This Remembrance Day

First, my humble apologies to the students of Beiseker Community School.  I missed their Remembrance Day Poster judging, this morning.  I was asked to help judge the Remembrance Day posters while at Stage East this past weekend - but I didn't have my agenda with me to note it.  I didn't remember it until after the time had passed.  Again, my apologies.

Remembrance Day is important to me. It's a time when we can appreciate what the sacrifices of the many thousands of Canadian soldiers actually accomplished, here at home.  A couple of minutes of silence seems so little compared to what those soldiers gave us.  It is also a chance for us to thank the veterans for their similar gift to us.  Freedom is never free!

I will be attending the Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the Acme Community Centre tomorrow starting at 10:30 a.m.  I am urging you to join me.  The ceremony is organized by the Royal Canadian Legion branch there and it is very moving.

This year after the ceremony, upon my return to Beiseker, I am going to stop at our memorial in front of the Beiseker Community Centre and place my poppy there.  Why don't you do the same?

Town Hall Meeting Reminder

Monday, November 10 is the date of our 2014 Fall Town Hall Meeting of Council.  A Town Hall Meeting provides a chance for residents to ask questions or voice concerns to Village Council without having to attend a regular council meeting as a delegation.

I will be chairing tomorrow night's meeting at the Beiseker Community Centre.  We will first hold an abbreviated council meeting following our standard agenda, after which we will take questions from those assembled.

We ask that questions be addressed to the councilors and that they address concerns within the village.  These Town Hall meetings are NOT to be used as a witch-hunt!  Derogatory or inflammatory comments directed toward village staff members or councilors will not be acknowledged.

We'll have the coffee on, I hope to see you there!

2014 Another Successful Year for Stage East!

Leroy & Ray
Photo by Bernice Iremonger,
via Facebook

I'm tired, but very happy today!  We had another successful run of Stage East on Friday and Saturday night.  This is one incredible cast and crew, who are able to put on a great show year after year.  It's not easy for them, either!

Many of them are strong, creative, independent individuals with busy lives of their own.  Directing them each year is like herding a hundred cats!  Yet they are able to come together each spring, develop a program, write scripts, and rehearse most of the summer so they can put on an awesome show for the community each year.  I am very proud to be a part of this incredibly talented group.

After a great meal, the audiences were entertained with a series of performances which culminated in a very sophisticated finale simply called "Pots".  You had to be there!

Most of the proceeds from this year's show will go to a fund we've created to replace and augment the stage curtains at the Hall.  Again, my huge thanks to the entire Stage East 2014 cast and crew.  You rock!

Airdrie Needs a Hospital!

The City of Airdrie is among the fastest growing communities in Alberta.  But I understand that, with a population approaching sixty thousand, Airdrie is still without plans to have a hospital there!

I think that is ridiculous and disgusting!  Calgary has the new South Health Campus, which is a beautiful facility, but it certainly was never designed to help the folks from up north here - it's just too far away!  We need a similar facility built somewhere right around Airdrie!  NOW!

I've been told that over 1200 babies are born in Calgary hospitals each year to Airdrie parents!   New moms are transported down one of the busiest highways in Canada, to a hospital many kilometers away from their home communities.  New dads have little choice but to either get a hotel room in Calgary, sleep on the hospitals' floors, or commute from Airdrie to visit their new families!

What kind of a system is that?

Those in the Provincial government say that Airdrie's huge and rapid growth was hard to predict.  Well, predict it or not, it's here!  So what is going to be done about it?

I say let's shelve the "Big City Charters," for now and concentrate all resources on addressing this health care crisis in Airdrie.  I'm sure the mayors of Calgary and Edmonton would both agree that this is a much more pressing problem!   Our new Premier, Jim Prentice, must be made aware of this situation.  He's been too quiet on this crisis so far. 

What are we going to do about it?

Christmas, Already!

I noticed that some city stores took down the Jack-O-Lanterns and whipped up the Christmas decorations over the weekend.   Christmas music is playing in some malls.  I even saw some of the TV Christmas classics listed on the November schedules!

Isn't this a bit early?  I know that many retailers depend on Christmas to show a decent profit but I think they're rushing it just a mite. 

What makes it even stranger to me, is that all that Christmas hype disappears on December 26th - which is actually only the second day of the traditional, centuries old twelve-day Christmas festival.  No Christmas Carols are played after December 25th, not even the one about the partridge, the pear tree and the leaping lords!  Very strange.

I can understand a few stores setting out their Christmas decorations now, because folks want to decorate the outside of their homes.  The weather is only going to get colder so an early start here is prudent, but all the rest of it can wait a little longer.

I think the middle of November is quite soon enough!  That's what I think! What about you?

Another Quiet Halloween!

Halloween in Beiseker was (once again) a very quiet affair.  We had about 35 kids at our door:  we used to get well over 100!  I was expecting more since the weather fully cooperated this year. 

I toured around town around 1:00 a.m. and things were very quiet.  I haven't seen any vandalism around town, either.  Our sign about the bridge closure was knocked down, again, but that's very minor. 

I hope the kids and the older ones too, had lots of fun.  Our first annual Halloween Decoration "Door Prize," was a great success.  Visit the Village's Facebook page for the prize winners in the next few days. 

Overall, it was a super safe Halloween here in the Friendly Village!  Well done all! 

Flu Shots and Stage East!

Just a short reminder that there are still a few tickets left for Stage East.  These must be purchased by tomorrow (Friday, October 31).  They can be purchased at the Mountain View Credit Union in Beiseker and at Simply Food for Thought, also in Beiseker.  It looks like a good show again this year. I hope to see you there!

I missed the flu shot clinic which was held last Monday at the Golden Years Club.  There are still folks out there who don't believe in the flu shot.

I get one every year, I figure it's free and what the heck.  The good news is that our pharmacist is giving flu shots at the Beiseker Pharmacy (on Main Street) this year;  no appointment needed!