Vigor BioPharma Update

After almost a year and a half since the Town severed their ties with Vigor they are back in the news. It appears that the RCMP's Commercial Crime Section out of Saskatoon has charged Mr. Summers with fraud and other charges. Mr. Summers was the frontman for Vigor BioPharma in the summer of 2007 when he was trying to setup a business in the Town of Hanley. Ultimately the Town decided to sever ties with the man and his plans.

Summers faces fraud charge

Of course these are just charges and the man is to have his day in court to prove his guilt or innocence.

Slippery Out There

This morning I headed out to check on my papers at 5:30 a.m. and it was clear as a bell out there. The papers had not been delivered so I headed back inside and was just getting comfortable on the couch when I saw the lights of the delivery person's vehicle.

I headed back out to greet the guy and get the papers and it was just starting to snow. The delivery man said this was the first snow he has seen all night and thankfully he only had about an hour to go and his day (night) was finished.

I took the papers inside and sorted them out for carrying and was back outside in about 10 minutes. Was the snow ever coming down. The nice part was there was no wind whatsoever but visibility was sure limited with the snow. Within a couple houses I was completely covered in snow as it was sticking to the fur on my hat. It didn't stick on my jacket or gloves too much, just mainly my hat.

As I trudged off delivering the papers I quickly found out that it was darn right slippery under this new blanket of snow. I was being extra careful throughout the hour walk and yet I slipped and fell 3 times. Thankfully I didn't fall hard or awkwardly and came through with no injuries. Fresh in my mind was the fact that it was only last week that the son Craig was out shovelling a bit of snow on his driveway and he slipped and broke his wrist/arm. Of course he now gets a holiday for about 3 weeks from work, but I'm sure it isn't much of a holiday with your main arm immobilized in a splint/cast.

After I finished delivering the papers to the far south end of town I was on my way home and just enjoying the peacefulness of the town with the snow still coming down heavily. The coyotes in the area must have sensed my thoughts as they started to howl over on the north west end of town. I haven't heard them for awhile now, so I was wondering where they had gotten to. Not that I'm crazy about having them around when I'm out in the morning with no one else around. I know a couple times I felt like they were following me in the trees at the edge of town. I've only come face to face with one of the pack when we both decided to turn onto the road at the same time. We were about 30 feet apart and we both saw each other at about the same time. Both of us looked to see which was the best way to run. Thankfully the coyote headed the opposite direction that I was going to go. I was out on the far edge of town (actually the last house in town) and of course no one else was out and about at the time. The old hairs on the back of my neck were standing out for sure.

But it is sort of special when they decide to howl and the sound carries for miles in the quietness of the morning. Just as long as they stay away from my particular place in town when I'm out and about by myself :)

Remembrance Day

I finally get to take a breath once again after the November 11th Remembrance Day ceremony is over. You would think as the President, I should get to sit back a bit and have others take care of the business. Of course in a small town Legion Branch this just doesn't happen. We need all the members we can to work towards putting on anything we do. Normally, there is a core of 10-15 members who do the majority of work and then a few more that will jump in and help at the last minute. It would appear that many of the same people are working at the various events over and over again. It does show that some of members are getting a bit tired and would like 'new blood' to take some of the load. Heck, I've only been a member of Hanley Branch for 4 years and I already feel a bit of that. Just think of the members that have been doing it for 15-25 years. Of course the veterans are not getting any younger and so it is hard for them to take up much of the load. They have had their time, now the torch is being given to the younger members. The trick is to get these members to take up the torch.

The ceremony did go off without too many glitches. Well, at least glitches that the local citizens would recognize. But all in all it did go over well. This was my first opportunity to be the chairman of the ceremony and of course I had a few anxious moments. Our member who was running the sound system was sort of impressed that I had no problem with the microphone. Some members are a bit shy of speaking into the mike, etc. I explained to him that after 30 years of yapping on radios through a microphone, I most definitely was not intimidated by them.

The local RCMP Detachment did not have anyone present at the ceremony (nor was there any contact with myself regarding my enquiries). However, we were very fortunate in that a member who was originally from Hanley was home for the service. As luck would have it she showed up in her red serge and after I approached her and plead my case, was more than willing to serve as our Canadian flag bearer and lead in our colour party. Thank you Bobbie Jo, you made our day.

The amount of local military members were a little shy this year as well. It would seem that most of the Dundurn establishment went to the Saskatoon ceremony. You can't blame them in that it was billed as the 2nd largest indoor Remembrance Day ceremony in Canada in the city. We did have 3 members show up, with two of the members having their families along. The third member's family travelled into Saskatoon for that ceremony.

The guest speaker was Lew Dudridge who was a long time member of the Hanley community who has now moved to BC to the warmer climate. He served in WWII as a pilot, is a former mayor of Hanley, a writer and a successful businessman. During his talk he drew from his experiences in the war and related it so there was a local flavour. Everyone I spoke to was more than happy with his talk (albeit he was a little long winded). The thought that he had a tendency to go over his allotted time is nothing new for Mr. Dudridge. He is well travelled, well spoken and more than willing to expound on many, many matters. After all, a fellow that is pushing 91 has many a thought to pass on to the younger crowd :)

After our service we had the Frank Ball orchestra come in and entertain the folks from 3:00 pm until 7:00 pm. The crowd was a little less than last year, but those that were present tried to make up for the shortage of people with their dancing. In an estimation we likely had around 100-125 people in attendance for the dance.

At 7:00 p.m. the Ladies Auxiliary put out a scrumptious ham, baked potato and all the trimmings supper. There was a small decline in folks attending supper as well. I believe there were 138 plates that were used where normally it is around 160 or so. Part of the decline would be because of the wintery conditions that were prevalent on November 11th in our area. Freezing rain, blowing snow and just blustery weather does not make for a very conducive driving situation. Of course a lot who normally attend are getting up in years and with conditions such that we had it is understandable they didn't tempt the highway conditions.

A final count hasn't been made, but it does appear that we didn't go in the hole for the ceremony and may have made a few dollars. Not as many as some years, but then this has never been a ceremony where we were out to make money. The thought is to honour our veterans (old and new) and have a ceremony to 'remember them'. I do believe we accomplished what we wanted to do.

'We Will Remember Them'

New Hound

It looks like there is a new hound in the family...

Pat & Ron returned from Alvena with a new addition to Craig's house. The name is something like 'Jamongie' (but don't quote me on the spelling as I just don't watch too many kids shows anymore). Thanks to Julia for the name :)

Here a few pics of the new critter . . .

Just A Bit Peeved :(

I'm normally a fairly understanding person and usually take the middle road in most things.

This last Friday, October 31st, was the first day of the local Poppy campaign for 2008. Here in Hanley we have a group that sells wreaths to business people, companies, and individuals. We normally have 3 teams that take care of our community and area. They are usually chomping at the bit to get out and sell poppies and wreaths for our Remembrance Day ceremonies and are very dedicated.

So on Monday morning my Poppy Chairman comes to me and advises that all is going well with the exception of the local RCMP Detachment. The members responsible for the RCMP tried all day Friday and all day Saturday at the Detachment to contact a member with no success.

I informed the fellow that we don't have any normal business hours for our local Detachment any longer as the RCMP has cut the Detachment to only two members and right now they are short one member. Of course this member works mainly nights when the request for service are the most. The Poppy chairperson asked that I attempt to get a hold of the Detachment and see if they wanted to purchase a wreath this year for our Poppy campaign.

Monday morning I called the local number for the Detachment and after numerous no answers I finally let the call go through to Saskatoon (knowing that member normally works nights). I explained to the clerk who answered who I was and why I was calling. She appreciated the call and replied that normally the Detachment does purchase a wreath, but I should talk to the member at the Detachment. The clerk then gave me the local number (duh I just called it a bunch of times) and also the cell phone number of the member in the area. She also advised that the member was working this evening and to give the Detachment a call after 6:00 pm. when the member came one duty.

I waited til about 5:55 p.m. hoping to catch the member before he hit the road. No answer. So I called at 6:00 p.m., 6:10 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. with still no answer. So the next call I made I let go through once again to Saskatoon and was answered by a member in the Detachment in Saskatoon. He assured me that a Hanley member was working this evening and just must be busy and to try my call again.

So I waited for an hour and tried the Detachment again. Still no answer (which is understandable if the member is out on a call). I then gave the cell number a call that the clerk had provided and actually got an answer from the member. I identified myself and the member acknowledged who was calling and then the phone went dead. Hey, this is a cell, so bad coverage etc, etc.

I thought that the member would give me a call back as he knew my name and must have my number from call display or a phone book to look up the number. After 10 minutes and no call back I again called the cell. It rang and rang and rang and no answer. I re-tried thinking maybe I had a wrong number, but nope, ring, ring, ring and no answer. So I thought maybe the member got tied up and would give me a call later. After a couple hours I again called the cell and just received a ring, ring, ring with no answer.

I then waited for another hour or so and tried again with still no answer. So I then tried the Detachment again and still no answer there. Then all of a sudden the police truck heads out of town past my living room window. I think that of course the member is heading out on a call so I don't expect him to give me a call for the evening and that he must have been busy.

The next day I tried the Detachment and cell again and still no answer at either number, yet a few minutes later the police truck drives past the house heading out of town. So I call the members cell phone again and I still don't get an answer.

Being an ex member I figure the member is heading to a call and is tied up and has no time to give me a call back so I send the Detachment an email message with a request for a confirmation on there attendance at our Remembrance Day services. A couple days later and still no answer.

So today I tried the Detachment again and still no answer on the local phone. There is no sense in going through to Saskatoon as they just tell me to keep trying the local number. Getting a bit peeved here by this time :(

I typed up a letter and faxed it to the Detachment this afternoon hoping that when the member comes to work he would at least check out his fax machine. I received nothing back this evening, but I figured that maybe the member is on days off now and won't likely see the fax until probably Friday.

What I really hate is that when I have to get up in front of a group of 20-30 people and tell them I have had no luck in contacting the local RCMP and everyone shakes their head and agrees with me and say this is normal. Ashamed just doesn't cut it.

I then think that maybe I should tell these folks to just call 911 as numerous of our folks in the province do and that way an incident is created in Regina by DOCC and a member always gets back to these people as a complaint has been generated and the member is more or less compelled to do something.

Sorry, I just can't do that after sitting in DOCC and hearing the sad tales on the 911 line that a person's 12 year kid won't go to bed and she requires the police attendance to make the child go to bed, etc. A bit later I then hear the member booking 10-23 (at scene) of the caller. Just a bit of disgust on my part on hearing this. But better that than continually calls to 911 complaining about lack of police attendance.

Gosh I wish I could get my kids tucked in by a $70,000 + per year police officer whenever I wished :(

I do realize that this most definitely is not an emergency call, but there are still many, many calls to the police that are just a routine complaint/request for service that eventually end up in something more serious or need to be answered. It would appear that either the member(s) are so overwhelmed with the calls in the area that they just do not have the time to return calls or they just don't care. If it is the previous then the Force should be definitely looking at getting more members in place. If it is the later, then the Force should be looking for a better Detachment for the member rather than a small town Detachment.

For our local Remembrance Day ceremony, if the member shows up great, if not then we'll just go on with our service without them. The sale of one small wreath certainly is not going to break our bank.

It just is not a very satisfactory method of doing business in my mind though. . .