SCI rink reaches schoolgirls final

While the SCI Sabres hockey team managed to win only one of three games in a tournament at Copper Cliff, Ontario, Sharon Dyck and her curling foursome went on a winning streak to give their school its best representation ever at the provincial schoolgirls’ curling championships in Winnipeg during the Christmas holidays.

Dyck and third, Marj Mooney, second Pat Guenther, and lead Donna Armstrong came within two wins of capturing provincial honors at the 94-rink bonspiel. Dyck’s rink reached the finals of the premier A&W event, before bowing to last year’s champs, the Pidzarko rink from Rossmere.

Even the final game was close, until Chris Pidzarko cracked a three on the seventh end and stole singles in the eighth and ninth to put the game out of reach for the Steinbach foursome.

By reaching the finals of the first event, Dyck got a second shot at the provincial honors in a playoff involving the three trophy winners.

New Bothwell holds its first vintage sled show and shine

New Bothwell held its first vintage sled show and shine last Saturday and organizer Scott Latimer said he was very pleased with the turnout calling it “a good start.”

“That’s a great number for a first-time show. So it’s positive.” he said, noting 35 sleds were shown at the event which took place during the town’s Winter Carnival.

“I’m a vintage sled guy myself, and there’s not a lot of shows in this area. So, I figured it would be a great opportunity to combine the existing carnival here in New Bothwell and bring a little extra people in the door to look at some sleds.”

The New Bothwell show and shine is one of many sled show and shines to be held in the month of February in the Southeast, with communities such as Woodridge, St Malo, and Prawda hosting their own shows.

Habitat for Humanity is looking for a family to live in Landmark home

Habitat for Humanity Manitoba is looking for a family that would be interested in living in one of its homes in Landmark.

“We want a family that’s really looking to have a home of their own,” said Christina Falk, manager for chapter support.

“The situation of the family that was living in it, just their life situation changed, and they needed to move away. Which happens from time to time…but it’s kind of a unique situation because we won’t be going through the whole build process that we normally do for Habitat. It’s already ready to go.”

The home in Landmark was built in 2023 and is the last Habitat home built for the Southeast. The home is a bi-level, side-by-side, with four bedrooms (two up and two down), an open living/kitchen concept with an island and a walk-in pantry, and an attached single-car garage.

Fraud investigation leads to drug charges

A complaint of someone using a stolen credit card led to a drug bust with four people facing multiple charges as well as seizures of cocaine and methamphetamine according to Manitoba First Nations Police Service (MFNPS).

Police say they were advised of the stolen credit card being used at a local business on Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation on Feb. 7.

“Police promptly identified the female suspect involved and attended her residence, where she was placed under arrest without incident,” they said in a Feb. 9 press release.

During the arrest police observed drug paraphernalia in what they described as “in plain view”.

Musical debut packs theatre

Artista Academy’s first production from its Lumina program packed the SRSS theatre for four shows last weekend.

Piney Regional Chamber of Commerce celebrates 10 years

The Piney Regional Chamber of Commerce is celebrating 10 years of working for and with businesses in the RM of Piney.

“It’s great. We love the support, we love giving back, we’re starting to really get some recognition…,” said Monique Chenier, secretary for the Piney Chamber of Commerce and economic development manager for Sunrise Corner Economic Development.

“It was started by some very passionate local business owners and they could see the value it could bring, and in fact, one of the things they advocated for very early on was to get an economic development manager in this region, and it’s why I have a job.”

Chenier said the goal of the PRCC is to try to provide supports and networking to help business owners grow their enterprises and meet up with like-minded entrepreneurs and business leaders in the community. “I think we’re that conduit, I guess, through that we can all connect in and help each other do better,” she said.

PHOTO GALLERY: Ste Anne embraces festival with Tire Toi Une Buche

Tire Toi Une Buche (pull up a log) was celebrated in Ste Anne on Feb. 8, as attendees prepared for the annual Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg.

Kindness event to be held in Steinbach to promote mental health

It is Kindness Week next week and Southern Health is hosting an event in Steinbach aimed at promoting positive mental health through acts of kindness.

“We hope that from this, there might have a ripple effect on individuals in the community to kind of reflect on their own actions that they take day to day. And then considering what’s an intentional step they could take to show kindness to others,” said Lindsay Hainsworth, community mental health worker for Southern Health.

Hainsworth is part of a working group for the health agency’s Roots of Hope initiative, a program through the Mental Health Commission of Canada, which in 2024 was set as one of the province’s priorities.

“One of the objectives of Roots of Hope is reducing stigma around mental health and suicide and increasing help-seeking,” she said. “And so how do we practice more interpersonal conversation, practice being more compassionate and empathetic for others.”

DANKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: The calm before the playoff storm

This is the last edition of The Carillon without coverage of hockey playoffs, as the final regular season games in high school, senior and in the Hanover Tache Junior Hockey League finished up this weekend.

From these games, it’s an all-out sprint until the end of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, as I try and attend as many post-season games as I can. Hockey is a post-season sport, and that means extra effort has to be made during this time of year, especially with the Providence Pilots volleyball and basketball finals taking place this time as well.

Here are some story-lines I’m keeping a close eye on as we hit the busiest part of my year.

The Hanover-Tache Junior Hockey League won’t have an undefeated season after the Macdonald Swarm fell in shocking fashion to ninth-place East St Paul last week. The Swarm should still be the favourite to win the league.

COLUMN: Village News – Neighbours: The Red River Métis

Feb. 16 is Louis Riel Day, a provincial statutory holiday in Manitoba. It commemorates Louis Riel, the Métis leader and founder of Manitoba. You may ask how this relates to the history of Mennonites in Manitoba. It turns out, that the Mennonite and Métis relationship is significant. The following article is a reprinting of an article that Ed Krahn and Ernie Braun wrote last winter, as part of a series that commemorated the 150th anniversary of the arrival of Mennonites to Manitoba. Here is how they described the events and early relationships between Métis and Mennonites.

Some of the first people the Mennonites encountered in Manitoba, already at the time of the visit by the Mennonite delegates in 1873, were the Red River Métis, who constituted the majority of the population at the time. This was about to change as European immigration surged in the next decade, and as many resident Métis left the province, disillusioned at the inept implementation of the Manitoba Act of 1870.

At the time of the visit by the delegates, the population of Manitoba was over 25,000. Of that number, the majority were of mixed First Nations and European ancestry. Fear of American expansionism had forced the British Crown to turn Ruperts Land over to Canada in 1869. The existing settlement of farmers and hunters, most of them Métis, feared for the loss of their livelihood and culture.

The Canadian government exacerbated the situation in August of 1869 by re-surveying the land, including existing river lots, and appointing William McDougall, a Canadian expansionist as the first lieutenant-governor. With support from both English and French-speaking Métis, Louis Riel stopped the survey, barred McDougall from entering the province, conducted an election, and proclaimed a provisional government led by Riel. Push-back from the Anglo-Ontarians from Portage la Prairie in particular, who opposed the provisional government, apprehension about American expansionism, and public outcry in Eastern Canada, led to the Federal Wolseley Expedition, which arrived in Upper Fort Garry on Aug. 24, too late to put down the opposition, for the Manitoba Act was already in effect as of July 15, 1870.