The crest for the Chestermere Fire Department was designed to incorporate both some town history as well as the Town of Chestermere's logo.

CHESTERMERE – Around the same time that the sun came up on the morning of Feb. 19, the Town of Chestermere officially took over control of all fire services in the community.

Local fire services had previously been under the control of Rocky View County, but it was announced on Jan. 4 that the agreement would come to an end. Mayor Patricia Matthews said last month that the move was made so that the Town could move ahead in becoming more sustainable.

From the community’s point of view, the change is seamless, as the fire service boundaries, equipment and even the fire hall itself will not change. However, there were alterations made internally during the transition.

The four captains – Brian Pomerenke, Craig Passmore, Brent Paquette and James Thompson – have stayed on in their same roles, however there were changes to the rest of the crew. There are now only eight full time members, down from 12, with the rest of the team is made up of part time and paid-on-call members.

Of the eight full time members, five individuals that served the community before the change occurred were successful candidates for the available positions.

“We are certainly disappointed that we didn’t have the opportunity to keep all of the firefighters that had served our town so well in the past,” said Mayor Matthews. “If budget had allowed, we certainly would have looked at expanding the department to be able to offer more positions.”

Matthews said that they went through a rigorous hiring process, and had “fantastic people come forward”, and that she is happy with the team they have selected to serve the community.

“We have some really fantastically qualified people, they are the cream of the crop,” she said.

Captain Brent Paquette said that although the number of full time members has decreased, the quality of service will not be affected, as more training was done with all members to accommodate the change.

“The Town has been very clear that they are going to work on getting us back up to where we were in the past in terms of how many members we have, within reason and within their budgets,” he said.

Paquette said that although it was a big change with a lot of work involved, he and the rest of the members are looking forward to being able to serve the community as the Chestermere Fire Department.

“We are very proud to have the Chestermere crest going on the uniform, it gives us a real sense of community,” he said. “Before, we were a contracted agency and there were little things that we may not have been able to do.

“We’re not longer thinking regionally as we did with Rocky View, so things are going to be way more community based than what we have been in the past.

“We hope to have our faces in the community a lot so that people will know us by name.”

He said that getting out in the community during events, visiting schools and forming stronger relationships with the Town, the RCMP and the Peace Officers are all things that will be important to them in the future.

Paquette stressed that the local department will maintain a positive working relationship with Rocky View, and that they will still help one another out when they can.

Perhaps the biggest visual change that the community will notice is the new logo that will be on all the trucks and uniforms. Paquette explained that the four captains sat down to design a logo with Sign Craft Digital of Calgary, and worked hard to incorporate some town history into its design.

“We wanted to bring back some heritage and some of the past into it, that’s why we have “professional, proud and proficient” on the logo, which was a Chestermere motto back when it was Chestermere Fire and Rescue,” he said. “We wanted to keep it neat and clean and incorporate the new town logo into it as well.

“We think we found a great balance and we’re all extremely happy with it, and we think it’s something that residents will appreciate as well.”

Matthews said, “They have put in a lot of work to create (the logo) as their own, and I’m really proud of them for hunkering down and getting everything done.

“I think the community will be really excited to see it, and hopefully they will be excited about having their own crew and own fire hall in the community.

“I know that the people who are hired are really excited about being able to offer fire service within Chestermere, and for many of them they will be serving the community they call home.”

Morton gathered informally with members of the community to talk about the 2012 budget on Feb. 17

CHESTERMERE – A small but talkative group gathered at Lakeside Greens Golf Club on Friday, Feb. 17 to sit down and have breakfast with local PC candidate, Minister of Energy Ted Morton.

The informal breakfast ran from 7 to 9 a.m., where attendees could mingle with Morton for a half hour or so before having breakfast.

Morton, who remained seated at the table with everyone to create a more conversational atmosphere, then spoke to his thoughts on the newly released budget.

He started off by saying that he thinks the new 2012 budget will put the province back on track to achieve balanced budgets for next year. 

”It’s a good new budget that is very fiscally responsible,” Morton said simply.

“This is the fifth deficit in a row, yes, but we had a savings account – a sustainability fund. We have drawn that down from $18-million to $3.7 million now.

“That has allowed us to keep building infrastructure that we need to balance the budget. In other words, we used a rainy day account because it was rainy.”

Morton said that the budget will increase investment in families, communities, education and support for the vulnerable, which he said will apply to the Chestermere and the area as it is a fast growing community.

He said that the budget also means no tax increases, and that the PC’s are projecting a balanced budget for 2013/2014.

“Budget 2012 is good news for Albertans and good news for Rocky View,” he said. “We will be back to a balanced budget by next year with no new taxes and no new tax increases.

“At the same time, we will maintain funding for your healthcare and your children’s education.”

Morton also briefly touched on his hope that things like healthcare, senior care and education will be able to benefit from a balanced budget. 

Ted Morton’s local constituency office is located in Chestermere Town Square, behind the Esso station. His website will be updated in the coming weeks, and will provide information about when he will be available in Chestermere.

For more information, visit tedmorton.ca

The Community Volunteer Tax Program will be available in Chestermere from March 5 to 10.

CHESTERMERE – Tax season is just around the corner already, so volunteers for Chestermere Community Services are gearing up to help make the Community Volunteer Income Tax program a success in the community.

It is the first time that the program, which is offered through the Canada Revenue Agency, will be available in Chestermere. A couple of local residents volunteered there time and went through two days of training to learn everything there is to know about the system, the expectations, rules and confidentiality.

They will be offering the service from March 5 to 10, either by appointment or through a drop-off service.

Angela Normand, Community Resource Coordinator for Community Services, said that anyone from Chestermere or southeast Rocky View is welcome to use the service, as long as their income is low and the taxes are simple.

“We have two great people from the community who have volunteered their time to help residents with their taxes,” she said. “An appointment will take about half-an-hour or 45 minutes, and everything that needs to be done will be completed in that time.”

Normand said that she thinks the program will be especially beneficial for people who are struggling with their finances, and hopes it will help people save some money if they can.

“Spending an extra $60 to go somewhere like H&R Block could be difficult for someone on a tight budget,” she said. “If you don’t know how to do your taxes or can’t afford the software for doing them from home, then you’re stuck.

”So, a lot of people often don’t file their taxes, which limits them later because they’re not eligible for government services like Child and Family Benefits or GST.”

Normand said that for those who are low income and file their taxes properly, there are other beneficial programs to make use of, such as the Alberta Child Health Benefit.

“A lot of people don’t know that they can get prescriptions, dental, vision care and other services through those programs if their income is within a certain range, and if they get their taxes done,” she said.

Normand said that anyone interested can call her at 403-207-7079 to find out what paperwork needs to be submitted, if they qualify for the program, or if they have any further questions.

Visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca/volunteer for more information about the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program.

Dwayne Peace of Dare to Care will be in Chestermere on March 1 to educate parents about the dangers of drugs in youth.

CHESTERMERE – On Thursday March 1, a free presentation about youth and drugs will be offered at Chestermere Lake Middle School.
Dwayne Peace, facilitator of the Dare to Care program, will be at the school to do a presentation called “The Truth About Drugs.”
The staff and administration had approached Peace about returning to the school this year, as he did a presentation last year as well. Although the turnout was low, those who attended said it was a beneficial presentation and that more people should be given the chance to attend. So, the CLMS parent council funded the presentation to bring it back for a second year, as they felt it was important for both parents and students.
The March 1 evening presentation is intended for an adult audience, but everyone is encouraged to bring a friend or two. CLMS students will receive a presentation from Dare to Care at a separate time, along with teachers and supervisors, during school hours.

The CLMS Parent Council
 is urging anyone in the community, not just CLMS parents, to attend the session.

Members of the parent council said that Peace is a “dynamic presenter” and will provided a powerful presentation.

“He has over twenty years experience with policing, he has worked as a school resource officer, and he brings a unique perspective to sharing information about drugs,” said a parent council e-mail. “Parents and students will have the best information to make decision regarding the use of drugs.

“Parents will be informed about the effects of drugs and how to support their children.  Students will learn the effects of drugs on their bodies, and minds.”
The Dare to Care program is a fully comprehensive approach to dealing with bullying and challenges within school communities, including drugs. They provide a comprehensive approach that involves students, teachers, parents and the community in an effort to eliminate bullying and other dangerous behaviors from their schools and, in turn, create an atmosphere of tolerance and respect.
The Dare to Care program helps school communities, from Kindergarten to Grade 12 create a common language, which then allows for more consistent intervention and follow through when dealing with challenging issues.
The presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m. on March 1, and will be held at CLMS.

Cheadle's Berniece Bland

One of the first things you might notice about Berniece Bland’s upon meeting her is how much her last name doesn’t match her personality.

In fact, she is anything but bland, which is why she is this week’s interesting person in the community.

Before settling down in Cheadle about 30 years ago, Bland and her family moved around the country, as they following her husband through his career in the RCMP.

Today, Bland sits on the Wheatland County Council, and is in her second term. She said that she enjoys being on council because it has taught her a lot about her community and that she has a great appreciation for politics.

“It took two years to really learn how everything worked,” she said of being on council. “I’m in my fourth year now so I have things figured out, and I enjoy it.

“I have a tremendous area that I look after, and the people are really good.

“It’s an interesting job, because it wakes you up to what is going on in other people’s lives in your world that you wouldn’t have otherwise known about.”

Although she is busy with her position on council, Bland has a whole other career as a graphologist, meaning that she studies handwriting to analyze character and personality traits.

She did heavy training in graphology to earn her degree, doing all of the work through the mail through correspondence from a school in Chicago, the only way it was available 20 years ago.

Bland said that she read a book about graphology and thought it was interesting, so she decided to look into it further, and found it was something she was passionate about.

”There isn’t anything you can’t tell about a people through their handwriting,” she said. “From their health to their brain, everything is in there on the page.

“If you suddenly got a bad headache or bad news while you were writing, it would immediately show.”

Bland said that everything that goes into handwriting has to do with the subconscious mind, and that she looks at everything from the shape of the writing, to the way the first letters in a sentence are written, to whether or not someone dots their I’s and how they cross their T’s.
She said that she used to study handwriting for businesses or law firms, but has also done it for individuals who were seeking guidance. These days she mostly works with people through word of mouth rather than for business reasons.

In addition to graphology, Bland has also studied color psychology, where she studies colors and how they factor in to human behavior. She said that is also trained in massage therapy, and uses this skill to help palliative care patients.

Bland said that she continues to learn new things about people every day, whether it’s while she is sitting on the Wheatland County council or while she passes someone where bright colors on the street.

As far as why she is involved in so many things, she simply said, “I just love working with people.”

Tim Rotheisler of Chestermere has recently purchase rights to a process that allows him to fully repair composite hockey sticks.

CHESTERMERE – Local resident Tim Rotheisler says the he can repair your broken hockey stick to it’s original form. He can’t tell you exactly how he does it, but he says it doesn’t matter, because once you get your stick back in your hands, you’ll forget all about it.
Rotheisler recently got involved with Integral Hockey Stick Repair, a company founded by Randy Langille of British Columbia, who with his skills from building aircraft components, applied advanced laminating processes to repairing hockey sticks.
Rotheisler said that he discovered Integral while checking things out online, because he had always been interested in finding a way to successfully repair hockey sticks.
“There was nothing out there that I had confidence in before this,” he said. “I saw Randy’s process and saw the results and I was quite amazed that he was able to get the stick back to its original condition.”

Rotheisler said that he had three main reasons for being interested enough in the process to become a franchisee. The first was that he simply hopes to put broken sticks back into the hands of players, the second was to keep the carbon composite sticks out of landfills, and finally, to mitigate the costs involved with playing hockey.

“The costs of have a child in hockey are always increasing, especially when you get to the bantam age and above,” he said. “Once your kid gets to a certain level, you’re buying sticks that are between $200 and $300 each, which are not always an easy thing to replace if they break.

“So, the process give people an option to get the stick repaired to it’s original form, and save themselves some money.”

Rotheisler said that this repair process is not available anywhere else in the Calgary area. He said that because patents are still pending, he can’t talk specifically about how the sticks are fixed. He merely said that it is a hollow body repair done from the inside, leaving little to no visual evidence of the repair on the outside. 

“When it’s done, you get your stick back with no compromise to the weight, balance, flexibility or kick-point,” he said.

Rotheisler said that high performance hockey players, such as players from the Port Albini Bulldogs, use the process frequently to have their sticks repaired. He said that it is a testimonial in itself that the team has used some repaired sticks not only in regular season games, but in playoff games as well.

“They’ve proven to be valuable to teams because it saves them an enormous amount of money on sticks, and the players get to continue playing with a stick they enjoyed using,” he said.

Rotheisler has fixed around 20 sticks since starting out last month, doing all of the repairs out of his shop in his basement. He said he hopes find a location in the city in the future.

He charges $55 to fix a stick that is broken in the shaft, and said that he is able to fix blades if need be. His time frame is about three days for a repair. 

”I hope that the process gets accepted among hockey players, parents and teams, and that people will find that they can save a lot of money,” he said.

For more information, visit integralhockeynecalgary.com, call Tim at 403-235-1072 or e-mail him at trotheisler@integralhockey.com.

Due largely to this arrogance, the federal PCs were subsequently booted from power and were reduced to 2 seats from 169. In Alberta, the PCs lost every seat in the province; the vast majority to Preston Manning’s populist conservative Reform Party.

Isn’t it amazing how history may be repeating itself.

The Redford PCs 2012 election slogan seems to be “Vote PC – and we’ll tell you our plans after the election.”

Last week in Question Period, I asked Ms. Redford 3 times whether she would commit, if the PCs are re-elected, to not raise taxes in order to balance their continued record deficits. She refused, saying she wants to have a “fulsome discussion” about all of the provinces finances including the possible need to raise taxes after the upcoming election.

I asked Ministers Morton, Horner and Griffiths the same question — same answer.

Think about that for a moment. If I wanted to buy a used car, I would obviously want a mechanic to inspect the car for possible defects before I decided to purchase it. If the seller told me I could inspect the car only after I paid for it, I’d tell him he was obviously hiding something and wouldn’t purchase it. Deciding who to vote for is no different…people need to know what they’re voting for before they cast their votes, not after.

And it isn’t just taxes the PCs won’t come clean on prior to the election.

After promising, during the PC leadership race, to call a public inquiry into politically connected queue jumping and systemic health worker intimidation in our health system, Ms. Redford has run out the clock ensuring that no truths on these matters will be revealed until after the ballots are cast.

Furthermore, she has ensured MLAs and Cabinet won’t vote on a possible salary and benefits hike until after the polls are closed.

As your MLA and as the Wildrose candidate for Airdrie, I will be joining with the other Wildrose MLAs and Party leader Danielle Smith in pledging to Albertans that we will not support any new or increased taxes of any kind if elected. We will launch a public inquiry into health queue jumping and health worker intimidation immediately upon taking office, and we will slash MLA severance by 67% and Cabinet salaries by 30% as one of the first acts of a Wildrose government.

Elections should be about party leaders and MLAs putting their plans on the table for public debate, and respecting the voters enough to let them select which path to take.

If the PCs are unwilling to show voters this respect…perhaps Albertans should Kim Campbell them.

This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units.

This defect has been identified as “Sub sequential Internal Non-morality,” more commonly known as S.I.N. as it is primarily expressed.

Some of the symptoms include:

1. Loss of direction
2. Foul vocal emissions
3. Amnesia of origin
4. Lack of peace and joy
5. Selfish or violent behavior
6. Depression or confusion
7. Fearfulness
8. Idolatry
9. Rebellion

The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect.

The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required.

The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R.

Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through the REPENTANCE procedure.

Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component.

No matter how big or small the SIN defect is, God will replace it with:

1. Love
2. Joy
3. Peace
4. Patience
5. Kindness
6. Goodness
7. Faithfulness
8. Gentleness
9. Self control

Please see the operating manual, eg. the B.I.B.L.E. (BEST Instructions Before Leaving Earth) for further details on the use of these fixes.

WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list, and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded.
For free emergency service, call on God.

DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you for your attention!

– GOD

P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by ‘Knee mail’.