Mark Butchko stopped in to see me on Monday morning with an ear to ear grin ready to pronounce plans for his Dairy Queen store. "We are going to demolish the store within the next month. The new store will be built and I'm only tendering it out to local contractors. I will be asking Weber's and Logan-Stevens to bid on the job. We have been approved for a Grill and Chill. An Orange Julius will also be included and a drive-thru. At some point, we will have provisions for a full breakfast menu, but will not start that part until we have everything else operating efficiently. We hope to be fully operational by July or August (2011). We will need to hire approximately 30 new staff members (full-time and part-time). People can expect to see the new building start to go up in January or February." Butchko added, "I would like to give a special thanks to the City of Yorkton, who have been very co-operative on all aspects to this date. All inspectors have been a big part of making this happen for me."
The current store, essentially destroyed by the July 1 flood, was 2060 square feet and this one will be 2800 square feet. Contrary to rumours circulating around Yorkton (Yorkton? Rumours?) the new store will be on the existing property. Butchko says, "We've made arrangements with neighbouring businesses for extra parking."
Butchko also says he's very appreciative and overwhelmed at the phone calls, concerns, and cards he's received from general public. "It makes me feel very good that people are sympathetic and that goes a long way. I do have a good memory. What goes around comes around," he jokes.
On a personal note, I find Mark to be an amazing community contributor in several ways. For example, it doesn't get publicized, but it's fairly well known Mark makes frequent visits to the hospital and leaves treats for staff and patients. He (and his wife) is one of the true good guys.
I've shed a few of the extra curricular things I've been doing in recent years and, therefore, have a bit more time on my hands at night. To that end, I've started watching a few television shows and here are a few worth watching: Hawaii Five-O, The Glades, Chase, and Kelsey Jones says Blue Bloods is also a dandy. Although Kelsey and I don't always agree on what's 'good'. Personally, I haven't seen it yet.The Saskatchewan Roughriders treated us to one of the more exciting games of the season with their 32-25 win over Hamilton on Saturday night. It was a game where the athleticism of the players shined. Meanwhile, Calgary laid an egg against BC and not even their own radio team was aware of the record. Post game commentators proclaimed the Stamps to be 8-and-3 and the Riders 7-and-4 numerous times. The attitude towards an embarrassing loss in Calgary is much different than it is here too. In Calgary, the players and callers during the post game show were very 'ho hum'. In Saskatchewan, we look for a public lynching of the nearest coach and/or player.
I drove up Agricultural Avenue one day last week and was stunned to see the homes that have pretty much been left to rot in the wake of the July 1 flood. There are a few that have doors and windows blown out and aren't boarded up. There also appears to be a significant amount of trash strewn about in the back yards. Is this a feeding ground for rats now that the weather is getting cooler? I hope not.
I saw a letter to another local paper from Tim Byczynski concerning Clark's trade away from the Yorkton Terriers as part of the future considerations trade that netted Troy Smukowich in January. Tim is right. It's too bad local players have to get traded and it's even worse when the local player is a real good one. However, when a team is only able to protect three players, it's extremely probable a very good player is going to have to leave. Clark, obviously, would have been protected player #4 if you go by what the Swan Valley Stampeders chose. I enjoy Clark and also older brother Kirk. I wish them well.
Nice person mentions this week to Dwayne Reeve, Bev Yaschuk, Blaine Hall, and Rick Bradshaw.
