As depressing as it may be, the longest day of the year is behind us already and we are actually closer to Christmas 2011 than we are to last Christmas! Is it too early to begin Christmas shopping?
June 21 was a busy evening in Rabbit Lake. The Thickwood Hills Cattle Feeder Co-op held its supper and meeting in the community hall. About 80 people attended. Among other speakers, Kevin Hursh gave his thoughts and predictions about the industry. WhistleStop Foods catered the supper. Lots of door prizes were awarded and Kramer's had a Duralite Trailer on display.
As I have said before, it is good to see former friends and neighbours drop into the village. Last week Melvin Dembrowski and his mother Mary Freimark were visiting.
Both cemetery clean-up groups have been hard at it and it is rewarding to have people who visit the cemeteries comment on how well they are maintained. Once again volunteers rise to the occasion. I know one group is working on trying to tame the caragana hedge and plan to remove some unwanted trees as well. This will be more than a regular six- or eight-person evening job, so many hands are needed.
Hoffnungsfelder Mennonite Church got a fresh coat of paint and is looking mighty fine for its age. At the same time several dead and dying trees were removed. Naomi Unger is presently at Waterloo, Ontario at the Mennonite Canada Conference. She is the delegate representing the three Hoffnungsfelder Churches in the area.
I would like to take my hat off to Albert and Ethel Walter. These two have worked tirelessly to bring St. Thomas United Church Hungarian Mission Cemetery at Rothermere back to life. Pardon the pun but it was too good to resist. Several have assisted Albert and Ethel in their work. The Rothermere cemetery lay in ruins for many years and was completely overgrown. Some years ago work began to clean it up but that attempt petered out. Over the last two years the area has been levelled and planted to lawn grass. Ethel has done extensive research to find the names of individuals buried there and has had iron cross markers made to mark the graves.
On Saturday a work bee was organized to fence the property. Interestingly, although the last internment in the cemetery was 43 years ago, on Saturday afternoon, unbeknownst to the workers assembled, an Alberta family brought the ashes of a family member back to be buried at Rothermere. It has made all the work worthwhile.
Rothermere is a school district about halfway between Rabbit Lake and Spiritwood, north on Meeting Lake, and was settled in the late 20s and early 30s by Hungarian refugees under the leadership of the United Church.
Isabelle McLennan and the Rabbit Lake Miracle Bunnies once again participated in the North Battleford Relay for Life June 10. Isabelle was the captain and her team consisted of Ruth Hrynewich, Janice Mazurek, Jessica Mazurek, Brenda Cookman, Cassidy Cookman, Karli Edlin, Lane Bradley McCann, Sky Gunville, Diane Tribble, Norma Sherman, Jeanette Krilow and Shelly Laughlin. Isabelle would like to thank her team of dedicated individuals who together worked to defeat cancer.
Get well wishes go out to Mary MacDonald who is a patient in Saskatoon Hospital and to Gwen Laughlin Sr. who is in North Battleford. We hope you are well soon and able to enjoy summer.
It is good to see Mark and Karen Vallee and Havoc back to their summer home here in Rabbit Lake.
Happy 25th Anniversary to Dave and Marlene Martens. Friends and family gathered on Canada Day to celebrate with Dave and Marlene.
About 20 ladies gathered at the Rabbit Lake Seniors Centre June 29 for a bridal shower in honour of Jennifer Wall who will be marrying Brian Jones July 23 at Neuanlage, Saskatchewan. Everyone had fun with the activities and enjoyed the lunch. Jan Richter and Marian Miller were the chief organizers of the shower.
Canada Day celebrations were a great success at Meeting Lake Regional Park. Twenty-one teams entered the bunnock tournament that began at 1:00 and went to late evening. Thanks to Lynn Morrison, Albert Combres, Doug and Doreen Lamb and their assistants for making such a good afternoon. During the day there was a fishpond and free mini-golf, as well as face painting by Leslie Salisbury. Judy Kennedy provided decorated cupcakes and coffee. The evening ended with a fireworks display enjoyed by all. It was great to see fireworks being set off at seven sites around the lake.
The winners of the bunnock tournament were as follows. A event: Fred Walter, Marlene Walter, Tyler Walter and Nicole Orpen; 2nd place: Dorothy Gartner, Hubert Gartner, Lyle Gartner and Rita Gartner. B event: Randy Nett, Marilyn Nett, Justin Nett and Aaron Gartner; 2nd place: Jean McNabb, Bruce McNabb, Doreen Lamb and Doug Lamb. C event: Heather Rentz, Jade Kozlowski, Adam Kozlowski and Jason Kozlowski; 2nd place: Dave Walker, Elaine Walker, Cheralyn Walker and Matthew Walker.
The 50/50 draw was won by Renae Rentz.
Some of the people attending stated they were sure surprised at how big a celebration we have considering how small the community is. The truth is that we could not do it at all if it were not for all the volunteers who make it happen year after year.
And, as if we had not partied enough, we are now gearing up for the Carlton Trail Jamboree on July 8, 9 and 10. Amazingly it is the same group of workers there as have been at all the other events. Help will be gratefully accepted on Monday after the jamboree with tear-down activities.
I try to be as positive as I can be in reporting what is happening in our area but I do have to admit that even I am getting frustrated with people who insist on operating quads and the like in farmers' fields and pastures. It would seem like we have lost the virtue of respect for other people's property. I often hear farmers commenting on fields rutted up, some fences cut and no one stopping to ask for permission to be on the land. I think we can do better than that!
