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After entering like a lion, hoping March leaves like a lamb

Longer sunshine hours and warmer temps, but are we being fooled once again by Old Man Winter? Depending which forecast you follow, or believe in, many are hopeful winter has fizzled out and spring will be edging it’s pretty self in.
Unity curling
Winners of the Unity Curling Club Wednesday Super league are skip Ryan Greenwald, thrid Claude Combres, second Harold Greenwald and lead Kent Boerrichter.
Presenting the cheque is Pat Gumpinger, representing Guy’s Furniture. Photo submitted by Sherri Solomko

Longer sunshine hours and warmer temps, but are we being fooled once again by Old Man Winter? Depending which forecast you follow, or believe in, many are hopeful winter has fizzled out and spring will be edging it’s pretty self in.

As far as all the other news with COVID-19, well everyone has an opinion. The best statement I saw online from my favourite motivational person, Darci Lang, and it says, “As the world fights to figure everything out, I’ll be holding doors for strangers, letting people cut in front of me in traffic, saying good morning, keeping babies entertained in grocery lines, stopping to talk to someone who is lonely, being patient with sales clerks, smiling at a passerby. Why? Because I will not stand idly by and live in a world were love is invisible. Join me in showing kindness, understanding and urging less. Be kind to a stranger, give grace to friends who are having a bad day, be forgiving of yourself, today and every day. Be the change, be the light, start today and never stop.

It’s hard to say what will be on the horizon for sports season with COVID-19 causing all kinds of chaos for planners. A big shout out to players and coaches for their hockey seasons even if they didn’t get the closure they had hoped for and a special shout out to the graduating players who had their last shot at successful playoff run eliminated.

Unity Curling Club finished off with their annual ladies’ bonspiel March 13 weekend. It included plenty of sanitizing along with plenty of socializing. Congratulations to the Ryan Greenwald team who captured the title for the Wednesday Super League championship. The UCC is now done for the season as per CurlSask instructions. Congratulations to Doug Jones who won the draw for the TV.

Ball season is in limbo. Both Baseball Sask and Softball Sask have issued releases saying activity at present is suspended and decision on the season, set to kick off in May, will be released in the near future. It was disappointing for Jenna Wildeman and Ashlyn Greenwald of the Unity Panthers who were selected by the Softball Sask high performance team to travel to Oklahoma to compete as Team Sask., as this event was cancelled.

With schools now officially closed indefinitely, things are quieter in town. UCHS basketball missed another shot at Hoopla, fundraisers were cancelled, spring drama production and regional festival are also casualties, and so much is up in the air. Also impacted are graduating students, of which one lives in our house. Continue to offer support to both staff and students as they navigate this new territory.

All of the work and anticipation that went into the annual music festival is also a cornavirus casualty. But one local woman started an amazing page on Facebook called Unity’s online celebration of music, and asked performers to post their performances here for others to admire and enjoy. It is one way to put some light into a sad circumstance.

April’s trade show was cancelled and there is no word yet on the indoor RV show. The Co-op’s kids’ Easter hunt has also been cancelled.

Good news to report is Reece Gilbert was named Rivers West Sports, Culture and Recreation District’s Athlete of the Year for 2019. There is a banquet and awards ceremony for the winners slated in North Battleford in April but it remains to be seen if that too will be cancelled.

Congratulations also to Causeway Farms, Les and Colin Tuscherer, who were named Saskatchewan Limousin Association’s Commercial Breeder of the year.

A big thank you to Nutrien Ag Solutions, who generously donated $750 to the KidSport organization resulting from lawn fertilizer sales.

It was great news to learn that Utech, the unique education opportunity in Unity that provides meaningful education, meeting students at their level, is recognizing 10 years in Unity this year. However, recent school closures would have stopped this program as well.

Chase the Ace also wrapped up March 17, a little earlier than expected. Due to COVID-19 concerns the Lions club has decided to end this lotto and draws were made with first name out winning the night’s jackpot while names were pulled until that elusive ace was found.

With the Courtesy Car now suspending service, volunteers are being sought to assist seniors who relied on this service for their supply needs.

Here’s hoping this finds you all safe, healthy and socially distanced. Until next week ...