Paynton had their annual spring ratepayers' supper and meeting April 20.
The catering committee served up a delicious meal before the meeting and music began.
The minutes were read by the administrator followed by reports from the reeve, recreation board, fire board and Mayor Dave Florizone.
The hot topic of the night seemed to be the new fire truck, which was an expense the Paynton fire board could not carry alone. Special thanks went out to the RM for their role in making the new truck a reality with a low interest loan. Oil companies were called by the RM and were asked to donate money towards the new truck. As a result $5,000 was donated by Husky Oil, along with smaller donations from other companies.
When the official business was taken care of, a special guest from agriculture safety enlightened the room. She talked about farming hazards including leading causes of accidents such as poor vision in older farmers and sleep deprivation in all ages. Information was left behind along with dust masks and other items for the farmers to take home.
Paynton Fire Department has applied for and received the contract to clean the ditches along Highway 16 from the east entrance of Paynton to the east entrance of Delmas. The group has from May 1 to 31 to have the section of roadway cleaned up in order to be paid.
The volunteers are raising funds to purchase new equipment for the firefighters. Anyone can volunteer for this activity, so if you have a quad or just want to have a nice day out in the sun with people from our community, contact the volunteer fire department at 895-4225 for more details.
Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure has been running this cleanup program geared toward non profit organizations for some time. For a few years interest waned as the groups did not feel it was worth the effort. Government bodies recognized this and have raised the fee paid to volunteer organizations.
This year, 14 groups applied for the opportunity to fundraise for their various causes such as, John Paul II Cheer Team, Biggar Youth Travel Group, Relay for Life, Sweetgrass Soccer Club, McLurg High from Wilkie and many more.
Paynton sculptors Mariann Taubensee and Ellery Russell are currently exhibiting their work at Innovation Place in Saskatoon. Invited by the prairie sculptors group, the ladies along with fellow Reartcycle member Zoltan Markan of Saskatoon are showing their unique and colourful work at The Galleria in Innovation Place at the university.
Walls of glass surround the "Melding" exhibit, a play on the different materials used by the several artists involved. Featuring driftwood sculpted into animals, broken glass made into flowers, a ballerina made of mesh and a fish from iron, the diverse show is full of interesting and inspired works.
An artist reception is to be held Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. and the exhibit is open to Friday, May 4.
