Noteworthy: Local business needs our support; I’m happy to oblige

By Bruce Penton on August 6, 2024.

Motorists facing various road construction sites around the city deal with frustration, but when you see the results – such as the beautiful paving job on Dunmore Road – it seems to be worth it. Try telling that to businesses along Division Avenue S., though, which have been hurt by access difficulties.

The City of Medicine Hat lately has been running radio advertisements reminding citizens that those businesses remain open while construction is going on. So, last week, due to concern about the health of businesses affected by the construction, I wound my way around the barricades and followed the ‘detour’ signs and made my way to Swirls.

(The painful things I have to go through to find items for this column are never-ending). After arrival at Swirls, it was like nothing had changed from previous years. The lineups at both windows were long, and even longer after we’d been sitting at a table and enjoying our ice cream treats for 20 minutes or so.

Now, If I can persuade the powers-that-be at the News to allow me an ice cream expense account, I can keep you up to date weekly on traffic flows at Swirls. (Editor’s note: We can offer you a free Slurpee on your birthday, Bruce, but that’s it.)

â€¢ Did anyone from Medicine Hat and area compete in the Western Regional Jigsaw Puzzle competition in Edmonton on July 27? The Canadian Jigsaw Puzzle Association is a real thing, which I found out recently, and competitors race against the clock to see who can put together a jigsaw puzzle in the quickest time.

Individual, pairs and team events are on the agenda when these competitions are held, and Canada’s best advance to the worlds in Spain. Putting together a jigsaw puzzle is usually a leisurely event around our house, occupying space on a table for a week or so at a time, but these competitors are far from leisurely.

At a May competition in Georgetown, Ont., the winning time in the individual event, on a 500-piece puzzle, was 41 minutes and eight seconds. The pairs event, this time a 1,000-piece puzzle, had a winning time of one hour, 12 minutes and 34 seconds. The four-person team event, featuring a 1,000-piece puzzle, was won in a time of 51 minutes and 10 seconds.

When I found out about the Edmonton event last week, I surmised that one or more Hatters must have taken part, given the popularity of jigsaw puzzles. If you did, let me know via an email at the address below.

â€¢ The always interesting newsletter from the Medicine Hat Public Library points out that the International Youth Day will be held next Monday, Aug. 12, at the Big Marble Go Centre. The newsletter said that “Big Marble Farms is presenting the free event for kids ages 8-17 years old. A foam party, pickleball, Nerf play and more will be part of the festivities.” The event runs from 1-4 p.m.

â€¢ A blink of an eye takes 0.1 seconds. The winning margin in the men’s 100 metres final at the Paris Olympics, won by Noah Lyles of the U.S., was 0.005 seconds – 20 times faster than a blink. Now that’s close. Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson was less than a blink of an eye behind in second place. Officials used a camera that shoots 40,000 frames per second to determine the winner.

â€¢ Short snappers: OK, now I’ve heard everything: The Bay Area on the U.S. west coast plays host to the annual world dog surfing event. A dog from Brazil is this year’s champ. Woof, woof to him. … What’s Canada’s most famous Summer? Bryan Adams’ hit song Summer of ’69? Or our country’s swimming sensation, Summer McIntosh? … It was a great weekend for Alberta’s two CFL teams. Edmonton Elks won their first game of the year by winning a road game, in Regina of all places, 42-31 over the Roughriders, while the Calgary Stampeders, looking lifeless at halftime and down 23-6 at home, roared back to beat Toronto Argonauts 27-23. … The State of Utah unilaterally reduced its impaired-driving legal limit to .05 per cent from the federal level of .08 and in the first year, deaths in that state related to drunk driving dropped by 20 per cent. … Steven Tyler, lead singer for the rock group Aerosmith, has suffered permanent damage to a vocal cord and, as a result, the group will no longer tour. Tyler had been livin’ on the edge for a long time.