The town workmen are doing a great job of keeping the grass trimmed and garbage picked up around town. As well as doing the ditches and park in the village, they do the large open area at the cemetery. There is still lots of mowing and trimming to do there when the volunteers gather to trim other areas around the graves.
Swimming lessons open to the public are not happening in Meota this summer for a variety of reasons. We can only hope they can return next summer. Two weeks of lessons are taking place in Chitek, with more than 100 children registered. Some restrictions are in place but the beach is enjoyed by families, like every other year.
On a sunny Thursday afternoon, Cora Bird hosted an 80th birthday party for her mother Maureen Campbell, in the big back yard of the United Church, in Meota. Birthday cake and cool drinks were offered to the guests, seated in a large circle, with social distancing in mind. It was nice to get out and see your friends even if you didn’t get to talk to them all. Maureen was pleased people took the time to come out to wish her well, and congratulate her. Some of her "girls" from the Girl’s Club helped out with the food, a club which Maureen started up many years ago, and is still active in.
Why are there always tourists who will not abide by regulations? A lady at Yellowstone Park was chased by a bison bull. Running away, she fell and played dead and by so doing saved her own life. The signs all say stay in your vehicle, do not feed the wildlife. We experienced a "travel hold-up" when a bison was walking down the highway. People were getting out of their vehicles and running up the road to get a picture, looking for trouble.
The bridge results from last Thursday, played at the Pioneer Hall, found top marks going to David Sharpe and Vern Iverson and second place to Margaret Dyck and Dave Creegan.
Resulting from family clearing out the village home of Nina and Ben Byl, I was able to watch a DVD made July 26, 2004, when the Meota Chorus was entertaining at River Heights Lodge. There were 20 people in the group at that time, including Ben and Nina, and many that I don't recognize. The tape was made by John Kalesnikoff with editing and printing by his wife Shirley Swanton. What a treasure this is and a joy to watch. Ben and Nina reside in the city now and are being missed by their old neighbours and the community.
What a pleasant surprise, driving down Beach Avenue in Meota recently, to meet up Terry Johnson and Ayva Gardner out for an afternoon ride, something they do now and then. I love to see them doing something other than looking at their cellphones. It is such a healthy way to spend an afternoon.
Lastly we must talk about the thunderstorm we had Friday night. High winds were accompanied by thunder and lightning. The power was off for several hours. There were many trees lost as well as many branches, some big and endless little ones. There were many truck loads of branches taken out to the transfer site Saturday. One report is of a tree that fell across a truck that had not been long out of the body shop. It will be going back in for a windshield and other repairs. The boat behind it was saved by having the tarp on. We do have to appreciate that the damage done to crops was not extensive right here. They were spared mostly because the heads are not filled yet or they would have been lodged by the winds. Further south there was some hail damage to crops. The wind moved planters , either blowing them over or even off the back deck.
What a pleasant surprise driving down Beach Avenue in Meota recently to meet up with these two young local ladies enjoying a pleasant afternoon ride.
The baby pine siskins are flying and at the feeder by the dozens. It's quite a challenge between the sparrows and them to see who gets to eat. One filling of the feeder right now lasts only two days. Maybe I should buy the sunflowers that need shelling so they would last longer, but there's too much mess with that.
There's been lots of traffic around the village all weekend, even an influx of motorbikes, many bearing Alberta plates and others. So we trust people are being careful and keeping themselves safe, as the pandemic doesn't appear to be going away, any time soon. Have a happy and safe holiday.
