Rocky Life Rocky Life

Tuesday, August 12, 2014 www.rock-e.ca The Mountaineer | Rocky Mountain House, AB | C1
CREATIVE WORK
Surroundings have
stimulated the artist to
create amazing pieces. C4
Battle of the Rockies
Phone 403-845-3328 | 1-800-668-2438
Highway 11 & 42nd Avenue, Rocky Mountain House
Garage Limited
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YEARS OF
SERVICE
F
EDWARDS
Garage Limited
Edwards Garage Welcomes Everyone to
See the NEW 2015 GMC Sierra HD at the Grandstand!!
Edwards Garage is a Proud Supporter of the WPCA
and the Battle of the Rockies.
BY BRITTANY FONG
SUMMER REPORTER
The Western Wheels
Classic Auto Club hosted
their 27th

annual auto
show on Main Street
August 9.
The show featured
North American and
European automobiles
from the 50s, 60s and
70s as well as antique
automobiles.
The show drew in
20 registered club
member cars as well as
56 registered non-club
member cars that came
from all over Alberta
including Slave Lake,
Calgary and Edmonton.
It was a good
showing, says Ron
McLean club president.
This year the club took
classic car participants
on tours of Terry
McCaws collection of
classic cars as well as
Merv Pidherneys classic
car collection, which
McLean says is what
drew in entries from
Calgary and Edmonton.
It went really well,
Im really happy. With
all the events going on,
we were lucky to get
that many people. I was
quite surprised, says
McLean.
Although not yet
totalled, funds raised
from participant entry
fees will be donated back
to local organizations.
Previously, the club
has donated funds to
organizations such as
Clearwater Boys and
Girls Club, Rocky Flipz
and the Mountain Rose
Womens Shelter.
McLean says that they
will be wrapping up this
years club in October
and will open the club
again next April, in
which they will begin
to plan next years auto
show.
The Western Wheels
Classic Auto Club was
formed in 1987 by three
members of the Chevy
55,56,57 club in Red
Deer.
The club currently has
25 members and can be
seen all throughout the
summer during their
cruise every Wednesday
evening at 7 p.m. and at
Marketplace on Main
every Thursday evening
from 6-9 p.m.
It went really well.
Im really happy.
With all the events
going on, we were
lucky to get that
many people. I was
quite surprised.
Ron McLean
Western Wheels Classic Auto
Club President
Western Wheels Classic Auto Clubs
27th

annual show a success
Show drew in participants
from all over Alberta
Kevin Andreves 1968 Plymouth Baracuda was one of the
winners in the top 10 sponsor awards.
PHOTOS BY BRITTANY FONG | THE MOUNTAINEER
Rocky residents came to view the 76 participants on Saturday.
Rocky welcomed the annual Western Wheels Classic Auto Club car show on August 9.
Merv Pidherney and his 1961 Corvette was one of the winners in the top 10 sponsor awards.
John Stewarts 1953 Studebaker was awarded the Hard Luck
trophy for a rock that chipped his windshield on the way to the
auto show.
Randy Cofield was one of the winners in the top 10 sponsor
awards with his 1950 Monarch.
A4 | The Mountaineer | Rocky Mountain House, AB www.rock-e.ca Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Opinion Opinion
EDITORIAL
|
LOOKING BACK
|
from the files of The Mountaineer
Put down the phone and live in the moment
Spare the trees, save the children
Publisher
Glen Mazza
Sales Manager
Penny Allen
Editor
Laura Button
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Published every Tuesday at Rocky
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A
few weeks ago I was listen-
ing to a radio interview with
American country music star
Kip Moore. He was discussing his
tour and how much he enjoyed
performing concerts for fans, but
he said something interesting that
most performers usually overlook.
Put the phone down and just
enjoy whats going on.
The 34-year-old artist spoke to
Country Weekly saying, Its upset-
ting that people have lost the abil-
ity to live in the moment. There are
times in a show when Ill go sing
right to somebody, face to face, and
theyll waste the whole 10 seconds
trying to get their phone out of
their pocket.
Moore further adds that now
when people attend concerts they
use their smartphones to take
photos and post their whereabouts
on social media rather than just
experiencing the moment and
making memories.
A lot of artists nowadays dis-
regard the inated smartphone
usage because it has become so
much a part of our social lives, and
instead they incorporate it into
their shows.
For example, country artist Brad
Paisley often takes
fans smartphones
and lms himself
while on stage, all
of which can be
viewed by typing
in Brad Paisley
took my phone
on YouTube.
Another country
music star who has
spoken out about
the smartphone
frenzy is Sheryl
Crow. I think that
every artist Ive talked to would
agree with the fact that it is not near-
ly as much fun to play to peoples
cameras as it is to their eyes.
This year also marks the 20th
anniversary of the worlds rst
smartphone. The IBM Simon Per-
sonal Communicator could place
calls, receive emails and included
gadgets like a calculator and note-
pad when it came out in 1994. The
phone retailed for a little under
$1,000 and a total of 50,000 phones
were sold at the time.
Since then, smartphones have
made signicant advancements,
giving users the ability to take
photos, download apps and search
the web at anytime.
There is no doubt that they have
had a positive impact for users;
however, theyve also shaped our
lives in ways that we would have
never thought.
Moore mentioned in his inter-
view that people use their phones
as a sort of security blanket. The
moment theres a bit of silence,
people pull out their phones.
Its a bit frightening to think
about future generations and their
smartphone use as it evolves.
There have been studies that
found some negative interpersonal
inuences that phones have on
users such as social anxiety and
increased stress.
Today, there are 26 million
cellphone users in Canada, which
accounts for 74 per cent of the
population.
So, for all you avid smartphone
users out there, whether attending
a concert or just passing time, try
to experience life in the moment
rather than experience it through
a screen.
BRITTANY FONG is a summer reporter at
The Mountaineer and she can be contacted
at brittany@mountaineer.bz.
H
ave you heard about the two
maple trees at Regina Beach,
Saskatchewan, that were
slated to be chopped down because
a child fell and broke a leg while
climbing them?
What about the South Carolina
mother who was arrested for al-
lowing her nine-year-old daughter
to play, unsupervised, in a popular
park?
Did you happen to read in The
Mountaineer on July 29 that Ca-
nadian children are quickly devel-
oping many illnesses previously
believed to only affect adults? Ac-
cording to the Public Health Agency
of Canada, children are being
diagnosed with high blood pressure,
Type 2 diabetes and other illnesses
at an increasing rate. In his initial
article for The Mountaineers Kids
at Play series, Sports Reporter Nick
ODea also spoke to global leading
stroke researcher Dale Corbett,
who said the chances of having a
stroke are quickly rising as the age
of stroke victims decreases. Corbett
cited studies that show a direct link
between sedentary lifestyles and
increased risk for illness.
Our health and the health of our
children is spiral-
ing down, down,
down, like dirty
bathwater after
the plug has been
pulled.
Residents of Re-
gina Beach banded
together to protest
the axe, and as it
stands now at least
one tree will be
spared. The other,
that lost a couple
of limbs in the initial chainsaw at-
tack, may be completely cut down.
Protestors included young children,
teens, adults and grandparents,
proving that common sense hasnt
completely gone out the window.
Last September, the clever
producers of the CBC satire radio
programme This is That put to-
gether a mock documentary about a
ctional community soccer associa-
tion that removed the ball from the
game. It was a commentary on the
progression from competitive sports
to score-less games in an effort to
spare kids feelings over who wins
or loses by focusing on skill devel-
opment. But a large part of sport
is competition, and the misguided
removal of scoring hasnt done
much to inspire kids to work harder
at bettering their game.
My favourite part of the pro-
gramme is when the host plays
back messages and reads e-mails
from outraged listeners who believe
whatever tongue-in-cheek headline
the show featured that week. This
particular mockumentary garnered
scores of feedback from incredulous
people decrying ball-less soccer as
senseless and ridiculous and the
end of civilization as we know it.
People fell for it because, amazing-
ly enough, it is not that far-fetched.
In fact, I know at least one long-time
newspaper editor who was had by
the hoax, and several other journal-
ists as well. These people are profes-
sional skeptics!
Will we now move to cut down all
trees for risk of injury and drain
all lakes for risk of drowning? If we
completely remove all risk from chil-
drens lives, will they be any safer?
Not in the long run.
LAURA BUTTON is Editor of The Moun-
taineer. She can be reached at editor@
mountaineer.bz.
SMARTEN UP
LAURA
BUTTON
SMARTEN UP
UNDER THE
PALM TREE
BRITTANY
FONG
P
f
a
w
o
v
i
t
o
UNDER THE
5 YEARS AGO
Members of the North
Saskatchewan Battalion climbed
Mt. Zengel in honour of Ray
Zengel, Victoria Cross recipient in
the First World War.
10 YEARS AGO
The Rocky Red Dogs mens
baseball team won the Parkland
Baseball League Championship.
15 YEARS AGO
Area residents Tricia Dahms and
Harold Northcott returned after
taking part in the Pan-American
Games in Winnipeg.
20 YEARS AGO
The Sunchild First Nation held a
three-day powwow to celebrate the
50th anniversary of the creation of
the Sunchild Reserve.
Frank Blonke was appointed
superintendent of the new Wild
Rose School Division No. 66 for the
1994-95 transition year.
25 YEARS AGO
Nine cars of a sulphur train
derailed, six miles east of Rocky.
Caroline waste transfer station
was destroyed by re.
Leslieville Antique Days drew a
record attendance.
30 YEARS AGO
A 12-person delegation left for
a visit to Rockys sister-town in
Japan.
The Fire Department installed a
new communications system.
Over 450 people attended a
reunion of former Nordegg
residents.
35 YEARS AGO
AGT installed a new
computerized digital switching
system in Rocky.
A helicopter crash near Ram
River claimed the lives of ve men.
Annexation doubled the size of
the Village of Caroline to 390 acres.
40 YEARS AGO
Mr. and Mrs. John Gibson
celebrated their golden wedding
anniversary.
An estimated 5,000 people
attended the annual David
Thompson Cavalcade at Kootenay
Plains.
45 YEARS AGO
A mountain overlooking the
Kootenay Plains, named in honour
of Ernest Ross, an early pioneer
and David Thompson highway
trailblazer, was dedicated.
Victoria Cross winner Ray Zengel
moved to British Columbia.
50 YEARS AGO
2,000 Cavalcaders attended the
1964 David Thompson Cavalcade.
199 swimmers completed
swimming classes at Crimson
Lake.
60 YEARS AGO
Good crop of wild strawberries,
plenty of sh and wild animals.
Leslieville Stampede drew a large
crowd.
70 YEARS AGO
Killed in action: Robert and
Edward Brown, sons of Mr. and
Mrs. T. W. R. Brown of Arbutus.
Married: Pearl Stewart and
Stephen Metcalfe.
80 YEARS AGO
Crimson Lake was crowded with
summer visitors.
A forest re was raging north of
Ferrier.
Its sad news for Alberta politics. There are people who are going to
rejoice, and people who are going to mock. But its not a pleasant
experience for anyone involved in politics.
Joe Anglin
Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre MLA, on Alison Redfords resignation
I
f your only source of news this past Saturday
was Facebook, youd be forgiven for thinking
the world was about to end.
People suspected explosions, feared power
outages and were shocked to learn that earth-
quakes can and do happen here.
The 4.1 magnitude earth-
quake was conrmed by the
Pacic Geoscience Centre
and Earthquakes Canada, the
division of Natural Resources
Canada with a mandate to
record, report and study all
seismic activity in Canada.
Information and misinforma-
tion can be so easily shared
online, and The Mountaineer
is careful not to rush to pub-
lish rumours to the web. It is
said that newspapers are a rst rough draft of
history, but there is great effort in ensuring our
information is as correct as possible when the
paper goes to press.
In emerging situations, information is uid.
Earthquakes Canada upgraded the magnitude
of the quake to 4.3, then dropped again to 4.1
local magnitude. The epicentre of the quake was
initially reported 10 km NE of Rocky, and later
revised to 31km SW of town. All this we learned
over the course of the weekend, by consulting
legitimate sources.
Emergency personnel were kept busy too,
above and beyond their typical Saturday dis-
patch.
On Saturday morning, they quickly ruled out
an explosion at the Keyera Strachan gas plant,
even before all units had left the Rocky re sta-
tion. First responders then started looking for
a downed transmission line or malfunctioning
transformer something to explain the noise
and tremors reported in Strachan area. Mean-
while, The Clearwater Regional Emergency
Management Association (CREMA) had kicked
in to gear, dispatching local personnel and con-
tacting provincial organizations.
At the same time, Keyera Corp. was putting
out res not in the plant, but online, where
unveried and outright false information was
spreading quickly.
Contrary to some online reports, there was
no explosion or equipment damage, the com-
pany stated that afternoon. In fact, the plant was
powering up to normal operations the same day.
According to Earthquakes Canada, earth-
quakes are rarely felt below 4.0 magnitude.
Damage is not expected below a quake of 5.0. Yet
AltaLinks substation did exactly what it was
designed to do. At the rst detectable tremors, it
shut down, serving the dual purpose of protect-
ing the infrastructure from damage and people
from contact with live wires, in the event the
transmission line came down. It was certainly
an inconvenience to the customers who lost
power, perhaps most so for the neighbouring
Keyera Strachan gas plant.
When it experienced loss of power, the plant
shut-in automatically, aring off excess gas as a
safety measure.
Like the substation, CREMA too did exactly
what it was supposed to do: nd the source of
the problem, and manage the outcome.
This earthquake, once identied, became a
morning diversion and an exercise in emergen-
cy management.
Seismically, this was pretty signicant, if only,
as Dr. Honn Kao said, because earthquakes
greater than a 4.0 magnitude are rare in Al-
berta. But earthquakes are not. Strachan is one
of the most seismically active zones of Alberta.
Thirty-four quakes have been recorded since
2010 according to Earthquakes Canada.
Lets not forget we live at the ends of the
Rocky Mountains. By their nature, mountains
are seismically active.
In 1996, an earthquake measuring 3.8 mag-
nitude hit the Strachan area on Oct. 19. The
Mountaineer reported area residents were
shaken from their beds in the wee hours, and
somebody even phoned the RCMP because they
thought their home was being bulldozed. In
1989, an earthquake measuring 4.6 also hit the
Strachan area. In 1984, an earthquake measur-
ing 4.2 was recorded west of Caroline, and while
no intensity was recorded, residents of Ched-
derville felt the ground shake on Sept. 4, 1925.
News is anything signicant, interesting or
new. While Saturdays earthquake is signicant
for seismologists and interesting for CREMA,
earthquakes in Strachan are anything but new.
Getting the
story straight
Earthquakes
shake
Strachan
more often
than you
might think
Ten years ago it was reported that there was a construction boom in town with 67
building permits totalling nearly $10,000,000.