Sept. 18 was a busy day in Unity. The day started off with the annual Candace Heit memorial run. This is the third year for this annual event and it gets more popular each year. Candace was a well known and loved young lady who passed away tragically in a car accident. Her parents wanted a legacy to remember her and, because she loved many sports, including running, they decided to start up this annual event with the aspirations of fundraising to expand the walking paths in Unity for young and old alike.
Organizers were pleased with 93 runners and 36 volunteers who came out to this annual event. The results are as follows for the best times: 5km, female, Shazia Hidyet, from Saskatoon, originally from Pakistan, time 23:23; 5km, male, Randy Warick, from Saskatoon, time 23:50; 10 km, female Judy Warick, time 57:20; 10km, male, Carlo Hansen of North Battleford, time 51:01; 21km, female, Jeannesta Kiefer, from Saskatoon, time 2:04:21; 21km, male, Keith Wilson of Unity, time: 1:39:27. Keith, first two years in a row, beat his previous record by five minutes. Wow Keith, congratulations. What strength and determination!
In the three-person relay we had four people. The team just planned that for the last seven kilometres two people would finish the run. This was the first time we had a team and they were from the Unity Credit Union. Team members were Carissa Ralston, Sarah Schurman, Michelle Pilot and Gerald Hauta, the Credit Union manager who also ran the 21K and the 5K with his daughter. Thanks for being our first three- person relay participants. You were all amazing.
All proceeds from this annual event are headed towards a paved walking path, with the first two kilometres ready for construction following this year's event. A memorial bench in honour of Candace will line the beginning of this path.
Following the relay in the morning, 11 folks joined the annual Terry Fox Run. Organizers were disappointed with the low turnout but realized that harvest is still happening, as well as two other events being on in town. They also took into account that UCHS participated in the run as part of their welcome week and the elementary schools participate on the National Schools Terry Fox Walk Day later in September. Just over $500 was raised with the Unity event. In the 30 years since people joined together to finish Terry's walk for him over $550 million has been raised worldwide.
And, if you were in the mood to take in even more action Sept. 18, the Paw Park held their grand opening. Laura Howdle encourages dog owners to come and let their dogs go for a run in Unity's first off-leash dog park.
Unity Skating Club will hold their registration night Sept. 22 from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. in the rink lobby. The club is hoping to expand on past success. Return coaches Colleen Smith, Michelle Brown-Mclean and Corinne Van de Meutter will again be working with skaters of all ages.
Both elementary schools' cross-country runners have been and still are competing in several meets throughout the month and have had to endure some big heat, but have fared well in their endeavours. The UCHS cross-country team of Kyla Van de Meutter, Megan Babchuk, Dakota Mahoney, Nicole Wagner, Kerry Gerein, Dustin Ubell, Kyle Bowey, Alex Pernitsky, Braden Lacoursiere and Trace Sperle have been in competition and still have two other events to attend before Unity hosts the Battlewest District meet Oct. 6.
At UCHS, Warrior Football now has a 1-2 record, losing the season opener to Meadow Lake but in their very next game against Martensville, finishing with an astonishing low score of 7-0 which shows how far they have come. In their welcome week game against JPII, the team showed great advances and spirit by defeating JPII by a score of 35-19.
Warriors Volleyball had a junior tournament in town with the home team placing respectably. Both senior boys and girls were out of town for tournaments. The senior girls' team is hosting a tournament Sep. 24. Junior girls will be hosting Oct. 15.
UCHS golfers participated in district competition Sept. 14 and were excited to see two team members advance to provincials at Kenosee Park Sept. 23 and 24. Mackenzie Chorney and Justin Wood both came in a close second, with Justin only being one stroke behind the first place winner. Hopes are high for UCHS to earn a provincial title as both golfers are athletic and playing very good golf this year. Both teens are also very busy with other sports, each being part of their senior volleyball teams, Mackenzie is also already playing hockey with her team and Justin is gearing up for his hockey season soon.
Coach Martin Berg said Justin's continuous play at competitions throughout the summer definitely has helped Justin be more confident in his ability. He feels that with Justin shooting his best there are high hopes of him placing at provincials. Coach Berg also stated that Mackenzie is playing very well for the time she was able to fit golf into her busy schedule. He knows provincials will be a great learning experience for her and he is also confident in her potential.
Coach Berg will be unable to attend the provincial golf event as he is already committed to his coaching duties with the Warriors Football team when they take on Delisle, as well as holding the rookie bowl the next day on Minor Football Day; however, staff supervisor Susan Chorney will take on the golf coaching duties in his absence.
Unity Minor Football is hosting Minor Football day Sept 24.Come out and watch the beginnings of greatness on Warrior Field and the UPS field. This event will include minor football games, a Warrior rookie game as well as the pass, punt and kick competitions. There will be a food booth on the grounds as well.
The first ever 3-on-3 hockey tournament begins Oct. 3 and runs to Oct. 14. Players are registered as individuals and placed on a team. This is great preconditioning leading into hockey season. Contact Unity Minor Hockey president Curtis Dyck for more details if you haven't yet registered and are interested.
Speaking of hockey, the Unity Miners Senior Hockey club is holding their camp Oct 4, 8:30 p.m., Oct 7, 8 and 11 at 8:30 p.m. and October 15 at 7:00 p.m. The team is hoping to host return players as well as see some new faces to fill some gaps left by departing players.
The trade show is creeping up on us. The rink will be bustling with booth displays, fall fair competitors and spectators Sept. 30 from 3 - 9 p.m. and Oct. 1 from 9 a.m.- 4 p.m. This is a fantastic weekend of variety, food, fun and fellowship so be sure to take in this annual event that the Ag Society folks work so hard to keep going in our community. There is sure to be something for all ages so come out and support them. Something new is the sponsorship of the grand aggregate baskets to encourage kids to participate in the annual fall fair. Material was distributed through the schools as well as posters put up around town to encourage the young folk to take part.
Coffee row folks are still chatting about the never-ending topic of the Riders and their season. The hot nice weather that is helping along the harvest season always brings a flurry of coffee talk, especially when the temperatures soared into the 30s and then suddenly dropped into hard frost and the furnaces kicked in yikes. And so again you can see we keep busy in Unity with activities and wisdom from our friends on coffee row. Until next week ...
