The Wind; She Blew!!

Sunday, November 27, 2011 will go down in history as the day the wind blew!  Three huge empty silos at Dynagra were blown over, a commercial building on Main Street had serious roof damage along with a residence on Fifth Street.  The UFA sign also departed for other venues.

The Beiseker Fire Department fire hall also lost a good portion of its roof.  Alternate arrangements are being made to house the Fire Trucks and firefighting equipment elsewhere in the Village.  More on that later!

A huge thank-you goes to the members of the Beiseker Fire Department and to the Irricana Fire Department for their work yesterday.  They managed to corral wayward pieces of roof which were flying around and keep our streets safe while the wind blew. 

I was out of town yesterday.  I was down in Lethbridge.  It was a bit breezy there, too!  When I got back to Beiseker in the evening, everything was well under control and calm!  Well done everyone!

Thanks Dave!

We received an invitation to the 31st Anniversary Party at the Beiseker Pharmacy!  As of November 26, 2011, Dave Fegan and his wife Leslie have operated the Beiseker Pharmacy here in the village for thirty one years.  He started the store in what is now the East Side Tae Kwan-do gym and built his present building about 20 years ago. 

The Fegans have always been an active part of Beiseker over the past 30+ years.  Dave is a Lions Club member and was our Mayor for a good chunk of time, and Leslie was a volunteer on the Beiseker Fire Department for many years, just to mention a couple of things the Fegans have done for Beiseker.

Dave and I haven't always seen eye-to-eye on the issues.  And we both knew we were right!  My Grandfather used to say, "if everyone liked the same thing, there'd be eight million men chasing your Grandmother."  We need those diverse opinions. It makes for good local government!

The one thing Dave and I have always had in common is getting the best for the Village of Beiseker!

 My wife and I enjoyed Dave's little get-together at the pharmacy last Saturday.  I congratulated Dave and wished him and his Beiseker Pharmacy all the best in the future!  Well done Dave. On behalf of the residents of this village; Thank you!  

Remembrance Day Surprise

I hope your Remembrance Day experience was as meaningful as mine.  I attended the service held at the Aero Space Museum of Calgary at the south east corner of the Calgary International Airport.  We set up for about 250 people.  Less than 50 attended the last ceremony we had there about ten years ago.   We opened the doors before 10:00 a.m.  By 10:30 we had well over 500 present!  In total we had over 1300 Calgarians attend with another 200 unfortunately turned away!  We set up extra chairs and opened one of the big doors of the exhibit hall to allow as many as possible to participate.  We were all very surprised and deeply moved by this turnout.  After the service a few of us opened some of the old warbirds up so people could actually get inside them and experience them "up close and personal"!

What a wonderful experience.  We will most certainly be doing another ceremony on November 11, 2012.

Remembrance Day

I hope all Beisekerites (or is it Beisekerians) are wearing poppies.  Remembrance Day is this coming Friday. The ceremonies for this area are organized by our Royal Canadian Legion, Acme Branch and are held in the Acme Hall.  Get there early for a good seat.  The culmination of the ceremony is, of course, the moment of silence held at 11:00 a.m.  This year it will be the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the eleventh year of this new century.  I'm not sure, but I think the Legion is putting on a light lunch in the Acme Legion Hall after the ceremonies.  I think that Remembrance Day is more than remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for country.  I think it's also a chance for all of us to thank those men and women; veterans who survived! It's important to remember them, too!

I have decided to attend the Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the Aero Space Museum of Calgary, weather permitting.  I am a Director of the museum and I would like to attend this, the first Remembrance Day Ceremony held at the museum in more than 10 years.  After the ceremony a few of us involved with the museum will open up some of the military warbirds in the museum's collection so visitors can get up close and personal with Canada's proud military aviation past.

It's not important where you go to remember our fallen soldiers, it is important that you remember.

We Have Concrete!

They poured the new sidewalks on Chinook Crescent on Thursday, November 3!!  And they look great!  Touch up work, driveways, and connects will be done next week.

I was very sad to learn that Brenda Hnybida has resigned from council.  I've always respected her insight and her points of view.  I wish her all the best and I hope to see her back in municipal politics one day in the future! 

Even I have trouble being in two places at the same time!  There will be the usual Remembrance Day Ceremonies held in the Acme Hall on November 11.  They usually start around 10:00 a.m.  I usually attend those ceremonies and sometimes I have been honoured to represent the Village and place a wreath there on our behalf.  This year I have been invited to the Remembrance Day Ceremonies at the Aero Space Museum of Calgary.  I am a Director at that museum and I am very pleased they have restored the ceremony this year after its absence for a number of years.  I haven't decided which ceremony I will attend yet.

We had the Stage East wrap-up meeting the other night.  We talked about how we might make the evening even better!  We didn't make quite as much money this year but we'll still be able to support a bunch of community organizations and projects next summer.   This year we helped the following groups or facilities:  The Beiseker Community Centre, The Beiseker Library, Beiseker Playschool, Beiseker Parks and Trails, The Beiseker Food Bank, The Beiseker Fire Department, and the B.U.M.S. New Years Eve Celebration.  And we decided to seriously consider doing it again next October!  Stay tuned!

More Chinook Crescent (and other things)

They're working like crazy on the sidewalk portion of Chinook Crescent.  They're hoping to pour concrete in the next couple of days!  Let's hope the weather co-operates!

Halloween was very quiet over here in Beacon Heights.  I hope you had a quiet one, too.  We didn't get as many Trick-or-Treaters this year.

It looks like the deficiencies on the Main Street project will have to wait for spring now.  There's only a couple of things left to do but the contractors don't get paid in full until everything is done!

As you've heard, we have a by-law enforcement officer now!  He'll be looking for obvious boo-boos around the village;  Things like unlicenced vehicles on public property, untidy properties, vehicles parked on public reserve land, speeders, unlicenced dogs and cats, and a host of others.  Let me know how you think it's working.