Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Introducing Moose Jaw’s Bark Park

Long-awaited off-leash dog park opens at Hamilton Flats

Two dogs play around in the City of
Moose Jaw's newly-opened off-leash dog
park, Bark Park, on April 28, 2015.
Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

By Lisa Goudy

Dog owners now have a place to take their dogs to play around without a leash.

Located in Hamilton flats on the 1500 block of Manitoba Street West, the City of Moose Jaw's Off-Leash Bark Park officially opened this week.

“I know a lot of members and a lot of puppies across the city were anxious to get it open,” said Kelly Mentanko, operations manager with the city’s parks and recreation department. “We certainly want to offer a good service to the community and I think it’ll be well-used by the public.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Documenting life in The Days Run Away

Local writer Robert Currie releases seventh book of poetry

Local author Robert Currie shows off his latest
book of poetry, The Days Run Away, on April 27, 2015.
Lisa Goudy/Times-Herald

By Lisa Goudy

Robert Currie remembers what it was like helping his friend, Gary Hyland, as he struggled with ALS.


Hyland, a celebrated Saskatchewan writer and teacher, died in 2011 at the age of 70. Currie, local writer, dedicated his recent book of poems, The Days Run Away, to Hyland.

“The last section I wrote as my way of dealing with my grief over his horrendous struggle with ALS, which my wife and I saw a lot of because we used to look after him one night a week to give his wife a break,” said Currie. “So, in a sense, we were struggling with it too …(Hyland’s wife) did such a tremendous job looking after him.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: Lumos: Lessons learned from Harry Potter

By Lisa Goudy

“If you want to know what a man’s like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”


The character Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000) by J.K. Rowling spoke this quote. It is one of many quotes from the entire Harry Potter series that resonate on endless levels.

Thursday was World Book Day and the Harry Potter books contain magic beyond simply words on a page. They can inspire us in ways we can’t possibly imagine.

I find that we can learn a lot from books. Reading enhances the mind, enthralls the senses, provides knowledge and expands vocabulary. I also think we can learn invaluable life lessons from some books too.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: Evading the tease

By Lisa Goudy

Teaser trailers are all the rage.


They give you maybe 30 seconds worth of footage – sometimes up to a minute – to get you excited for the full trailer. If done well, a full trailer will show you just enough scenes from the film so you know what the plot is and leave you wanting more.

I do think trailers are important for ramping up people’s excitement. Teaser trailers, however, are often pointless. I usually hold out for the actual trailer of two to two and a half minutes instead of watching 30 seconds of a teaser trailer that doesn’t really tell me anything. (Unless I’m at a comic book convention. Then all bets are off and I’ll eat it all up.)

Google defines a trailer for movies or programs as “an excerpt or series of excerpts from a movie or program used to advertise it in advance; a preview.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: Star Wars: A digital era dawns

By Lisa Goudy

When the Star Wars films were first released, they were revolutionary in terms of special effects.


In a time before computer-generated special effects were common, Star Wars was born, with the first in the series, A New Hope, released on May 25, 1977. A tale about Jedis, Siths, the Force, lightsabers, the Death Star and planets, the Star Wars saga has become an integral part of pop culture among science fiction fanatics, myself included.

But more than that, what Star Wars was able to accomplish when it was released 38 years ago was groundbreaking special effects.

And today, for the first time ever, all six Star Wars movies are available for download on Digital HD, including never-before-seen bonus features.

Beginning with A New Hope, John Dykstra’s effects team used “innovative computer-controlled motion photography” and that “allowed for more precise use of miniatures and models than ever before,” said an article on wired.com called ‘Star Wars revolutionized special effects twice; can it do it again?’

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Off the cutting room floor

Books editor Mark Medley thrilled to return to Festival of Words


By Lisa Goudy

One of Mark Medley’s favourite parts about last year’s Saskatchewan Festival of Words was mingling with the authors and fellow participants.

“When you’re all staying in the same hotel in a fairly small city, it felt like camp in a sense,” he said.

“Everyone was in town for four or five nights and you have dinner with them or you have breakfast with them or you hang out at the pool with them, go to a bar with them, and so there was a lot of people who I almost had a mini vacation with.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: Looking at Easter and its changing dates

By Lisa Goudy

I’ve always wondered why Easter is never the same day each year.


In 2011, Easter Sunday was on April 24. In 2012, it was on April 8. In 2013 it was on March 31. In 2014 it was on April 20. This year, was on April 5. In 2016, Easter Sunday will be on March 27. In 2017, it will be on April 16.

It’s hard to distinguish any specific patterns. So, naturally, my curiosity got the best of me as it usually does and I found out the answer to my question and it’s nothing short of complex.

Essentially the reason Easter moves around is because of different calendars used in ancient times.

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