What a terrible shock to learn of the passing of Halley Gridley of Big Valley. He was at the curling rink in Rumsey on Thursday evening watching his sons curl. The next night, he was gone. Deepest sympathy to all the family and friends. Halley was born and raised in this area and after completing his schooling, was a teacher for many years. An avid dancer, he and Marie danced and were an enjoyment to watch anytime there was a dance in the area. They were very active in the old time dancers in the areas. Funeral services for Halley will be held on Thursday, Feb. 3 at Stettler Community Hall at 2 p.m.
More sad news this week as we learned of the passing of Susan (Steen’s) husband Bob Turkington of Red Deer. Funeral services were held in Ponoka on Monday, Jan. 31. Sympathy to all the family members of Susan’s in this area.
Two other dear friends have also passed away recently. Bill Raessler of Delia was a good friend of ours as well as Victor Gason of the Orkney area. Sympathy to all families. Bill’s funeral is scheduled to be held in the Delia community hall, Friday, Feb. 4. at 2 p.m. Victor’s funeral was a couple of weeks ago.
This past week has been a very busy one for all the curlers who took part in the annual men’s bonspiel in Rumsey. Sixteen curling teams battled it out with their skills to determine the winners for the ‘spiel.
The foursome of Troy Davidson’s rink from Three Hills beat out Jim Krywcun rink for first in the first event. They were awarded the Conoco Phillips trophy for their efforts plus their first pick of the prizes in a ‘pick a prize’ schedule. Winning third in the first event was the rink of Tracy Nelson, and fourth was Curt Watts rink from Big Valley.
Second event; 1. Dave Webster rink from Big Valley winning the Petterson’s Auto Body trophy. 2. Rod Nelson, 3. John Schoefer rink from Byemoor, and 4. Tim Primrose.
Third event; 1. Jack Dawson rink from Three Hills winning the Crop Production Services award, 2. Brooks Watts,3. Ken Macfarlane, 4, Ian Michie.
The first team out was the Kent Holowath rink and they received jackets from Starland County and caps from Big Country Gas Co-Op.
As stated before, the prizes were pick a prize and the prize committee did a great job of getting such good prizes; Carol Wilkins, Derek Krywcun, and Michelle McNaughton. The president of the Ag. Society this year, Chris Warner kept things running smoothly with the great support of his ag. board.
The ladies’ bonspiel will be coming up soon, Feb. 7-12, but will probably start on Wednesday, Feb. 9, depending on the number of rinks entered.
At the end of the curling season this year, there will be a housecleaning of all the pots and pans, cake plates etc. that have been left over the past year. If they are not claimed by the end of March, they are going to the good will. Do a survey of your cupboards and see if you are missing anything. Call Rhonda, 368-2220.
Mentioning Rhonda, she is now home and doing well. She was able to go to the curling rink several times this week. She says she was in hospital two days. Her surgery was on Wednesday and she was released on Friday. They called her the ‘miracle lady’. She was in the new part of the Foothills hospital in Calgary and not in Red Deer as I previously thought.
The Rumsey Ag. Society will hold an auction for scoreboard and ice-rink advertising spots in March. Contact Carol Wilkins (368-3750), Derek Krywcun, (368-2147), or Michelle Mc- Naughton (368-2231) for information.
Monday, Feb. 14, the Morrin School will be hosting a ‘Valentine’s Day’ tea in the Morrin Community hall from 1-3 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend.
Monday, Feb. 14 is also the day of the next birthday party at St. Mary’s Lodge in Trochu. It is my turn to be hosting, so I’m asking for as much help as possible that could be brought for the party.
All too soon, it will be the month of March and with it comes the community’s annual quilting days at the drop-in center. Bring a sandwich and join in the fun for two days. Monday, we start when the ‘cowboys’ are finished their coffee time, about 10:30 a.m. and sew into the afternoon. You need not be a sewer as the ones of us that do the sewing, need someone to run errands and hold and pin and make coffee and keep everything running smoothly. Plan to take it in this year. Who knows, you might even like it and it is for a good cause as all the quilts are given away to those who need them.