Maple Creek Horsewoman Is First Miss Rodeo Canada From Saskatchewan In 21 Years

source: Farm and Food Report

She’s 18 years old; a veritable ball of fire on a horse; and, since November 12th, Christa Lawrence is also Miss Rodeo Canada 2005 — crowned Queen of the Canadian Rodeo tradition at the recent Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton.

“A lot of my friends are kind of shocked because I was known as the tomboy in school. They are quite shocked to see me all glitzy the way I am today, but they are extremely proud and support me all the way,” admits the enthusiastic Maple Creek native.

And really, this is a pleasant development for the province. “I’m the third Miss Rodeo Canada from Saskatchewan, but there hasn’t been one in 21 years, since 1983 when Kathleen Kornelson was Miss Rodeo Canada.”

Becoming Miss Rodeo Canada is no small achievement. “You first have to win at a Pro Rodeo. I was Miss Rodeo Maple Creek in 2003. Then the Rodeo Queen Committee sends you on to Rodeo Canada. There is a horsemanship part of it, public speaking, and modelling, personal interview. You are judged on personality and appearance every day.”

The process is a tad more demanding than your regular pageant. “Horsemanship is the most important part. If you can’t ride a horse, you can’t be Miss Rodeo Canada. You are handed between five and seven different horses you have never been on before and you must go through patterns to demonstrate your skills as a rider,” explains Lawrence.

“I grew up on a ranch southwest of Maple Creek, strictly cattle, so my expertise I would say is in the cattle industry. I’m fifth generation on my ranch actually. I was brought up with horses. My grandpas were great teamsters; my dad was a jockey.”

Above all, Lawrence dearly loves these beautiful creatures that play such a central part in ranching activities. “Horses are extremely bright; they are a willing animal; they want to work for you and that’s the best part about them. I consider them as a partner or friend, not as my tools…they are my tools to get the job done. But they are a friend also more than a machine.”

Ms. Lawrence now has a world of opportunities ahead of her, as she will get to travel over the next year much beyond the Great Plains region she is familiar with. “To me it’s a privilege and an opportunity for my skills to grow during the year. I just graduated from high school, so this could open millions of doors for me. Plus I’ll get better with the public. It’ll just help me in the future, in whatever job or career I decide to do.”

On that particular topic, Miss Rodeo Canada 2005 is currently weighing her options. They certainly will include honing her horse skills. “I possibly want to continue in College Rodeo and also take a farrier course or animal health technology. I’m considering a farrier’s course because I’ll hopefully go on to train horses. Their feet have to be taken care of. It is crucial to looking after horses.”

There is no denying Lawrence’s passion for her chosen sport: “I want Rodeo to grow and I want Rodeo to carry on its traditions the way it is right now. I thought why not come out and be the ambassador of Rodeo.”

She has other interests as well, among which is basketball during the winter; and, she is also an artist with a fondness for pencil and watercolour works. But there is no ambiguity as to where her loyalty lies. She absolutely adores Rodeo: “The excitement, the thrill of it; watching everybody compete; the timed events; rough stock; I like both ends of the arena. I love the barrel racing. I think it is the speed of the event that I like. I like to go as fast as I can. That’s why I like to do a presentation lap, where you fly around and wave. That’s the part I enjoy most. Then I also carry the Canadian flag.”

As to future dreams, guess what: “One day, I’d really like to be a pro barrel racer right here. That’s kind of a goal I’ve set for myself. I don’t know if I’ll reach it but I’ll work on it.”

Long may you ride, Christa Lawrence.

Saskatchewan Christmas Trees: If You Plant That Seedling And Wait A While… They Will Come

source: Farm and Food Report

When Bob Mason and Cora Greer planted the first row of Scots Pine seedlings on their Kenaston-area farm in 1990, they knew they were embarking on a long-term project.

“We had to wait seven years before we could start selling them, and we had to cull a few where we had planted them too densely,” admits Mason. “This has been a learning experience and quite a ride.”

At first, Mason would sell the trees from the back of his truck at a Moose Jaw mall, then in Regina, from another mall. Then he discovered the “joys” of competitive marketing arrangements. When the anchor tenant grocer decided to sell Christmas trees as well, the contract with Mason Family Farm was terminated.

“I asked myself if this was really what I wanted to do. I was away from my family for the whole month. I found that difficult. Let’s see if there isn’t another way to do this?

”Welcome to Mason Family Farm’s you-choose Christmas tree operation, where 15 acres of trees await you, four kilometres north of Kenaston. Just look for the signs on Highway 11. You’ll find about 1,000 trees per acre in the plantation. All those ready to cut are Scots Pine. There is also a generation of Balsam Fir in the works that is not quite mature enough yet. As Mason will tell you, there are several obstacles to growing trees commercially in a Plains setting:

“The wide open spaces are not your friend, because wind desiccation takes such a toll on the trees during winter — but Scots pines do remarkably well,” Mason says. “As a result of the recent drought, we have felt compelled to set up drip irrigation for all new plantings. Balsam fir require special mycorrhizae fungi that takes some time to establish itself, as they are not endemic to southern prairie soils. They grow, but it takes longer initially.

”However, the rewards are satisfying at many levels. “Christmas time is generally a happy time for everyone. People come to your farm with big wide smiles. They’re in good spirits, and they’ve come here for the whole experience of cutting their tree as a family.”

Mason explains how many will easily spend a couple of hours at a time on their property on a weekend. “They bring the whole family out; they drive to the plantation and they start looking for the right tree. We tell them what to look for and they use the bow saw we loan them. Sometimes they’ll even bring refreshments and a snack with them, and they will have their own tail-gate party at our place.”

“When they have their tree, we invite them into the kitchen for cocoa and cookies. We even take their photographs. We realize that what we sell them is a lot more than the tree — it is the whole experience of being out here for a while. They take home the tree and the memories of great family outing.”

One might say that the Mason Family Farm is in the business of joy and not be too from the truth. Most of their guests come from a 60-kilometre radius, so this appeals not only to city dwellers, but to everyone.

“If you look at it this way, there is a lot more room for growth in this industry.” Mason also happens to be the President of the Saskatchewan Christmas Tree Growers’ Association Co-Operative, a small group of industry enthusiasts who hope this business will really take off over the next few years.

“This is not for everybody. You have to love trees and people. The required capital investment is not that great. But there is a fairly high attrition rate among our members because they might not have realized how long it takes to get a crop.”

For Bob Mason and Cora Greer, there is no turning back. They have just moved a barn into the farmyard to accommodate the weekend crowds enjoying the cocoa and cookies event, says Mason:

“The place turns into a bit of a zoo around this time of the year, but we love every bit of it.”

Small Town Resourcefulness Handles Potentially Messy Challenge

source: Farm and Food Report

Upgrading sewage facilities is a formidable expense for any municipal government. But when a village of 200 is faced with the prospect of building a new lagoon, or paying some hefty fines, the task becomes even more daunting. Yet this is what Shell Lake faced. It was time to call up a few cards, according to local councilor Paula Stalwick:

“The Village of Shell Lake is adjacent to Memorial Lake Regional Park, and we both use the same sewage disposal facility. Over the years, the park has been growing — visitors want to come here because it’s a beautiful resort and we’re so close to Saskatoon and P.A. I would say there are up to 2,000 extra people here in the summer when the Park is in full swing. But the problem is we’re now at a point where the village sewage facility cannot handle all the extra sewage.”

Stalwick says the initial quotes to upgrade the Shell Lake sewage system have come in around $600,000. “If it was just for Shell Lake, we could look at a smaller facility, but then the park would be excluded. We raised the sewage tax for Shell Lake citizens, but with only 80 households, it’s not enough. The majority of our residents are on fixed income — seniors and young families. As a small village, we can’t ask a bank for $600,000 — we don’t have the assets. We met with the park board and discussed options to work something out.”

And work it out they did. Memorial Lake Regional Park donated a leased lot within park boundaries and Park Board members — along with citizens from Shell Lake and surrounding area — formed the Cabin Lotto Committee. The Committee sent out tenders, hired contractors and built a 1,500 square-foot, all-season cabin on the lot. It acquired a lottery license and started selling tickets in local malls, at open houses and public events.

“The park board has kept an employee on staff, and there are drop boxes where people can drop off their money and registration form, which their gal picks up twice a week,” says Stalwick. “Also, there’s a 1-800 number where people can phone in for tickets. All the businesses in town have registration forms, and we all have them loaded in our cars, so we’re ready to sell a lotto ticket at any time,” she laughs.

They’ve also advertised through the newspaper and radio. Their story was even covered on CBC Radio’s As It Happens. “After the interview, we had lots of response,” explains Stalwick. “People called from the States, and from different provinces. We even had an engineer from Waterloo, Ontario call to give us
some suggestions on doing a cheaper upgrade. We are now looking at the idea of a wetland lagoon, which would save us a bit of money, but we’ll see. We have an engineer driving out from Saskatoon in the near future to see if that’s feasible.”

Michael McMurray is an Environmental Project Officer with Saskatchewan Environment. He explains how most small communities in the province have a two-cell facultative lagoon, which is a biological way of treating sewage:

“In the primary cell, bacteria break down the sewage; the end result is the effluent. The primary cell needs a big enough surface area to get the oxygen necessary for the breakdown process. You need a certain number of hectares of surface area for a certain number of people. In the case of Shell Lake, the community has outgrown both its cells.”

The secondary cell is used for storage of the effluent, so that it can be discharged gradually without upsetting the environment. In effect, a community must be able to accommodate a minimum of 180 days of storage, as it is not legal to discharge the effluent from November 1, through to spring runoff. “Basically it means you cannot discharge throughout the winter, because the effluent would have nowhere to go when the ground is frozen,” adds McMurray.

This project has been quite a learning experience for councilor Stalwick and her community:

“I’ve learned how lottery licenses work, I’ve learned a lot about sewage lagoons; what’s needed for them to operate properly; what are environmentally-friendly options. But mostly I’ve seen how people come together when we need to cooperate. It’s an immense project when you look at it, and it’s reassuring how everyone pulls together.”

Only 4,000 tickets for the cabin - valued at $150,000 - will be sold, at $100 each. Together with an early bird draw for $5,000 cash, the Cabin Lotto is expected to raise $200,000 for the sewage upgrade. At that point, depending on its success, the committee will look at building another cabin and hosting another lottery to bring in more money to ensure Shell Lake remains as attractive a place to visit, as ever.