It feels so good to see the sun out earlier in the morning and a little later each evening. That brings composure back to the soul from the months of short days. Next week we will be mulling over whether March came in like a lamb or a lion.
High school curling district playdowns that began Feb. 13 in Unity saw girls, boys and mixed teams competing to advance to regional playdowns held Feb. 17 and 18 at the Unity Curling Club. The senior mixed Team UCHS advanced to high school provincial playdowns the first weekend in March. This is the team's fourth consecutive win in districts and their second consecutive win at regionals (last year being the first time the team was old enough to go to regionals and provincials). They will head to Abbey to vie for a provincial high school curling title.
The Glenn Heit team with Glen as skip, Daryl Eddingfield at third, Bart Brown at second and Gary Maze at lead head to Foam Lake this weekend to begin their provincial playdowns. Glen's wife Wanda will be competing with Team Darlene Gilles in Senior Women's Provincial Playdowns in Gravelbourg this weekend as well. And starting next week the bonspiel activity heats up again at the curling rink with the annual Oilmen's Bonspiel, followed by the ladies bonspiel March 10 weekend. Then there is a short break before the year-end funspiel takes place. In between, the league night curlers will be playing as they head toward the end of their season.
Provincial playdowns are over for all local teams but league playoffs for hockey have begun. Novice division will be hosting their home tournament March 3 weekend. If you are in doubt about what is upcoming at our rink, don't forget to check out the schedule at the rink or on the town of Unity website to check out when your favourite team is playing next. Remember folks, the majority of the action at the rink is FREE, excluding only the higher divisions and even these events have a nominal charge at the gate just to help pay some of their expenses.
All three schools are enjoying the February break, but will this be the last one? Some school divisions have already put forward motions to abolish this break to make up for lost time due to the legislation that states students are not to return to classes until after the September long weekend.
Basketball season is nearing the playoff portion with junior teams heading to playoffs the beginning of March and senior teams the weekend after.
It was sad to hear, after Unity having so much success in business growth in 2011, that Fields will be closing all their stores in Canada, including the local store here. This affects up to six employees as well as leaves a big vacancy in the business sector.
Even though the museum is looking for a replacement for a curator who is 98, that doesn't stop them from working on projects to help with betterment and beautification of our local museum. Sunday pancake brunches are still on every Sunday until April 29 and they cost only $6 per plate. We will soon be into spring, which means getting the museum ready for another season, so watch for the opening day in May.
The first Princess Tea will be held March 17 from 2 - 4 p.m. at St. Peter's Church Hall. Ages 0 to 99 are welcome. The afternoon consists of dainty snacks, fun games, enchanted prizes and magical entertainment. Ages two and under are free and four and over are $5. Ticket deadline is March 7 and you can call Kim Ducherer at 228-4184 for details. Sounds like fun!
The long term care centre is pleased to announce they are now on Skype to enable residents to have virtual visits with family who live at a distance. They are busy collecting families' Skype addresses. What a great way to incorporate today's technology into the lives of our beloved seniors.
The chamber is selling tickets for their annual chamber recognition night March 5, titled Celebrate Unity. Fifteen new businesses will be celebrated, realizing that the "opportUNITY in Unity" campaign has had an impact. As well the chamber will be recognizing eight long-time business people who chose to retire in 2011. The chamber also recognizes Heitts Plumbing and Heating for 30 years of success, Randy Sander Professional Accountant Corp for 30 years and Unity Credit Union who had a 70th anniversary milestone. Many businesses have new managers; and as well Unity received a new doctor, a new Roman Catholic priest and a new RCMP sergeant.
As well, eight successful committees who held various big events in Unity in 2011 will be recognized, as these events contribute greatly to the local economy. And the chamber is happy to recognize two groups for exemplary service that often gets taken for granted, those being the local Royal Purple and the Cemetery Committee. Contact Unity Credit Union for your ticket today.
Coffee row folk have been discussing, of course, the blast of winter we had Feb. 19. As well, many of these participants at coffee row are curling fans so they are also debating which Saskatchewan team, either Team Holland or Team Englot, will make it to the finals, or the chance that they might, in fact, meet each other there. And they seem to be excited about the soon to arrive Brier at the beginning of March, because curling is a great sport to watch and debate amongst friends. So you see we keep busy in Unity with activities and wisdom from our friends on coffee row. Until next week ...
