Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Summer-like conditions expected to continue into Sept.

By Lisa Goudy


The August long weekend may have come and gone, but the summer weather isn’t expected to disappear anytime soon.

“We’re calling for the rest of August and into September to be warmer than normal,” said David Phillips, senior climatologist at Environment Canada. “There’s good weather still to come. I wouldn’t write an obituary on summer quite yet.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Upcoming farmers’ market for charity a fun cultural event

By Lisa Goudy


A multitude of veggies, baking and preserves will be available for sale with half of the proceeds going to charity.

The fifth annual Farmers’ Market for Charity will be held on Aug. 18 from 8:30 to noon just outside of the Yara Community Gardens at 200 Home Street West. A second charity market will be held on Sept. 8 during the same times and at the same location.

“All the gardeners get together and they donate a bunch of produce and baking and some preserves and we get coffee and face painting and all sorts of fun things,” said community gardens co-ordinator Sarah Varey. “It’s the highlight of our community gardens program every summer and it’s a really family-friendly event.”


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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Weekend Extra: A ride that has it all

Review: Toyota Matrix 4A, fun and practical

By Lisa Goudy

Robert Stevens of Moose Jaw Toyota stands
next to a 2012 Matrix 4A.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

The 2012 Toyota Matrix 4A has it all - safety, performance, appearance, comfort and economy.

“If you’re looking for a practical and fun car to drive and really easy especially around town to park and things like that, this is a great car for that,” said Ken Thiessen, a product advisor at Taylor Toyota. “The size is really nice for parking in town. It’s really easy to get around.”

The 4A has a 60/40-split rear bench seat with a fold-down seat back. It allows for extra space to put things in the trunk or the back of the car.

“If you’re grocery shopping, if you have pets … if you’re carrying sound equipment, if you’re carrying supplies for your business, it’s so easy to put stuff into this vehicle,” said Thiessen. “There’s a flat surface all the way through there. You can pile a whole bunch of stuff in there with cargo space. It’s a very practical car in that sense.”

The tilt and telescopic steering wheel and a four-speaker
stereo system are among the features in the interior of
 the Matrix 4A.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

The Matrix comes in front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive (AWD), which Thiessen said “automatically kicks in seamlessly and you don’t even notice it.” The AWD is particularly good for stopping the car from slipping on snow, ice or gravel. While the 4A has a 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine, the AWD has a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine.

Thiessen said the 4A model has “awesome fuel economy” at more than 47 miles per gallon for its rating.

The 60/40 split rear bench seat with fold-down
seat back allows for plenty of room to fit items
into the Matrix 4A.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

“(That’s) another really nice feature of not having to spend a whole whack of money on fuel to get around,” said Thiessen.

The Matrix 4A has an AM/FM CD/MP3/WMA player with four speakers, an audio auxiliary input jack and steering wheel audio controls.

The 4A is also equipped with front bucket seats, driver seat with recline and cushion height adjustments, dual vanity mirror and rear seat heater ducts. There is also a tachometer, an water temperature gauge, an outside temperature gauge, a dual trip odometer, carpet mats, a centre console with lid as well as front and rear door integrated bottle holders.

For more information, see the August 4th edition of the Times-Herald.

Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Weekend Extra: Chateau St. Michael

The building of Chateau St. Michael is 100 years old.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

By Lisa Goudy

Chateau St. Michael has a long history leading up to its one-hundredth-birthday celebration today.

Diane Thomson, director of care at the home, said the home currently provides two levels of care. If one partner or any individual can no longer cope with independent living, he or she can be moved into another area of the same building to receive personalized care. Someone living in the independent area can go back and forth and share meals, which is particularly important for elderly couples that become upset at the thought of separation from their spouse.

However, Chateau St. Michael wasn’t always a personal care home. From information provided by Thomson, the structure was first opened as the Presbyterian Boys College in 1912, originally called the Saskatchewan College. In 1913, the name was changed to the Moose Jaw College. The college was a Christian education facility for Grade 9 to 12 students and initially had 88 students registered for classes.

Over the course of 18 years, the college provided education to 1,200 boys. However, during the Great Depression, the college had financial troubles. In 1931, it was left with no choice but to close.

St. Anthony's Home opened its doors in 1939.
Submitted photo

The building was not used until 1939 when it went up for sale. Archbishop P.J. Monahan of Regina purchased the home and asked the Sisters of Providence to be in charge of it. The Sisters of Providence are an apostolic congregation of vowed women whose home base is at Providence Motherhouse in Kingston, Ont.

Thomson’s information said Monahan asked the sisters to convert the structure into a home for the “elderly, needy and afflicted.” That was not an easy task. Having been abandoned for eight years, there were warped floors covered in inches of dust from the massive dust storms that swirled in the province during the Depression. 

Pipes had burst and windows were broken. Electrical fixtures needed replacing and the heating system needed overhaul. There was no elevator in the building and everything had to be taken up two and three flights of stairs.

Despite the troubles, the structure opened in September 1939 as St. Anthony’s Home. There were 20 residents at the time St. Anthony’s opened. The information from the home stated that 1939 marked the start of the “long and creditable service to the elderly in need of special Christian care.”

For more information, see the July 14th Weekend Extra edition of the Times-Herald.

Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Weekend Extra: Iron Bridge Estates

Brian Walz stands next to a sign at Iron Bridge Estates.
Submitted photo

By Lisa Goudy

By 2013, the northwest corner of Moose Jaw will be filled with a subdivision of single-family residential homes and ample municipal reserve parks and green space.

Royal LePage Landmart real estate is well on its way to completing the new 85-acre Iron Bridge Estates subdivision in Moose Jaw. Located west of Simcoe Street and the Thatcher Drive intersection and under the old iron bridge, Iron Bridge Estates is a residential area ideal for family living.

“It’s a lifestyle subdivision. It’s not crammed into little boxes all over the place,” said Brian Walz of Royal LePage Landmart. “You drive under there and you’re in your own little world out there.”

A sign will be placed on the western side of the Iron Bridge connecting the subdivision to the rest of the city, Walz said.

The site map of Iron Bridge Estates.
Submitted photo

There will not be any amenities or commercial development in the area, making it purely a residential living space. However, the subdivision is located less than five minutes away from shopping on Thatcher Drive East, less than five minutes to downtown, less than five minute to the Trans Canada Highway No. 1 and less than 15 minutes away from any area in the city.

“Iron Bridge Estates offers more green areas than any other city residential development,” said Walz. “It’s something that has never been created here and it’s all been high density type housing in Moose Jaw to a major degree anyway.”

There will also be a school bus service to private and public schools.

Iron Bridge Estates is a new lifestyle subdivision.
Submitted photo

Out of the 89 housing lots, more than 20 lots are already sold. Some houses are on hold, but the sale hasn't officially gone through yet. The houses range in size and price. Lot sizes range from 16,500 sq. ft. to 48,500 sq. ft.

The lowest housing price was $95,000, but all of those lots are sold. The price range still available is between $110,000 and $215,000. A total of 44 houses have basement walkouts and 62 per cent of the subdivision will be homes.

For more information, see the June 30th Weekend Extra edition of the Times-Herald. 

Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Weekend Extra: More power to ya

The 2013 Mustang GT a classic car with more muscle

Moose Jaw Ford sales associate Greg Carline stands in front
of the 2013 GT Mustang.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

By Lisa Goudy

While driving a 2013 GT Mustang, it’s easy to see the appeal of the classic muscle car.

“This is a brand new Mustang again. They’ve redone it. Mustang is the only true muscle car left. It is the only original muscle car that has never stopped production so it’s kind of one of those iconic little vehicles,” said Greg Carline, sales consultant at Moose Jaw Ford. “What they’ve done is they’ve put the fun back into the driving … The best thing about a Mustang is they’re fun to drive.”

The look of the car is much the same as has become standard, including the signature pony on the front of the vehicle.

The interior of the 2013 GT Mustang is equipped
with state of the art features.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

“One of the nicest things about a Mustang is the sound. They just sound awesome,” said Carline. “It’s kind of the rawest form of fun in a vehicle … The nicest thing about driving a Mustang is the head turner. Everybody watches. Everybody looks.”

But Carline said the Mustang goes beyond all of the fun accessories and looks. It is about maximizing fuel economy and energy efficiency, right down to the engine.

He said the 2013 model has more horsepower than the 2012 model at 420 hp at 6,500 rpm. It also has a 5.0L Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) V8 engine. Carline said the previous model had a 4.6L V8 engine, but it didn’t have Ti-VCT.

Carline said the TiVCT provides variable and independent control of fuel intake and exhaust valves, which allows for maximum fuel economy at part-throttle and power is maximized in full-throttle. This results in abundant torque and improved responsiveness of the vehicle as well as tubular exhaust heaters for more power.

“What it does it gets you the most fuel efficiency and the most power without having any fuel loss or minimal fuel loss,” said Carline. “It’s a big motor, but it’s designed for power and it’s designed for fun.”

He said all of the taillights are LED lights to conserve energy and the lights last a lot longer. While there is a fair amount of space in the trunk and as much fun as the Mustang is to drive, Carline said it is not a family-oriented vehicle.

The 2013 GT Mustang has a sporty look, including
the signature pony on the front of the vehicle.
Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

“This is a great fun vehicle, This is not your every day family vehicle. Never has been, never will be,” said Carline. “Kids are not comfortable in the backseat, but it is the fun tool in the summer kind of car.”

For more information, see the July 7th edition of the Times-Herald.

Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Equipment failure causes power outages in south side of the city

By Lisa Goudy

There was a power outage at 11:45 a.m. on the south side of Moose Jaw on Wednesday.

SaskPower spokesperson Tyler Hopson said around noon, crews from SaskPower were sent out to the city to investigate and fix the problem. He said the outage was caused by equipment failure, most likely because of aging equipment.

Hopson said the power was back up around 1 p.m. He added that the one-hour outage affected 2,000 customers in the south side of Moose Jaw, Central Butte and some rural areas south of the city.

“There was a bit of a larger outage right before that, but that was only for five minutes,” said Hopson, adding that the larger outage affected 5,000 customers. “They got that fixed and then a subsequent outage happened after.”

Article on Times-Herald website