On the agenda for Strathmore

Times Contributor

 

A regular town council meeting was held on June 1 in Strathmore Town Office. 

Talk of opening a museum in the Town of Strathmore was brought up by Councillor Pat Fule. Council discussed that almost 20 years ago this was brought up, but nothing ever came about. 

A motion was then made to form an official committee dedicated to making plans towards building a museum in the town of Strathmore. 

Councillor Fule mentioned a small side project which had been started, video-interviewing seniors in the community to learn about Strathmore long, long ago. If a museum is indeed opened, these archives will be used to help educate the community on the history of Strathmore.

Heritage Days security

Enhanced policing was discussed for August long weekend, during the annual “Heritage Days Stampede” event, held July 28-Aug. 1. As it is a busy time for the town, RCMP officers are often required to work overtime during this weekend due to the amount of people attending the event, and of possibly rowdy behaviour. The extra costs will be paid by the Town of Strathmore.

Watering issues

Councillor Fule also mentioned some of the general concerns regarding the irrigating and watering of the Birth Forest. A representative of the Horticulturist and Parks staff assured that these trees are being carefully looked after, and will be watered for the next two to three seasons by the town, until the trees reach proper maturity at which time nature can take its course. Council was also assured that trees that appeared to have any winter damage were being taken care of in a different manner to ensure their survival. 

Honouring citizens

Councillor Fule also named the citizens of the month. For June 2011, Strathmore`s Safety Patrollers were named citizens of the month. 

“Strathmore has over 100 Grade 5 and 6 students who volunteer to be safety patrollers. These students often arrange to get to school early, and may have to stay late at the end of the day,” said Fule. “They work at their patrol stations in all kind of weather. They help friends and family cross busy streets safely and they are very reliable.” 

Donating to a good cause

The devastation that occurred in Slave Lake was also discussed.

“Our hearts go out to those in Slave Lake,” said Deputy Mayor John Rempel. “Some have not only lost their homes and everything they ever worked for, but also their jobs due to the raging fire that struck through their town.”

The Town of Strathmore had decided to donate a total of $5,000 dollars to Slave Lake through the FCSS. They agreed that it may be a better idea to not donate the money all at once, because it is usually a little ways down the road (from the disaster) that the money is most needed. As for items that were donated by local citizens and were dropped off at the town office, the town will find another organization that is transporting items up to Slave Lake and hopefully send these items along. 

“We want to extend our deepest sorrows to those in Slave Lake. We are a community of significant size and I believe Strathmore can do a lot to help Slave Lake,” said Rempel.