Noteworthy: Always something important to support in Medicine Hat

By Bruce Penton on October 18, 2023.

Michelle Sauve is hoping thousands of Hatters will go online and cast a vote in support of What Matters to Hatters Coalition, which could receive an $8,000 grant if it wins enough votes through the Field Law Community Fund Program.

The local coalition says the money would go toward creating a wash station at the Medicine Hat Public Library for vulnerable folks who are homeless and looking to clean up. The grant money, if successful, would also help to create a shelf of personal hygiene products and winter warmth accessories available for anyone who uses the wash station. Go to https://fieldlawcommunityfund.com/ideas/connecting-with-care-in-our-community/ and vote today.

– Certain dates in history need no elaboration: Sept. 11, Jan. 6, Dec. 7, June 6, Nov. 11, Nov. 22. Recognize these other two? April 14 and July 20. Answers below…

– Is there a logical reason why gasoline sells for $1.47.9 per litre in Medicine Hat while it’s $1.35.9 or $1.37.9 in Calgary?

– The biggest name in U.S. college football last weekend was Stanford wide receiver Elic Ayomanor, who just happens to be from Medicine Hat. Former News sportswriter Ryan McCracken wrote a feature on Ayomanor in September 2020 when the athlete was contemplating which U.S. college scholarship offer to accept.

After redshirting (sitting out the season) last year at Stanford, he’s a full-fledged member of the Cardinal this year and last Friday, he caught 13 passes for a school record 294 yards and three TDs as Stanford came back from a 29-0 halftime deficit to beat Coach Deion Sanders’ Colorado Buffaloes 46-43 in overtime. On Saturday morning, Ayomanor was the talk of the entire country’s football fans, of which there are millions.

Here’s what The Sporting News said: “The Cardinal wide receiver was more blur than man, charging down the field with a sprinter’s fervour.” Ayomanor, who has worked on his incredible speed in Medicine Hat with Bulldogs Track and Field Club coach Sean Freeman, took his high schooling in New Jersey and Massachusetts to further his football career.

Quinn Skelton, who coached Elic at Hat High in Grade 10, said recruitment interest was shown by 30 U.S. Division 1 schools.

“He was an incredible talent to coach, hard working, very athletic and (strong) academically,” said Skelton. “Elic has worked very hard and we are all very proud to have had the opportunity to spend some time along the way with his football development.”

Elic’s mother Pam is his biggest supporter, said Skelton.

– Some Albertans get bent out of shape with our trials and tribulations of the day, whether it’s a proposed Alberta Pension Plan, or unruly utility rates in Medicine Hat. And then you look around the world and see innocent people dying in Ukraine and now in Israel and Gaza and life doesn’t seem so complicated or unfair here in Medicine Hat.

– Answer to the famous dates from above: April 14 (1912) was when the Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean (actually, it hit the iceberg April 14 and finally sank in the early morning hours of April 15); July 20 (1969) was when Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.

– Medicine Hat Cubs certainly know how to properly do a celebration. Marking 50 years of existence over the Thanksgiving long weekend, the local Junior B team honoured its past with a tribute to its alumni, and an alumni game, and by retiring the number of one of the greatest Cubs, Terry Bartman, who passed away last March. Bartman was a Cubs’ captain, a minor hockey coach and hockey executive in the city. The Cubs then went out and won their opener in overtime over the Rocky Rams to end the anniversary weekend on a great note.

– A little suggestive, perhaps, but I loved the message on a bus bench on 13th Avenue: “Sit your ads here.”

– Power prices and the system of setting power rates are certainly contentious issues in Medicine Hat, but the easiest and most logical way to recall Mayor Linnsie Clark – if you so choose – is at the ballot box on Oct. 20, 2025. Maybe it will be a Clark-Ted Clugston rematch.

– Getting 25,000 signatures on a recall petition will be virtually impossible, but the negative attention the recall issue will bring Mayor Clark will hurt her re-election chances. The $33 million in utility bill relief announced recently by city council however, may offset some of that negativity.