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VOLUME 100, No. 32 Ph. 403-577-3337, FAX 577-3611 CONSORT, ALBERTA $1.50 PER COPY - $49.00/YEAR AUGUST 8, 2012

Inside This Week

• EnterpriseCelebrates 100 yrs. - Page 2

• Opinion & Letters - Page 4

• Mary Musings - it was the most

fantastic weekend... - Page 5

• MP Sorenson - Page 5

• Pudge - Page 6

• Consort Local News - Page 7

• Centennial Party Quick Pics - Pages 9-13

• Classified & Careers - Pages 16 & 17

• Wildrose Leader Stops in Consort - Page 18

PM 40012232

Stupendous! Amazing! Fantastic! Crazy! Outstand-ing! That's what visitors to Consort have been sayingabout the weekend long Centennial Celebration. Follow-ing well over a year of planning, preparing and worry-ing - the party went off as near to perfect as anyonecould have hoped; even the weather cooperated withsunny skies and a cooling breeze. "The fireworks were incredible - the most amazingshow I've seen," said Lorna Roth from Edmonton. Lornawas also impressed with the ceremony and the hugeeffort by community volunteers, but the highlight of theweekend for her was visiting with old friends. "It was sonice to see so many people I haven't seen for years.There were a few I had to look at their name tags, butthe visiting was definitely the highlight." Most of the over 1500 people in attendance agreedwith Lorna; visiting with friends and family, the fireworksand seeing 'ol Consort looking green and well kept wasthe pinnacle of their Centennial weekend. The party kicked off on Friday afternoon with anawesome picnic in the swimming pool park where TheEnterprise served up 852 (minus 3 dropped on theground) hot dogs for the crowd who also devoured pailsof baked beans and tubs of watermelon as fast as thecrew could fill them. Mary Readman and her volunteers

Centennial Party Rocks Consort!!!

© Enterprise Photo - Kelsey Simpson

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

The longest parade in Consort history highlighted the Party of the Century as the Village celebrated 100 years last weekend

had cake and lemonade for dessert and the park wasbuzzing as people visited and lingered into the evening. The crowd eventually drifted in to the arena wherePat and Charlotte Gilmer and Friends were on stageplaying music and getting everyone warmed up for therest of a long Friday night. "Ain't No Rodeo" was onstage later, and kept the crowd entertained until the wee

hours. The band received solid reviews for their music,but as with every homecoming dance, many thoughtthe volume was excessive and interfered with their remi-niscing. On Saturday morning, the ATB crew had pancakesand sausages ready for 8:00 a.m. and the arena was

–by Kelsey Simpson

In the blistering heat ofthe Saskatchewan sun, sud-den change blew in on thewind, providing relief formany not just from theweather, but more impor-tantly, relief from an over 65year reign on Western Ca-nadian farmers. August 1st, 2012marked the official 'new be-ginning' for farmers andfarming families as they cel-ebrated "Grain MarketingFreedom Day". “It’s a great day to be inSaskatchewan, a great dayfor Western Canadianfarmers. A great day for allwho have fought the goodfight. Welcome to GrainMarketing Freedom Day,"announced Prime MinisterStephen Harper at the eventheld just 12 km. south ofKindersley Sk., on a largefamily farm. As a result of Bill C-18,the Marketing Freedom forGrain Farmers Act, West-ern farmers will now havethe freedom to sell their

wheat and barley on theopen market, but can stilluse the Canadian WheatBoard to VOLUNTARILYsell their wheat and barley,a luxury that farmers havenot had since The GreatDepression. The day was also a dayof pardoning, "Friends, tothe authority of the Crownfalls an ancient power, theRoyal Prerogative ofMercy. It is a rare and sig-nificant thing for this powerto be exercised. Well, la-dies and gentlemen, todayI am pleased to announcethat it will be exercised." Prime Minister Harpermade the announcementthat not only would thefarmers finally have whatthey have fought so hardfor, but farmers who havestood up and challengedthe wheat board, resultingin many of them spendingtime in jail, will be officiallypardoned so that their"convictions will no longertarnish their good names".

Prime Minister Pardons Jailed FarmersHarper Welcomes Grain Marketing Freedom Day

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Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Kindersley onAugust 1st for "Grain Marketing Freedom Day"

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THE CONSORT ENTERPRISE AUGUST 8, 2012PAGE 20

Planning for extremes

Consort August 28

9:30am-noon

Sportex - Community Hall

Flood and drought are facts of life in Alberta.

Join us for a discussion on how to deal with these extremes

before, during, and after they happen.

Plan to attend! This workshop is free, but pre-registration is

appreciated. Call 780-672-0276 to register.

Unable to attend? We’d still love to

hear from you! Contact us.

www.battleriverwatershed.ca

FARMERS!

Rainy day? Come on down!

Sun shining and work to be done? Contact us

for other opportunities to get involved.

Join us for coffee and snacks

before the workshop!

32c

Local New Brigdenfarmer Jim Ness was oneof these farmer who pro-tested the CWB and tookgrain across the US bor-der back in 1996 andserved time in jail for his"crime". He says that it isnot very often that farmersget recognized for the workthey do, so it was a prettyfantastic day to be salutedfrom the Prime Minister fortheir efforts to end theCWB monopoly. "Things will never bethe same. We are freefrom burdensome regula-tions and we can makeour own deals on grain...there is real opportunityahead for the graingrower... the discrimina-tion ends after 65 years". When questioned whyhe would put himself on theline to end the CWB backin 1996 he simply re-marked, "I learned a longtime ago that whatever wetolerate and put up with,we can't change. Youreach a point where youjust aren't going to take itanymore. It is really greatto see the end result of be-ing aggressive and push-ing ahead to get unjustregulations changed". Local Wildrose MLARick Strankman, of Altario,was also one of the manyfarmers who served jailtime for protesting the mo-nopoly of the CWB, "Fortoo long, the CWB deniedAlberta farmers the free-dom to choose how andwhere they sold their prod-uct," Strankman said. "Buttoday, finally, farmers can

chart out their own courseto prosperity without theCWB looking over theirshoulder."

CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE

Prime Minister Pardons Jailed Farmers

A huge crowd gathered at Kindersley, Sk. on August 1st to witness Prime MinisterStephen Harper pardon farmers who were jailed for their protest and to celebratean end to the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly

back in 1996 gathered fora group picture under aCanadian flag wrappedaround a grain bin, sym-bolic of the current Cana-dian government's com-mitment to the farmers withthe demolition of the 65year old monopoly giantknown as the CanadianWheat Board - a HistoricDay for Western Farmersand Canadians. Pardoned farmers - Jim Ness of New Brigden and Darren Winczura of Viking

Besides the big wigsfrom Ottawa, many otherpolitical dignitaries wereout for the event includingMP Kevin Sorenson andWildrose leader DanielleSmith. The magnificentcrowd was buzzing withconversation after officialspeeches were all saidand done. The line up toget a picture with ourPrime Minister was longerthan a train and most wereleft with disappointmentwhen the line had to be cutoff twice due to time con-straints. After a good beef on abun meal, everyone wavedgood-bye to the PrimeMinister as he drove awaywith his vehicle entourage,riding off on the dustySaskatchewan roads. As people began topack up into their vehiclesand leave the historicevent behind, the group offarmers who started it all

Drumheller/Stettler MLA,Rick Strankman is happyto see the end to the CWBmonopoly

© Enterprise Photos - Kelsey Simpson