1993 - The hottest headlines
from Elk Point Review
By Vicki Brooker
Another year has come to an end, and once again, we look through the last 52 issues of the Elk Point Review to check out the highlights of the year...
JANUARY
Wayne McKenzie got the year off to a great start when he checked out his Lotto 649 ticket and found he had won a whopping $2.3 million...
The tiny son of John and Ruby Babcock put in an appearance on January 11 to become Elk Point's New Year’s Baby...
Over two years of planning, fundraising and celebrating the two hundredth anniversary of Fort George and Buckingham House fur trading posts was wrapped up with the presentation of the fifty-page Bicentennial Report...
Minister of Municipal Affairs Steve West forecasted “tempered” grants for the coming year...
Mayor Ed Buck introduced a concept involving the addition of community services facilities to the existing F. G. Miller High School...
Lengthy negotiations between the Elk Point Surface Rights Association and Amoco Canada were concluded with an agreement satisfactory to both parties...
Two accidents injured four people within a half hour on icy roads...
Sheila Thompson began her second term as Historical Society President at the 1993 Annual Meeting, which featured Michale Lang of Lac La Biche Mission as guest speaker...
Elk Point representative Billie Milholland explained the Regional Tourism Action Plan concept to Council...
Three generations of Andersons took part in the Grand Challenge at the 1993 Windsor Club Mixed Bonspiel, with Don Anderson skipping the winning rink against a team skipped by his nephew Brad and with his mother Pearl playing third...
Town Council voted unanimously to discontinue the Peter Fidler logo and pin in favor of a return to the former “Gateway To The Lakeland” design...
The B & R Eckels rink, skipped by Victor Roeque, won the 10th Annual Oilmen’s Bonspiel grand challenge, as the first month of 1993 drew to an end.
FEBRUARY
Elk Point had two distinguished visitors during the first week of February, when the BPO Elks Grand Exalted Ruler Joe Calder visited the Elks and Royal Purple lodges, and Cabinet Minister Diane Mirosh toured Elk Point...
Louise Crane was elected the new president of the Elk Point Chamber of Commerce at the annual meeting...
County Councillor Ray Danyluk held his first ratepayers’ meeting aimed at opening the doors of communication...
Dorothea Naber and Amy Hawkins left for Quebec on a high school exchange program...
St. Paul's Cliff Martin won the Elk Point Hog Spiel...
Terry Wozniak was named best defenceman in the Sask Alta Hockey League...
Friends and Fort volunteers were honored at the Fur Trappers Ball...
Tofield won the 20th Annual Pacers Basketball Tournament...
A sizeable increase in the estimated cost of extending Elk Point Airport’s runway shocked Town Council...
Stella Lorenson skipped the Windsor Club Ladies Grand Challenge champions...
Family Day weekend featured outdoor winter fun at the Forts...
The County of St. Paul school board voted to leave the North Central East Alberta School Authorities Association in favor of a local bargaining unit...
Wes Meger of Grand Centre won the Elk Point Mixed Bonspiel...
Beavers took all the prizes in the Scouting Banquet cake decorating contest.,..
John Drobot announced he would not seek the Progressive Conservative nomination for the next election...
Three Elk Point residents, Paul Stepa, Sid Holthe and Vicki Brooker, were presented with Canada 125 medals...
Mannville won the Norcen Cup Peewee tournament...
Victor Roeque was once again the winning skip in the Men’s Open Bonspiel Grand Challenge.
MARCH
March came in with a bang, with an explosion and fire lighting up the night at the former 3D Shell Station on Highway 41 and leaving nothing but a few charred remains...
Elk Point Chamber embarked on their 1993 membership drive...
Tanya Stone and Christine Seniuk left for Ottawa for an Encounter With Canada...
Elk Point Thunder successfully defended their title as Zone 2 Champions...
Al Poirier announced his candidacy for the PC nomination...
4-Hers competed in speak offs and demonstrations, with Yvette Laux, Allan Baker, Carla Domstad, Garrett Poulin, Jaylene Purdy, David Naber and Claudia Naber taking home the trophies...
St. Paul Rockets won the B & R Bullets hockey tournament...
Denis Jasinsky, Tenille Anderson, Sean Fairbairn and Jennifer Jasinsky won the County Cup in senior high curling...
The $5.1 million contract for the 30-bed long term care addition and renovations to Elk Point Hospital was awarded to Aman Building Corporation of Sherwood Park...
Elk Point Skating Club saluted Broadway at their annual carnival...
Two skaters, Elisabeth Ludlage and - Shauna Loughran, were honored for their achievement of Triple Gold status...
Denis Jasinsky skipped the winners at the Teen Spiel...
Jaylene Purdy placed first and David Naber second at District 4-H Speak offs...
Beaverlodge won their second provincial Midget C championship in a row as Elk Point hosted the Provincial Tournament...
Elk Point Chamber gained access to government tenders via an INET computer linkup...
New Girl Guides were enrolled at Fishing Lake...
Robyn Danyluk was named MVP for the Junior High Girls basketball team...
Charlene Anderson won Provincial gold in Junior Ladies Freeskate...
Elk Point OORP hosted their District Meeting...
Seventeen Grade 9 students from Baie Comeau, Quebec, visited Elk Point...
Education Week featured displays, an open house and both school and county level
Science Fairs...
Elk Point combined their Bantam hockey teams and came home with a silver from the
Value Drug Mart tourney in Calgary.
APRIL
The Community Services Building was the victim of a window breaking spree by unknown
vandals...
Elk Point Curling Club wound up their season with league awards going to the Lyle
Yerama and Art Britton rinks in the Mixed division, the Don Anderson and Steve Penz
rinks in the Men’s and the Denis Jasinsky rink in the Junior league...
Elk Point Ag Society hosted a Fun and Furry Horse Show, with Shanna Baker winning the
Junior High Point award...
Clinton Maksymec and Kimberley Wilson won district level awards in the Legion Poster,
Essay and Poetry contests...
Renee Anderson and Kim Young won silver at County Cup Badminton...
Elk Point Ag Society's Trade Fair was a roaring success, and included a 24 foot dinosaur from the Greatest Show Unearthed...
Elk Point volunteers were honoured for 152,915 hours of dedicated service with a week of activities including guest speakers Jon Lee Kootnekoff and Sandra Young Kolbuc, and a presentation by the Fab Two Theatre...
Violet McFadyen was honoured on her retirement as Red Cross President after 25 years in that post...
The Edmonton and District Historical Society presented Billie Milholland and Adele Mandryk of the Bicentennial Society with an Award of Merit in History...
Elk Point Ukrainian Dance Club won numerous awards in North Battleford...
The NADC met in Elk Point and received over 20 briefs, including six from Elk Point...
John Trefanenko got the Tory nomination nod...
Amoco set their sights on six new wells in 1993...
The Town of Elk Point had small attendance at their Ratepayers’ Meeting, at which the
1993 operational mill rate was announced...
Joni Matthews set a new Alberta indoor track record in the Triple Jump for Midget
Girls...
Elk Point Lakers ladies basketball team won the Intermediate B Provincial title...
Fine Arts night at Elk Point Elementary showcased the students’ drama and choral talents.
MAY
Michael Chubey was installed as the Exalted Ruler of the BPOE, while Sharon Algot began a second term as Honored Royal Lady of the OORP...
Olga Tomkow raised the most pledges in the Lions Journey For Sight walkathon...
Elk Point Ag Society’s Second Annual Spring Rodeo was rained out, and rescheduled for June 30 and July 1. The decorating contest sponsored by the Chamber in conjunction with the rodeo was a big success...
The colorful pageantry of Ukrainian dancing drew a packed crowd to the thrilling Spring Concert...
Elk Point Chamber of Commerce welcomed new Treasury Branch manager Mel Ryks...
Canada Health Day was celebrated with a tea, bazaar and bake sale at the hospital...
Recreation matters, including user fees and maintenance agreements, figured prominently on Council’s agenda...
Fort George - Buckingham House Interpretive Centre opened for their second season...
Business was in full bloom as Maryann Kozicky realized a long-standing dream and opened Meadowview Garden Centre...
St. Paul Klip Joint Klippers won the Jan Frisby Memorial ball tournament...
Thirty-seven members of the F. G. Miller Class of "93 celebrated their Graduation...
Frank Mayner was presented with the Lescarbot Award of Honor for outstanding contributions to community cultural activities...
Town Council made a long-delayed decision to commit a$17,500 share toward the extension of the airport runway...
Elk Point Elementary School was victorious at the County Track meet for the 15th time in 16 years...
Thirty-four piano students gave a most impressive recital...
Elk Point Choral Society entertained two capacity crowds with their Spring Concert...
Elk Point Auto Club shone in the spotlight with their annual Show and Shine.
JUNE
Heinsburg’s Class of 93, ten in number, declared “We will never reach our destination, if we never try...”
The Great Participaction Challenge saw a 7 percent increase in the number of people taking part over the 1992 Challenge...
David Naber showed the Grand Champion steer, while his sister Dorothea showed the Reserve. Carrie Piotrowski topped the female classes, with Robyn Danyluk showing the Reserves at the annual 4H Achievement Day...
Seniors Week started off with a well attended open house at Heritage Lodge, and ended with the 20th Anniversary celebrations of the Pioneer Circle...
Tim Havener showed the Interclub Reserve Champion at the district 4-H show in St. Paul...
Paul Langevin was elected MLA of the new St. Paul – Lac La Biche constituency, and Steve West was re-elected in Vermilion...
Carole Rae opened a handsome showroom for her longstanding business, Custom Curtains by Carole...
Elk Point 4-H hosted the District Heifer Show...
Art Britton won the Men’s Open Golf tournament...
Elk Point Hi West Hooters won Heinsburg’s Slowpitch tournament...
Three Town Councillors took beautification into their own hands and filled the Town Office planters with greenery when budget restrictions did not allow plants to be purchased...
Elk Point Chamber wound down for the summer...
Barking dogs were the bane of a number of Elk Point residents, including Mayor Buck...
Elk Point streetlights were changed over to high pressure sodium to save energy and money...
Stan Robertson of Clandonald won the Dewberry Chuckwagon Meet...
Doreen Mayner retired after 12 years at Elk Point Public Library...
Stoney Lake carried on their longstanding tradition with their 3ist Annual Stampede...
Local businesses sent their staff to the Alberta Best seminar...
Fort George-Buckingham House celebrated the first anniversary of the Interpretive Centre...
Elementary School students wound up the school year with the presentation of awards...
Fast Company and the Hog won the Spring Slowpitch League...
Canada Day week got off to an uplifting start with a three-hour Gospel concert.
JULY
Following hard on the heels of new mill rates which meant a tax hike for all Elk Point residents, was actual rain on our Canada Day parade, rodeo and other outdoor activities...
Smilin’ Johnnie and Eleanor Dahl wound up July 1 with a well attended stage show, but the Canada Day activities were still not over, as twelve members of Canada’s Sky Hawks parachute team provided a wonderful show when the sun finally came out on Friday evening...
Slightly drier conditions prevailed for the Whitney Lake Rodeo the following weekend...
High school classes from 1955 to 1965 converged for a gigantic and much enjoyed reunion...
Shanna Baker, Jaylene Purdy and Jamie Schnurer took the high point trophies at the
Elk Point Saddle Slickers Achievement Day...
Allan Baker of the Saddle Slickers took the Overall High Point trophy at the District 4-H Horse Show, while sister Shanna won every senior class and the Senior High Point honors, and Jamie Schnurer won the Pee Wee High Point ribbon...
Tanya Kenyon and Shanna Baker brought even more equestrian fame, winning gold medals
at the North East Alberta Summer Games...
A farm accident claimed the life of Pete Falenda...
Town Council agreed to seek owners for the prime serviced lots in the Industrial Subdivision...
Parks Day at Whitney Lake was celebrated with a Sandcastle competition...
Joni Matthews qualified for the Nationals by winning the Juvenile Women's Triple Jump at the Provincial Legion track and field championships...
F.G. Miller’s Class. of "73 enjoyed a 20-year reunion...
Rain delayed the Senior, Ladies and Junior Golf Tournament finals, but Homer Poitas, Evelyn Babcock and Mark Woytkiw eventually took home the trophies...
Break and-enter burglaries plagued local businesses, and the RCMP told a special meeting of the Chamber to “secure your premises.”
AUGUST
Dewberry’s Buddy Bensmiller won the Cheyenne Frontier Days chuckwagon championship...
Over 50 descendants of fur traders James Spence and William Flett walked in their forbears’ footsteps at the Heritage Day reunion at Fort Georges Buckingham House...
MP Deborah Grey wed Lewis Larson at Dewberry Community Church...
Elk Point Agricultural Society’s inaugural Cattle Show was a big ‘success, as was the bench fair held the same day, at which Norma Berg won her sixth Grand Aggregate award...
Shanna Baker won two gold and a silver and Tanya Kenyon a bronze in the equestrian events at the Alberta Summer Games...
Hail hit Elk Point, flattening gardens and crops, damaging vehicles and shutting down the Town Council meeting with the clatter of golf ball sized hailstones...
Joni Matthews jumped her way into a national championship at the Legion Track Finals in Saskatoon.
National Championship for Joni Matthews
Angle Lake's Ruthenian Ukrainian Greek Catholic Parish of St. Mary's celebrated is years...
Former Elk Point Resident Metro Papirny won the Championship Flight at the 10th Annual Elk Point Oilmen’s Golf Tournament...
Alberta Agriculture and the Elk Point Agricultural Society held a joint public meeting to announce the results of a review of the society's activities...
Riel Beach hosted a wealth of great entertainment, but far from numerous spectators at their second annual Jamboree...
Ed Soldan, Pearl Bespalko, Mark Woytkiw and James Yake were the 1993 Club Champions at the Elk Point Golf and Country Club...
A bicycle built for 30 wound its way around Elk Point to raise pledges for the Heart and Stroke Foundation...
Local Friends of the Forts found new friends from as far away as Michigan to help
with the Ground Marking Workshop at the Fort George site...
Charlene and Shanna Baker were among the champions at the Elk Point Ag Society's
annual Open Horse Show.
SEPTEMBER
Darrell Wickham was named Cowboy of the Year by the Lakeland Rodeo Association, and also won this year’s Bareback championship...
Pan Canadian Petroleum celebrated their 100,000 barrel per day production milestone...
Fort builder, William Tomison, who established Buckingham House, was honoured at the 1993 Fall Rendezvous, as Buckingham House was a federal historic site...
Division 2 ratepayers met with County Councillor Ray Danyluk, with a focus on educational aspects...
A two-day economic development workshop was jointly hosted by the Town and Chamber, with the assistance of the NADC...
Town Council and Elk Point Agricultural Society ushered in a new era of communication and cooperation, with a visit by President Glenn Harms to Council to discuss matters of mutual concern...
The Town planned an intervention against Elk Point Gas Company's application for a rate increase...
Twenty-nine participants ran for Terry Fox, with Peggy Maas collecting the largest number of pledges...
Calgary's Red Thunder dance group took F. G. Miller High School by storm...
Wormsworth, Alberta Community Development’s 7-foot bookworm, was a great hit at Elk
Point Elementary School as well as at Information Night...
Suzanne Rae collected eleven awards, including the Governor General's Academic Medal,
at FGM Awards Night...
Town Council met Alberta Power's new manager, Tom Bates, for an updated on the AEEMA review.
OCTOBER
Frog Lake Counselling Services opened their handsome new facility...
F.G. Miller High School students showed support for their sports teams at a lively pep rally...
Elk Point Chamber and FGM both hosted candidates’ forums for the federal election...
Lily Thomson and David Skolarchuk were Heinsburg High School's top achievers for the 1992-93 school year...
New Scouts, Cubs, Beavers and leaders were invested by the Elk Point Scouting Association...
Deborah Grey sweeps Beaver River
Deborah Grey became the Reform Party’s first re-elected MP after her sweep of Beaver River...
Elk Point Municipal Hospital received their third consecutive Three-Year Accreditation...
Elk Point's Toxic Waste Roundup enjoyed good response...
Fantastic fashions were shown at Ladies Night Out...
School trustee Ed Buck and ATA representative Lorne Young told the FGM PTA that educational funding cuts are inevitable...
Laverne Wilson was given a “last hurrah” as he retired after teaching at Heinsburg
for 36 years...
National media attention focused on three teens who were rescued from a small island in Frog Lake after being marooned for 23 days...
Marooned Fishing Lake teens rescued after 23 days
The Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women got input from 32 people at an outreach meeting in Elk Point.
NOVEMBER
Elk Point Chamber of Commerce hosted an inspiring Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, with Merrill Clark as guest speaker...
Elk Point Lioness Club celebrated fifteen years at a fun filled gathering...
Shamrock Valley Enterprises was named Elk Point's Small Business of the Year...
Alberta author Sigmund Brouwer visited Elk Point Elementary School...
Council questioned the errors in their General Reassessment...
The Seniors’ Recreation Centre was packed with a capacity crowd for Remembrance Day observances...
Three residents of the area in question spoke in favor of rezoning an area from Central Commercial to Residential Medium Density. The rezoning was later approved...
Heinsburg ladies enjoyed an evening of the latest fashions...
Fishing Lake Settlement Council met with Town Council to ask their support in petitioning for road upgrading...
Heinsburg Senior High School girls won their third consecutive Volleyball County Cup...
Heinsburg Girls win 3rd at County Cup
Amoco is optimistic regarding the future, as new horizontal wells are drilled to counteract the natural drop-off in production for older wells...
FGM saluted their volleyball teams at an Education Week Color Night, while Elk Point Elementary students enjoyed a Mini Career Day...
Elk Point Crusaders won the Junior Boys Volleyball , County Cup...
Federal and provincial governments contributed to the town's rescue van...
Pan Canadian Petroleum announced plans for an increased drilling program.
DECEMBER
Elk Point's first ever Reverse Trade Fair was deemed a success, with ten corporations and agencies meeting with approximately fifty potential local suppliers...
The annual Christmas Extravaganza set the stage for Christmas, with horse-drawn hay rides, a blazing bonfire, and plenty of bargains for shoppers...
“Who has control of the landfill?” Town Council asked, after discovering that the County has given out keys...
Heinsburg lit up their giant tree, and gathered the community for a pre-Christmas feast and concert...
Lac La Biche Peewees won the Norcen Cup hockey tournament...
Joni Matthews still wasn't done collecting track medals, as she set a new record in
Provincial Midget. Girls Long Jump in Edmonton...
Tidings of comfort and joy rang out as local Sunday schools presented their \concerts...
Talent ran rampant at F. G. Miller High's Fine Arts Night...
Elk Point Community Choir had packed crowds at both nights of their annual Christmas Concert...
Elk Point seniors saluted the season with a well attended dinner and program...
Lights and displays abounded throughout the town, making judging difficult in the Chamber’s annual contest...
Students at Elk Point Elementary entertained their parents with two hugely successful concerts...
FGM followed their long-standing tradition, sending students and bus drivers home for the holidays with a sumptuous brunch...
Mayor Ed Buck proclaimed 1994 to be the Year of the Family in Elk Point.
