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Spooky forest near Meeting Lake welcomes visitors

Mayfair News: Harvest yields lowered by drought, as expected
Blue Mountain cattle
Pastured cattle love to see passersby at Blue Mountain resort.
MAYFAIR ‑ Harvest is wrapped up for another year. It will be one not soon forgotten because of the drought. As expected, the grain yields were low. Some crops farther north didn't mature as quickly as in the Battlefords area, where many folks were finished combining the first week of September.

The Halloween haunted forest at Linda and Marvin Price's farm near Meeting Lake had the first tour last Saturday with a good crowd going through. It's getting bigger, better and scarier, as one person put it. The next dates are Oct. 3 from 7 to 9 p.m., Oct. 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Oct. 16 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. weather permitting. Donations are greatly accepted and are to be given to a worthy organization. A guide for a group of viewers is provided otherwise one might get lost in the maze.

Get well wishes to Mayfair resident Rick Kotelko and former resident Mary Zyznomirski. Mary was in a Saskatoon hospital for a lengthy time.

I worked the federal election in Blaine Lake Sept. 20 as an information officer and thoroughly enjoyed it. The workers had to be there at 6:30 a.m. and stayed to count the votes thus leaving the building at 9:30 p.m. I met and worked with some wonderful people.

Blue Mountain Resort, nestled in the hills 20 miles northeast of North Battleford, has spectacular scenery this time of the year. New management still offers all the fun activities previously available. I enjoyed an outing Monday afternoon and took many photos. It is still also a popular winter resort, offering many miles of well-groomed cross-country ski trails, but let's hope the snow only arrives in December. The spacious hall with a wood-burning fire place and large kitchen is available for rent.

Many friends and relatives attended the funeral of 75-year-old Evelyn (Allan) Nachtegaele this past Saturday. Allan is my first cousin. They raised four children on the farm and two sons, Keith and Dwayne, still farm and operate Nachtegaele Agriculture Services. We visited many relatives we haven't seen because of COVID-19. One was Marie Louise (Gary) Phennig from Kelowna, B.C. Marie Louise's maiden name is Nachtegaele. She moved more than 50 years ago to Edmonton then to Kelowna. They are fully retired and usually go to Arizona for the winter months.

Sunday I took them for a drive four miles west of Hamlin to see all of the acreages overlooking the North Saskatchewan River. She never knew these existed.

The day before my sister Janet and husband Mike from St. Brieux explored another pasture one and a half miles from our farm site where we used to go berry picking as kids with our parents. Of course the colourful scenery was breathtaking, especially with the train bridge in the distance.

Happy 80th birthday to my neighbour Julian Goyan Sept. 25. They had the immediate family celebration at their farm due to COVID-19 keeping the gathering small.

A rural walk through the bushes, listening to the crunchy leaves beneath ones footsteps is good for ones well-being. If you experience this on a frosty morning, it really wakes your body up fast. Aren't we fortunate to have had only two light frosts which didn't do any damage, yet. The forecast for the next week is still looking splendid so get mobile outdoors.