Black Friday is almost here and it’s the best time to get in on some great deals on gifts for your loved ones or something special for yourself. Warman has a great array of shopping opportunities and some of the businesses on Central Street and South Warman have come together to create a unique shopping experience along with a chance to win a fantastic prize!

On Thursday and Friday of this week (November 28 and 29), stop in at any one of the participating businesses to pick up your PASSPORT. (See the map if you need help finding any of them.) Each business will mark your passport when you come in for a visit and look around. Take the opportunity to see what they have to offer, even though no purchase is necessary. Once you have made your way to all of the businesses, leave your fully marked passport at the last location you visited. You will be entered into a draw for a chance to win a whopping $400 in gift certificates.

Jenn Martin, the owner of Clothing Obsession, came up with the idea. She says, “I think it's really important to get everyone in the community out and about for a couple of evenings to visit, enjoy treats and do a little Christmas shopping. I know for myself, I really enjoy seeing my customers that I've had for over 10 years and meeting our new customers. I'm very appreciative of everyone who "Thinks Local" by stopping in, calling or reaching out on social media to see if we have what they're looking for.

Opening hours on Thursday and Friday vary depending on the business, but run until 8 pm on Thursday and 9 pm on Friday. Participating businesses are:  First and First Boardshop (620 Central Street W), de Amore Boutique, Bodacious Bustlines Bras and Lingerie and The Wagon Wheel Family Restaurant (all in Warman Plaza, 520 Central Street W), Clothing Obsession (103 Central Street W), Diamond Centre Pharmacy (102 Central Street W), Passions Beauty Studio, The Barber Corner (106 Central Street E) and Atlas Outdoors Cycle and Recreation (521 Neufeld Street).

Don’t battle Black Friday crowds in the big city when virtually everything you need can be found right here in Warman. Not only will you be able to relax and enjoy the shopping experience wandering in and out of the shops on Central Street and south Warman, you can avoid frustrating traffic and take advantage of ample free parking. Those are some pretty great perks and you may be able to get everything checked off your Christmas shopping list while supporting our local businesses. Not to mention you might be the lucky winner of the gift card prize!

Distracted driving will soon come with much heavier penalties, especially if you are a repeat offender (within 12 months of the first offence). According to The Traffice Safety Act, Distracted Driving is defined as:  “No driver shall hold, view, use or manipulate electronic communications equipment (cell phone) while driving a motor vehicle on a highway,” (Section 241.1(2)) or “No person shall drive a vehicle on a highway without due care and attention.” (Section 213 (1)).

As of February 1, 2020, a first offence for distracted driving will be a $580 ticket plus four demerits, a second offence (within a year of the first offence) will cost you $1,400 plus an additional four demerits, plus your vehicle being immediately seized and impounded for seven days. You will be responsible for the cost of towing and impound fees (approximately $400 minimum). A third offence within 12 months of the first conviction gets really pricey with a $2,100 ticket, four more demerits and another vehicle seizure of seven days. Keep in mind the demerits can cost you additional penalties - $50 for every point below zero on the SGI Safe Driver Recognition scale. This is up from the current ticket cost of $280 plus four demerits, with vehicle impounding for repeat offences.

Cell phone use while driving in Saskatchewan that involves holding, viewing or manipulating a hand-held cellphone or mobile device is prohibited. If you are an experienced driver (no longer in the Graduated Driver Licensing program), you may use hands-free cellphones activated with voice commands or one-touch and are mounted on the visor, dashboard, or in a cradle. But distracted driving does not only mean cell phone use - it can include common distractions such as adjusting the radio, eating or drinking, grooming, smoking, or being distracted by other people or pets in the vehicle or something happening outside of the vehicle.

Driving distracted is one of the major reasons for vehicle collisions, injuries and fatalities in Saskatchewan. It’s not worth it - keep your phones and any other distractions put away and pay attention while you are driving! Do your part to help keep everyone safer on the road.

For some residents of a long term care home, the holiday season can seem especially lonely. For those who don’t have family close by or don’t have visitors, it means that they are alone through the holidays and will not receive a personal gift. One Warman resident, Kerry Boutros, would like to bring a smile to the faces of all the residents at the Warman Mennonite Special Care Home this holiday season. She is asking the public in Warman to help with her goal of each senior resident of the home receiving a gift this Christmas to let them know they are special and not alone.

“For me, Christmas has always been a time for reaching out, helping and serving others,” says Boutros. “I have no surviving grandparents anymore so this is my motivation. I want to bring joy to the seniors of Warman. Some of them spend the holidays somewhat alone due to weather, distance or heath issues. I want them to know that they are special and deserve happiness during the holidays.”

There are 23 women and 9 men living at the Warman Mennonite Special Care Home and Boutros says her goal is for each of them to receive a gift for Christmas. She is thrilled with the response so far after posting her request for donations on several local Facebook pages. “The Warman community is so generous and so kind. Donations have been coming in along with heartfelt stories: someone’s parent lived there in the past, they recently lost grandparents too, or their children want to donate their allowance. It has been an overwhelming and joyful few days,” Boutros says.

If you would like to help, you have several options including gifts, cash or even homemade Christmas cards. “People can decide what they would like to donate as long as it’s scent-free and no candy or food due to dietary restrictions,” Boutros explains. “Some people find it easier to donate cash and I do the shopping. If they are low on funds, I have had people donate Christmas cards to give to the seniors. I have also had a few people want to make up a gift bag themselves, which is great!” She truly appreciates all donations and is so grateful to the many caring and generous people in Warman. Helping our seniors is such a wonderful way to give back to our community.

Donations can be made by emailing Kerry at kerryboutros@gmail.com or reaching out to her on Facebook.

The following is the local media release for the Warman Detachment of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for the week of
November 11, 2019 to November 18, 2019.
​
Police received 157 calls for service from November 11, 2019 to November 18, 2019.

If you have information regarding this or any other crime, please contact Warman/Martensville RCMP at 306-975-1670/306-975-1610 or if you have information and you wish to remain anonymous in your reporting, please contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), submit a tip via their website: http://saskcrimestoppers.com/ or text in a tip: TIP206 + your tip to CRIMES (274637).

The Season of Giving is upon us, and the Warman Food Bank is an excellent local resource for those wanting to give back to the community. Gina Funk, Warman Food Bank Administrator, explains how the Food Bank, which is run by Warman churches, operates: “We don't have a physical location other than the stock of non-perishable food that the Warman Mennonite Church on 6th Avenue and Awakening Church each have. Because of the lack of location, we give out gift cards for the Co-op (and soon the Buy-Low Foods). The money to buy these cards is mostly collected at Christmas-time by donations from local businesses, The Warman Community Association, The Warman Thrift Shop, Warman Diamond Rodeo, our schools, and various sports and activity clubs. Our churches do a number of different fundraisers during the year for the Food Bank. There is the Community Carol Festival at 7 p.m. on Sunday, December 1 at the Brian King Centre, and Tea and Jam Fundraiser on February 9, as well as events each local church holds within their own congregations.”

The Christmas Food Drive began November 5 and runs until December 5. Gina says, “We enlisted the help of all four of our city's schools, The Legends Centre and City Hall to be collection locations. Anyone who wants to drop off non-perishable food items can do so at any of those locations. We'll then get all that food moved over to Awakening Church on December 6 and begin sorting it into boxes for families of different sizes according to the list of nominated families to receive these hampers. Any excess food left from the Christmas Food Drive will be kept for distribution during the year as people have need.” Cash and grocery gift cards can be sent directly to the Warman Food Bank (details below).

2019 has been a difficult year for many families and there has been a financial strain on the Warman Food Bank, so helping out this year in any way you can is very important. If you aren’t able to donate food or money, consider offering your time in December to help sort the food from the Food Drive into hampers made up of non-perishable food and small grocery store gift cards (to allow families to purchase the fresh goods for a Christmas Dinner).

If you are looking for ideas on what kinds of food is best to donate to the Food Bank, Gina explains, “Anything is great – cereal, pasta, rice, canned vegetables, soup, lunchbox items, canned meat or fish. Gluten free items are always needed. Even some essentials like toilet paper and laundry detergent is great, too – we all need that stuff. Or baby items, baby cereal, jarred baby food and wipes. (Formula can be kind of diet specific and therefore hit and miss, as well as diapers. People may not need the size that we have if diapers are donated. But again, we'll be THANKFUL for anything and everything we get.) Cash, cheques and grocery gift cards are always great because if the supply of pantry items runs low, we have other ways of helping people.

The Wagon Wheel Restaurant at 520 Central Street West in Warman is holding a Toy Drive for new, unwrapped toys, games or books to be included in the Warman Food Bank Christmas Hampers. Each hamper includes a gift for each child of the family receiving a hamper. Drop off deadline is December 10. You can also bring your donation to the Wagon Wheel Restaurant’s “Breakfast with Santa” on Saturday, December 7, 8:30 to 10:30 am. Bring the kids to have a chance to meet Santa and have a photo taken with him.

If you are in need of help from the Warman Food Bank, or you would like to donate or volunteer, contact Gina Funk. She says, “I can be reached by phone at 306-934-7007, by email at warmanfoodbank@gmail.com, or by Facebook. Our website, www.warmanfoodbank.ca has a "DONATE NOW" button where people can donate electronically after doing a very simple account setup with an app. And of course just mailing a cheque made to Warman Food Bank, Box 1398, Warman SK S0K 4S0. If donors want a tax deductible receipt they can make their cheque out to any of the churches in Warman. The Food Bank itself cannot issue receipts, so that is why the churches look after that for the Food Bank.”  There is also a “Nominate Someone in Need” button on the website that can be used any time during the year, not just at Christmas.

Remember that even though the need for the Warman Food Bank is especially high at Christmas-time, you can make donations all year round. To participate in the current Food Drive, drop off non-perishable food items at any of our schools, City Hall and The Legends Centre until December 5, and new unwrapped toys, books or games for the Toy Drive at The Wagon Wheel in Warman until December 10. The Warman Food Bank is grateful for all donations and appreciates the community support!

Warman Minor Hockey is very excited to have been chosen for a new male Midget AAA hockey team for the 20/21 season.

“The Community of Warman and Warman Minor Hockey have talked about having a AAA team in Warman since The Legends Centre was built and believed that with the size of our hockey association (more than 650 players and 150 coaches) we could qualify be one of the top 12 communities to host in Saskatchewan. We have the numbers, the facility, and are very excited to host a team,” a representative of Warman Minor Hockey said.

In an email announcement on November 12, 2109, WMHA stated that they “believe the hard work that has been going into the player, coach and overall development of hockey in our community is what lead to this decision. We would like to thank all those involved in the bid, it is greatly appreciated."

Great Plains College is proud to renew a strategic alliance with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner that promises the two will continue to work together to educate on Treaties and Indigenous knowledge, and to promote an Indigenous-inclusive learning environment. 

​Great Plains College renews strategic alliance with Office of the Treaty Commissioner 
 
WARMAN, SK – Great Plains College is proud to renew a strategic alliance with the Office of the Treaty Commissioner (OTC) that promises the two will continue to work together to educate on Treaties and Indigenous knowledge, and to promote an Indigenous-inclusive learning environment. 
 
The original two-year partnership was made official in 2017, and in that time, the college and OTC have worked together to incorporate Indigenous perspectives, knowledge and reconciliation into the college’s six locations for both students and staff. 

Since 2017, OTC has provided presentations directly to Great Plains College students, delivered training sessions to staff at multiple locations and at an annual staff gathering, and supported the college in establishing an Indigenous Engagement Committee. OTC has also supported the college in hosting a number of reconciliation events, including the Walk for Reconciliation in Swift Current and a Rural Reconciliation event in Warman. ​

OTC and Great Plains College will continue to work together to provide staff training sessions, student presentations and community events to promote dialogue, education and understanding of Treaties, the Treaty relationship and Reconciliation. ​