Taking out the trash

There were 850 volunteers at Steinbach’s Pick Up and Walk May 4. Families, members of 19 churches, and other small unaffiliated groups collected 10.6 tonnes of garbage. That is the equivalent of one very full day of Steinbach waste on the garbage day cycle according to city manager of solid waste Eldon Wallman.

HSD chair glad to have met with minister

Hanover School Division board chair Brad Unger said meeting with the minister of education last week was a good opportunity to have a listening ear.

Last Wednesday, Minister of Education Nello Altomare called the school board to his office for a discussion after he received a letter from the Hanover Parent Alliance for Diversity (HPAD) claiming the board was implementing discriminatory practices.

In the letter to the minister, dated April 2, HPAD calls for the resignation of board chair Brad Unger and vice-chair Jeff Friesen and trustees Dallas Wiebe, Shayne Barkman, Lynn Barkman, and Cheryl Froese. All five of the trustees, except for Unger, voted to hire music and phys-ed teachers through the superintendent and board members, effectively canceling out principals in the decision making process. The board also voted on, and rejected, motions by Shayne Barkman for the board to have a list of candidates for principal and vice-principal and to separate Grade 7 students based on gender when talking about sensitive topics, such as gender issues or sex education.

HPAD also was alarmed that the board allowed a parent to share his concerns about a non-binary girl changing in the boys changeroom, which made his 14-year-old son uncomfortable. The parent asked for gender neutral bathrooms to be installed at Steinbach Regional Secondary School where non-binary and trans kids can change.

Steinbach players announce university commitments

The end of the Steinbach Pistons season means players are beginning to announce the next steps of their hockey careers.

Kirk Mullen and Cole Plowman both committed to collegiate hockey in the days following Steinbach’s defeat in the Turnbull Cup finals to the Winkler Flyers.

Plowman will be heading to the NCAA’s University of Alaska Fairbanks. The 2003-born goaltender posted 95 starts across his career in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL), split between the Selkirk Steelers and Pistons.

Plowman has been outstanding for Steinbach since moving franchises during the 2022 off-season, racking up an impressive 47-12 record in the regular season.

Three Southeast residents honoured at TOPS event

Three TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) divisional winners in Manitoba come from the Southeast. The non-profit weight loss organization held its conference on May 3 and 4 at the Mennonite Heritage Village where it crowned its provincial queen and gave ribbons to its divisional winners.

“My weight journey has been a lifelong struggle,” said Ste Anne division winner Emily Friesen. “I’ve always had a weight problem as far back as I can remember. As an adult I tried all the weight loss clubs that it gave. I often did quite well and managed to keep off at least 50 pounds. But in the end, I struggled with my last 25-30 pounds. I was like a yoyo.”

Freisen lost a total of 28.6 pounds since last January, when she joined TOPS. She said she came from a family history of poor circulation and diabetes.

“My mom and two siblings have lost limbs, and so I became very intentional. I also wanted to do outdoor projects with my husband, and often found myself not being able to keep up, and getting winded,” she said.

Event explores accessing gender affirming care

An event hosted by Steinbach Neighbours for Community will offer information on how to access gender affirming care in Manitoba.

Set for Saturday at the Steinbach Curling Club, it will be presented by Winnipeg based Klinic Community Health and sponsored by Southern Health and Healthy Together Now.

The session will be a homecoming of sorts for presenter Parker Morran, a trans health social worker with Klinic Community Health, a charitable, not-for-profit health-care centre.

They grew up in the area, calling Kleefeld home.

COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – The unique geography of Rosengard

Geography is the study of the lands of the earth, including its various features as well as its inhabitants.

The geography of Rosengard, the community that was home to me for the first two decades of my life, was, in my opinion, truly unique. Every community doubtless has its own distinctive features. However, long before recorded history had expounded on the uniqueness of Rosengard’s geography, glacial Lake Agassiz, that immense body of water that covered so much of Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, as well as parts of the northern United States, was slowly but surely melting. In its wake beach ridges developed, and bit by bit, Rosengard’s all-weather roadway came into being.

The staff at the Winnipeg Land Titles Office was most accommodating when I indicated to them a while back that I wished to search the title for a somewhat complicated legal description. Back then a certain relaxed atmosphere prevailed at the Land Titles Office. Perhaps it is so to this day. However, I am quite certain that the very large, heavy binders that held the titles containing the legal descriptions of land located within the jurisdiction of that office, are no longer readily available to those wishing to do a legal search of a certain parcel of land.

The legal description that was of particular interest to me on the occasion of my visit to the Land Titles Office was one I had copied from the agreement entered into on September 28, 1938 between Julius Block, who owned the property in question, and my father, Cornelius H. Falk who was in the process of purchasing it. The description was indeed complex, but the Land Titles staff, being familiar with such terminology, had no difficulty making the necessary calculations and sketches. They informed me that a plan had been registered for the property, and that I could visit the Surveys section to take a look at it. I immediately did that, and then purchased a copy of the plan. I had no need or purpose for this acquisition, but it held particular meaning for me. It was the place where I was born, and that was home for us for many years.

Niverville business gains spot in exclusive conference in Toronto

A Niverville based business gained a spot in an exclusive conference in Toronto last week after beating out 100 competitors from across the country.

“It was really incredible. One of my bucket list goals for the business has been to work with Jillian Harris and her team in some sort of compacity. She is a real big champion of locally owned Canadian brands, women owned brands, and eco-friendly brands, so I knew that if we could in some way shape or form work with her that it would really help grow our brand,” said SOAK Bath Co. owner Candace Alarie.

“The fact that we had actually got in and this had been a goal since 2020 was really incredible to just be able to get one of those bucket list items checked off for the business.”

SOAK Bath Co. was selected as one of seven vendors to participate in an intimate pop-up market called Academy in the City, which was hosted by Harris’ Jilly Academy. Harris is of Love It or List It Vancouver fame and is now a social media influencer on Instagram. She promotes female headed companies and environmentally sustainable brands.

Steinbach sports ticket: May 9 – 15

Manitoba Junior Baseball LeagueThe MJBL season will kick off with a showcase event at St James Optimist Fields in Winnipeg May 11. Every team in the league will be playing two games at the diamonds, with the Carillon Sultans taking on the Pembina Valley Orioles at 1 p.m. and the Altona Bisons at 4 p.m.

Carillon’s home schedule kicks off on May 16, when the team takes on the St James A’s. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at A.D. Penner Park.

18U AAA BaseballThe Carillon Sultans 18U season starts May 12, with the team hosting North Winnipeg.

The 18U Sultans play their home games in Ile des Chenes.

Avid farm toy collectors won’t part with favourites

The annual Farm Toy Show at Clearspring Centre is advertised as a show and sale, but for the most ardent collectors, it’s much more show than sale.

Surrounded by tables of green John Deere toys, some dating back to the 1950s, Ken Urbaniak and Brent Chubaty spend their time reminiscing about the old days between visitors, all the while refusing offers to part with any of their favourites.

“Maybe next year.”

Chubaty, who has been instrumental in organizing the annual show for a number of years, admits it probably is time for him to start selling some of his growing collection, but says he is in no hurry.

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback February 19, 1971 – Steinbach businessmen impressed with Russia

Awesome technology and an ability for doing things in a big way was what impressed three Steinbach businessmen most during a two-week visit to the Soviet Union as part of a Canadian delegation.

Peter Barkman, his brother Edwin, of Barkman Concrete Ltd., and Cornie Loewen of C.T. Loewen & Sons were among a delegation sponsored jointly by the Canadian branch of the National Precast Concrete Association and the federal department of Industry, Trade and Commerce.

The Steinbach businessmen described their trip as taking them into “a whole new world,” where over 90 percent of the country’s city dwellers live in multi-storey, low-rental apartment blocks constructed at a speed unheard of in the western world.

Russian engineers are presently building nine-storey 200-suite apartment blocks in Moscow in a period of 28 days, Loewen said.