Although a gopher might be a beloved mascot for Saskatchewan Roughrider fans, it is far from popular with prairie farmers.
The gopher, or Richardson ground squirrel, is a major part of the landscape of North America, known for communicating through singing or chirping, its upright stance when looking around, and its enterprising underground tunnel system. They are also a major bane to farmers everywhere who cannot see their numbers cut down enough.
Jack Kemp, who lives and farms several miles northwest of Boissevain recently put out an ad looking for hunters to come and cut down the gopher population on his property. He has had some success from this. Speaking on Monday, July 12, he had gopher shooters out that day, but was still looking for some parties in the future.
With one phase of the assisted living project in Boissevain ending and another beginning, plans are for new tenants to begin moving in in a month’s time.
The 35-suite facility, recently named Cherry Creek Place, has been under construction for more than a year, with dreaming and work going on for several years before that. Everything is moving to its final stage, with the organizing committee very pleased about the development.
“Everything is going really well, we’re just finishing up the details,” explained George Heide of Southwest Seniors Housing, who are developing the project. “We just had a meeting with the contractor and everything is on line to be ready August 1.”
Cherry Creek Place will offer its senior tenants comfortable suites that allow for semi-independent living, with amenities like meals and laundry on-site. It is located in the south end of Boissevain, right next to the health centre.
Long-time custodian at Deloraine School, Dan De Kezel probably has had a lot more influence on the students than he ever could have imagined. Tony Franklin, principal, asked the grade four and five students to complete the sentence: “When I think about Mr. D.K. (as he is affectionately known)…”
Nearly every student answered with “He always smiles” or “He always says hi” or “He always talks to me”. These answers speak volumes. School is difficult for some students and for others, family life is challenging, so to have a constant, reassuring person simply smiling and speaking has beneficial and long-lasting effects.
Other comments included kind, awesome, hard worker, cleans up messes, funny, friendly, one of a kind, likes shiny floors, fixes clocks, gets balls from the roof in gym, stops and chats kindly, happy, always in a good mood, rock star, welcoming, mindful, a good influence, reachable, young looking, loves Deloraine, always at hockey and ball games, one of the best people I’ve ever met and he’s dedicated 30 years to cleaning Deloraine Schools. That is quite a remarkable list of attributes.
When COVID hit in the spring of 2020, an annual event impacted heavily was high school graduation. Across the province, schools and grad classes had to adapt to the new realities, scrambling to find a way to celebrate the special achievement while adhering to social distancing rules. While the grade 12 students fretted and planned, those juniors in grade 11 watched and were often thankful it was not them. Now, a year later, they are facing the same situation, the same uncertainty and even heavier restrictions.
With Manitoba as a hot spot for COVID infections, Boissevain School is one of many in the area looking to a second coronavirus grad. Recently, the Class of 2021 chose their valedictorians for the year, Zach Challner and Carter Maurice. For them, it is the usual mixture of knowing they have reached a milestone, with the knowledge they will always look back with a smile.
“In terms of academic success and leadership, our class is very strong so I’m extremely honoured to be a valedictorian as there are many others that are worthy. As far as graduating goes, it’s very bittersweet,” Challner stated. “On one hand I’m excited to move on to the next chapter but on the other hand it will be sad leaving Boissevain School.”
