August / September 2011

New Residents to Kenaston:

Our annual community picnic returns this year and will be held Wednesday, August 10th from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at Kenaston Place.

This will be our officially welcoming of our new residents to Kenaston, and our annual community get together. This event is a casual community barbeque and is open to both village and rural residents.
Costs: $2.50. Newcomers FREE.

School Dates:

• School Resumes - August 30

September 14th: Affinity Credit Union is sponsoring a Terry Fox Charity BBQ

• 11:30—1:00 at the Credit Union grounds. Everyone welcome.
• Cost $5.00 per person.
• All proceeds to go to The Terry Fox Foundation.

Pitch-A-Palooza 2011—Saturday August 13

If you are interested in registering please contact Katie Sagen -ksagen@benesh.com or 664-0033! We expect this year to be bigger and better and quickly sell out so if you are interested get in touch as soon as possible. And to top this year off we are giving away $1000 grand prize!! Like us on Facebook to find out the most up to date news. This August Bring Your Swing!

Campbell's Labels For Education:

This campaign for Kenaston School has and will continue under the direction of the retired Miss P. Please continue to save all sizes and varieties of Campbell's soup labels, Prego spaghetti sauce and the UPC bar code from Goldfish crackers. Drop them off at one of these locations - 4 C's Corner Store, Kenaston School or the Coop. As of July 31st the school has banked 48,512 points. Points are redeemable for equipment and/or materials for the students of Kenaston School.

Also: For those of you who take the time to pop the tab off your beverage containers, please continue to do so as the Tabs for Tots campaign that was started back in 1994 is also still going. Please bag your tabs and drop them off at one of the above locations or on the stoop in Miss P's garage. To date we have submitted over 40 kg. to the Diabetes Association.

For further info on either of these campaigns, contact Linda at 252 - 2271. Thanks for your continued support.

Highway 15:

Gov't of Saskatchewan Economic Development Goals

Sustain Economic Growth for the benefit of Saskatchewan people, ensuring the economy is ready for growth and positioning Saskatchewan to meet the challenges of economic and population growth and development.

Contribute to economic growth through investment in an integrated strategic rural highway system:

• Through the Rural Highway Strategy the Ministry is planning to complete construction on 160 km of rural provincial highways.
• In partnership with the Rural Highway Advisory Committee the Ministry will continually review the Rural Highway Strategy weighting and priority factors to ensure the methodology is applied consistently and transparently.
• Together with Saskatchewan Government Insurance, coordinate and facilitate harmonization of trucking and roadway regulations with other jurisdictions.
  • Continue to support the development of the New West Partnership agreement with respect to transportation harmonization.
• In partnership with SaskPower, continue the development of a high clearance corridor on Highway 15 from Melville to the Alberta border via Highways 4 and 7, including the development of a regulatory framework.

Arena Area Beautification Project:  Grant Application sent to Dakota Dunes

The Kenaston Skating Arena and Curling Rink are adjacent to the intersection of Highway 11 and serve as a gateway to the community.  Kenaston is one of the few communities with such close proximity to Highway 11 that any improvements or lack thereof are fully visible to the travelling public.  The arena area has never been landscaped or enhanced as initial community funding did not extend past the construction and maintenance of the facility. 

The proposed project will enhance the Arena area and create a welcoming entrance to our community: a community which for its size can boast of many excellent facilities including Kenaston Place, Kenaston Swimming Pool, Veteran’s Centennial Park and the Arena facility.  With enhanced landscaping, signage and parking we can improve function and the first impression for those entering our community and increase interest and better utilization of this facility.

Proposed Use of Funds: A new “Kenaston Arena” sign will be installed on the front of the arena. It will be visible on a year round basis as an ongoing community marketing tool.

There is existing community business signage alongside the arena; this will be relocated to the downtown area (side lot of Boehmer's Garage). The relocation of the signage and the new advertising opportunities on the sign will bring some important and necessary advertising income to subsidize the entire project.

We will utilize volunteers to do a complete cleanup of the arena area. Contractors will landscape the area alongside the skating arena, install parking barriers to protect the arena and gravel the area for future usage as a parking lot. We will utilize some volunteer machinery/labour to improve a walkway and make way for crushed rock immediately adjacent to the arena. The parking lot will be re-leveled and completely graveled. Crushed rock will be placed at the front of the arena and we will utilize volunteer labour to paint the poles protecting the arena frontage. Next door the curling rink (a renal property) owned by the Village of Kenaston will be painted.

Bonnington Springs Campground is located behind the arenas. It is a great facility, but can be difficult to locate. The addition of a large campground sign on the side of the Skating Arena (which also holds signage for our claim to fame - SuperDraft) will increase awareness and assist travellers from both highways in locating it.

The skating arena is a focal point in our community and a place of community, pride but it's appearance diminishes our self-image. It is very difficult to assess the benefit or place a monetary value on an image. However, Kenaston has learned from the example of Kenaston Place how a good visual impression increases bookings and draws business to the facility. In rural communities, activity in all facilities is essential for sustainability. Because the Arena has artificial ice we have been fortunate to host area hockey teams and we wish to continue to serve as a team base, as well as pursue additional rental opportunities from Saskatoon. Parking will increase accessibility, safe access and make the area more inviting.

We believe that our proximity to the ever growing city of Saskatoon holds promise for Kenaston. We need to maintain and enhance all of our facilities in order to be seen as a sustainable, inviting community and thus a sought after residential choice.

Bridal Showers:

A suggestion was offered that Bridal Showers be added to the newsletter, as it would be helpful to know the details (time/place) of showers, especially for those who are not downtown often enough to see posters. Showers could also be added to the Calendar of Events on the website. If you are planning a shower be sure to send in the information to Glen or Susan as soon as the date is decided since the newsletter is issued bi-monthly, so you may have to announce the event a month in advance. Wedding announcements could also be posted

From The Village of Kenaston

The Heartland Health department has put Kenaston residents under a boiled water advisory to ensure water safety during the change over to the new reverse osmosis system. The advisory will be lifted when the test samples have been analyzed and the results are cleared.

Your Information on the Kenaston Website:

If you are the head of a committee or club in either Kenaston or the RM please note that you are invited to contribute to or update your page on www.kenaston.ca.

If you find there are frequent questions people ask, forms or public information that could be available on-line, or contact information that is out of date please send your information to Glen for posting. Also know that your club or organization can be listed from the main business directory and on the community page. All businesses can be listed from the business directory, and have a page created for promotions.

New pictures are needed for various website pages, including the arena and recreation pages. Pictures of interest can also be posted on the community page so don't hesitate to send them in.

Crossroads Distribution: Our growing list of email addresses helps us reach more of the rural and village residents who do not receive the newsletter.  We are hoping to continue with this expanded email list so the Crossroads and other important notices can be sent to more homes over the internet. Those not on our list can send their email address to Glen at gene.glen@sasktel.net