Big mistake. I have had numerous phone calls about the date of the Spring Fling. The date is actually April 20, not the date mentioned here last week. So take out the white-out and change the date on your calendar. Thank you to all the people who called to correct me. I guess they weren’t keen on doing it twice.
The Rowley Poker Rally (try saying that three times fast) was a great success considering the spring blizzard that hit our community this weekend. I hope no one ended up in the ditch trying to get to and from their events. They sold 288 hands to approximately 60 riders and machines. The top hand went to Marilyn Kopjar with four kings and she took home $360. The second place went to Quinn Davis from Stettler with $260 in his pocket and third place went to Perry Watt for a total of $100. The 50/50 went to Tracey Johnson, so watch out for her next trip to the city.
Our group reported seeing a large herd of antelope being herded up the road by a truck and later on, a moose jumped into the action for a bit. No wildlife was hurt in this event — just want to be clear about that. Everyone enjoyed a hot bowl of chili and a few beverages to warm up with donuts at the second stop. It was a great day for everyone, with a well laid out trail of over 70 kilometres and good stops along the way. Thanks to all the people who provided checkstops along the trail.
Hockey is wrapping up in every league. Erica Nelson’s bantam AAA team out of Red Deer lost out in their first round of playoffs in an exciting final game, in which they went into three overtime periods before finally losing out to the worthy competition. It was a tough loss for a team that had gone into the playoffs in third position. Oh well, there is always more hockey to play somewhere else.
Also, Harley Avramenko’s female midget team in Stettler is currently playing off in their finals against Lacombe, with the first game in the best-of-three series planned for Tuesday night. Her team went in to the playoffs undefeated and they went on to play a double round-robin series against Warburg and Lacombe, then won every game except the one where they tied Lacombe. Now they will play Lacombe again in a potentially three-game series to decide the champion.
Good luck to all the girls and boys working hard for their teams as the season winds up. If you have some news about your teams, let me know so I can share it with the community.
“Hockey captures the essence of the Canadian experience. In a land of inescapably and inhospitably cold, hockey is the chance of life, and an affirmation that despite the deathly chill of winter, we are alive.” — Stephen Leacock
— RUMSEY RECORD