• Both school divisions in Okotoks received good news about new schools when the provincial budget was released on March 1. A replacement for Christ the Redeemer’s Good Shepherd School was granted full construction funding, while the Foothills School Division has been given planning funding for a new high school in the Wedderburn area. The 2023 budget was tabled with $2.3billion earmarked for new and modernized schools.
• The area’s longest running businesses were recognized by the Okotoks & District chamber of Commerce at its 2023 Business Celebration Gala on March 3 at Sprung Instant Structures in Aldersyde.
• Okotokians packed council chambers for a public hearing on the Tillotson Neighbourhood Area Structure Plan, which would guide the development of 158 acres in southwest Okotoks. The plan was ultimately passed following an extension that pushed the meeting late into the evening.
• The Holy Trinity Academy Knights took home the Foothills Athletic Council senior boys basketball banner with an 86-58 win over the Strathmore Spartans on March 4. The HTA girls finished second to the Spartans.
• Westwinds Communities was one of nine communities and organizations awarded money in the March 9 announcement from Alberta’s Affordable Housing Partnership Program with $227,000 directed to build family and community housing in Okotoks.
• Foothills alpine skier Rebecca Pelkey, 15, returned home from the Canada Winter Games where she earned silver medals in the Slalom and Super G.
• The Foothills Falcons were in the zone at the South Central championships. Foothills won both the senior boys and senior girls banners in high school basketball on March 11 at Chestermere High Schools. Foothills knocked off HTA 64-51 in the boys final, with the Falcons girls overpowering the Croxford Cavaliers 76-51.
• The Town of Okotoks hosted three painting sessions at Foothills Centennial Centre which gave locals an opportunity to leave their handprints on the inside walls of a traditional Blackfoot tipi set to be transferred to the Town in a special ceremony later in the spring.
• Okotoks United won the Alberta Soccer Girls U17 Tier 1 Provincial championship with a dominant, defensive effort yielding a 1-0 win over Edmonton Sting FC on March 19 in the capital city.
• The Foothills Falcons made school and South Central Zone history by becoming the first senior girls team from the region to win the consolation title at the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association 4A Girls Provincial Basketball Championships, held March 16-18 at Edmonton’s Jasper Place High.
• Town of Okotoks transportation lead Peter McDowell said from March 13-17 there were 113 calls made to the public works department regarding a number of issues, including blocked storm drains, icy sheets and frozen catch basins.
• Okotokian Breanne Trotter scored the equalizing goal with 1.8 seconds left in regulation, helping the Mount Royal University Cougars pull off a 4-3 overtime victory over the Concordia Stingers to win the U SPORTS women’s hockey national championship on March 19 in Montreal.
• Dozens of Okotokians, new and established, turned out to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21.
• Mayor Barry Crane announced on March 22 that Diamond Valley council had regretfully received the resignation of chief administrative officer Shawn Patience.
• Following the Foothills Music Society’s performance at the International Band Festival it hauled home the hefty Captain F.M. Ray McLeod Trophy for the equally hefty title of Most Outstanding Community Concert Band.
• The Carstar Okotoks Bisons edged the Sylvan Lake Wranglers 3-1 in Game 3 of the Heritage Junior Hockey League Final to complete a sweep of the championship series and playoffs as a whole on March 26 at the Murray Arena.
• The Okotoks U15 AAA Oilers won bronze as hosts of the Hockey Alberta Provincial Championships on March 26 at Okotoks Centennial Arenas. At the U15 Female A provincials at the Scott Seaman Sports Rink, the host Oilers finished second in its pool and bowed out in the semifinal round.
• Okotoks Mavericks Swimming alumnus Finlay Knox broke his own Canadian record in the 200m individual medley for the fourth time, setting a new benchmark at 1:57.26 on March 30 at the 2023 Bell Canadian Swimming Trials to book his spot in the World Aquatics Championships.
