Opinion

In Matthew 5:13 we read, “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” Here Jesus is saying that if we really belong to Him, we will be like salt.

Safety is a key component to any community and feeling safe starts with a strong family unit. The residents in Hobbema are working to make the community a safer place one step at a time. As another member of the community was gunned down it should not stop the progress that has been made. The community and First Nations people are a strong family influence and are working together to help prevent more crimes from occurring with the introduction of a gun amnesty.

I am a real softie when it comes to nature’s pen of critters, which of course includes animals, birds, bugs and whatever. Over the years, just like most of you, we had lots of pets roaming around our house and it was a sad day when we lost one of them, even the spotted salamander, the psychotic budgie and the hamster that ate my socks.

In an Olympic games year there is always much excitement leading up to the games. The host city and nation finish their venues and make way to welcome the world. Athletes work to qualify for the chance to win gold and media outlets around the world focus on the games.

Having been a kid long before the age of computers, cell phones, video games and expensive running shoes, I would quickly learn to never complain to my parents about being bored or having nothing to do.

It’s been a very exciting few weeks for rodeo fans and now that the dust has settled, things are starting to get back to normal. Ponoka hosted an excellent rodeo and it should be something that everyone is very proud of.

As we strive to enjoy our summer to the fullest, we will casually sky watch and listen for severe weather warnings, but why should we have to be swatting, itching, and twitching to avoid a host of miserable bugs and no-see-ums? In most cases we hope that the little buggers have frozen or drowned before the warm season has even started, or that the municipality has sprayed their little larvae hideaways with chemicals.

Canada is a beautiful country to live in and is generally loved and admired around the world. We are known for our geographical beauty, cold winters and our diverse population. We are also credited for being a bilingual nation with French and English as our two main languages.

When the weather finally got hot and all my spring-cleaning duties had been completed my wife and I decided that we would escape to the peace and tranquility of the Rocky Mountains for a few days. School wasn’t quite out yet, and although the July long weekend was just around the corner, it wasn’t really too busy, most of the snow was gone, and the off-season rates were still in effect at the hotels.

I guess I started playing tennis at the P.M.H. (Centennial Centre) grounds when I was hardly big enough to hang on to the racket or look over the top of the net. So many of us played because it was a fun sport that we could all afford, and all you really needed was an old hand-me-down wooden racket and a can of balls.