Kevin Schaunberg, vice president and long-time member of the Friends of the St. Victor Petroglyphs, presents Judy Foster with an autographed Saskatchewan Roughriders #80 jersey which she won at the fundraiser draw at the Friends of the Petroglyphs Lifeways and Pathways Festival in St. Victor on June 3. Foster bought the ticket at the Friends fundraising supper at 121 Steakhouse and didn’t really expect to win.
The Don Narcisse jersey was donated by SaskPower for the draw. Narcisse, an American, stayed in Regina after winding up his career. He is in the Football Hall of Fame and played in the 1989 Grey Cup. Narcisse holds the professional football record for most consecutive games with at least one reception in every game (216). He is considered one of the greatest players in Roughriders history and one of the leagues greatest receivers.
The Friends of the St. Victor Petroglyphs have been around since the early 1990s started by Dave Munro of Assiniboia and interested individuals from St. Victor and Coronach. This group is dedicated to the preservation and education about the historic petroglyphs at St. Victor. They hold fundraisers to support activities and members pay a small fee to join.
The Friends’ latest project was the release of Monarch butterflies on June 3. The group organized a public event where individuals could sponsor a butterfly and release it to raise awareness about the plight of these endangered Monarchs. The butterflies were ordered from the Monarch butterfly farm in Mississauga, Ont. They arrived packed in special triangle-shaped boxes that were cooled. To release the fully-grown Monarchs, the boxes were opened and the butterflies warmed in the sun before flying off to forage. The butterflies will be monitored over the summer. St. Victor has many hotspots with milkweed, the only food source for the Monarch caterpillars. Once the new generation has matured, they will migrate in late summer to Mexico. There, they will overwinter and return to Canada. Saskatchewan Conservancy reports that Monarch butterflies have lost up to 90 per cent of their habitat, both summer and winter.
