Musical Ride part of a busy week for Battleford

Superintendent John Sutherland's visit to Battleford Town Council this week presented an opportunity for councillors to look back at the town's busiest week of the summer with satisfaction.

After presenting the quarterly statistics, which Sutherland described as "fairly quiet," he joined in a wrap-up of the past week's events, including a visit to Fort Battleford by the RCMP Musical Ride on a rainy July 13.

"It was nice to have our historic icon of Canada here in the Battlefords and at the Fort," said Sutherland. "I was also down to Wilkie and participated down there, so I got to see it twice."

He added, "For me it was interesting … the inspector in charge of the Ride and I used to work together in the Yukon and, actually, one of the riders and I used to work together, so we had some catching up and old home week."

Otherwise, he said in answer to a question from Mayor Derek Mahon about how much interaction local members have with the Ride, there is not a lot of interaction, although a social for both groups was held at the campground in Battleford.

"They are self-contained," he said. "They show up, they do their thing. We must make sure if they have any special needs or whatever, but they're pretty used to travelling, not only across North America but internationally and the world."

While in Battleford, the Ride was stabled at the arena. Parks and Recreation Superintendent Jordan Schechtel said everything went well.

"Actually, some of the members from the Musical Ride said … this was one of the better stabling they've seen this year," said Schechtel. "That was good to hear."

The Musical Ride preceded the annual Saskatchewan Handcraft Festival, which ran Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Friday saw the Town of Battleford annual parade. It was led by Sutherland this year.

"I understand it was a good pace, something to do with the age of the person in front," he laughed.

Regarding Monday's report to council on policing activities, Sutherland acknowledged the concern raised by the Battlefords North West Historical Society regarding the historic land titles building on Government Ridge and the old St. Vital Church within the town as possible targets for vandalism.

He said they are making sure all the members are aware of the concern.

"We have such a big changeover, we're making sure members know where the buildings are, and we also have a key to get into the back end of the Fort if we need to," said Sutherland. "It's always a challenge because we can drive by and two minutes later something can happen."

Town Administrator Sheryl Ballendine agreed, saying town staff check on the buildings as well.

"We have two departments that check on it as regular as they can," she said. "You can go out there and ten minutes later someone can phone and say something's happened."

Town councillors also noted their request to have more speeding motorists stopped has also seen results.

"There was definitely more members pulling people over, and I think it's slowing down quite a bit, so thank you for that," said Councillor Ames Leslie.

They noted there are also speeding issues on 35th Street during "ball time," 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., when games are being played on the Flats.

Sutherland also informed councillors of the recent promotion of Sgt. Darcy Woolfitt. He's been here a long time and is well known in the community, said the inspector.

"He was the sergeant in charge of our plain clothes section, was recently promoted to staff sergeant in charge of operations, so he's now the 2IC, or second in command, of the detachment, looking at the operational end of things," said Sutherland. "We're really excited about that. He brings a lot of local knowledge and a lot of contact and resources and it's going to be a pretty positive move forward for the office."