After 58 years of summer sports programming, the Legion Athletic Camp will operate no more.
The well-regarded camp located at the International Peace Garden announced it would not be running in the summer of 2020. First opened in 1962, the camp has seen generations of athletes from inside and outside the local area spend a part of their holidays learning more about a number of sports. However, for several reasons, it could not continue.
The move was first announced on the Legion Athletic Camp Facebook page on January 11. According to Director Andrew Kitchen, there were different issues that came up.
“The decision was made by a board that encompasses some Legion Directors, people representing interested parties, and a few coaches,” Kitchen explained. “They chose this time due to the rising costs to run the camp and the lack of athletes that were attending. It was very difficult to close the camp, which in my personal opinion is why it took so long to close this year. There were a lot of friendships and personal connections that were tied to the camp, which made it difficult to close for sentimental reasons.”
Southwest Seniors Housing has the start-up money in place. Now they need to know who wants in.
The group working on developing an assisted living facility in Boissevain had a fundraising goal of $2 million to reach by the end of 2019. According to Boissevain-Morton Head of Council Judy Swanson, they were able to meet the expectations.
“It’s very exciting,” Swanson stated. “We’re very proud of the community, how they have stepped up. This development will be good for the community, good for the local economy. We are the envy of many communities around us.”
She said they reached the goal right before the New Year, but did not have it all tallied until this week. There were many parts that made the puzzle work in the last few months. There was a successful community auction in November, a Christmas tree auction in December, and a generous donor who agreed to match any donations up to $50,000. This last piece really made it work.
A generous gift from one of the most important industries in Boissevain is helping to inch the assisted living project up closer to its $2 million fundraising goal.
Southwest Seniors Housing received $40,000 from Western Archrib on December 23. According to General Manager Sid Braybrook, he contacted the head office in Edmonton and discussed the possibility of a donation, getting the go ahead fairly easy.
“Certainly Western Archrib wants to be involved in the community,” Braybrook explained. “There are not actually that many community projects that come along that we’re able to be involved in. We felt this project warrants this support. Western Archrib has been in this community since 1987. This project was something that inspired me to go to ownership and say we should get involved in it.”
Boissevain Christmas Cheer is making the Yuletide season a merry one for more people in 2019.
On Wednesday, December 18, the group and volunteers gathered at the Parish Hall to put together Christmas hampers for those in need in the community. Jim Dickinson has been involved in Christmas Cheer for 10 years now, and he said everything flows pretty automatically each season.
“We had our first meeting at the end of November,” Dickinson stated. “We got our group together to organize what we were doing. We all have our own jobs we do; we pretty much know what we have to do. We have a few new people this year, so we can spread out the tasks pretty well.”
