Prince Albert residents weren't afraid to push the boundaries in 2019. (Submitted photo/Gladys Handberg)

By Ronald Quaroni

Prominent Figures

Year in Review: Prince Albert’s interesting and outstanding

Dec 25, 2019 | 2:00 PM

The year held many special moments for current or former Prince Albert residents.

A magical moment

From humble beginnings as a schoolgirl inventing card tricks, Carisa Hendrix, now based in Calgary, keeps pushing her craft and secured some very high-profile exposure.

In September the former Prince Albert resident made an appearance on the Penn and Teller: Fool Us television show under her stage name Lucy Darling, where magicians get to pull off a trick in front of the famous duo.

GST Holiday

Federal government's two-month GST holiday begins

12h ago

Imminent need

Council set to discuss possible location for homeless shelter on 15th Street

18h ago

International Spotlight

P.A.'s Howe one of 4 Sask. born players named to Canada's World Junior roster

Dec 13, 2024

Paying dividends

A former Prince Albert resident made waves at the New York Stock Exchange.

Michelle Zatlyn, and the company she co-founded, Cloudflare, launched an initial public stock offering (IPO) in September worth over $500 million. The company offers a variety of services, but focuses on helping organizations of various sizes protect their websites from online attack.

Besides the financial success, Zatlyn also made history by being the first founder of a tech company from Saskatchewan to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

Multi-talented

Comedian and XFM Morning Co-host, Kelly Taylor had a big year. He made it to the finals of Sirius XM’s Top Comic in Canada.

Taylor also received the Royal Canadian Humane Association’s, Bronze Medal for Bravery for his actions when he and three others noticed a small fire starting at a motel, off the highway in Wadena last year.

A leap of faith

A Prince Albert based woman proved you’re never too old for adventure. Gladys Handberg went skydiving for her 74th birthday.

“The Lord has been telling me to do this for three years off and on. And before I went … one night about two weeks before I went, he just put it in my heart and told me to get up, phone, and make an appointment,” Handberg said.

“The bible says ‘do not be afraid,’ so I’m not afraid of anything.”

When asked if she had to take any special precautions when she jumped, Handberg noted she was advised to remove her teeth as several skydivers have had the unfortunate incident of having their dentures carried away by the wind.

A Century in the making

Gladys wasn’t the only senior to make the news. A Prince Albert centurion gave paNOW his secret to a long life. Alfred Parent celebrated his 100^th birthday in August surrounded by family and friends.

Having his cake and eating it …with a cola no doubt. Alfred Parent celebrated his 100th birthday 2019. (Ian Gustafson/paNOW Staff)

When asked to pass on some tips on longevity, he confided an unexpected dietary indulgence. Parent has consumed two Pepsi or Coke a day for his whole life,

“People think I joke about it. Since I was 14 years old, I’ve drank that stuff all my life,” he said with a laugh. “I won’t say anything because I’m not very healthy. The only time I drank [alcohol] was in the army but after that I quit completely.”

He moved to the diet-version of the popular soda beverage in later years for health reasons.

Planting a seed

A student at École Vickers learned in June that the pen is mightier than the sword.

As a project for Earth Day, Jacob Cloutier’s teacher tasked the class with a project: Write letters to different levels of governments and organizations with their ideas on how to, “green up” the province and city.

Not only did city official’s receive Jacob’s letter, asking them to green-up city spaces, they acted on it. A tree was planted in honour of Jacob’s suggestions at the Splash Park near the school.

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Ron.quaroni@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @RonaldQuaroni