By Jack Tennant
A number of years ago in Coffee Traders I used to visit with a guy who often had his young son with him.
We’d laugh and joke about the possibility of me ever taking up their passion.
I’d suggest a hang-glider would have to have a wingspan of about 400 feet to have enough lift to get me in the air.
And Willi Muller would laugh and his son Chris would smile and our conversation would escape into something far more logical.
And now both are gone. Sometimes life can be so unfair.
ß ß ß
There’s a new art gallery in town.
Well not really an art gallery but it displays a great variety of art — and some computers.
Tremar Computer Solutions across from IGA has great exhibits well worth viewing.
ß ß ß
May 8 is Mother’s Day. It’s also the 60th anniversary of VE-Day which was the end of the Second World War in Europe.
And I remember it well. I was nine and when we got the news that morning in Brandon that the war was over a bunch of kids got together for a victory parade. The marching band was magnificent because it was about 15 of us with metal pots and wooden spoons.
And we marched. We marched in circles and squares and up and down every street in the east end and were cheered by every family.
So this year after Mother’s Day brunch show up at the Cochrane Cenotaph for a service celebrating VE-Day at 1 p.m. followed by a reception in the Legion.
Thank your mother and a vet the same day.

• Filed under Archives | Comments Comments Off

By Shawn Logan
The Eagle
A man who helped turn Cochrane into the Canadian mecca for windsports died in a Florida competition April 23, meeting a similar fate to that of his famous father.
Chris Muller, 28, was in Groveland, Fla., for the Flytec U. S. National Championships competing in the event’s last day when he hit the ground.
Bob Lane, an instructor at Quest Air Soaring Center outside of Orlando, where the final day of the competition took place, said Muller’s hang-glider clipped the ground while he streaked towards the finish line of the cross-country race at well over 100 km/h.
“It was a long-distance race. He was coming in fast across the goal line and he got too close to the ground,” Lane said April 25. “He just made a mistake.”
Muller was still alive when a helicopter airlifted him to a hospital, Lane said, but he died soon after.
Tim Hall, a friend of Chris Muller and an instructor at the Cochrane facility, said while tragic, he expects Chris would have been content dying doing what he loved.
“It was a shock, yes, but a surprise? No,” Hall said. “I can’t see Chris wanting to go out any other way.”
Muller’s father, Willi Muller, died in 1998 during a competition at Celan Butte, Wash.
Willi Muller started Muller Windsports Ltd. at the top of Cochrane’s Big Hill in the 1970s, a venue that brought the sport to thousands of Canadians.
The facility also became part of Cochrane’s identity, with warm summer days marked by a myriad of colourful gliders soaring on the swirling winds above the town.
Muller followed in the footsteps of his famous father, setting a number of distance records and becoming one of the top innovators in the sport as well as continuing to operate his Muller Windsports with his mother Vincene.
“He was probably one of the most well-liked people I have seen in this sport,” Lane said, noting he and his father were both well-known on the world windsports circuit.
Lane said he knew Muller for three years and considered him a “good friend.”
Hall said he was introduced to the sport by Willi and became a teacher with Chris’ help.
“Willi introduced me to flying and Chris taught me the rest. He taught me how to teach,” he said. “His love of the sport, it was infectious.”
Hall dismissed the notion that hang-gliding was inherently dangerous, noting “you can die crossing the street.”
But he admitted a sport that involves the speeds and heights of hang-gliding presents unique challenges.
“It’s not a dangerous sport but (accidents) will happen,” Hall said. “It’s an extreme sport and it’s a choice we all make as participants.”
He said Muller Windsports will continue to operate
A memorial service for Chris Muller is also being planned.

• Filed under Archives | Comments Comments Off

By Shawn Logan
The Eagle
The former Domtar property, which has remained undeveloped while efforts to deal with contamination have been floated, may soon be on the block as part of a tax sale by the Town of Cochrane.
The sale will include lots six and seven of Phase 1 of the site plan (the area east of Cochrane Towne Square) as well as the remaining land owned by Cochrane Properties Ltd. (CPL).
Unless CPL pays its outstanding taxes on the approximately 40 acres of land that sits along Griffin Road, the properties will go up for public auction, according to Lori Leipnitz, the town’s director of corporate services.
“There are a couple of properties in town that we will have to go to a tax sale on,” Leipnitz said April 25. “(The property owners) can stop the process at any time up until the date of the public auction.”
Under the Municipal Government Act, land can be part of a tax sale if the owner doesn’t pay property taxes for two years. The owner is then given an additional year to pay the taxes prior to the land actually going up for public auction.
Leipnitz wouldn’t confirm the identity of the property owner but the legal descriptions provided align with those for the former Domtar land.
Citing restrictions under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, Leipnitz wouldn’t disclose the amount owing on the properties.
CPL Chair and CEO Bob Nowack couldn’t be reached for comment April 25.
Montréal-based Domtar treated railway ties on the property from 1963 to 1987. Following the company’s departure, creosote contamination was discovered on the site, a small portion of which subsequently migrated to the south and east.
CPL acquired the property in 1996 from Domtar after agreeing to remediate the on-site contamination before developing it.
The first phase of the cleanup was completed quickly and became part of Cochrane Towne Square, but talks with Alberta Environment and the Calgary Health Region to develop a remedial action plan for the remaining lands bogged down and have remained stagnant.
According to Leipnitz, the town will now appraise the value of the properties and council will set a reserve bid based on its market value.
Once set, the tax sale will be advertised and a date for the auction will be established.
Leipnitz said an auction for the land would be held “probably in July or August.”
She said if the land is sold, the outstanding property taxes would go to the town and the “balance would go to the property owner.”
However, if no one steps forward to purchase the contaminated property, the town would then become the title holder.
“The threat is, if there is no interest in the public auction, the town assumes the title for the recovery of the (taxes),” Leipnitz said. “That’s not one of the businesses the town wants to be in.”
Nowack approached Cochrane council in 2002 with a proposal that the town enter into a public-private partnership with CPL to allow the project to move forward.
The town balked at Nowack’s request for $2.5 million to spur development on the site.
After a new council was elected in October, Nowack floated a new proposal that called for the town to participate financially although details of that plan have only been shown to council and town administration.

• Filed under Archives | Comments Comments Off

By Shawn Logan
The Eagle
A Morley man has been charged with second degree murder in the death of his wheelchair-bound uncle.
Roderick Powderface, 35, died April 20, three days after the incident left him in critical condition.
Later that night, Powderface’s 24-year-old nephew showed up at the Cochrane RCMP detachment.
Marian Sedrick Powderface appeared in Cochrane provincial court April 26 and had his case adjourned until May 26. In addition to the second degree murder charge, he has also been charged with aggravated assault and mischief.
Another man was already in custody April 20 in connection with the incident. Chuck Rider, also of Morley, was charged in connection with an assault on a 45-year-old woman, who suffered a head wound that needed 35 stitches. She is recovering at home.
According to Sgt. Mike McTaggart, what began as a minor tussle escalated into a fight.
“It was just a small altercation and it turned into a much larger one,” McTaggart said.
He said the two accused were asked to leave a Morley home but they later returned with a baseball bat.
Roderick Powderface, who had lost part of one leg in a motor vehicle accident in 2004, was assaulted inside the house while the woman was attacked outside.
McTaggart said police believe the same baseball bat was used in both assaults. A car at the residence was also damaged.
He added Roderick Powderface wasn’t involved in the initial altercation but “just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
McTaggart said further charges are unlikely.
A funeral service for Roderick Powderface was held at the Morley school April 25.

• Filed under Archives | Comments Comments Off

By Shawn Logan
The Eagle
Wild Rose Conservative MP Myron Thompson is gearing up for a spring election while the federal Liberals continue to plummet in the polls as testimony into a probe of the sponsorship scandal continues.
According to Thompson, there is no doubt Wild Rose voters believe a change in government is needed.
“People in Wild Rose are ready for an election. They want these bums out of there,” Thompson said April 22. “They have failed at their job and it’s time for them to go.”
Prime Minister Paul Martin appealed to Canadians April 21 to allow the Gomery commission to complete its investigation before an election is held.
He pledged to call an election within 30 days of the release of Gomery’s findings.
Thompson said the government no longer has the confidence of the House of Commons or the Canadian public and must be turfed.
But Former Cochrane mayor Judy Stewart, who ran against Thompson in the 2004 election under the Liberal banner, offered a warning to Conservatives who continue to snipe at the federal government.
“It’s very easy to be in opposition but it’s not so easy to govern,” she said. “(Opposition politicians) should be in the House doing their job. Let the public raise the hue and cry.”
Thompson said Martin’s televised appeal was little more than an attempt to put the allegations heard at the Gomery commission on the back burner as Canadians become more outraged with revelations of how $100 million of taxpayer dollars was funneled to Liberal-friendly ad agencies for little or no work and then apparently kicked back in the form of political contributions.
“They’re trying to buy time hoping Canadians will forget,” he said. “They don’t deserve any more time. This government can’t continue to operate with its hands in the purse of Canadian taxpayers.”
Prior to last June’s federal election, Thompson said this would be his final term in office. But with an election brewing as the Liberals’ minority government faces attacks from opposition parties, Thompson, who was first elected in 1993, said he will run again.
“I’m not quitting now,” he said.
While he couldn’t say if the Tories would push for a vote of non-confidence, forcing an election, he said he and his team are prepared for anything.
Although some polls suggest voters don’t want a snap election, Thompson said that has to be balanced against whether the government is able to continue effectively.
“Every time you become a part of government, you know an election could be coming up and you never know when,” Thompson said. “All our members (of Parliament) are in their ridings trying to get a feel if the polls are really true.”
Meanwhile, Stewart said the Wild Rose Liberals are looking for a candidate.
“We’re actively seeking a candidate,” said the riding association president. “In our long-term planning, we are looking to recruit a very good candidate.”
While Stewart is “a little leery” of making another run — she carried the Liberal banner in a northwest Calgary riding in 2004 — she admits, “I would like to take Myron on one last time.”
“If the election was called in the next week or so, obviously we will have a name on a ballot,” she said. “I’ve never been more proud to be a Liberal and now we’re going to clean things up.”
She added the Gomery commission should be given the chance to finish its work and give Canadians the full picture before they go to the polls.
Jeff Horvath, who ran for the NDP in Wild Rose last year, and Chris Foote of the Green Party couldn’t be reached for comment.

• Filed under Archives | Comments Comments Off

By Shawn Logan
The Eagle
Parents of Elbow Valley Elementary students are concerned they may face holding some classes in the Springbank school’s gymnasium for a second straight year unless the province comes through with funding for new portable classrooms.
Ashley Halsey, chair of Elbow Valley’s school council, said word that a pair of portables promised last September won’t be in place until fall has been frustrating for the parents who have fought for a year to return the school gymnasium to its original purpose.
A pair of Kindergarten classes were moved to the gymnasium after the province’s class size initiative added six teachers and the school had to scramble for space.
With more new teachers expected next year from the same program, Halsey said the school may have to face a similar dilemma next year.
“We haven’t heard any word other than (Infrastructure Minister Lyle) Oberg saying we’re on target for getting two portables in September,” Halsey said. “But that doesn’t make it better for us. We now find ourselves faced with the fact that we’re right back in the same situation for next year in that we already need two (more) portables.”
Parents at the school lobbied both the province and the Rocky View School Division for new portables and were told in September 2004 that they were approved.
But Rocky View called for more expensive core portables that would attach to the school instead of free-standing structures, a move that slowed the process.
Bart Johnson, a spokesperson for Alberta Infra-structure, said Rocky View’s formal request didn’t come until last month, which didn’t allow the ministry to give its blessing on the plan until recently.
“The board was in position to tender this in September and it didn’t,” Johnson said. “They just came back to us and changed their minds.”
Trustees decided to provide a vestibule for the portables to make it part of the core of the school.
Alberta Infrastructure originally handed over $160,000 for the work but the addition of the link will cost Rocky View an additional $180,000.
According to Lyall Thomson, Rocky View’s superintendent, the board received word April 25 that the project has been approved and the portables will be in place likely by September.
But a request for 23 additional portables needed to balance class sizes this year has been rejected.
“We asked for 23 more portables and we were turned down on all counts,” Thomson said. “Infrastructure won’t fund portables or modernization until more revenues are coming in.”
Thomson said the bleak news from the province means schools facing a space crunch like Elbow Valley will just have to make due.
“We have 35 per cent of our students in portables and every year we have to move portables as we need to,” he said. “We’re going to try and avoid it but there’s no doubt we’ll have larger classes than the class size initiative wanted or we want.”
He said on average, the division will likely meet the numbers laid out in the initiative but only because of a number of smaller rural schools that have fewer students than others.
Thomson said the board will do whatever it can to keep students out of specialty spaces but admitted similar circumstances may happen.
“We’re going to try and do our very best to match these class sizes without taking away (specialty) space,” he said.
Johnson acknowledged the class size initiative has not been matched with increased infrastructure funding but said school boards need to be more creative in finding solutions.
“I know a lot of boards have faced a challenge as a result of the class size initiative,” he said. “We have asked boards to be flexible and do what they had to do to accommodate the class size initiative.”
But Halsey said the answers were unacceptable when gymnasium space was being robbed of students because of a lack of classroom space.
“It’s not like we’re asking for something special here,” Halsey said. “We were thrilled to receive the extra teachers but we don’t feel we should have to choose one or the other. In a province this rich, we should be able to have classrooms.”

• Filed under Archives | Comments Comments Off

By Warren Harbeck
Our coffee companions have been anything but silent about silence.
Last week’s column, as you may recall, was a celebration of lessons I’ve learned from elders of the Stoney Nakoda First Nation at Morley on the importance of silence.
Several from Morley told me they had photocopied the column and were passing it around or had taped it to their refrigerator doors. Others who have had associations with the Stoney community but are now living elsewhere wrote with gratitude for what they, too, had learned at Morley about the beauty of silence.
From the University of Waterloo, where she is completing a degree in social development, Pam Showler wrote:
“What you say about the depth of silence reminds me of when I lived on the Stoney reserve. Like you, I was able to experience those deep moments of silence and I learned a lot about myself, because silence turned my thoughts inward to self-reflect. To sit in peace and silence strengthened me in ways that words cannot and do not express.”
From Cochrane, semi-retired police officer Bill Hargarten wrote:
“Your column on the importance of silence struck a familiar chord. Some years ago, the Saskatoon police had me attend an aboriginal awareness course at the Canadian Police College in Ottawa. Our instructors urged us to step out of our role as ‘authoritative 911 responders’ and take time for tea with the aboriginal grandmothers and grandfathers.
“Silence was an opportunity to learn from elders and to show respect. The police college wasn’t suggesting that time with elders was a means of solving police files; it was a way for us to gain understanding.
“I remember one time when a relative had stolen a grandmother’s grocery money. We drank tea and she beaded moccasins while I learned about the healing power of forgiveness. It was somewhat of an alien concept to me as an investigator for our adversarial justice system!
“For today’s cops, time is a luxury. The time I was able to allot gave me only a small insight into the elders’ collective wisdom, though it enriched me much more than I’m able to say.”
Edmonton sociologist David Long says he is “mysteriously compelled by silence.” He shared some lines from Mother Teresa he felt accorded well with silence in the Stoney way:
“The beginning of prayer is silence. . . . God speaking in the silence of the heart. And then we start talking to God from the fullness of the heart. And He listens. The beginning of prayer is Scripture. . . .we listen to God speaking. And then we begin to speak to Him again from the fullness of our heart. And He listens. That is really prayer. Both sides listening and both sides speaking. In silence.”
ß ß ß
I hope to return to this topic in a future column. For now, however, I’d like to close with a tribute to one of our beloved coffee companions who had his own special relationship with silence.
Cochrane resident and a world windsport champion Chris Muller died April 22 while competing in a hang-gliding competition in Florida. He was 29.
So many times I’ve watched in awe as he soared into the blue above Cochrane Hill at his Muller Windsports location. So many times I’ve sat enthralled as he told me about his hang-gliding and paragliding exploits around the world.
For Chris, this moving poem by Second World War pilot John Gillespie Magee, Jr., “High Flight”: (more…)

• Filed under Archives | Continue reading | Comments Comments Off

By Sarah Junkin
The Eagle
A Cochrane-area man is to be honoured with one of the University of Calgary’s most prestigious awards.
On May 12 at the university’s annual convocation ceremony, Dr. K. Hans van de Sande will be appointed to the Order of the University of Calgary.
When asked if he was surprised by the award van de Sande said, “Yes and no. I knew I was nominated because they have to ask your permission, but you’re always surprised to receive an honour like this.”
University of Calgary media relations officer Gregory Harris said the order is the highest award a member of the university community can receive.
“Anyone, students, staff, faculty, anyone can be nominated for the award by their peers,” he said.
Van de Sande is the head of the department of medical biochemistry, vice-dean for research in the faculty of medicine, and director of research for the Alberta Cancer Board.
He was honoured for both furthering the external visibility of the university and for his continued mentoring of students and junior faculty members.
Regarding his numerous achievements, Van de Sande, a Bearspaw resident, said, “It’s important to remember I’ve had fun doing all these things in my life.”

• Filed under Archives | Comments Comments Off

By Joslynn Boyce
You know those days when the world just seems to be picking on you and it just keeps on bringing you down. Perhaps your hair just doesn’t co-operate with you, or possibly you lost your job or maybe even lost a loved one.
Well, in the real world everyone has to deal with these kinds of days, whether it is a few times a month or a few times per year. However, the way each individual deals with these discouraging situations varies greatly. Some people choose to be pessimistic; being alone and full of self pity may be the way certain individuals cope with difficult times in their life.
On the other hand some individuals choose to handle situations with a positive attitude and an optimistic outlook on life. The choice individuals make is not only based on one’s own personality but also on the personality of those who surround us each day.
As human beings we develop our personalities by learning from those around us. Family, friends, or even a stranger can play a major role in the creation of the specific character and behavior of each individual person. So whether or not we recognize it, we are being influenced daily.
Examples of people who have an impact on me each day are teachers, parents, friends and even strangers I may deal with while shopping at a local store or talking on the phone. I would like to tell you a story about one certain individual, of many, that has had a positive impact on my life.
Every Sunday in church, during collection, the younger children of the parish are welcomed to the front of the church to place coins in a bucket. The money collected in the bucket goes towards our church project, Mission Mexico. Every week I enjoy the smile that comes across my face when the children all go up to the bucket to toss their money in.
However, there is always one little boy, Daniel, who is about two-years-old that has a difficult time working his way through the many kids that crowd around. Although he gets pushed around unintentionally, he continues on with his journey towards the collection bucket and he is always successful in completing the task he was determined to achieve.
He not only completes the journey there but also back to his parents, through the hustle and bustle of many kids much bigger than he. He could very easily give up, sit down and cry and expect that someone else will help him, but he doesn’t. In fact, the smile on his face is even bigger when he makes it back to his mom and dad, almost as if he enjoys the challenge of making it to the collection bucket and back.
Each time I see him complete his journey my heart beats harder in my chest and I become motivated and inspired. He shows me that if I have a goal or a destination in life, there is always a way that will allow me to be successful, even though I may experience difficulties along the way!
So I take life as it comes, the good with the bad, and try to find the successes in each new challenge along the way.
Joslynn Boyce is in Grade 10 at Bow Valley High school.

• Filed under Archives | Comments Comments Off