Melfort, SK, Canada / CJVR Today s Best Country
Jun 23, 2021 | 5:09 PM
Ashya Siermachesky, 12, of Melfort has been named as one of recipients of the 2021 Junior Citizen of the Year Award by Saskatchewan Lt. Gov. Russ Mirasty, Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association and Saskpower.
The award celebrates young people aged eight to 18 for their ability to be responsible, positive and caring.
“I didn’t expect to win,” Siermachesky said. “It means that I’ve been doing what I should be doing. I have been a good person and a good citizen. I help out a lot, but I was surprised.”
Siermachesky’s father suffered a heart attack this past January, and her mother stayed with him for a month at an intensive care unit in Saskatoon.
The other first-place award was for Best Editorial Page in the Class B circulation category, along with a third place finish for Best Overall Paper. The Weyburn This Week also won for their editorial page, a third place finish for the Class C category. The “On the Farm” special agricultural section in Weyburn This Week earned second place for Best Special Section, and a photo essay in This Week on the Weyburn Comprehensive School’s Grad 2020 reverse parade won second place for Best Photo Essay. Editor Greg Nikkel earned second for Best Editorial Writing in the Weyburn Review, and second for Best Education Coverage K-12, for his story about teacher Karen Kennedy-Allin keeping in touch with her students during the COVID lockdown last spring.
The Reminder is among the top three finishers in the Salute to Veterans category for the paper’s Remembrance Day special section, which was released Nov. 4. The section was compiled mainly by volunteer Morley Naylor and worked on by Sharon Kirkup, Shannon Thompson, Tracy Trydal, Eric Westhaver and other members of the Reminder team. Westhaver is in consideration for five individual awards, including four for writing and one for photography. Westhaver is one of three candidates for the group’s Photographer of the Year award, with five photos selected by The Reminder being sent for competition judges’ consideration. Those photos include images of a large fire near the Co-op cardlock facility at Timber Lane last May, from the Drag Queen Mermaid event last July, photos from last summer’s Canada Day parade, an image of slo-pitch player Alex Quaal hitting a softball and a photo showing a socially-distanced Halloween snack chute on Hemlock Drive.
The website had 2,703,095 page views in 2020, which works out to about 225,000 views per month or nearly 7,400 views per day. The total number of page views is an increase of 401,194 from the 2,301,901 who visited Mercury’s website in 2019. The busiest month was October, when there were 282,014 page views. It’s another example of Mercury’s commitment to providing the region with a top-notch product through both its print edition and its website. “The Estevan Mercury has been a staple in the community since 1903,” said Mercury publisher and sales manager Deanna Tarnes. “Our goal has been, and always will be, to report the fact-based local news, tell the stories of our communities and archive our history.