open) – Holly Stanger, (Jr.) – Belle Stanger; Hobbies (Open) – Shelly DeMaere, (Jr.) – Belle Stanger; Art (Open) – Ashley Keith, (Jr.) – Belle Stanger; Family with most points – Holly Stanger family.
Fortunately the sun came out on Sunday for the Slo-pitch finals. Winners of the 32-team tournament were the Scrambled Eggs, the Wallace-Gutsche team from Endiang-Hanna.
Congratulations to Dan and Verla Buchwitz on their new home which was moved into the hamlet of Endiang last week. We hope you enjoy your beautiful new home.
Recent visitors with Jim and Maureen Wasdal have been Jim and Monelle Andres from Utah.
Get well wishes from the community go out to Fred Gardner, who underwent surgery at the Red Deer hospital last week.
Sympathy is extended to family and friends of Josie Smiley who passed away on Aug. 13 at the age of 70 years. The funeral service will be held on Aug. 19 at Fort Macleod. Ernie and Josie Smiley and their family lived at Endiang during the late 1960s when Ernie was employed at the Hunt Ranch.
Jack and Jill Hayden travelled to Ontario for the wedding of their nephew, the son of Jack’s sister Karin.
Congratulations to Amy Jahraus who was married in Lacombe on the weekend. Amy is the daughter of Keith and Bev Jahraus who lived at Endiang when Keith was teaching here in the 1980s.
The Endmoor Minor Hockey Association is getting geared up for the upcoming hockey season and will be having a meeting on Monday, Aug. 24 at 8 p.m. at the arena. It is important to verify who is intending to play hockey so they know if they have enough numbers. If you can’t make the meeting but are still interested call Ryan at 579-2529 or 741-6292.
Jim Wasdal and Russ Kobi who play slo-pitch with the Castor Oldtimers team had a tournament at Castor on Aug. 8. Congratulations to the Castor team on winning the tournament.
Recent visitors with Bruce and Kate Woelk were Kate’s sister Linda Stewart and her granddaughers Jaiden and Lauren Forsythe of Medicine Hat.
Margaret Groat of Hanna spent a few days with son Gary Groat.
Visiting with Rob and Laurie Somerville have been Laurie’s sister Pat and Morty Jenkins of Richmond, Utah.
Rob and Laurie Somerville recently returned from a week’s vacation to Ontario, where they took in many of the sights including Niagara Falls, the Great Lakes and a Shakespeare play at Stratford.
Birthday greetings go out to: Aug. 21 – Scott Johnson and Cliff Pruden, Aug. 22 – Ken Schultz and Bill Baird, Aug. 23 – Kim Wasdal, Aug. 24 – Edwin Gutsche and Lynne (Duncan) Jones, Aug. 26 – Kelly Buchwitz.
Happy anniversary to: Aug. 23 – Jim and Maureen Wasdal and Shawn and Jody Sunstrum.