Noteworthy: Narrowing down seven deserving seniors is going to be a tough task

By Bruce Penton on February 28, 2024.

The announcement that the Community Foundation of Southern Alberta will hold a gala next year to honour Hatters by way of a Top 7 Under 70 program is heartening. Off the top of my head, I can think of more than seven seniors who would be deserving candidates.

Deadline for nominations is Aug. 26. Event chair David Andrews said the criteria has no bounds – “it can be philanthropy, it can be business, it can be sports, it can be the arts, it can just be community service,” he said. A top 70 over 70 might be more like it.

– A guy named Eric Alter wins X (Twitter) this week: “With the rise of self-driving vehicles, it’s only a matter of time until there’s a country song where the guy’s truck leaves him.”

– Not to put pressure on the Medicine Hat News news staff, but I’ll bet about a year from now we’ll see a story in the newspaper studying the fallout from the survey done for the Medicine Hat Police Service. Generally, said the survey, Hatters are happy with the work done by the Gas City’s finest, but it pointed out problems still exist vis a vis the downtown.

Chief Alan Murphy said his staff plans to address concerns about downtown, which is good to know. Nothing worse than having survey results gather dust on a shelf at police headquarters. So, mark the date: Late February, 2025: What kind of progress on the downtown situation can the police department brag about? We’ll find out in a newspaper story, I’m sure.

– Steps to take to try to live to be 100, from Axios: Stay connected.Â Experts say loneliness and isolation is a public health crisis, and the National Institute on Aging in the U.S. says their impact is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

– Is this the weirdest hockey card story of all time? Probably. Someone found a case of 1979-1980 O-Pee-Chee brand hockey cards in their Saskatchewan attic. Unopened. That year just happened to be the rookie year of Wayne Gretzky and his rookie card in mint condition has been sold for as much as $3 million.

It’s estimated as many as 25 Gretzky rookie cards could be included in the unopened case and collectors apparently believe it’s true, because the case sold for nearly $4 million last weekend through a Dallas auction house. A Canadian outbid an American to win the valuable case of cards. The attic where the hockey cards were found also contained cases of unopened baseball cards – enough to fill a van, said a CBC online report. You have to wonder, though, that if 25 Gretzky rookie cards suddenly flood the collectors’ market, the per-card value has to suffer a devaluation, right?

– Short snappers: Whomever decided relish should go into a plastic squeezable container should be sent to a deserted island somewhere to do penance.

– About one billion birds – that’s billion, with a B – will die in the U.S. annually by flying into windows of tall buildings.

– Soccer fans may want to note that superstar Lionel Messi will play three times in Canada on his world tour this year – May 11 in Montreal, May 25 in Vancouver and Oct. 5 in Toronto. If you’ve ever wanted to see this football virtuoso live, this might be one of your final chances.

– A membership to the Friends of the Monarch Theatre Society might be the best $10 one could spend. The annual meeting of the society will be held March 17. You would make Judy Morris the happiest woman in Medicine Hat if the current membership of 60 people hit triple figures.

The Monarch is back, baby, thanks to local Rotary clubs and the Society.

– Most supporters of Canada’s Liberal Party and the U.S.’s Democratic Party would love their leaders to be replaced, but neither of them are likely to go, which Globe and Mail columnist Lawrence Martin says could mean bad news for the two parties in the next elections. Lust for power and ego are in the way, he says.

– Tempted to say something nasty about Westlock, Alta., and the town’s decision (by a 663-639 vote) to ban pride flags from flowing in their community, but – just happy that Medicine Hat doesn’t follow suit.

– Tip of the cap to puppeteer Ronnie Burkett of Medicine Hat for receiving lifetime artistic achievement honours in the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards. A 45-year puppeteer veteran, Burkett is renowned for his adult-related puppet performances.

– A forecast high of plus 12 Thursday would normally bring cheers, but c’mon people, we need some more snow.