Shellbrook Chronicle

01/16/2025

Big River RIA donates $60,000 to fire department
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By JORDAN TWISS
Shellbrook Chronicle Reporter

As a recently retired emergency services provider and member of Big River & District Fire & Rescue, Randy Meginbir is all too familiar with how expensive it is to outfit a fire department to provide adequate emergency services.

“It’s the same [here] as it is everywhere else across the province,” he said. “Small towns struggle to have enough money to supply the equipment they need to do some of the jobs they’re called for.”

Big River & District Fire & Rescue currently boasts 14 volunteer members. In 2024, the department responded to 33 calls in the Rural Municipality of Big River.

With the majority of the department’s calls occurring in rural areas, including a handful deep in the bush or in hard to access areas, Meginbir quickly realized Big River & District Fire & Rescue wasn’t properly equipped to quickly respond to these kinds of emergencies, which could put lives in danger.

“If [a call is] 10 kilometres back in the bush, we have to start phoning local people, or maybe somebody on the department if they’re around, to borrow their snowmobile or ATV,” he said, noting the fire department has a sleigh at the fire hall, but that this needs to be pulled by a larger machine.

“It’s not good, because if someone’s hurt or laying out there, we need to get to them as soon as possible.”
Hoping to avoid these kinds of perilous situations, Meginbir launched a fundraiser for an ATV in the fall, setting a goal of $75,000.

Expecting the fundraiser to take some time, Meginbir was in for a surprise on New Year’s Eve, when the Big River & District Recreation Improvement Association presented the fire department with a $60,000 donation to assist with the purchase of the vehicle — a Can-AM Defender 6x6, with heated cabin and tracks that will allow it to be used in all weather and terrain conditions.

“To get that kind of support is crazy,” Meginbir said, adding that this donation, as well as others that have come in from the Big River Diamond North Credit Union and elsewhere, have allowed the department to proceed with the project quickly.

Now, Meginbir says the fire department is hoping to receive the machine by the end of February.

While this fulfills an important need for Big River & District Fire & Rescue, there’s never truly enough money to go around. Looking ahead, Meginbir says priorities for the department include basics such as upgrades for equipment like turnout gear and a fire hose, as well as training for department members.

Bigger picture priorities for the department include a new pump, a new fire engine, and a new water tanker.
“Most of our fires are rural, so we require that water tanker to get that water to us,” Meginbir said. “That will be a capital project that will have to eventually be taken on.”

For the Big River & District Recreation Improvement Association (RIA), donating to the fire department was simply the latest chapter in a long history of supporting the community.

The RIA was established in 1980 for the purpose of constructing the local arena and curling rink, including ice plants, the building of Big River’s ‘one-of-kind’ Community Centre, providing equipment for the golf course, and funding capital projects at Ski Timber Ridge.

The volunteer organization runs multiple fundraisers each year, all with the aim of improving recreation programs and services in the community.

With Big River being a hotspot for rural recreation in both the summer and winter months, and snowmobile an ATV riders often going into remote, hard-to-access areas, RIA secretary-treasurer Maisie Krienke says the organization felt the donation to the fire department would allow riders to enjoy the area’s recreational offerings more safely.

*With files from Maisie Krienke
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01/09/2025

Shellbrook Food Bank hands out 45 Christmas hampers
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By JORDAN TWISS
Shellbrook Chronicle Reporter

The Christmas season is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. But with high grocery prices continuing to stretch household budgets to their limits, it’s also, for some, a time of great stress, worry, and guilt.

Luckily, thanks to the volunteer work of the Shellbrook and Area Ministerial Food Bank, and the support of people, businesses, and community groups in Shellbrook and the surrounding area, those in need were able to experience at least a little of the season’s wonder and sit down for a traditional Christmas meal over the holidays.

Each December, the Shellbrook Food Bank receives donations for its Christmas hampers, filling them with staples like bread, milk, and eggs, as well as a turkey, another type of meat, and all the essentials for a Christmas meal (plus a little bit of whatever’s on hand in the moment).

All told, when community volunteers gathered at the Shellbrook Pentecostal Assembly on Friday, Dec. 20, they worked to stuff 45 Christmas hampers — two fewer than in 2023, but still well above normal compared to the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though food bank coordinator Linda Lunday was happy that the numbers weren’t as high as she anticipated, she suspects the ongoing closure of Shellbrook Bigway may have prevented some people from getting registered to receive hampers.

“Although I tried to touch base with people I knew should be registering, it did make it harder,” she said. “Applications are also in the churches, but not all the people get to the churches either.”

Regardless of the number of hampers that went out at Christmas, Lundy says none would go out if it wasn’t for the generosity of the community and the surrounding area in the lead-up to the holidays.

Chief among the fundraising and food-raising efforts was the Stuff the Bus Campaign, a partnership between W.P. Sandin High School and the Shellbrook Kinettes that saw 1,272 items donated to the food bank. This was supplemented by donation campaigns hosted by Shellbrook Elementary School, Wildrose School, Shellbrook’s Primary Care Clinic, and Parkland Integrated Health Centre.

“The bounty from the surrounding communities was absolutely amazing,” said Lundy, noting that the food bank should be able to make it until at least Easter with what it currently has in stock.

Looking back on 2024, Lundy says it was a fairly steady year for the food bank.

Still, because of the referrals she receives from local schools, she noted a continuation of the shift in the food bank’s clientele — away from older people, who have moved into care homes or passed away, and to families with young children.

“Whether it’s just that the schools are becoming more aware of what we’re doing, or the need is increasing, it seems like there’s more each year,” Lundy said.

In an average month, the Shellbrook Food Bank puts together and distributes 12 food hampers.

While this may seems like a low number, even in a small community like Shellbrook, the rising number of families needing food banks increases the cost of these hampers. Indeed, where a typical hamper for a couple cost about $100 to put together as of last summer, a family hamper comes with a price tag of about $200 (even with Lundy buying things at the best possible prices).

This means the food bank burns through its supplies and funds twice as fast, and that there’s always a need for donations to keep it running smoothly.

Asked what people often overlook when donating non-perishable goods to the food bank, Lundy says the first thing that comes to mind is generally sandwich supplies.

“It’s hard to keep supplies for sandwiches, whether it be canned meats or cheese whiz,” she said. “For families with kids in school they need to have something that they can send in lunches.”
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12/26/2024

Family fun at Spiritwood High School’s Toy Bingo
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By BEVRA FEE
Spiritwood Herald Reporter

The Spiritwood High School (SHS) graduating class of 2025 hosted the school’s annual Toy Bingo on Thursday, Dec. 12, in the high school gymnasium. All hands were on deck for the workload, including the graduands and their parents.

Students pre-sold Bonanza tickets in the weeks leading up to the fundraising event, and a full slate of games stretched the winning from 6:30 p.m. until after 9:30. In addition to the bingo games, there were raffle tickets for sale on a draw for a food hamper, which turned out to be not one…not two…but three large, full hampers and a frying pan.

Parents were busy selling bingo cards, food hamper tickets, and concession items, while the Grade 12 students sold Bonanza and Share the Wealth tickets once the large crowd were seated and getting organized.

The prizes this year were in bundles, thanks to the higher-than-normal donations and sponsorships.

“The prizes are so great this year – even better than ever, and Hujbers Market on Main donated the food hampers,” reported staff member Ricki Lee Wasden.

Indeed, the bundles contained several large prizes and were listed on the games list according to their themes. The Bonanza game prize was a 65” TV with mounting hardware.

Starting off the night, Tyson Turgeon aced the “One Line or Four Corners” game and won the Movie Night Bundle – two large hampers filled with everything for a movie night (or ten) and gift cards as well.

Turgeon cleaned up on the “Nine Square Block” in game five also, although he had to compete in a “Bing-Off” with another player. That contest netted him the Sports Bundle, which included a Toronto Maple Leafs hockey jersey. Turgeon, a former NCAA college hockey player and current volunteer with hockey youth, was a good sport and even took the Leafs jersey home with him.

Bingo callers for the evening were spirited grads Ava Beuker and Alex Tkachuk. Beuker offered up Christmas jokes in between games, “Why is the Grinch such a good gardener? He has a green thumb!” while Tkachuk injected appropriate sound-track bombs (including some canned laughter for Beuker’s jokes).

Intermission brought about the opportunity to purchase more tickets on the food basket raffle and extra cards for the Bonanza game. Once the bingo gaming returned, Tkachuk took the opportunity to thank several of the sponsors, among which were the Knights of Columbus offering the loan of their bingo equipment, and the volunteer fire fighters for helping set up tables.

With the switch of callers, Tkachuk was at the microphone for the final games. Again there were jokes, but the focus shifted to the teachers – among those roasted was Tkachuk’s own father, a teacher at SHS.

The food hamper was drawn for and the winner was Toby Nathaniel Mendoza Cruz. The final two games ensued, where the Share the Wealth winner, McKenzie Meyers, took home a cash prize of $347.50 in another rousing Bing-Off.

For the final game of the night, the Bonanza, the rules stipulated that the winner had to be in attendance. Shrill screams of joy erupted from the far side of the gym, indicating that, in fact, she was in attendance. Liv Slater, in a very stellar “Price is Right” contestant impersonation, skipped and cried, and exclaimed her way to the stage to claim the 65” TV prize.

The annual Toy Bingo fundraiser is intended to help offset the cost of many of the expenses that come along with the graduation ceremonies at the end of the year. The Class of 2025, and their parents and SHS staff raised, in the ballpark of $6,000 at the Toy Bingo, chalking it up to one very successful evening.
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12/20/2024

Stuff the Bus campaign fills up food bank
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By JORDAN TWISS
Shellbrook Chronicle Reporter

They say a little friendly competition never hurts. And this holiday season, it did a whole lot of good for the Shellbrook and Area Ministerial Food Bank and the community.

With food bank usage increasing year over year, and donations all too often failing to keep pace with the growing demand, W.P. Sandin High School’s Student Leadership Council decided it needed to do something to ensure the local food bank was well stocked this year. And as it happened, the Shellbrook Kinettes were also in the midst of brainstorming how they could support the food bank.

With SLC Advisor and Kinette Kelly Herndier serving as a bridge between the two groups, a partnership was formed and plans for a Stuff the Bus campaign began to take shape.

“The local need for food hampers isn’t diminishing,” Herndier said. “With costs continually on the rise, people are having to make hard decisions between food and bills and are turning to the food bank to get them through.”

Kicking off at the beginning of December, and running until Friday, Dec. 13, the Stuff the Bus campaign saw food donation boxes placed in every classroom at W.P. Sandin. To encourage participation, students were issued a challenge: the classroom that brought in the most donations would be rewarded with a pizza lunch.

The challenge proved to be the perfect way to fire up the students’ competitive spirits, resulting in a fierce three-way race between the Grade 6, 6/7, and 11 classrooms. In the end, students from the Grade 11 class pooled their money and drove to the Canwood Co-op grocery store to boost their donations just before the deadline.

While the Grade 11 class got to enjoy a pizza lunch, the true winner in the campaign was the Shellbrook and Area Ministerial Food Bank, which received a whopping 1,272 items from the high school as a result of the Stuff the Bus campaign.

But the spirit of giving didn’t stop with W.P. Sandin and the Shellbrook Kinettes.

In a true virtuous circle, the medical clinic and Parkland Integrated Health Centre also collected food donations, and Shellbrook Elementary School got on board by placing food donation boxes at local businesses up until the end of the Stuff the Bus campaign.

Spending the final day of the campaign driving the bus, which was donated by Broston Enterprises, Herndier got to tour the community and witness its generosity first-hand.

Herndier began her day by stuffing the bus with W.P. Sandin’s donations. She then moved on to the Shellbrook Community Hall, where the Shellbrook Mamas were gathered for play time and food donations were being collected, before making stops at Shellbrook Elementary School in the afternoon.

Once school was out, Herndier hit up all the local businesses that hosted food donation boxes. Finally, in the evening, the bus was parked at the Richardson Pioneer Recreation Centre for the Shellbrook Senior Elks hockey game and the weekly Lucky 7 draw to collect any last-minute donations.

By the time the Stuff the Bus Campaign came to a close, 80 boxes worth of food donations had been collected, leaving the bus 90 per cent full.

“Stuff the bus was something new and fun and the community embraced it fully,” Herndier said. “The support of our community is amazing. When asked, they always pull through.”

With the help of the Stuff the Bus campaign, as well as an unexpected donation from a pancake breakfast hosted by the Canwood Seniors, food bank coordinator Linda Lundy says the food bank is in the best shape it’s been in for quite some time.

Calling the Stuff the Bus campaign an overwhelming success, Lundy says the community’s support makes the work the food bank does worthwhile.

“There are so many people in need that it makes you want to cry,” she said Monday morning, while awaiting another donation from Wild Rose School. “But that doesn’t work, so you’ve got to do something about it.”

With Christmas fast approaching, Lundy’s focus will be on the food bank’s Christmas Hampers, which are set to be filled up and distributed on Friday, Dec. 20. Last holiday season, the food bank distributed 47 hampers.
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12/19/2024

12/12/2024

Spiritwood teen treks to Everest Base Camp
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By BEVRA FEE
Spiritwood Herald Reporter

When 17-year-old Kaydence Doell was in Grade 5, her grandfather travelled to the tiny country of Nepal to undertake the Everest Base Camp trek.

“I wanted to go with him, but obviously, he and mom wouldn’t let me,” she recalled.

Since then, Doell has been committed to doing the trek herself one day, and that day arrived on Oct. 30, 2024.

“I wanted to do the trip before I go to university, because if I put it off it may never happen once I get busy with life after high school,” explained Doell.

When her grandfather (Brian Doell) proposed the adventure, it was August of 2024 – leaving not much time to waffle on the decision. Doell was concerned about missing three weeks of school in her Grade 12 year, but with encouragement from her mom and her principal at Spiritwood High School, she booked the trip.

“I had almost no time to get conditioned, due to such short notice. But because I have always had this goal in the back of my mind, I have stayed in decent shape so that I could be ready when the opportunity arose,” she said.

“I did as much training as I could in the time I had, mostly walking in the hills around my aunt’s place at Whitkow and some jogging.”

The Everest Base Camp trek is a challenging endeavour that takes two weeks of hiking the paths through Himalayan villages, displaying the rich culture of the mountain people. Travel by the locals is on foot, using donkeys or yaks for transporting supplies. For the farthest reaches, supplies can be brought in by helicopter — schools cater primarily to elementary students, while high schools are few. Buddhist monasteries dot the trails, offering further glimpses into the culture of the Sherpa people who inhabit homes in the mountains while tending a few cattle and small crops.

Flying from Vancouver to Nepal, via China, offered Doell an opportunity to walk around Hong Kong on the 13-hour layover before flying into the Nepalese capital city of Kathmandu. With a primitive airport reflective of a developing country, Doell was surprised at the rudimentary facilities compared to North America and Europe.

While on the topic of airports, Doell commented on the flight from Kathmandu into the village of Lukla — the starting point of the trek.

“Lukla is one of the most dangerous airports in the world, it’s not even like a real airport,” she said.

Indeed, the short landing strip with an abrupt right turn at the end sees several flights each day arrive from the winding sky-path that dodges the mountains to find the small town and deposit tourists.

The real work began at Lukla. Armed with daily Diamox tablets to help her body cope with the altitude, Doell enjoyed the trek uphill through the Himalayan villages. Lodging was primarily at teahouses, which provide all-in-one food and shelter.

“The lodging was better than I was expecting, with private bathrooms and hot water for the showers,” she said. “But it seemed like we were always cold at night because it was damp in the mountains.”

The trek offered manageable days of walking, with spectacular scenery and some days off for acclimatization.

“We watched a lot of Everest movies and documentaries — some of them make it look so easy and some of them make you nervous — but I have decided to never try and summit Everest.”

Base camp itself is no small feat. Only 70 per cent of those who attempt the trek are successful, and only 50 per cent are able to hike back to Lukla afterward.

With daily evacuations by donkey or helicopter to rescue those who lack the physical or mental strength to complete the trek, Doell’s accomplishment is a major one.

Sharing the challenges, Doell states that, “For me, the hardest part was the mental aspect… staying focused on the goal, being away from home for three weeks, realizing that I did not have control over situations.”
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12/09/2024

NOTICE TO READERS

The Government of Saskatchewan is asking the public to weigh in on a number of items that fall under the banner of municipal legislation, in hopes of modernizing the legislation to meet the evolving needs of municipalities and rural municipalities across the province.

Of note in the government’s review, which is open to public feedback until Saturday, Dec. 14, is a survey regarding public notices in local newspapers.

Currently, municipal legislation mandates that municipalities and rural municipalities publish certain public notices in a local newspaper.

Over the years, however, the Saskatchewan Urban Municipalities Association and the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities have advocated on multiple occasions for public notice requirements to be modernized to account for electronic means and remove the requirement to advertise in newspapers (most recently in 2020).

Under the current legislation, there’s nothing preventing municipalities from using their websites or social media pages as additional platforms to post public notices. But several of the municipalities and rural municipalities in the coverage area of the Shellbrook Chronicle & Spiritwood Herald don’t even have websites or social media pages.

Moreover, using digital platforms prevents ratepayers who don’t have reliable internet access from seeing public notices, making newspapers the most accessible and visible medium for them to engage with their municipalities and hold them accountable.

And, in addition to keeping municipalities accountable to their ratepayers, printed public notices are also a vital revenue stream for community newspapers like the Shellbrook Chronicle & Spiritwood Herald.

To let the Government of Saskatchewan know you still want to see public notices in your local newspaper, visit https://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/public-engagement/municipal-legislation and complete the Public Notice in Newspapers survey by Saturday, Dec. 14.

The Ministry of Government Relations is asking for input until December 14, 2024, to improve municipal legislation to meet the evolving needs of municipalities.

12/05/2024

Our future depends on community support
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By JORDAN TWISS
Shellbrook Chronicle Reporter

The past decade has been one of momentous shifts for the newspaper industry, and the Shellbrook Chronicle & Spiritwood Herald has felt the effects of these changes in both direct and indirect ways.

Once, the Shellbrook Chronicle and the Spiritwood Herald were once two separate newspapers. For all its challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to consolidate into one newspaper and cut printing costs, without sacrificing coverage of the 18 communities the newspaper serves each week.

Speaking of printing, the Shellbrook Chronicle and the Spiritwood Herald were once printed in Melfort, but in recent years closures saw printing operations move to Saskatoon, and then to Estevan.

After Jan. 31, 2025, the newspaper will be printed in yet another new location.

On Tuesday, Nov. 5, Estevan Web Printing announced it would be stopping its presses for good.

No reason was given for the closure of the press. But with it being the last remaining newspaper press in Saskatchewan, the Shellbrook Chronicle & Spiritwood Herald is now joining dozens of other newspapers across the province — including major daily newspapers like the Saskatoon StarPhoenix, the Regina Leader-Post, and the Prince Albert Daily Herald — in looking out of province for printing options.

Over the past month, the Shellbrook Chronicle & Spiritwood Herald has sought printing quotes from companies in Alberta and Manitoba. Almost without exception, these quotes have come back at almost triple the printing cost, which is not sustainable without greater community support.

Some have suggested this may be the time for the Shellbrook Chronicle & Spiritwood Herald to go digital-only. However, we know this isn’t the best way for us to continue serving our readers and advertisers, and we are determined to continue providing our communities with a printed community newspaper.

To this end, and in light of the ongoing Canada Post strike, we’re working to reduce costs by partnering with the Prince Albert Daily Herald Rural Roots for distribution. Going forward, readers who get their papers from our pick-up bins will find the Rural Roots, and all of its flyers, inside the weekly edition of the Shellbrook Chronicle & Spiritwood Herald — effectively, two award-winning newspapers for the price of none!

This is one step we can take to offset the drastic weekly increase in printing costs. But there are also important steps our local and area businesses and community groups must take if you want to see the Shellbrook Chronicle & Spiritwood Herald remain a free weekly newspaper and not only survive, but thrive.

If you look back to a decade ago, the pages of the Shellbrook Chronicle and the Spiritwood Herald boasted no shortage of ads from local businesses and community groups, as well as a classifieds page with a bounty of listings for goods and services.

Now, these classifieds listings and ads for businesses and community events have been supplanted by social media posts — which are free, yes, but come at the expense of your community newspaper and aren’t seen by the vast majority of the thousands of people who pick up this newspaper each week.

Along with a loss of local advertising, the last decade has seen a number of companies pull their flyers out of the newspaper. Most recently, Safeway/Sobeys drastically scaled back the number of flyers it distributes to our readers, and Lake Country Co-op has announced it will no longer be distributing printed flyers after Dec. 26, a move that hurts our bottom line and deprives our readers of an opportunity to take advantage of deals and save money.

The Shellbrook Chronicle & Spiritwood Herald is your community newspaper, and its future is in your hands. If you want a community newspaper, support it with local advertising. And if you’d like to see a specific company’s flyer in your weekly newspaper, contact them and let them know.
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11/28/2024

Lions’ Christmas Craft Sale kicks off season
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By BEVRA FEE
Spiritwood Herald Reporter

The annual Lions Christmas Craft Sale has been occupying the third weekend of November for over 40 years. Begun by the Spiritwood Lioness group those years ago, the craft sale offers more than 30 vendors an opportunity to sell their wares just as shoppers are beginning their Christmas gift pursuits.

Over time, the craft sale has grown to be fully booked each year and has thereby spawned two other craft sales that take place on the same weekend. As such, Saturday, Nov. 23, saw the Civic Centre, the Legion Hall and the Pioneer Centre in Spiritwood hosting craft sales — all of which also served lunch as part of their offerings.

Starting off at the Legion Hall, the small group of vendors filled the space with tables crammed with baking, jelly, knitted items, crocheted and quilted items. An interesting display of craft items created by youth — Ave and Willow offered Mini Food, which is a current fad among kids. Likewise, the small hot chocolate mixes made by their brother.

The soup & sandwich lunch was a comfort offering on a day where the forecast called for a major snowfall. Fundraising raffles added to the fun at the Legion Hall craft sale, as with at all three venues.

Moving over to the Spiritwood Civic Centre for the main event, the late morning crowd was very active, with numbers at the end of the day being well over last year’s attendance. The soup and sandwich lunch was quite well received, with the Hungarian Pea Soup drawing comments from those who have been longing for it since the days of Mag’s Soup & Such.

The Resolute School Community Club put on the lunch as one of their fundraisers to offset the cost of restoring Resolute School (now used as a community hall). Several of the perennial vendors reported better sales than in previous years, possibly due to parcel delivery and online ordering being brought to a halt by the ongoing Canada Post strike.

There was no shortage of quality items, with home-made crafts such as leatherwork, Filipino food, engraved gift items, jewelry, bees wax products, jerky and floral arrangements providing the staples, while home-business items such as Tupperware and Pampered Chef added to the variety.

The Spiritwood Lions Club hosted the craft sale at this venue, and the atmosphere was very inviting, with Christmas decor and many door prizes on offer for visitors. The main door prize — which was automatically entered with a nominal admission fee — was a large outdoor winter arrangement, won by Tory Katcheech.
Lion Marlene Walter, chairperson for the Lions’ event, explained, “I am so glad we had a nice day before the snow arrived — we saw a lot of hockey parents come over from the arena — there were three hockey teams from out of town.”

Afternoon at the Pioneer Centre saw more baking, home-made doll clothes, quilting, and woodworking.
New vendor Brian Haigh, commented, “You should have been here when my table was full,” indicating steady sales throughout the day.

Lunch was also offered at the Pioneer Centre, as were door prizes and raffles. With nearly 50 vendors across all three craft sales, shoppers would no doubt have checked off a large portion of their Christmas shopping list.
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