Martensville Messenger January 5, 2017 | Page 5

martensville messenger - JanUarY 5 , 2017 - Page 5

United Youth Christmas Campaign Update Ciara O ’ Reilly , Martensville Messenger

The United Youth Christmas Campaign spread the cheer to hundreds of less fortunate families this holiday season . On Christmas Eve the Friendship Inn in Saskatoon was host to the ‘ Epic Christmas Party ’ led by Martensville teen , Maizie Bowkowy .
The campaign consisted of roughly 60 youth from Martensville who together gathered more than 900 gifts and over 650 food hampers which were distributed to over 750 families in attendance . This Christmas party was truly epic . “ Christmas is just the time to give ,” says Maizie Bowkowy about the event . “ It makes me happy just to see how many people came and just seeing all the smiles on everyone ’ s faces .”
The campaigners had been
ABOVE : Princess Maizie poses with an adoring fan at the ‘ Epic Christmas Party ’, held December 24th .
preparing for this event for months , and due to the feedback they received , their hard work certainly paid off . Countless donations were collected since the drive began months in advance . The success of this campaign falls upon the help from local businesses , community members , and the hearty dedication of the United Youth . Bowkowy stated that the group intends to make the Christmas Eve celebration an annual event .
ABOVE : Martensville residents Hunter and Stevie Robinson had the opportunity to meet Saskatchewan native and Olympic medalist Mark McMorris at Diefenbaker Park in Saskatoon on December 20th . According to the Robinson ’ s , the Olympic snowboarder was very humble and kind , and loved signing their snowboards . ( Photo submitted ).

Martensville Couple Seeks Food Truck Friendly City

Ciara O ’ Reilly , Martensville Messenger
A local food truck vendor faces adversity this upcoming summer as Saskatoon ’ s food truck regulations prohibit sales in residential areas . Saskatoon ’ s policies state that " mobile food trucks shall not operate in residential zoned districts and streets adjacent to residential zoning districts ". This rule severely compromises the purpose of an ice cream truck and fails to properly recognize the business as a whole . Allison ’ s Scoop Ice Cream is prohibited to sell its products to neighbouring residential streets due to the city ' s food truck bylaw . The mobile food truck regulations in Saskatoon had been set in place back in the early 1970 ’ s , which means they are over 40 years old and long overdue for an update . “ It ' s 2017 , not the 1970 ' s . Food trucks are the way of the future , we would love to see all three city ' s also make parking areas for food trucks eventually ”, says Schoennher , owner and operator of Allison ’ s Scoop Ice cream . “ Also we hope in the future if city ' s make rules for food trucks they will have any new bylaws in place by December , as we start doing event bookings in January so we know of any new rules there will be before we start to do bookings .”
Plans have been made by the Schoennher family to get the laws reviewed , but without success a move to Regina is foreseen . In support of Allison ’ s Scoop Ice- Cream the family is trying to get the bylaws lifted so a petition has been put forth in attempts to sway the Mayors of Saskatoon , Martensville and Warman . As of January 1st , 245 signatures have been placed on the petition . More so , many people have been

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calling and emailing the hierarchy of these cities in their dislike with the policies . Warman was the first of the three to react , and their bylaw for vendors is currently under review . Martensville ’ s mayor , Kent Muench , had this to say : “ I have spoken to the owner of Allison ' s Scoop about their concerns and how they currently operate within the City of Martensville . It was also discussed early in the fall with administration and council . Our administration is currently looking into how other communities handle these types of vendors . Ice cream trucks and mobile food trucks can offer a great service to a community . We are hopeful that a resolution can be found but there certainly are many aspects to this discussion that need to be considered .” If these attempts to renounce the policies are unsuccessful , the family intends to move their business to Regina .
Regina offers many good policies for food trucks . The city of Regina allows the businesses to park anywhere as long as they are at least 20 meters away from a business . Power is also supplied to food trucks that are parked in truck parks . Street parking in Regina is permitted from 7am to 11pm and in that time , frame mobile food trucks do not have to move from their location . Trucks can also park by any park and can also go into residential areas as long as the truck is not parked on a residential block for more than 20 minutes doing sales . “ As you can see , Regina has some great things to offer food trucks , not to mention all the events they have there . It ' s very tempting as a food truck to go there but we like it here or else we wouldn ' t have started the petition to have things changed and updated here ,” mentions Schoennher . There are many things in this aspect that our cities could learn from Regina . First and foremost , our communities need to keep up with the times . Many memories are built through something as small as running after the ice-cream truck for a cold treat in this prairies ’ summer heat .