Leader-Post: Something for everyone to celebrate New Year's in Regina

The year is almost at a close and many events are happening in Regina to start off 2012.

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Brad Grass, who plays Don in the Applause Feast and Follies production of 'Don and Debbie do Vegas,' getting ready for the New Year’s Eve show in Regina December 29, 2011.

Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Regina Leader-Post



Additional comments

The show Don and Debby Do Vegas at the Applause Dinner Theatre in Regina comprises of an all-you-can-eat buffet beginning 6 p.m. the performance at 7:30 p.m. and a party to celebrate the new year.

"The cast is extremely talented. The show's very witty, very funny," said Brenda Milligan-Davis, the director of operations for Applause Dinner Theatre in Regina.

The show - Don and Debby Do Vegas - stars Brad Grass, Krysta Konkin, Shanna Jones and Angela Klaassen. It opens on New Year's Eve

Milligan-Davis said one of the show-stopper numbers is All the Single Ladies by Beyoncé featuring Grass and the rest of the cast.

“(The cast members) are all dressed in the black body suits just like the Beyoncé video and doing the full-out choreography from the video,” said Milligan-Davis. "Normally shows get better as they go along. You know, people get into a groove. Well if this show gets better than it was on dress rehearsal, it’s going to be spectacular."

She said the show includes a lot of audience participation, including a magic act. After the show, the cast will perform entertainment numbers as the main tables are cleared away for a dance.

"There will be a dance right up until midnight. There’s free champagne at midnight," said Milligan-Davis. "Then of course ringing in the new year and sticking around and having a good time until the party finally winds down."

Milligan-Davis added the show is for all ages with little sexual or bad content in the show.

Brad Grass who plays Don in the Applause Feast and Follies production
Don and Debbie Do Vegas gets ready for the New Year's Eve show.

Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post, Leader-Post

She said the show runs until April, but opening night is nearly sold out. Only four tables and one booth are left.

Children can also enjoy the Noon Year's Eve event on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Saskatchewan Science Centre.

"It really gives the kids a change to celebrate a new year and talk about what that means for them and enjoy that celebration that the adults generally get to do without the kids," said Collette Parks, communications manager with the science centre.

"(Noon Year’s Eve) all wraps up by suppertime so everybody can get home and have a nice meal at home and then if mom and dad want to go out later, they can and the kids have already had a fun time celebrating," continued Parks.

Parks said it’s been quite successful in the past with around 800 attendees and this year, she is expecting around the same number of people. Advance tickets are on sale, but will be offered at the door.

On Sunday, Lt.-Gov. Gordon Barnhart and his wife Naomi will host the Lieutenant Governor’s New Year’s Day Levee at Government House.
   
"That’s a chance for people to say farewell to him and for him to say farewell to his guests," said Carolyn Speirs, communications manager for the office of the Lieutenant Governor. "They’re an established tradition in the province so there are a lot of people who come back every year, but there are also a lot of newcomers each year — people that have never been to Government House before."

The levee has been taking place in Saskatchewan since Jan. 1, 1884 when Lt.-Gov. Edgar Dewdney held the first New Year’s Levee.

"It is certainly an opportunity to exchange New Year’s greetings," said Speirs. "The house is just so beautifully decorated for Christmas that’s it’s just a really festive atmosphere."

Leader-Post: Three men charged in home invasion

Three Regina men were charged on Thursday in relation to an alleged home invasion on Victoria Avenue.

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Leader-Post: Man sent to hospital after home invasion

A Regina man was sent to hospital after a home invasion early Wednesday morning.

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Leader-Post: Two in court after two restaurants held up

Two 20-year-old robbery suspects appeared in court Wednesday afternoon after two unconnected robberies in Regina late Tuesday night.

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Leader-Post: 2011 a year of growth for Regina



A view of Regina’s downtown area from the
15th floor of City Hall on Dec. 21, 2011.

Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Regina Leader-Post files

 Lights dance in the night at City Square plaza as a car turns right from Scarth Street onto 12th Avenue. Construction is idle in the dark, but work will continue in the morning. It is symbolic of all the development emerging in an ever-changing city.

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"(The Global Transportation Hub [GTH]) is clearly becoming an economic driver in Regina," says John Hopkins, the CEO of the Regina and District Chamber of Commerce. "It’s very, very positive in terms of continuing to grow the community, continuing to provide opportunities for people, to ensure that kids no longer have to make the decision to move elsewhere."

View of Hill Tower III construction from adjacent Hill
Tower in Regina, Sask. on Saturday Aug. 27, 2011.

Photograph by: Michael Bell, Leader-Post files

 
Hopkins adds the GTH will give Regina a more diverse economic scene, apart from the traditional agriculture, government and oil and gas mining.

"This helps us to diversify so when the commodity markets are turned down, that we will continue to have this part of the economy continuing to move," says Hopkins. "It’s a very stable sort of part of the economy."

Hopkins says as with any type of economic growth and job creation, certain challenges will have to be overcome, including bypasses for trucks and labour supply.

"We would hope that we’ll see some more work done on the bypasses to ensure that the truck traffic that is destined for highways actually ends up on the highways as opposed coming through the city," says Hopkins.

"But Regina is sort of viewed as a land of opportunity now in the Canadian context," he says. "So people are coming here and looking for those opportunities."

But Hopkins and Fiacco said with more people creates the need for more housing. The increase in housing is good news for Stu Niebergall, the executive director of the Regina and Region Home Builders’ Association.

 

A new $1.5 million apartment building under construction
on the 1100 block of 15th Ave. on Dec. 13, 2011.

Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post files

 

 

"It’s all inter-related," says Niebergall. "Housing is one of those items that affects every part of life."

Niebergall says 2011 has been a particularly good year for the association, which represents 95 per cent of all land development in the community.

As of mid-December, the association built 1,530 housing units this past year, which is 26.9 per cent higher than 2010.

The number of units built translated into 6,500 jobs, $30 million in wages and $60 million in federal and provincial income tax. It also created $50 million in GST revenue and $19 million in PST.

Out of those 1,530 homes, 879 were single-detached homes - an increase of 35 per cent - and 651 were multi-unit homes, an increase of 17 per cent. In total, 57 per cent of the homes were single-detached and 43 per cent were multi unit.

"When housing is being built in the community, it has some very large economic impacts to the community and in this situation, for the most part, positive," says Niebergall. "As our industry builds those homes and those neighbourhoods that house our newest residents, in turn our industry also becomes a very important driver in our community." 



Construction was bustling in the The Greens on Gardiner
subdivision in southeast Regina.

Photograph by: Don Healy, Leader-Post, Leader-Post files



 Neighbourhoods on the outer limits of the city have seen an increase for 2011. These include the Greens on Gardiner and the Creeks in east Regina, Harbour Landing in the south and Westhill in the west.

Other neighbourhoods include Evans Court and Canterbury Park.

"Many of our new communities that are being built today are already embracing many of the smart growth principles," says Niebergall. "As each generation of homes gets built, the quality of homes continue to improve and I think there’s a real, strong connection between that and the improvements that have been made."

Because of the more environmentally friendly methods used in building homes, over the past decade, the housing sector in the province uses 9.7 per cent less energy and releases 17.3 per cent less greenhouse gases compared to 1990, even though the number of homes have increased by 6.9 per cent.

The association has also been taking part in the Design Regina process. Design Regina was launched by the City of Regina on May 19.

"We feel we’ve got a direct stake in that official community plan as it will determine what Regina looks like in the future, especially as it relates to housing and community development," says Niebergall.

Alaina Harrison, Carmichael Outreach’s housing co-ordinator, is very familiar with another side of the growth.

“When you’re bringing in people to and encouraging people to come and work and live in Regina and Saskatchewan, you have to have a plan for where they’re going to live and I don’t know if that planning has happened or that has happened in an effective way,” says Harrison. “There just doesn’t appear to be enough housing for the people for the in-migration that’s been occurring.” [Saskatchewan Rental Housing Supplement (SRHS)]



Photos of City Square in downtown Regina November 3, 2011.

Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post files



 

Despite the housing issue, City of Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco said there has been a real focus on downtown, particularly the City Square plaza set to have a grand opening in spring 2012.

But with all of the changes downtown, not everyone is happy with the changes.

Hopkins stressed the challenges in reduced traffic flow and parking issues.

 

Photos of City Square in downtown
Regina November 3, 2011.

Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser
Leader-Post files

"The entire traffic flow situation has been confusing for a lot of people," said Hopkins. "Our members were of the view that while it was a challenge, the light at the end of the tunnel was always that 12th Avenue would be open once the plaza construction was done."

But on Nov. 4, the city’s administration submitted a proposal to city council to consider keeping the plaza pedestrian-only. On Nov. 8, city council voted to keep the plaza closed to traffic until a final decision is made in June 2012 pending a city administration transportation study.

Hopkins said this change is negatively affecting business and a survey was done where 52 per cent of the members opposed keeping it closed, while 35 per cent were in favour and 11 per cent were unsure.

"How did we get to a situation like this where the original plan was to always keep it open for traffic flow and then all of a sudden we get a report from the administration at city hall that says, ‘Let’s close it permanently’?" said Hopkins.

Leader-Post: Adjusting to Canadian life challenging for newcomers

Masha Martynyuk teaches a beginner class of English as a
second language at the Regina Immigrant Women's Centre.
Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Leader-Post, Leader-Post

Concentration and determination shone in the eyes of an intermediate level English literacy class.


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Additional comments

The Regina Immigrant Women's Centre (RIWC) is one of many centres and institutions in Saskatchewan that offer English as a second language (ESL) classes at different skill levels.

"(The program) helps clients to learn how to speak English, read and write a little bit," said Sachdev. "I feel that for any newcomer to Canada and particularly for women, it’s really important to be able to communicate in English because the facets of their lives take them all over."


Sachdev said many newcomers don’t even have a Canadian Level Benchmark (CLB) 1, which is the most basic knowledge of English.

Before immigrants are eligible to attend ESL classes at the Regina Open Door Society or the Adult Centre for Employment Readiness Training (ACERT), they have to have a CLB 3.


Once the CLB is 4 or higher, people can attend classes ESL classes at other institutions like SIAST.

Sachdev said the RIWC is focused on women because of the heavy burdens placed on them, but both genders are more than welcome.

Sachdev said in recent years, classes have become more diverse, which leads to additional challenges of learning ESL because of cultural differences.

"Sometimes we have women who don’t want to be in a class with men and we have to deal with that challenge in terms of explaining to them that in Canada, it’s very hard to segregate based on gender,” said Sachdev. “We want to help them to integrate into Canadian society, not to stay on the outskirts of it."

She said funding is a primary issue for the centre, but her goal is to start a library at the centre for the learners and gather simple kindergarten to Grade 5 reading materials.

"We’re trying to see if we can get … very, very simple books that children in schools start to read from and develop a library here so that learners who come in the literacy program can learn to borrow a book to read," said Sachdev.

She added another big challenge is some women, depending on where they come from, may not even be literate in their native language.

"As they advance into the program they also start to learn how to read and recognize letters," said Sachdev. "It’s more of a challenge for the instructor to assist them with that because if they’ve never written before, it’s tough."

Theresa Zwarich (standing) teaches an intermediate class of English as a second language at the immigrant Women’s Centre in Regina.

Photograph by: Bryan Schlosser, Regina Leader-Post

Once their CLB reaches level 3, newcomers can qualify for the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program offered by the Regina Open Door Society.

LINC teacher Amy Strauch, who has been teaching at LINC for the past three years, said the lower the level, the smaller the class sizes to give them one-on-one attention.

She said a big part of the challenge is for the community to be welcoming to newcomers.

"These are people who are trying really hard to establish themselves in the community," said Strauch. "English can be used by all people, regardless of their accent."

"Personally, I lived in China for three years and I was so very, very fortunate because I had two or three Chinese families that kind of adopted me," added LINC ESL manager Laura  Sheppard. "When I wasn’t quite sure where you got something or how you did something, I could ask them and boy it made such a big difference."

Sheppard said LINC classes are federally and provincially funded and there are 344 students enrolled in the program. She added that all of the teachers have teaching degrees and experience teaching English as a second language.

Sheppard said the program is designed to prepare students for life in Canada, but that isn’t an easy task.

"To me, always what’s helpful is for any of us to try to put ourselves in the situation that if we decided to move by ourselves or with our family, let’s say to take up work in Tokyo and everybody speaks Japanese and nobody speaks English, what would it be like for us?" said Sheppard.

Marion Radmacher, a retired teacher and volunteer tutor from Grace Mennonite Church for the Education and Employment for Refugees and Immigrants program at ACERT, said English is the biggest challenge for newcomers.

She recalled one student who couldn’t grasp the meaning of the phrase ‘to board up a window.’

"He thought it was like in a classroom, the board on the front of the classroom," said Radmacher. "So the multiple meanings of board - he just shook his head."

In the ACERT program, the classes are structured to help students attain their GED in a shorter period of time, said Murray Giesbrecht, the director of ACERT.

Giesbrecht added the class sizes are very small, usually no more than 10 students, to maximize one-on-one interaction. He said in addition to language challenges, he’s seen students struggle with the different climate, political structure and geography.

"We have some people that are from sub-Saharan Africa that are used to a much more temperate climate throughout their entire lives," said Giesbrecht. "Then they get here, dropped off in the middle of Saskatchewan and sort of adjusting to all of those things is certainly a reality for them too."

Leader-Post: Cougars remember former teammate

By Ian Hamilton and Lisa Goudy

Tyson Sievert played just one season with the University of Regina men's hockey team, but in that time he made an impression on Cougars head coach Blaine Sautner.

"He was a good, honest, hard-working kid," Sautner said Tuesday after hearing that Sievert, 25, had been killed earlier in the day in a single-vehicle collision near Fort Qu'Appelle. "You knew just what you were going to get from him every night."

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