Moose Jaw Times-Herald: More teams encouraged to register in Relay for Life

By Lisa Goudy

With a new location and entertainment booked, the only things needed for the 11th annual Relay for Life fundraiser are more teams.

“We’re encouraging more people to come out and get their team registered,” said event chairwoman Doris Dunphy. “We still have a little ways to go.”

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Canadian Cancer Society website

Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Celebrating her first real Mother's Day

Denine Neuls holds her eight week old son, Kieran. Submitted photo.

By Lisa Goudy

For Denine Neuls, Mother’s Day has a new meaning.

“I’m a lot more excited now,” said Neuls, who gave birth to her first child, Kieran, eight weeks ago. “I was excited before, but in a different way. I wanted to help my mom and get her supper or lunch or whatever we would do for her and a little gift here and there, but now it’s like it’s going to be my day too … it’s almost like a birthday with more glory.”

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Lisa's Corner: Mother’s Day: More than just the presents

By Lisa Goudy

What are you getting your mother for Mother’s Day? I’d be surprised if the majority of people could honestly say that question had not been circling in their minds this past week. With Mother’s Day on Sunday, it’s become custom that we get something for our mothers on this special day. Not to mention how the news has been constantly streaming in our ears since statistics came in showing that men spend more than women for Mother’s Day.

But I don’t think that’s what Mother’s Day is really about. Sure, the gifts for your mother are a nice way to show your appreciation. Firstly, I think you should appreciate your mother (and father because the same argument applies to Father’s Day) every day of the year, not just this one day out of 365.

That said, since it’s a common tendency for people to take other people for granted, highlighting your appreciation on this one day is a prudent reminder of how precious our mothers really are.


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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Building a better future for our children

Clyde Hertzman speaks about the state of early childhood development at the Imagine Our Future national conference on Wednesday night. Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

By Lisa Goudy

Early childhood development is central to maintaining health, as demonstrated during the opening night of the Imagine Our Future national conference at Mosaic Place.

“The early years are very, very important for us to take seriously as a society,” said Clyde Hertzman, a professor in the School of Population and Public Health at the University of British Columbia and the director of the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP). 

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Imagine Our Future website

Additional comments

“Early human development influences outcomes across the entire life,” said Clyde Hertzman. “By the end of the second decade of life, what happened in those first five years is influencing risks of school failure, unwanted teenage pregnancy and early criminality, despite all the things that come afterwards.”

“The conference is about looking at the importance of the early years and not only the early development, but the effect of parenting and families on that development and looking at what we can do to make a difference for the future. The future of these children and the future of the economy and general health and well-being of our city, our province and our country,” said Christine Boyczuk.

 

Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Mayor does Q and A with Grade 2 class

Mayor Glenn Hagel answers questions in a Grade 2 class at 

Sunningdale Elementary School on Monday afternoon. 

Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

By Lisa Goudy

Grade 2 students at Sunningdale Elementary School were full of questions for Mayor Glenn Hagel when he visited the classroom on Monday afternoon.

"He's just teaching the students about communities and his role in our community," said classroom teacher Laurie Kinequon.


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Additional information

Some examples of the types of questions asked

• "What is your job and what do you do?"

• "How many meetings have you been to?"

• "Do you have families in other communities?"

Additional comment from Mayor Glenn Hagel:

"I came as an invitation from the Grade 2 class who have been studying about different jobs in our city and also about safety," Hagel said. "They had asked me as mayor to come in to just tell them what the mayor does. It's kind of exciting to do that."

"One of the neat things about talking to Grade 2s is that it is very important to express what the mayor does in a way that's simple and clear and affects everyone and that's kind of neat because it's a good reminder about why it is that you go to city hall each day or wherever it is that you happen to be going," said Hagel.

 

Moose Jaw Times-Herald - Lisa's Corner: Superheroes are living in our own backyard

By Lisa Goudy

I’ve been thinking a lot about superheroes this week. It started exactly a week ago when I watched the finale of the 10^th and final season of the hit television show Smallville. For those of you who don’t know, Smallville is a about a young Clark Kent struggling to find his place in the world and take on his destiny to become the hero we know and love - Superman.

I know the finale actually aired on television in 2011, but being late to start watching the show (and very quickly getting permanently hooked on it), I watched all 10 seasons on DVD since watching season one in late 2006. As a small aside, I have to say that the finale certainly didn’t disappoint and although it was very exciting to watch, it was also kind of sad to watch the final episode of a show that aired for 10 years.

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Moose Jaw Times-Herald: Local dance festival worth the effort

Alyssa Hetherington, 9, from the Doris Sitter School of Dance in Moose Jaw performs a tap number at the Moose Jaw Festival of Dance on Wednesday. Times-Herald photo by Lisa Goudy

By Lisa Goudy

The Moose Jaw Festival of Dance takes a lot of work to come together, but organizers say it’s worth it.

“We all genuinely love dance and the kids all genuinely love dance. It’s really a chance for them to get out there and show what they’ve done and what they’ve been working towards all year,” said Sara Bryan, promotions co-ordinator for the 53rd annual festival that started on Wednesday and takes place at Peacock Collegiate. 


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Moose Jaw Festival of Dance

Doris Sitter School of Dance 

Additional comments from Sara Bryan:

“We all genuinely love dance and the kids all genuinely love dance,” said Sara Bryan, promotions co-ordinator for the festival. “It’s really a chance for them to get out there and show what they’ve done and what they’ve been working towards all year. It’s a great confidence builder for them. It’s a sense of camaraderie.

"(It’s a) fantastic peer-related activity and there’s not enough of that nowadays for the children and there’s from the time they’re little little, the older kids are coming in and helping with the classes. They’re backstage with them. They’re high fiving them as they go through. 

"How could you not do it? And Moose Jaw as a community has tremendous support for our dancers, both monetarily and coming out and watching.”

She added that while sometimes they've scrambled last minute to fill all the 150 volunteer positions, filling them has never been an issue.

“We’re not affiliated with any one particular dance school so all the different dance schools send us lists of volunteers and we contact them and ask you know, is there something particular you’d like to help with,” said Bryan. “So the majority of our volunteers are dance parents.”