COLUMN: Village News – May moments you won’t want to miss

May is an exciting month here at the Mennonite Heritage Village! On May 1 at 9 a.m., our heritage buildings in the village got unlocked for the first time in the spring season. We eagerly invited people into the village to experience the living history that the village showcases. Also on May 1, the Livery Barn Restaurant opened for the first day of the year. We are delighted to welcome guests into the village and Livery Barn Restaurant every day of the week during the spring and summer season. Whether you are coming for the Sunday buffet, a school field trip, or a weekday family visit to your local museum, we are excited to have you come!

May 9: Manitoba Day

Manitoba Day, the day which marks the province’s entry into Confederation in 1870, is officially recognized as May 12. Here at the museum, we have decided to stick to the second Saturday in May as MHV’s official Manitoba Day celebration. This year, May 9 is our Manitoba Day celebration, and this marks our first community festival of the season. Admission is free for this event, and we are excited about our lineup of events. At 10 a.m., the Steinbach and Area Garden Club will be doing a planting pansies for mom activity! Children will get the opportunity to plant their own pansy to give to their moms to celebrate Mother’s Day. At 11 a.m., we will have a short ceremony in the pavilion featuring speeches from local dignitaries. This will be followed by raising the Manitoba flag and hearing The Manitoba Song. Free cake and coffee will be given out to all in attendance.

After the ceremony and flag raising, our festival events will begin including pioneer demonstrations and interpretation, wagon rides, and barrel train rides. We are excited to be partnering with Eastman Immigrant Services again for this event. They will be providing fun, outdoor family carnival games from 11 a.m. to 2 pm. Enjoy old-fashioned carnival games like a tug of war, a 3-legged race, a sac race, an egg and spoon race and much more!

Brett Howden powers Vegas into second round of NHL playoffs

Brett Howden has become one of the Vegas Golden Knights’ key contributors, as the Oakbank forward was tied for the team lead in goals following their first-round series victory over the Utah Mammoth.

Howden had no goals through three games, but came alive with his team down 2-1 in the series, finding the back of the net in three straight Vegas wins to clinch the series.

“I just try to put pucks to the net,” Howden said in a post-game five news conference.

“Sometimes they go in, and sometimes they don’t but right now they’re going in.”

MHV opens for the season

The Mennonite Heritage Village opened for the season on May 1. Free admission to the museum grounds will be available on May 9 as part of Manitoba Day celebrations. The Livery Barn Restaurant will host a Mother’s Day buffet meal on May 10. Last year’s meal saw more than 400 people attend.

COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – A canoeing adventure beyond Rosengard

I could not possibly have imagined while I was a student at the Rosengard School #2168 that someday in the distant future I would be participating in a canoe trip down the historic Hayes River in Manitoba. Indeed how could I? The creek that meandered lazily through woodlands and pastures in our community was the closest we came to having any waterway whatsoever. Our creek did not represent even remotely something akin to navigable waterways. The Hayes River on the other hand is a premier Canadian Heritage River, and the longest naturally flowing waterway in the province.

During the winter of 1998, Andrew, the eldest of our children, suggested that he would like to take us on a wilderness canoe trip, as a gift to us for our upcoming 25th wedding anniversary. We would not be alone on this adventure. Rather, three of his wilderness-experienced tree-planting friends would be joining us. It would be fun he assured us. It took some time for the idea to resonate with us. As children tend to do, our horizons had stretched far beyond what we had anticipated 25 years earlier when we got married at the end of December in 1973. What we have experienced, and indeed continue to learn day by day, is that for us being a family with three children has exposed us to all sorts of new ideas and experiences, and countless adventures we would not have dreamed of on our own.

Canoeing down the historic Hayes River gave us a new perspective on Manitoba’s waterways. Maps have long held a significant hold on me as we crossed the prairie provinces over the years visiting our children and their families living west of the prairies as we know them. While Alberta may well qualify as a prairie province, Calgary, where our younger son lives, is decidedly closer to the Rocky Mountains than those of us who call Manitoba our home. As for the West Coast, we have had occasion to visit our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren repeatedly over the years in various locations both at the coast as well as in more northerly interior regions of Canada’s most westerly province.

My early childhood education exposed me, along with the rest of the students at Rosengard, to two very important maps. Memories of these roll-down maps, one of Canada and the other of the entire world, remind me to this day of that so important step of my formal education. And while much of the learning at the Rosengard School was part of a full academic curriculum, the imprint of those huge maps has never stopped shaping the trajectory of my life. Again and again, innumerable place names on those maps that point back to my early childhood education, have become part of the actual adventures of my life, and more specifically life experiences I could not even remotely have imagined so many decades ago.

Steinbach Family Resource Centre executive director resigns

Steinbach Family Resource Centre’s executive director will be stepping down in the next month after serving in the role for eight years.

Jo-Anne Dalton’s departure was announced in a May 1 news release, and her last day will be on June 4.

“Dalton has served as executive director for the past eight years, providing thoughtful and dedicated leadership while guiding the organization through a period of meaningful growth and strengthening community presence,” the news release said.

Dalton told The Carillon the decision wasn’t made lightly, and the charity’s board has known about her resignation for a year. She’s proud of the work that was accomplished.

Edwards pair gives Niverville Nighthawks Centennial Cup victory on opening night

Marlen Edwards showed his Centennial Cup experience, nabbing Niverville's first and last goal at the national championships, powering his team to a 5-4 national championship win over the host Summerside Western Capitals May 7. Edwards suited up for Northern Manitoba at last year's nationals.

The Nighthawks broke up a set play in overtime, with the Capitals trying to spring a forward after winning the opening faceoff. Edwards was the closest man to the breakout pass, and picked it off, backhanding a shot into the net for a Niverville victory, flapping his arms like his team's namesake in celebration.

"I was reading the eyes of (the defender) and I could tell by watching him during the game they like to swing the middle," Edwards said in a post-game interview during the game broadcast on HNLive.

"Obviously, taking the middle away from them is probably the key part to all of it."

Zwaagstra acclaimed as Steinbach PC candidate

Michael Zwaagstra was acclaimed as the PC candidate for Steinbach in a meeting on April 30.

Originally a two-person race, fellow city councillor Susan Penner pulled her bid for the nomination to focus on family issues.

That meant the current deputy mayor for the City of Steinbach, long-time schoolteacher and father of four Michael Zwaagstra won the uncontested nomination.

The meeting in Mitchell saw current MLA Kelvin Goertzen make the nomination with Susan Penner as the seconder.

The Carillon heading East for Centennial Cup

Readers of The Carillon will get the inside scoop at the Centennial Cup.

Sports Editor Cassidy Dankochik will be at the tournament, hosted by Summerside P.E.I. to cover the Niverville Nighthawks attempt to win Manitoba’s first national Junior A championship since Portage claimed the title on home ice in 2015.

Manitoba teams have won the cup just three times, with Portage and Selkirk claiming the trophy in the 70s. The 1974 Selkirk Steelers were powered by a slate of Eastman players who made the jump to play for the team, including five from Steinbach.

There are other Manitoba connections at the tournament, with the Flin Flon Bombers representing the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League at the 2026 edition of the Centennial Cup after they swept Yorkton in the league championship series.

Shevchenko School brings intensity to annual drama

Actors at Shevchenko School in Vita are primed to bring the intensity as they present Ken Ludwig’s Sherwood: The Adventures of Robin Hood.

With performances scheduled for May 7 and 8, the students were pulling out all the stops at their dress rehearsal on May 1.

“Robin of Locksley is a young noble who discovers that those citizens under his care are being abused by Prince John,” the synopsis stated. “Prince John is taxing the citizens supposedly to pay for his brother’s return except everyone knows the money is going to line his pockets. Robin begins to fight for them. Along the way he encounters others who wish to protect the weak and fight against tyranny.”

It’s a story filled with humour, bravery and courage, and actors agree it will be an audience favourite.

Niverville Nighthawks land in P.E.I for national championship

The Niverville Nighthawks won the Manitoba Junior Hockey League thanks to structure, discipline, skill and a deep roster of experienced players who knew how to handle the long hockey season.

There won’t be as many experiences to lean on at the Centennial Cup, but the Manitoba representative has a couple players with experience at the national junior A championship. Marlen Edwards and Aaron Krestanowich played for Northern Manitoba last season, helping their team to a quarterfinal appearance. Edwards had five points in four preliminary round games, including a three assist performance in the team’s 6-3 win over Greater Sudbury.

Head coach Dwight Hirst repeated his mantra from the entire season, “pressure is a privilege,” during an interview after the team arrived in the Maritimes.

“We’ve come a long way from the beginning of the year to where we are now,” Hirst said.

CARILLON SPORTS SECOND SHOTS: Nighthawks championship edition

Featuring photos from the Niverville Nighthawks Turnbull Cup championship win in Virden April 23 and game six of the MMJHL championships in Winnipeg April 26.