Providence Pilots announce launch of curling program

Providence College continues to expand their sport offerings.

The school announced they would be launching a men’s and women’s curling program this fall.

“Curling is a sport built on community, tradition, and excellence — and that fits perfectly with who we are,” Providence director of athletics Joel Coursey said in a Providence news release.

“The excitement around curling in Southeast Manitoba is undeniable. After seeing Steinbach host the Grand Slam of Curling just last week, it’s clear this region is passionate about the sport. We’re proud to bring collegiate curling to Providence and to Otterburne.”

Province denies Steinbach disaster assistance

Steinbach city council is looking for answers after flood victims were denied funds from the provincially run disaster financial assistance (DFA) program.

The Sept. 11 event came almost exactly one year later than a previous flood which affected many of the same residents.

Last year the application, which is done by the city, was denied as well.

Council was presented with the letter from Erin Robbins, director of recovery and mitigation for the province.

Library regionalization off the table for now

The City of Steinbach has joined a growing list of municipalities to opt out of the process started by Public Library Services (PLS), to investigate a regionalization plan in southeastern Manitoba.

At a Tuesday meeting, Coun. Jac Siemens, who sat on the steering committee representing Steinbach, made a motion to formerly end its participation in the regionalization process as currently led by PLS and continue to operate the Jake Epp Library independently.

The issue of regionalization is not new and has been discussed in some form since at least 2000.

This process, however, came about as a 2024 PLS initiative where 18 municipalities were invited to be part of a working group.

Manitoba poverty strategy needs rural focus, specific measures, Steinbach charities say

Some Steinbach charities say they appreciate the province’s new poverty reduction strategy, but are disappointed with the lack of rural focus and financial measures to help rent affordability and seniors’ transportation.

Manitoba’s five-year poverty reduction strategy was released on Jan. 13. Titled Pathways Forward: Manitoba’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, the 36-page plan targets three groups: children under five, youth exiting the child welfare system and seniors.

Steinbach Community Outreach had conversations with Housing and Homelessness Minister Bernadette Smith last year, and the charity’s leadership feels Steinbach’s needs are represented in the report, SCO’s office manager Charlene Kroeker said in an email statement. She said she’s pleased to see more focus on seniors living below the poverty line, as the charity has seen an increase of that demographic accessing services.

While the province’s plan to expand the EIA allowances will help people in Steinbach, Kroeker called the permanent pause on the federal and provincially-funded rental top-up program “unfortunate.”

RCMP stress crosswalk safety

Steinbach RCMP is reminding motorists to be alert for pedestrians and grant them the right of way at crosswalks.

In a Jan. 16 news release, they stressed that drivers must yield the right of way to pedestrians who are crossing the roadway at a crosswalk, pedestrian corridors, intersections controlled by traffic lights or unmarked crosswalks that are extensions of sidewalks across a road at an intersection.

“At or near schools, drivers should watch for crossing guards because they indicate that children are nearby,” the news release stated. “The crossing guards are easily recognized by their high visibility vests and flags. They play an extremely important role in directing children across streets.”

It is the driver’s responsibility to ensure pedestrians and crossing guards have safely crossed the street or have safely reached the median on a divided roadway before proceeding.

Macdonald Swarm perfect through 23 games in HTJHL

The Macdonald Swarm are on pace for a historic Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League season.

The Swarm, which play out of the Sanford Arena, are a perfect 23-0 on the season so far, including a 3-0 record against the second-place Springfield Xtreme.

They looked dominant against Steinbach in a Jan. 17 game against the Huskies, scoring 12 goals in a blowout victory.

“It’s a big change from previous years, obviously” head coach Darren Wiechern said.

Manitoba freezes price for 1L cartons of milk

Manitoba won’t increase the maximum price for one litre of milk this year.

The province’s Farm Products Marketing Council, which regulates prices for one-litre cartons of milk, will freeze the price for 2026, preventing the planned four-cent increase in February, according to a Jan. 14 press release.

The price freeze doesn’t apply to two or four-litre milk containers because those don’t fall under provincial regulation.

“It’s a small but meaningful step to help people with the rising cost of living, and we’ll keep looking for more ways to put money back in people’s pockets,” Premier Wab Kinew said in a statement to The Carillon.

New SRSS basketball coach hoping to build program

Gabrielle Souliere has the Steinbach Regional Secondary School Sabres off to a hot start.

The new varsity girls basketball coach put together a roster that competes at the highest level in the Manitoba High School Athletic Association, even if there’s an on-paper talent gap.

As the biggest school in the province, the Sabres have to play at the AAAA level, up against the association’s best basketball programs.

Souliere said she thinks playing at the AAAA level hurts recruitment at SRSS, as players looking to give basketball a try are intimidated by having to line up against those top programs.

COLUMN: Village News – The practice of bloodletting in the early 1800s

When Mennonite settlers moved from Prussia to South Russia (present day Ukraine) beginning in the late 1700s, they carried with them not only their language, faith, and agricultural expertise but also the medical knowledge and folk practices common in central and western Europe at the time. Among these practices was bloodletting, a treatment that had been used for centuries across Europe and was still widely accepted in the early 19th century. Although Mennonites were known for their practical skills and resourcefulness, they were also products of their era, and their approach to health reflected the medical theories available to them.

Bloodletting was rooted in the ancient medical theory of humoral balance, which held that the body contained four fluids—blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile—and that illness resulted from an imbalance among them. Removing blood was believed to restore equilibrium, reduce inflammation, and relieve a wide range of symptoms. By the early 1800s, European physicians and lay healers alike still used bloodletting to treat fevers, infections, headaches, and even emotional disturbances. Although modern medicine has long since disproven the humoral system, at the time it provided a coherent and widely accepted explanation for disease.

The bloodletting procedure itself could be performed in several ways. Venesection, or opening a vein with a small blade, was the most direct method and allowed the healer to remove a controlled amount of blood. Cupping used heated cups placed on the skin to draw blood toward the surface, sometimes breaking the skin to release it. Leeching involved placing medicinal leeches on the body to remove blood gradually and was often considered gentler and safer than venesection.

Life in the South Russian steppe presented challenges that made medical self reliance essential. The early Mennonite colonies—Chortitza (founded in 1789) and Molotschna (founded in 1804)—were relatively isolated agricultural settlements. As a result, community based healing became the norm. Midwives, herbalists, and experienced elders provided most medical care, drawing on a blend of traditional remedies and practical experience.

Three municipalities in Southeast are banding together to develop trade corridor

Three municipalities in the Southeast have come together to establish a committee for economic development along Highway 75, which they hope to make into a trade corridor.

The RMs of Emerson-Franklin and Montcalm and the Town of Morris have come together to encourage private-sector growth, strengthen their local economies, and build long-term partnerships, while at the same time developing the provincial economy.

“It’s creating jobs and economic opportunities in our area, and it’s creating a world-class trade corridor so we can do that through economic hubs at Emerson, in Montcalm,…the Mid-Canada Transload…and then Morris…We just want to bring more economic opportunities and things to the area, and we need the jobs because we need the population. We need people using our amenities,” said David Carlson, reeve of Emerson-Franklin and chair of the PTH 75 Caucus.

The combined population of the three municipalities has steadily increased over the past 10 years with a total population of 5,690 in 2021, representing a 2.6 percent increase from 2011 (largely due to people moving to Morris), according to a 47-page report paid for by the province in 2024. The report examined the feasibility of creating a regional planning district (RPD), something Carlson said was a goal for the three municipalities.

Carillon Sports Second Shots: Jan. 8th edition

Featuring photos across the week of Grand Slam of Curling action inside the Southeast Event Centre, as well as a St Malo Warriors game in Grunthal and an SRSS varsity girls basketball game Jan. 7.

Southeastern Manitoba 2025 border crossings into U.S. hit decade low

Travellers driving into the U.S. at southeastern Manitoba’s five border crossings have fallen to the lowest levels in 10 years excluding the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2025, the Lancaster, M.N., crossing saw 27,996 personal vehicle passengers, a 40 percent drop compared to 2024, according to U.S. Department of Transportation numbers dating back to 2015. The Pinecreek port of entry had 2,985 last year, a 31 percent drop from 2024. Roseau and Warroad also saw falling numbers in 2025, with the former seeing an 11 percent drop and the latter 17 percent less.

“I don’t just don’t think people are traveling. I spend a lot of time in Tolstoi, and it’s not only the people’s apprehension of going to the United States now with all the trade turmoil that we have and everything else, but what customs has done (when cutting hours) is they are not very compassionate to the needs of the communities along the border,” said Wayne Arseny, a retired 35-year Canada Border Services officer.

The Pembina/Emerson, port of entry recorded 350,783 crossings last year, a 40 percent drop from the previous year.

COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – In the nature of gifts

We are into a new calendar year. That we are able to celebrate the beginning of a new year is a gift, one which we should never take for granted. There is something in the nature of being validated in having been able to close the door on the previous year, complete with its history of events, and beginning all over again in a new year. It is not to say that the chapter we have closed was necessarily one without challenges. The beauty of the gift of a new year is that we can take a deep breath, and try to begin a new chapter. What the closing of the door to last year did for us, was to open a door into an entirely new year.

If the old year holds memories of countless events that fill us with joy and gladness, we can celebrate with abandon, knowing that regardless of what the future brings, we will be able to draw strength from the well that has nourished us in the past. That well has the potential to support us in ways that we may not yet have experienced or considered.

All of us, whether we recognize them or not, receive gifts day by day. That’s not to say that these gifts are necessarily easily recognizable, or that, if we were asked, we would desire to receive them. The gift lies in the fact that along with what it is that we are receiving, we are also provided with the capacity to function within the context of the circumstances under which we receive it.

When I was approaching my teens, I received a Christmas gift from my parents that left me feeling a little less than happy. My mother, astute as she was, sensed that I was somewhat despondent and broached the matter with me.

New curator announced at Mennonite Heritage Village

Former assistant curator Garth Doerksen has been promoted to the position of senior curator at Mennonite Heritage Village after two years of working at the museum.

“I’ve always had a strong interest in Mennonite history. But, what the museum does in terms of telling the story of Mennonites and their history, and the collection that we have, I mean, it’s really become important to me. I really believe in what we do here, and I think it’s such an important story to tell,” he said, noting all the artifacts at the museum, including the buildings, fall under the curatorial department.

“Andrea (Klassen) was a remarkable mentor and brought so very much to the museum, her expertise, and of course, being here for, I think, 11 years. She - over the course of time - learned so much about the collection and about the buildings. And so, I’m certainly hoping to continue the work that she had started.”

Klassen was the senior curator at the museum and moved on from that position late last year in order to concentrate on her family. Under her guidance the museum had a number of milestones, including the 2019 Award for Excellence by the Association of Manitoba Museums for its Russlander exhibit, which was brought back in 2023.