Condolences to Morris Tokaryk of Whitkow-Dominion area on the passing of his brother Peter who was a resident of River Heights Lodge in North Battleford. His funeral was held Aug. 29. Peter and Morris are relatives to Mitchell Kotelko of Mayfair.
Rick and Valerie Taylor are proud great-grandparents to a baby girl born to Therese and Dennis LaFrance of Hinton, Alta. Brett and Priscilla Taylor are first time grandparents as Therese is their oldest daughter. They resided on a farm near Mullingar when their five children were younger, but moved to the Leask area approximately eight years ago.
Blueberries are plentiful, but not overly large in size in the Chitek Lake area. My oldest brother Ron and Marie Gregoire from St. Brieux and my sister Lorraine Lensen from Vanscoy eagerly came to pick the berries in the forest. We had a wonderful visit with much laughter and never seem to see one another very often.
Victor Pushee became a grandfather again three months ago when his daughter Marcie gave birth to a premature baby, a brother to two sisters. The baby was in the hospital for three months, but did gain weight fairly rapidly. Marcie and Greg Meiers reside in Fredericton, N.B. Marcie is a nurse practitioner and her husband works for the environment department. Congratulations to the family.
The Crooked Trees near Alticane are a big tourist attraction as many local folks like to take their visitors to see this unusual landscape. I have seen photos of this mangled and twisted work of nature on different calendars.
It was a relief to hear the RCMP have revealed that rural Mayfair resident George Olenyshyn, whose body was located in his yard, was not the victim of foul play. George moved back to the family farm and was a mechanic with an International Harvester dealership in Ontario for many years. Approximately 20 years ago, the farmhouse burned down, killing his brother Alex. He also had another brother, Walter, who passed away, leaving George by himself with numerous dogs. In fact, George would often be seen purchasing pallets of dog food and taking the load home in his half-ton truck. Beverly (Hugh) Foster (nee Kostiuk), formerly of Mayfair and for a long time residing at Speers, is a second cousin to George. Our community is deeply saddened to have lost this 79-year-old man. He attended every auction sale within a 100-mile radius, I am told by local people.
Sonia and Morris Prescesky have had a busy and exciting summer holiday with their Alberta grandchildren. Can one imagine what they would do with a total of 17 grandchildren when the complete family gets together? There is lots of love, fun and excitement in that household. Youngest son John (Kristy) from Red Deer had their two small daughters visiting this summer. The other set of grandparents, Lyle and Vivian Saccucci, also shared the girls on their farm closer to Sandy Lake. Another son Danny (Trish) from Edson, Alta., let two of their four children stay on the farm. Sonia and Morris's only daughter, Anita (Reg) Mortensen from St. Paul, Alta. had her son and daughter get a taste of farm life also. All of the above kids had an opportunity to hang out with their Saskatchewan cousins. Oldest son David (Lisa) of Hafford and son Gordon (Shannon) reside on a farm near Mayfair.
Years ago, the small hamlet of Alticane had a hotel, established in 1929 with the last owners, Joe and Ann Kwas. Their 60-year-old daughter, Joanne of Edmonton, passed away last month. Joanne was a cousin to Renie Kwas, who resides near Darryl Markewich east of Mayfair.
Margaret Adam was excited to have her granddaughter Ireland participate in a handball development camp in Germany. Margaret's daughter Leslie Wong of Edmonton accompanied her. This is apparently a big and growing sport in Europe. In fact, Norway was struggling to get good players, so some Canadians have signed up on that team. Her granddaughter is in the junior category, ages 15 to 18. The training was intensive, but some sightseeing, such as a Rhine River boat ride, was wonderful.
Our oldest son has returned safely from his summer employment in the Northwest Territories. In all the years that he has been a fishing guide for the American tourists, this season has been the coldest. We certainly cannot complain about our warm weather experienced during the summer months. Remember, summer officially retires Sept. 22. Let's enjoy the rest of it and be thankful for everything.
