Reading Time: 3 minutes They’re the heavyweights of horses, but their beauty and their brawn has kept them relevant in the ever-changing world around them. Draft horses, whose value was recognized by even Julius Caesar, continue to turn heads and generate business opportunities in the 21st century. A young central Alberta couple is among those farmers who see a […] Read more
More and more people falling for the gentle giants
Bright future ahead for equine icons
Reading Time: 1 minute They’ve got a rich past, but draft horses also have a bright future. And that was plain to see at the recent World Clydesdale Show, said Bruce Roy. “It blew me out of the water,” said the Cremona horseman. “It was the greatest livestock show I’ve ever been to. Spectators had to be turned away […] Read more
VIDEO: Busy Ponoka couple named Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers
Reading Time: 3 minutes Jammed packed doesn’t begin to describe it. On Nov. 20 in Edmonton, Patrick and Cherylynn Bos were named co-winners of Canada’s Outstanding Young Farmers award. Then it was back to Rock Ridge Dairy near Ponoka to fire up the most technologically advanced goat milking parlour on the continent and train 700 skeptical does to use […] Read more
Under the northern stars, students remember the fallen
Night in the Trenches is a Remembrance Day event that gives students a glimpse into what war is really like
Reading Time: 3 minutes On the evening of Remembrance Day, 15 students from Eaglesham School will march to a field on the outskirts of their hamlet to dig chest-deep trenches. Then they’ll pull their blankets around themselves and try to sleep. The Night in the Trenches — a tradition at the K-12 school since 2008 — is the brainchild […] Read more
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow
Reading Time: 3 minutes Perched on the seat of a picnic bench brought into the pasture for the big lunch, Gladys Kalke considered the question for a few moments: What do you think when you read about humanitarian disasters around the globe? “Look at all those refugees from Syria coming into Germany, how do you feed and care for […] Read more
Got a song in your heart and a desire to help others?
The Canadian Foodgrains Bank wants singers from across the country to help small-scale farmers in the Third World
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Canadian Foodgrains Bank is looking for singers and musicians for an initiative called ‘Spring into Song.’ The goal is to have local groups put on fundraising concerts across the country on or near the 2016 Earth Day weekend (April 22-24). The project is a joint effort by the Foodgrains Bank and Musiklus, a provider […] Read more
Making Alberta beautiful: It’s a blooming good idea
Reading Time: 2 minutes Drought or not, Alberta’s Communities in Bloom must go on and earlier this month, a host of communities was recognized for their efforts to brighten up their towns and villages. Earlier this summer, volunteer judges toured participating Alberta communities to evaluate them on six criteria: tidiness, environmental action, heritage conservation, urban forestry, landscape, and floral […] Read more
Reporter’s Notebook: Carefree summer camp — no kids allowed
Reading Time: 2 minutes I was never much for summer camp. Endless hours sitting in a hot, dusty church doing crafts; athletic competitions disguised as fun and games; cranky children and even crankier camp counsellors — none of that was for me. That is, until I attended horse camp. As an adult. Toward the end of August, I spent […] Read more
Tragedy spurs lifelong devotion to STARS
Reading Time: 2 minutes Instead of dealing with his grief privately after his youngest daughter Kristine died in a car accident, Stan Grad turned his efforts to fundraising for the Shock and Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS). In 1990, Grad wrote to STARS about the loss of his daughter, who had been airlifted to the Foothills Medical Centre. “With […] Read more
Police rodeo is a wild and wacky affair
Reading Time: 3 minutes Const. Sean LaBrie just laughs when it’s suggested the Calgary Police Rodeo is arguably the most amateur rodeo in existence. “That would be about right,” said LaBrie, the rodeo association’s vice-president. “It’s pretty strange. For 99 per cent of the guys who are participating, this is the only rodeo stuff they do all year. It’s […] Read more
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
