February has arrived! It is a leap year February too so you have one extra day to play with this year. And men, fair warning - Valentine's Day is only 12 days away so start planning now guess that goes for the girls too. It's always nice to be thought of on special days.
This month will be busy at the local curling rink with several major events on the agenda. The JayDee AgTech annual men's bonspiel is slated for Feb. 7 to 12. Organizers are always looking for a full slate of teams so if you haven't registered your team yet, make sure you do so by calling the curling club at 228-2212.
High school curling playdowns will also begin and Unity is fortunate to be hosting both district playdowns for senior teams Feb. 13 and 14, as well as regional playdowns for those senior teams advancing to this next level. From these events, teams will be decided to head to senior high provincial championships held in early March. As well, the 4-H team of Kyla Van de Meutter, Robyn Sperle, Megan Babchuk and Ainsley Bowey will be heading to regional curling 4-H playdowns to be held in Biggar this month.
So whether you enjoy live curling action, which there is always plenty of, or you want to join your favourite team for a refreshment in the lounge, there is always plenty of social factors and game watching available at the Unity Curling Club. Don't forget the club is unique in that it houses a far end camera to watch on a flat screen TV at each ice, and the lounge houses a big screen TV with plenty of sports channels to watch your favourite curling event, or hockey if there is no curling on TSN that day.
Team Darlene Gilles, with Wanda Heitt, playing in Humboldt at the Scotties provincial playdowns, ended their weekend with a 2-3 record, not enabling them to advance to the playoff pool. However, they have qualified for senior women's provincial play in Gravelbourg later in February.
Glen Heitt, whose team consists of Daryl Eddingfield, Bart Brown and Gary Maze advanced from senior men's regional playdowns in North Battleford last weekend and are on their way to northern senior men's playdowns, with winners advancing to provincials in Foam Lake.
Cody Thompson, who I told you last week was selected SaskEnergy Junior Star for the upcoming Brier, has found out he will be representing Team Newfoundland/Labrador at this year's Brier. This is very exciting as he could be matched with the Olympic gold medal team of Brad Gushue, pending Gushue winning their province's playdowns. Cody will be on the ice opening day, March 3, as part of his action with the SaskEnergy Jr. Stars program. I look forward to regular updates leading up to this event. For now Cody is busy preparing for his high school curling playdowns, as well as actively curling in local league play.
Now that Minor Hockey Week is over, some teams have begun their provincial playdowns. There will also be an initiation division tournament Feb. 11, with the novice division hosting their home tournament soon after. If you are in doubt about what is upcoming at our rink don't forget to check out the schedule at the rink or on the Town of Unity website to check out when your favourite team is playing next.
Makenna Vany from Unity has earned winter sport success on the Table Mountain ski hill. Makenna has been competing in the Sask Cup series earning some impressive finishes in her last two events. She looks forward to her next event in March. Makenna started with the bantam race team in December 2010 but has been skiing with the snow stars program at Table Mountain since she was five years old. The bantam race team usually trains Saturdays every weekend, and Sundays are an option to ski with the race team (12 and older).The next time Makenna will race is March 10 and 11 at Mission Ridge in the Qu'Appelle Valley. Congratulations, Makenna!
UCHS students are officially into semester two. It seems hard to believe time has flown that quickly. Coming up at UCHS is their annual magazine drive. If you are needing to renew, purchase or want to send a subscription as a gift, watch for the students starting in February as the campaign only runs for two weeks. And the drama group is practising their production for the regional drama festival this April as well as their annual public performances.
UCHS is excited to be celebrating their 50th birthday this year. The high school is hosting a slate of activities May 17, starting at 1 p.m. to help celebrate this occasion.
Meanwhile, Feb. 13 - 17 is designated as Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week so make sure to find some way to thank some one or two that you have appreciated this year.
Unity, from their top five status to win the Saskatchewan in motion challenge, saw their hopes for the grand prize of $10,000 diminish when other communities quickly overtook them in the online voting race in the opening week. It was highly disappointing for our community as the prize winnings were earmarked for great things, however, it was not meant to be. Congratulations to Elbow who pulled off a successful vote campaign.
If you don't have lunch made after church, don't worry as the museum pancake brunches are still on each Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Adanac Hall on the museum grounds.
Approximately a dozen or so crafters took part last weekend in the Unity Multiple 4-H Club's craft retreat weekend at the Unity Community Centre. It was a weekend to work on craft projects, scrapbooking, card making, quilting, sewing, knitting, crocheting, painting, etc.
The annual wildlife supper will be held at the community centre Saturday. Besides the excellent meal that is always prepared and served by wildlife members, awards will be handed out to local sportsmen and women.
The Lions Club is currently selling tickets for their Valentine's Day supper and show featuring A Tribute to Johnny Cash - Cashback Feb. 10 at the Unity Community Centre. Happy hour is at 5:30 with supper at 6:30 and show at 8:00 p.m. Contact Rose at 228-2579 or Phyllis at 228-3873 to secure your tickets today!
Unity Baptist Church is having a Valentine's Day banquet Feb. 14. Cliff and Marg Scott will be sharing their musical talent. Don't miss this opportunity to hear an international gospel entertainer and speaker. Tickets available at Downtown Medical Clinic or Sunrise Wellness Spa.
Legion members are selling the next round of tickets for their new, and popular, 50/50 tickets that went over very well before Christmas. Check with one of the Legion members on how to get yours.
Coffee row folk have been discussing Valentine's Day and how important it is to them to recognize their significant others (this portion was a paid advertisement/reminder from their significant others!). And, after I take some grief for that content, I know they will take it with a grain of salt and a chuckle or two, as they always do. Regardless of the topic on the table you can always hear laughter from the groups around town, showing that freedom of speech exists in both print and word. And so again you can see we keep busy in Unity with activities and wisdom from our friends on coffee row. Until next week ...
