The Meota seniors held their monthly meeting June 10.
The mayor of Meota, John MacDonald, addressed the group regarding what council is doing and future plans. Several spots in the village have had road repairs done and more is planned. The price of calcium for dust control has nearly doubled, which means less can be done and still stay within the budget. One party has expressed interest in building a marina but as yet it is only an idea. Bleachers are in the future plans for the ball diamonds as other work has been done there such as new fences and players’ benches.
Plans for the memorial tea for the late Edna Moldon have been finalized with the entertainment committee.
Maureen Campbell gave the library report for May. There were 371 patrons and they were open 59 hours. Allie Raycraft is retiring Dec. 31 after serving on the board for 20 years. She will be replaced by Jennifer Fisher, representing the village. A new office chair has been purchased, with “bingo money” – thanks go out to the workers who made this possible. They need workers for three hours at the bingos to be held Aug. 19 and Oct. 28. One does not need to be a member of the library to help out. The children’s summer reading program starts July 2.
Linda Ard, a director, reported from the seniors’ convention held in Saskatoon this past week that the cost of prescriptions has gone up $5. Because Senior Mechanism, the umbrella organization the SSAI runs under, is doing nothing for our seniors that has been requested since this government has been in office, it is planned to send a delegation to Regina to address the government in this regard as soon as it can be arranged.
The sidewalk problem in front of the Do Drop In will be attended to soon with council and seniors working together. The picnic benches behind the hall have been repaired and a new fence built, ready for paint.
Pearl Hawkins and Eric Callbeck are looking into finding someone willing to give seniors boat rides this summer.
Future meetings, starting Sept. 9, will begin at 10 a.m. with a potluck lunch and birthday cake to follow.
It was agreed next year we will invite the Edam seniors to come in April rather than June. There will be no noon lunches at the community complex during June, July and August. The seniors’ club will sponsor the front page of the village’s August news bulletin.
The potluck luncheon following this meeting found a dozen guests from Edam joining a dozen members from Meota. The food was excellent and those who stayed after spent a couple of hours playing various card games before having a coffee break and heading home.
There will be a memorial come and go tea for the late Edna Moldon, to be held in the Do Drop In June 25 from 2 to 4 p.m. This will be a celebration of her life in Meota, recalling the many projects she helped with while a member of the Do Drop In. Edna was raised in the Meota area and always loved it here. She and her husband Leonard returned to Meota in 1976 and spent many active, happy years in the community. Even after moving to Victoria, B.C., and then Medicine Hat, Alta., Edna returned for many summers to her little cottage on Beach Avenue.
Beulah Corbeil is now in North Battleford hospital. Her son Blair from Beaumont, Alta., visited her recently. Get well soon, Beulah. Everyone misses you.
Contract bridge was played at the Do Drop In June 6 with top score going to Linda Ard; second highest was Mary Greenwald.
Duplicate bridge was played June 7 with top score going to Maureen Campbell and Mary Greenwald. Second highest were Vern Iverson and Gerry Fernandes tied with Margaret Dyck and David Scharpe. Third were Cletus Scherman and Catriona Winterholt. In town June 9, the top mark went to Jean Lawes and Glen Fraser. Second were Donna Scherman and Catriona Winterholt and third were Mary Greenwald and Joe Pirot.
Congratulations to Walter Ard in district care in Battleford on reaching his 102nd birthday June 7.
When tourists or friends stop in Meota, we go for a tour northward to see the mysterious construction by Husky Oil in developing their Edam oil patch projects. The construction is finished. They will produce 10,000 barrels a day at the East Edam plant and by year end should have produced 24,500 barrels at the Edam West and the Vawn plants. Driving by at night they appear as little hamlets along the way with all the lights. They use thermal energy to bring oil up from below ground and have trenched water from the North Saskatchewan River.
It’s been nice having two of my children, from Carstairs area, stop by for a couple of nights each this past week on their way home from fishing trips to the Beauval area.
My son Brad and Kelly were here first. We took a drive to Chitek for honey from Bob and Jean Anderson and to see the many changes that have taken place since I left there three years ago The old motel is a pile of cinder blocks. Gordon Thompson’s cabin is gone, as is Elmer Bowes’ old one, but it is being rebuilt already. The old café is gone. The facelift on Charles Walker’s house is an improvement with blue shingles, siding and new windows. West side Pelican Beach has electricity and water to the campsites now, changed from being a day use only area. A large house, 4,000 to 5,000 square feet, is going up in the southeast end of Chitek, and likely there is more happening that we didn’t see.
Sal and Norm Bouvier were here this weekend and we toured north and through the village, and visited my sisters. A more relaxing time with them was enjoyed. They reported watching a mother bear with three cubs along the roadside near Beauval. The cubs were climbing a power pole but the Bouviers had to move for traffic so didn’t get pictures of them doing that. Their fishing trip was good with lots to share.
Have you ever wondered how you could fly a float plane off a dry runway? I watched on Facebook as a plane, loaded on a trailer being towed by a truck, drove down the runway until the right speed was reached and off the trailer it went, up into the air.
In Leduc, Alta., Saturday afternoon, a twister passed through one area. They had wind and heavy rain also. It lifted the roof off a trailer onto the highway, tore up a big spruce tree laying it flat, split a big poplar tree right down the middle, tore lots of shingles off houses and, at one of the little lakes, it moved the fountain mechanism to the end of the lake where it lay spewing water everywhere.
Have you ever wondered why you cannot buy cashew nuts in the shell? For those of you with Google, it’s worth your while to check this out.
A new blue house has been moved into Meota across the street from the sailing club clubhouse. It looks very nice and, when the yard work is done, will be an added asset to our village.
