Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta The Nativity Scene outside St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Grande Prairie, Alberta.As we remember the birth of our Saviour and transition into a new Year, I want to wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a blessed and happy 2015.  Here is some recent work to end off the year. God bless.

Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-12-15 A wagon stands silhouetted in front of a line of trees decorated for the Christmas season west of Grande Prairie. Light displays are a common sight along rural roads at this time of year and often the displays stand out because of the lack of competition from other sources of light like those in cities or towns.Photo Randy Vanderveen Beaverlodge, Alberta 2014-12-18 The early morning light hits a barn and windmill on a farm north of Beaverlodge, Alberta. The days will soon see a gain in daylight hours as we pass the winter solstice.

Photo Randy Vanderveen Beaverlodge, Alberta 2014-12-18 A pair of deer look up to ensure their safety. Most ungulates like deer and elk will raise their heads, or take turns when in a herd, on a regular basis while feeding to keep an eye out for predators.Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-12-15 Thick hoar frost provides a softer look to the landscape. The Peace Country has been blanketed with hoar frost thanks to high dew points and cold temperatures.

Photo Randy Vanderveen Peace River, Alberta 2014-12-16 The mighty Peace River continues its flow through the frost and snow-covered valley and town bearing its name in late December.Photo Randy Vanderveen LaGlace, Alberta 2014-12-18 A small tractor hauling a wagon slowly makes its way across the snow-covered field at a farm south of LaGlace. Tractors, of any size, are indispensable tools for farmers and ranchers across Canada.Photo Randy Vanderveen Shaftesbury Landing, Alberta 2014-12-15 The Shaftesbury Tug sits high and dry boarded up for the winter while the ferry barge sits nearby at its crossing site along as the Peace River begins to freeze over. The long delay between when the ferries are pulled out and when the river freezes over and an ice bridge can be built means longer travel times for area residents. Those who live in the Tangent area and the LaCrete area are most affected by the much longer commutes.Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-12-15 The new Grande Prairie Regional Hospital rises along the banks of Bear Creek. The hospital still has a long way to go before its projected opening in 2017 and with Alberta's oil revenues dropping rapidly, perhaps there may be some changes to plans to cut costs as the work progresses.Photo Randy Vanderveen Peace River, Alberta 2014-12-16 While designating a road in West Peace River, this sign could also serve as an indicator of a hopeful desire for the world to travel along in the New Year.

Seasonal lights

Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-11-18 The 2014 edition of the Northern Spirit Light Show kicked off its annual Yuletide run at Evergreen Park Nov. 18. The light show is presented each year by the Peace Draft Horse Club which also provides horse-drawn wagon rides through the lighting display for those who opt for a more open-air method of getting around rather than by vehicle.

The Peace Draft Horse Club opened its Northern Spirit Light Show Tuesday, November 18 for the season. Here are a few photos. If you happen to be in the Peace Country and have a chance to take it in, I recommend it. Here are the hours.

 ​6pm to 10pm

Friday to Sunday: November 21-30
​                             December 5-7
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​Daily: December 11-24
          December 26-31​​

The club is also accepting donations for the food bank.

Maintenance

Photo Randy Vanderveen Sexsmith, Alberta 2014-11-04 Rail ties sit in bundles near the site of a new section of second track being built south of Sexsmith near the Viterra terminal as sand cars sit idle on the current rail line. Train traffic out of the Peace could become even busier thanks to the opening of a new Intermodal Terminal in the County of Grande Prairie this past weekend.Time sure flies and before I know it I am way off track again in updating this blog. Here is some recent work.

Photo Randy Vanderveen Grand daughter #3 Clarke Grace arrived in late October on her great great grandfather's birthday. Photo Randy Vanderveen, Grande Prairie, Alberta :Liquid natural gas burns only as it becomes a vapour (returning to its gaseous state). This demonstration was just one during the grand opening of Ferus' merchant LNG facility in Elmworth. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-10-22 Courtney Peters cleans out the stall of her paint horse Ace who is being boarded at Evergreen Park during the winter months. Cleaning the stall and feeding, watering and exercising is a daily task for Peters.

Harvest old and new

Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 In what appears to be a race in time, Dick Bacon operates Gary Dixon's 1949 Massey Harris combine as he harvests wheat near Four-Mile Corner Monday, Aug. 25 with members of the Bear Lake Growing Project, (one of the members is operating the John Deere combine in the background). The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. Bacon used to operate a combine of the same vintage in a custom combining crew decades ago. Last week I took photos of the Bear Lake Growers harvesting a field of wheat just north of Grande Prairie for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank.

The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, matched by the government and then used to purchase food for relief efforts globally.

What struck me as interesting was the juxtaposition of old and new equipment harvesting this year's crop.

 Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 Gary Dixon uses a 1949 Massey Harris combine to harvest wheat near Grande Prairie Monday, Aug. 25 with members of the Bear Lake Growing Project. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. The truck following is a 1949 REO Speed Wagon owned and operated by Gerald Logan. Both pieces of equipment have Peace Country pedigrees and both, are now operated by their second owners.

Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 Dick Bacon watches a load go into the back of a 1949 Reo Speed Wagon run by Gerald Logan as Gary Dixon mans the controls of a this 1949 Massey-Harris combine as they harvest wheat near Grande Prairie Monday, Aug. 25 with members of the Bear Lake Growing Project. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 Dick Bacon unloads the hopper of harvested wheat in Gary Dixon's 1949 Massey Harris combine into the grain box on the back of a 1949 REO Speed Wagon, owned and operated by Gerald Logan near Grande Prairie Monday, Aug. 25. Meanwhile a modern John Deere combine operated by one of the members of the Bear Lake Growing Project works quickly in the background. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. Volunteer farmers donated their time and equipment to seed and harvest the crop that was planted on donated land also. Bacon used to operate a machine of the same vintage when he worked as a custom combiner decades ago. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 Gerald and Tess Logan haul a load of wheat near Four-Mile Corner Monday, Aug. 25 to a larger unit for members of the Bear Lake Growing Project. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. Volunteer farmers donated their time and equipment to seed and harvest the crop that was planted on donated land also. In the back ground Dick Bacon operates a 1949 Massey Harris combine owned by Gary Dixon (waking behind) while Greg Sears pulls a grain wagon behind his John Deere tractor for the modern combines working in the field. Photo Randy Vanderveen Grande Prairie, Alberta 2014-08-25 A pair of combines work in tandem to harvest wheat near Four-Mile Corner Monday, Aug. 25 by members of the Bear Lake Growing Project. The wheat will be sold and money donated to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank, which will receive matching funds from the federal government to be used for relief efforts where needed. Volunteer farmers donated their time and equipment to seed and harvest the crop that was planted on donated land also.

Summer wages

Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 A freshly planted seedling remains behind Andrei Toma as he moves to the next spot. Planters will get paid a fee per tree and if soil or terrain conditions are difficult (i.e. very rocky or hard or a steep hill side), they will receive a premium per tree to compensate for the fact they will probably plant fewer trees than in more favourable conditions. I had the opportunity early last week to go with my friend Brett Henkel of Little Smokey Forestry Services Ltd. to document tree planters working.

Here are a few photos from the day.  One photo story will be running in the Peace Country Sun Aug. 15 and I hope another publication will be running a second different photo story in the coming weeks.

Thanks for reading.

 Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 Dylan McMahon heads out with a loaded a bag of seedlings after treeing up. Even on a relatively easy cut block, it is clearly evident that just getting from point A to point B can add to the physical work out planters get as dead fall and slash areas provide a seemingly never-ending obstacle course to contend with. Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 Marta Pawluk, a veteran planter with Little Smokey Forestry Services Ltd., plants pine seedlings. The job is a physically gruelling one as planters work in all kinds of weather and rough terrain. While this area was relatively flat there was still plenty of slash and dead fall for planters to have to work through. Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 Marta Pawlik trees up at cache site after emptying her bag. Smart planters will work so they aren't carrying a fully loaded bag too far to begin planting nor are walking back to tree caches for long distances empty as they get paid for each tree they plant. Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 Freshly loaded seedlings in a planter's bag which will be strapped on and accessed continuously.Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 Remy Lamotte, one of the 2014 rookie planters, straps on his bag after treeing up and heads out to plant. Maintaining a good ratio of veteran planters to new comers is important.Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 Mandy Cummings, a tree planter with Little Smokey Forestry Services Ltd. walks toward the landing zone for a helicopter which will ferry her and crew members out to a cut block where she will plant between 3,000 and 4,000 trees before returning back to camp. Tree planting is almost a rite of passage for university and college students looking for summer wages that will help cover their tuition.Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 A helicopter with tree planters takes flight above slings filled with seedlings that will also have to be ferried out to cut blocks. While this site required an air lift other sites the planters will tackle over the course of the summer will be driven to in crew trucks or ATVs. Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 Misty, a heeler, appears to want to get in on some of the action, carrying a stick past a sling filled with boxes of seedlings being loaded by Little Smokey Forestry Services Ltd. staff. Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 Ed Smith holds a map showing the cut blocks that need to be planted. The cluster of lines on the top left of the map (facing reader) shows the rapid elevation drop from the boundary of one block into the Peace River Valley. Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 Marta Pawluk, a veteran, plants a pine seedling. The blue ribbon behind her is dropped near where each seedling is planted. The flagging ribbon allows a quality control inspector to check her work but more importantly in green areas allows Pawluk to see where she has already planted so she and her fellow planters don't miss or double plant any areas. Photo Randy Vanderveen near BlueBerry Mountain, Alberta 2014-08-05 Dust from the rotor wash of a helicopter flies up as Morgan Schmidt hooks up a sling filled with seedlings to be cached in a cut block which will be planted. Each of the 25 boxes in the sling contain 360 lodgepole pine to be planted for Canfor.