It is almost 150 years ago that Mennonites started formally leaving Imperial Russia for Canada. As we celebrate this anniversary, we are beginning to look back at some of the important events and people who began the Mennonite settlement of Manitoba. Before these first emigrants left their home, they wrote a bold letter to the imperial representative asking for support in their emigration to the Americas and displaying their gratitude for the support they had received from the czar during their long habitation in Russia.

“Your highest Excellency, General-Adjutant Lord von Todtleben:

The Mennonites of the Kleine Gemeinde, of the Heuboden, and Gruenfelde (Blumenhof) Church Districts of the Nikolaithaler Woll-estbesirk, in the Ekatherinoslawschen Government District, express their thankfulness and petition.

Through the representation of your highest Excellency, we recognize the great goodwill and grace of his Majesty, our beloved Czar, and that it has never been the will of his Majesty, and is still not his wish, to rule against the conscience of a non-resistant Gemeinde, nor to want to enact laws on account of which they would be in conflict with their faith.

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me” is an age old saying that is proving to be incorrect. The more apt saying would be the one coined in 1839 by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton, “the pen is mightier than the sword.”

I use these quotes as an introduction to a new book, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt. Dr. Haidt is a social psychologist studying the effects of Smartphones and social media on our youth. Along with the rise in social media is a decline in unsupervised play. Dr. Haidt says, “Parents are over protective in the real world and under protective in the virtual world”.

Initially, concern about interactive social media was dismissed as the same problem as watching too much TV. Then, as mental illnesses became associated with a rise in social media use, professionals everywhere started to sound the alarm. Something about this trend was disturbing. TV is a one way device, social media is interactive and judgmental.

Dr. Haidt shows that diagnoses of mental illness, especially anxiety and depression, have risen from a long term stable 10 percent of girls and seven percent of boys to a doubling by 2010-2012 when smartphones, data plans and interactive social media became commonly available. By 2019, COVID exacerbated the problem and mental illness in girls rose to 30 percent and in boys to 17 percent.

A Grunthal man was sentenced in Steinbach court April 19 for a series of crimes from April to November 2023 that included theft of a vehicle full of wigs, breaking into a church with the help of someone hiding inside, waving a machete and getting shot in the face with a paintball gun, and more.

The agreed to facts read in court also involved what sounded like a pitbull living with a racoon.

Raymond Wolfred Delorme, 39, received a total sentence of 12 months plus 15 months of supervised probation after he is released. The crimes he pleaded guilty to were possessing a motor vehicle over $5,000 obtained by crime twice, breaking and entering into a church to steal TVs, assault with a weapon for waving around a machete, possessing a motor vehicle under $5,000, and breaking his release order curfew.

It was breaking the curfew on Nov. 19 that finally saw Delorme stay in custody after his first crime on April 17 of last year. He had 123 days to go after in-custody enhanced credit of time and a half was applied.

The Steinbach Arts Council is proud to present the Desautels Piano Trio in concert. Featuring local legend Judy Kehler Siebert on piano, Oleg Pohkanovski on violin, and Minna Rose Chung on cello, this all-star ensemble of internationally acclaimed musicians will knock your socks off with show-stopping virtuosity. Come experience an energetic, dance-inspired program by these powerhouse players – it will literally move you!

Join us at the Grace Mennonite Church, 430 Third St at 7:30 p.m. on May 9. For tickets, visit steinbacharts.ca or call Tara at 204-346-1077.

Thank you to our concert sponsor Main Bread & Butter.

Steinbach Arts Council Fundraising Gala

My son in Vancouver wants me to come for a visit.

For a mother with full-grown kids, such a request should be treated as a gift. Young adults are so busy with work and school and their active social lives. When one of them is actually willing to put all that aside, for a full week, just to spend time with me, I should jump on the chance like a hungry monkey.

I’d love to take him up on it. Truly. But there’s a big problem: I hate flying. Not just the “I can’t stand airports, and the fees are so high, and the seats are so uncomfortable” kind of hate.

It’s more of the “I’ll die in a fiery plane crash” kind of hate.

“’Value Village charges…”. That’s how they think they should charge for items? I’ve heard this so much that I leave the store because I’m not ready to fight with them.

The thrift stores here are a non-profit. Value Village is a for profit. Why are our thrift stores charging the same as a for profit organization?

I bought new from Giant Tiger for what Steinbach’s thrift stores charged for the same or similar items. I can return the item when I buy new compared to thrift store where I’m told I can re-donate the item I bought (because I can’t return or exchange).

I throw my purchases in the garbage instead of ‘re-donating’ because they already got their money. They are not getting it again. Not from me. Not the way they are now. I find them to be greedy, angry, entitled babies.

After Seine River School Division trustees voted to eliminate the Kids at Play program that provided a place to stay and learn for kindergarten students when they were not in class, the division started working with local daycares that were interested in leasing school space and filling that service need.

Superintendent Ryan Anderson said they hope to have space for the eight centres they are working with. But an update at the April 23 board meeting from secretary treasurer Amanda Senkowski did admit some challenges.

“I’m not too sure yet whether we’ll be able to accommodate each of the providers just based on what we’re able to offer. It might not meet what they need for their licensing requirements,” explained Senkowski.

She expects leases that do go through to be finalized shortly with daycares on a tight timeline to get their license applications in place.

La Broquerie received $60,794 for emergency preparedness purchases last week as part of the province’s mitigation and preparedness program through the Manitoba Emergency Management Organization.

“For us (this money) is really huge. It gives us the ability to train and educate our staff and develop volunteers in the community which (we) will be starting to implement here probably towards fall of this year to include more people. It’s really key for us in terms of being prepared for emergencies,” said CAO Andrew Glassco.

The money received by La Borquerie will be used for purchasing emergency operations centre kits which contain volunteer vests and blankets; trauma kits; and pumps and hoses for overland flooding and for train derailments.

“As you know we had a train derailment here in December and…that was a situation that we have dealt with in a training exercise, (but) we were fortunate that day that some of the cars that had toxic chemicals in them, and there were other cars on there that had some stuff in them that wasn’t good, so to speak, and we were just lucky that we didn’t have those derail otherwise we would have to activate our complete plan. We managed to take care of that,” he said.

Education Minister Nello Altomare wants to reduce the number of students being suspended from school. To achieve this goal, his department released a new policy directive that urges school administrators to use alternative measures when dealing with student misconduct.

Some of these alternatives include behaviour contracts, flexible learning schedules, counselling, and in-school community service. These are all considered preferable to out-of-school suspensions.

Obviously, no one wants to see students suspended unnecessarily. Students should be in class as much as possible and if we can correct their misbehaviour without removing them from school, we should do so.

However, it’s important that the pendulum does not swing too far in the other direction. While the minister’s policy directive acknowledges that immediate safety concerns might necessitate a suspension, there are plenty of other circumstances where student suspensions are warranted. Continuing with their existing practices could put many school principals in conflict with the province.

Dear Money Lady,

How do I get a prenup agreement without paying high lawyer fees? This is a second marriage, and I am very close to retirement plus we both have government pensions. My partner has 3 adult kids and I have 2. We are both agreed that we should have something in writing. Thanks, Helen M.

Hello Helen,

This is a question I get often. Seems like people know it’s a good idea to have a pre-nup or co-hab agreement but they don’t want to spend the money to get one. My answer to this is – Why not?