Celebrating diversity with recognition night
The Humboldt Regional Newcomers Centre’s first Building Communities Recognition Night celebrated diversity in the region on Jan. 28 with awards and a performance by the PFE Dance Troupe.
Newcomers Centre Executive Director Janine Hart says that they wanted to recognize people in their wide reaching service area.
“We really wanted to celebrate the diversity our region has and celebrate those people, workplaces, and schools that really reach out to newcomers.”
Hart says these individuals and businesses are not only providing opportunities by welcoming these newcomers to the area but are also supporting their integration and settlement into the area.
That is what the Newcomers Centre does for newcomers to the area but there are also so many other people working on their own to provide this support. They wanted to celebrate that, says Hart.
For full story, click here.
Hall of fame welcomes five more to the hall
It was a night of reflection for a number of people, reflecting on what they had done and where they had been.
This reflection took place during the 11th Night of Champions celebration on June 24.
The celebration saw five new inductees into the Humboldt and District Sports Hall of Fame, bringing the total inductees to 59.
Throughout the course of the evening Kelly Bates, Jerome Engele, Brad Lauer, Wendy Toye, and the 2007-2008 Humboldt Broncos all received their place in the hall.
In addition to welcoming home five former members of the Humboldt and district community, the sports hall of fame also welcomed home a sixth member, former HCI grad Brian Munz, who introduced each of the inductees.
Chamber celebrates business excellence
The 18th annual Mark of Excellence banquet honoured local businesses with 29 businesses up for 10 awards on March 23.
The night was dedicated to the excellent businesses, not just in Humboldt but also in the area, says Humboldt and District Chamber of Commerce President, Kim Mitchell.
Things were done a little differently this year, says Mitchell, with winners being selected by an external committee
“We had a Chamber in Saskatchewan actually do all the judging and it was their committee that judged all the businesses. We felt it made it more valid.”
Fifty years no small feat for St. Peter’s Chorus
Over 500 people have been involved with St. Peter’s Chorus since its inception in 1967.
Now 50 years later, some of their 500 members got together to celebrate with their anniversary banquet and concerts in Lanigan on April 28 at Knox United Church and a home concert on Apr. 30 at St. Peter’s Church in Muenster.
The group sang beautiful renditions of songs that have been sung in years past, even one going back to their first concert back in 1968 and even a new one that was just added to their repertoire. Some numbers were specifically
chosen as tributes to the choir’s founding director, Al Gerwing, who passed away in 2007.
The 48 member choir was joined by another 16 former members to form the Reunion Choir for the last four songs of their St. Peter’s performance.
Indigenous Peoples celebrated with first flag raising
There was much to celebrate on June 21 as Horizon School Division raised four First Nation flags in honour of National Indigenous Peoples Day.
The day started off with a pipe ceremony with Austin Kay and Utin Machiskinic of the Kawacatoose First Nation residing over the traditional ceremony.
Four flags from First Nation communities were raised, including Day Star First Nation, Fishing Lake First Nation, George Gordon First Nation, Muskowekwan First Nation, as well as the Truth and Reconciliation flag, and the Horizon
School Division flag being raised during the drumming of the Flag song by the Horse Drum Group. Drumming and dances were also done by guest dancers.
Humboldt Collegiate starts school year with championships
It was a solid trip to the provincial championships for the Humboldt Collegiate Mohawks cross-country team as they finished in fourth place in the 3A team points competition, missing out on a top three finish by just four points.
The Mohawks sent 12 runners to the championships, where they competed in five different events, where they managed one top three, in the midget boys competition.
The Humboldt Collegiate Mohawks captured the 2A boys soccer provincial champions thanks to a perfect 3-0 record at the provincial championships in Yorkton on Oct. 27-28.
The provincial title capped off a solid season from the Mohawks, which saw them win the district title, regional title, and provincial title, finishing with a record of 11-2 on the season.
It was four years in the making for the senior boys volleyball team.
After first working with the majority of the Humboldt Collegiate Mohawks boys volleyball team four years ago, head coach David Millette set a goal for the team to win the provincial title this year, and the Mohawks realized that goal over the weekend as they captured the 4A provincial title on their home floor.
The Mohawks wrapped up the Nov. 24-25 tournament with a perfect 7-0 record, that saw them fail to lose a set along the way.
For full story, click here for Mohawks Soccer and here for Mohawks Volleyball.
Students invited to a different kind of PARTY
Motor vehicle accidents can have a huge impact, and not just on the victims.
That was the message Safe Communities wanted to get across with the 13th annual Prevent Alcohol and Risk Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) program on May 3.
Young people are faced with choices everyday about drinking, drugs, and cell phone usage.
If the program can provide them with tools and information to get them rethinking their choices, even if it is just one person who chooses not to drink and drive, the program is doing its job, says Safe Communities Executive Director, Shari Hinz.
Around a hundred students from Humboldt Collegiate Institute’s grade 10 class and Englefeld School’s grade 9 and 10 participated in the program which is a hands on learning experience about the impacts of drinking and driving and texting and driving.
HES celebrate 11th Charity Event
The Humboldt Emergency Services Charity Event on March 4 was a chance to celebrate Humboldt’s unique relationship between the Humboldt RCMP, Ambulance, and Fire while raising money for community projects.
Humboldt Fire Department Chief, Mike Kwasnica, says that even having all branches of emergency services come together when there is not an emergency is important for building the team.
“You get to know the other members, you get to work with them, you get to see them as a real person, and you get to see them outside their regular work hours.”
Humboldt Travel Club reflect on trip to France and Vimy
Twenty-eight young people from Humboldt got the opportunity of a lifetime as they travelled with the Humboldt Independent Travel Club to France for the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge on April 9.
Members travelled from April 3 to 13 and toured not only World War One sites but also some World War Two sites across France and Great Britain.
The students did a lot of work to be able to go, including preparing to miss nine days of school, says chaperone Margaret Nagy.
The 100th anniversary ceremony included the story of Vimy Ridge through poems and letters read by prominent Canadian actors and performers, the reading of thousands of names of Canadians who died on Vimy Ridge, as well as the placing of 3,600 pairs of boots to represent the number of Canadians that died.
For full story, check the May 3rd edition of the Humboldt Journal.
Do not cut our libraries; Humboldt rallies in support
Along with speakers from the library board and the City of Humboldt, people were encouraged to spend their time reading as a way of protesting cuts to regional libraries from the provincial budget released on March 22. This meant a loss of 58 per cent to operating costs across the province and the loss of the One Card, One Library borrowing system.
Patrons had access to materials from across the province under the system which meant a borrowing catalogue of 3.6 million pieces of material.
The province wide protests worked with the provincial government reversing the cuts at the end of April.
See some of our favourite photos from the 2017 by clicking here
