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More than 100 years of history at Sylvan Lake’s Hazzard County

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Here’s some history from the Sylvan Lake and District Archives about one of Sylvan Lake’s oldest buildings, what is now the Hazzard County Bar and Grill.  Continuously operated since being built over a century ago, this building on 46th Avenue started out as Dingwall’s Boarding House.

Enjoy this local history story and stop by for a cool drink next time you’re at Sylvan Lake. 

James Dingwall Family

By Alex Dingwall and Lillian Duffield

James Alexander Dingwall and Catherine Ann McCrimmon were married in 1908 in Glengarry County, Ontario. They had two children, a son, Alexander, born March 27, 1909 and a daughter, Helen, born April 24, 1911.

The family moved west to Red Deer in 1913. Mr. Dingwall worked for Great West Lumber Co., which firm operated a saw mill on the Red Deer River.

On April 17, 1917, the family moved to Sylvan Lake where they operated the first Dingwall Boarding House. Mr. Joe Rosse had a store in the front part of the building. This building was destroyed by fire on January 21, 1921, when a gasoline lamp exploded. It was rebuilt in 1921 and this building still stands. At present (1984), the P&F Offshore Grocery occupies part of the premises.

The Dingwalls catered to CNR freight train crews hauling coal from Nordegg Mines. There were 14 to 16 trains a day at that time. Many boarders enjoyed the sumptuous meals served by the Dignwalls. Some of these were Dr. E.K. Wright, who organized the first Sunday School in Sylvan Lake; school teachers, Miss Spicer, Miss Baker, Miss Buzzard, Mr. Les Matheson and others. Also, the late Jack Penley, who operated Varsity Dance Hall for many years, and members of his orchestra boarded at the Dingwalls. Many free meals were handed out to those in need during the depression years. Mr. Dingwall’s beautiful big garden helped supply food for the table.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Dingwall were faithful church workers. Mr. Dingwall looked after the heating of the church and hall for many years. When the basement flooded and caved in, Mr. Dingwall built the new foundation. Mrs. Dingwall was a member of the Ladies’ Aid and worked hard for the turkey suppers sponsored by that group. She was on the committee in the early days that acquired the church bell and this bell still hangs in the new church belfry. Mrs. Dingwall was also responsible for obtaining a building, donated to her by Mr. Z. Mederis, which was moved in beside the church to be used as a Sunday School Hall for many years. Ladies’ Aid meetings, teas, and turkey suppers were held in this hall as well as many other functions.

Mrs. Dingwall was also a faithful member and worker for the Women’s Institute and served as president for a number of years.

The Dingwall’s son, Alexander (Alex) Edgar Dingwall, married Evaline Mina Byers of Sylvan Lake on August 31, 1940. He served five years with the Canadian Forces in the Second World War and saw service in England and Italy. On his return in 1945, he and wife Eve made their home in Red Deer where he was employed for 30 years at Red Deer Motors. They obtained a home through the V.L.A. at 3511-44 Avenue in 1949 and still reside there. Alex and Eve have two daughters.

Susan Catherine, born April 15, 1948, married Syd Nichols of the Willowdale District and they now farm four miles east of Rocky Mountain House. They have two daughters, Janet and Laurie.

Mary Louise was born August 28, 1949. She married Gordon Dolling (son of a former Sylvan Lake councilor) and they live in Fort McMurray. They have two sons, Jimmy and Darin.

The Dingwall’s daughter, Helen Barbara Dingwall, married Robert Thompson of Calgary on September 12, 1945. They moved to Vancouver, Washington, where Helen still resides. Robert passed away in January, 1982. They have one daughter, Shirley Ann, who is married and has two sons. They live 20 miles from Helen.

Another early Sylvan Lake family was Mr. and Mrs. F.D. McCrimmon, who were doubly related to the Dingwalls. Mrs. McCrimmon was Mr. Jim Dingwall’s sister and Mr. F.D. McCrimmon was Mrs. Jim Dingwall’s brother.

They also had a sister, Mrs. Mary Bell (McCrimmon) Falkner, who resided in Sylvan Lake for many years.

Mr. Jim Dingwall passed away on July 27, 1954 at the Red Deer Hospital. Mrs. Dingwall passed away in the Rimbey Nursing Home on February 28, 1960. They are both buried in the Sylvan Lake Cemetery.

from:  Reflections of Sylvan Lake, pp. 178-179 — Copyright Sylvan Lake Historical Society 1984

Read more stories about Sylvan Lake, Alberta.  Click here.

Community

SPARC Red Deer – Caring Adult Nominations open now!

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Red Deer community let’s give a round of applause to the incredible adults shaping the future of our kids. Whether they’re a coach, neighbour, teacher, mentor, instructor, or someone special, we want to know about them!

Tell us the inspiring story of how your nominee is helping kids grow up great. We will honour the first 100 local nominees for their outstanding contributions to youth development. It’s time to highlight those who consistently go above and beyond!

To nominate, visit Events (sparcreddeer.ca)

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Addictions

‘Harm Reduction’ is killing B.C.’s addicts. There’s got to be a better way

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From the Frontier Centre for Public Policy

By Susan Martinuk 

B.C. recently decriminalized the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. The resulting explosion of addicts using drugs in public spaces, including parks and playgrounds, recently led the province’s NDP government to attempt to backtrack on this policy

Since 2016, more than 40,000 Canadians have died from opioid drug overdoses — almost as many as died during the Second World War.
Governments, health care professionals and addiction experts all acknowledge that widespread use of opioids has created a public health crisis in Canada. Yet they agree on virtually nothing else about this crisis, including its causes, possible remedies and whether addicts should be regarded as passive victims or accountable moral agents.

Fuelled by the deadly manufactured opioid fentanyl, Canada’s national drug overdose rate stood at 19.3 people per 100,000 in 2022, a shockingly high number when compared to the European Union’s rate of just 1.8. But national statistics hide considerable geographic variation. British Columbia and Alberta together account for only a quarter of Canada’s population yet nearly half of all opioid deaths. B.C.’s 2022 death rate of 45.2/100,000 is more than double the national average, with Alberta close behind at 33.3/100,00.

In response to the drug crisis, Canada’s two western-most provinces have taken markedly divergent approaches, and in doing so have created a natural experiment with national implications.

B.C. has emphasized harm reduction, which seeks to eliminate the damaging effects of illicit drugs without actually removing them from the equation. The strategy focuses on creating access to clean drugs and includes such measures as “safe” injection sites, needle exchange programs, crack-pipe giveaways and even drug-dispensing vending machines. The approach goes so far as to distribute drugs like heroin and cocaine free of charge in the hope addicts will no longer be tempted by potentially tainted street drugs and may eventually seek help.

But safe-supply policies create many unexpected consequences. A National Post investigation found, for example, that government-supplied hydromorphone pills handed out to addicts in Vancouver are often re-sold on the street to other addicts. The sellers then use the money to purchase a street drug that provides a better high — namely, fentanyl.

Doubling down on safe supply, B.C. recently decriminalized the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs. The resulting explosion of addicts using drugs in public spaces, including parks and playgrounds, recently led the province’s NDP government to attempt to backtrack on this policy — though for now that effort has been stymied by the courts.

According to Vancouver city councillor Brian Montague, “The stats tell us that harm reduction isn’t working.” In an interview, he calls decriminalization “a disaster” and proposes a policy shift that recognizes the connection between mental illness and addiction. The province, he says, needs “massive numbers of beds in treatment facilities that deal with both addictions and long-term mental health problems (plus) access to free counselling and housing.”

In fact, Montague’s wish is coming true — one province east, in Alberta. Since the United Conservative Party was elected in 2019, Alberta has been transforming its drug addiction policy away from harm reduction and towards publicly-funded treatment and recovery efforts.

Instead of offering safe-injection sites and free drugs, Alberta is building a network of 10 therapeutic communities across the province where patients can stay for up to a year, receiving therapy and medical treatment and developing skills that will enable them to build a life outside the drug culture. All for free. The province’s first two new recovery centres opened last year in Lethbridge and Red Deer. There are currently over 29,000 addiction treatment spaces in the province.

This treatment-based strategy is in large part the work of Marshall Smith, current chief of staff to Alberta’s premier and a former addict himself, whose life story is a testament to the importance of treatment and recovery.

The sharply contrasting policies of B.C. and Alberta allow a comparison of what works and what doesn’t. A first, tentative report card on this natural experiment was produced last year in a study from Stanford University’s network on addiction policy (SNAP). Noting “a lack of policy innovation in B.C.,” where harm reduction has become the dominant policy approach, the report argues that in fact “Alberta is currently experiencing a reduction in key addiction-related harms.” But it concludes that “Canada overall, and B.C. in particular, is not yet showing the progress that the public and those impacted by drug addiction deserve.”

The report is admittedly an early analysis of these two contrasting approaches. Most of Alberta’s recovery homes are still under construction, and B.C.’s decriminalization policy is only a year old. And since the report was published, opioid death rates have inched higher in both provinces.

Still, the early returns do seem to favour Alberta’s approach. That should be regarded as good news. Society certainly has an obligation to try to help drug users. But that duty must involve more than offering addicts free drugs. Addicted people need treatment so they can kick their potentially deadly habit and go on to live healthy, meaningful lives. Dignity comes from a life of purpose and self-control, not a government-funded fix.

Susan Martinuk is a senior fellow at the Frontier Centre for Public Policy and author of the 2021 book Patients at Risk: Exposing Canada’s Health Care Crisis. A longer version of this article recently appeared at C2CJournal.ca.

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