THE MELVILLE Friday, $1.50 PER COPY GST INCLUDED April 2, 2021 Vol. 95 No. 9 Agreement # 40011922 PROUDLY SERVING MELVILLE AND SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1929 • WWW.GRASSLANDSNEWS.CA • 1-306-728-5448 Opening soon! CHRIS ASHFIELD | GRASSLANDS NEWS The new 20,000 square foot Prairie Co-op Home Centre in Melville is scheduled to open on April 12 after less than a year of construction. The current home centre will be closed on April 5 to allow staff time to move product over to the new location. The new 25,000 square foot Co-op Food Store located next door is slated to open in the summer with a grand opening for both being planned for the fall. Prairie Co-op in Melville New Home Centre to open April 12 By Chris Ashfield ple visiting or driving by and the old location on 1st Ave East been busy all week stocking all done an excellent job bring- Grasslands News it will give shoppers more op- will be closed beginning April shelves in the new location to ing it together,” said Paradis. tions without having to leave 5 through April 10 in order to prepare for the final move next With the expanded food and After eight years of planning the community,” Paradis said facilitate the remainder of the week. home stores, Paradis expects to and almost a year of construc- while giving Grasslands News move, and to finalize the setup “It has been a lot of work but see sales increase substantially tion, Prairie Co-op is set to open a tour of the new store. of the new store. Managers and the management team and em- from it’s current $95 million a its brand new 20,000 square foot To prepare for the opening, temporary staff have alreadyg- ployees we have in place have year. That growth will not only Home Centre in Melville next help Prairie Co-op be able to in- week, less than one year after vest more money back into the breaking ground. communities they serve, but Opening to the public on it will also mean more equity April 12 at 7 a.m., the new store going back to the members who is located at #200 – 1 Veterans support the Co-op. Way along Highway 10. Featur- The new Home Centre will ing 13,000 feet of retail space as provide nearly three times as well as a drive-through lumber much floor space as the cur- yard, the new store will replace rent store, while once open the current facility on 1st Ave the Food Store will add an ad- East, which was opened on ditional 10,000 square feet of July 18, 1963 at a cost of just shopping area. This will allow $50,000. more products to be displayed Work on the Home Centre, and stocked as well as product as well as the new 25,000 square lines to be expanded. foot Food Store next door, In December, Paradis told began in May of last year at a Grasslands News that the new combined cost of $17.5 million. stores will also mean more jobs While the home centre will for the community, with four open next week, the food store to six full-time staff and 10 to 15 will not be completed until part-time staff positions being sometime in August. A grand added between the two stores. opening for both stores is being The hours of operation for planned for in September. the new Home Centre will be General Manager Chris Par- Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 adis is excited about the new p.m., Saturday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. store location and he says it and Sunday from noon to 5 will greatly improve the shop- p.m. ping experience for people in Ready to serve CHRIS ASHFIELD | GRASSLANDS NEWS Once both the new Home Melville. The Prairie Co-op management team was busy this week helping get the new home centre up and Centre and Food Store are op- erational, Paradis said Prairie “It’s going to be great for the ready to open on April 12. Pictured are (l-r) Chris Paradis (general manager), Jarett Waldbauer city. It will show Melville as a Co-op will likely put the old (hardware manager), Curtis Nickel (operations manager) and Gary Mann (lumber manager). progressive community to peo- buildings up for sale. • Motor Licence Issuer • Notary Public • Surety • Home/Auto/Farm/Commercial • Blue Cross • GMS • Hagerty OPEN Monday - Friday 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Melville - Springside - Ituna Saturday 9:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Excluding Long Weekends 228 Main St. 306-728-4457 www.melvilleagencies.com @MA1974LTD 2 April 2, 2021 0HOYLOOH$GYDQFH:KLWHZRRG*UHQIHOO+HUDOG6XQ)RUW4X·$SSHOOH7LPHV Grasslands News Firefighting program gets back to class in July By Emily Jane Fulford be demolished and a new association with the Grasslands News facility was built in its Saskatchewan Public place.” Safety Agency, offers a It wasn’t long after thorough combination Over the past year, the that terrible bout of irony of theory and hands-on Parkland College Fire- that COVID-19 made its skills required for entry fighting Program held debut, throwing most of into a firefighting career. just outside of Melville, the globe into upheaval Part of this training re- Saskatchewan has had a and crisis. The pandemic quirement is set by the terrible run of luck. How- was also responsible for National Fire Protection ever, it looks like things the closure of many ed- Association (NFPA) and are back on track after ucational institutions incorporates practice what was a difficult year across the world, the runs and practical activ- for most of the world. country, and the prov- ities. NFPA 1001 training “On Easter weekend ince. While some pro- provides the basic train- 2019, a fire damaged an grams that focus mostly ing required for many in- under-construction class- on bookwork were able dustrial safety positions room building at Park- to be done online, pro- and is considered to be land College’s Emergency grams that required on- the starting program for Services Training Site, site training, vocational a full-time firefighter ca- east of Melville,” said training, lab work and reer. Class resumes 68%0,77('_*5$66/$1'61(:6 Brendan Wagner, Coor- group projects were not The results of both dinator, Corporate & In- able to continue as per blows to the program )LUHÀJKWLQJFODVVHVDUHVHWWRUHVXPHWKLV-XO\DW3DUNODQG&ROOHJHDIWHUWZR ternal Engagement for the normal routine. in such short succes- GHYDVWDWLQJEORZVOHIWWKHSURJUDPXQDEOHWRRSHUDWHIRUD\HDU Parkland College. “The The 14-week program, sion resulted in the col- charred structure had to which is conducted in lege having little choice but to postpone the last year’s scheduled course and wait out the storm. However, that time has now come and the new classroom is finally up and running again as the program is set to get un- derway in the summer of 2021. “There are 18 students from 10 different commu- nities in Platoon #17,” said Wagner. “They’ll learn the theory and get hands-on training at 7UDLQLQJIDFLOLW\ 68%0,77('_*5$66/$1'61(:6 the Emergency Services Training Site until the 7KHÀUHÀJKWLQJFODVVURRPEXLOGLQJHDVWRI0HOYLOOH end of June. Platoon #18 ZDVUHEXLOWDIWHUDÀUHKDGGDPDJHGWKHÀUVWEXLOG- begins training in late LQJWKDWZDVEHLQJFRQVWUXFWHGLQ July.” If you’ve had an accident, CALL US FIRST! FITNESS WITH HEATHER PRESENTS THE BODY SHOP Pick one of FOUR class times! at Celebration Ford Or sign up for multiple classes! -Tuesdays 10:00-10:40 am, April 13 - May 18 -Tuesdays 6:20-7:00 pm, April 13 - May 18 YOU CAN RELY -Thursdays 10:00-10:40 am, April 15 - May 20 -Thursdays 6:20-7:00 pm, April 15 - May 20 ON OUR SERVICE: One 6-week class for $30! SGI and Manitoba Public Insurance, Accredited! 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Spray In Boxliner installations SIGN UP Platinum Ceramic Paint Protection AT MELVILLE.CA OR Stone Shield Protective Film installation CALL 306-728-6860 OR EMAIL Accessory sales and install for all makes and models [email protected] FOR MORE INFO FROM HEATHER EMAIL CALL OR TEXT: 1-306-435-3313 TOLL FREE: 1-800-880-4533 [email protected] OR Moosomin, SK FOLLOW FITNESS WITH HEATHER - www.celebrationford.com MELVILLE ON FACEBOOK www.grasslandsnews.ca 0HOYLOOH$GYDQFH:KLWHZRRG*UHQIHOO+HUDOG6XQ)RUW4X·$SSHOOH7LPHV April 2, 2021 3 Auto body shops forced into new regulations By Elaine Ashfield when making repairs; payment by SGI was not a difference where to get your money in town if communities). We also had Grasslands News • Engaging in a system of announced. a job. you can and help keep one a number of discussions continuous professional With the loss of the “Hopefully, people will more business operating with the Saskatchewan development through an level of accreditation to continue to use their local in your town at the same Association of Automotive Auto body repair shops internationally accepted some of the auto body auto body for repairs not time,” Wolfe commented. Repairers (SAAR) and the have until July 1, 2021 collision training pro- shops, peo- under SGI Grasslands News re- Saskatchewan Automo- to meet the new mini- gram.