I keep finding it harder and harder to start each column and not sound like I'm repeating myself from week to week. Being from a farming background and living on a farm, I tend to babble about the weather. I quite often feel that no one really wants to hear/read my babbling; I will try to start with something else each week.
Congratulations to the April trip of the month winners, Skip and Jamie Dunlop who won the trip and Maurice and LeAnn Thom who won the $100.
Congratulations also go out to Eli Esquirol, who celebrated his 100th birthday with family and friends at the Edam Community Centre May 20, three days before his actual birth date. Wishing you all the best and hopes for more birthdays to come.
Kim Goodall is looking for contributors with cute, cuddly and unusual pets for this year's petting zoo. If you have a critter that will be a good addition to the petting zoo please contact Kim at 397-2855. This year the kids can visit the pets at the community centre June 10.
John and I spent the afternoon May 12 at Stuart Cattle Station with David and Alice Stuart and family, for a day of branding. Things have changed a bit since the first cowboys and ranchers marked their animals. Ropers were heeling the calves and using a Nord Fork to hold them while they were being vaccinated and branded. Castration was also being done.
Each member of the family had their job as well as the friends that came out to help. There were five ropers on horseback, three people branding, two were vaccinating, two were catching animals with the Nord Fork as the ropers brought the calves in, two were helping hold the ones that were missed and one was doctoring and castrating the bulls. Two of the grandchildren, who were old enough, were marking the calves with paint as they were done so the ropers would know which calves had been caught. It didn't take long to put 275 head through the assembly line.
The branding irons are no longer heated in a fire but are now heated by propane torch.
The day ended with a supper, prepared by Alice and her daughters and daughters-in-law and for those who wished to try them, there was a serving of prairie oysters. I will leave you to Google it if you don't know what that is.
There are a few cattlemen in the area that still do the job this way and the neighbours are there to lend a helping hand.
There was a bridal shower held for June bride-elect Jessica Jullion May 12 at 7 p.m. in the Legion Hut. Games were played before the presentation of the gifts. Jessica, only daughter of Marc and Carlys Jullion of Edam/Vawn will be marrying Blair Knowlton, eldest son of Ken and Linda Knowlton of Mervin June 16 in Edam. The happy young couple will be making their home in the Saskatoon area where Jessica is employed in the pediatrics unit of RUH and Blair is employed as an electrician.
That is it for this week. Watch for the track and field results in the Friday paper.
