Barrhead News

Under the Agrena lights, two faces glowed with surprise and delight.

Jubilant scenes erupted in Neerlandia yesterday following news the hamlet is to get a new school. Construction is expected to begin early in 2014 and take three years to complete.

It promises to be a green oasis in town, a place where you can shovel, rake and hoe like homesteaders of yesteryear, and perhaps make new friends.

The Alberta Distance Learning Centre (ADLC) has begun work with Alberta school districts and its educational and community partners to identify solutions to issues arising from funding reduction in the Alberta Provincial budget of March 2013.

If you’ve ventured into the Barrhead Healthcare Centre any time since December, you may have noticed a new friendly face working at the hospital.

Anyone who meets Doug Gibb soon realizes he is a blessing for Barrhead. Now thousands of others are also appreciating the 92-year-old – after he came under Global Edmonton’s TV spotlight last week.

It was a protest Barrhead style. One or two people called it a “business interruption.” Smiles were exchanged, questions answered, information sheets handed out, posters displayed and petitions signed.

Pembina Hills trustees and teachers have signed off on the province’s proposed four-year teacher labour deal.

They are often busy, but always have time for others. They are spurred on by a sense of community, not vanity or a fat paycheque. And most of their good deeds go unrecognized.

Doug Gibb is 92, but talks and walks like a much younger man. He says he feels fit, healthy and alert, and there is no reason to doubt him.