COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – Rosengard as a place of memory

Rosengard, a relatively small geographical location, approximately fifteen kilometres south-west of Steinbach in Manitoba, holds tremendous significance for me. It was the place where I was born, and where my family lived for more than twenty years. It was also the community in which three members of my family, together with their own young families, lived for various periods of time during their own lives.

There was, of course, so much more to the awareness and recognition of Rosengard than a mere dot on a map. Indeed, I am reminded of a telephone message that had been left for me when we were on an extended trip to Hong Kong, visiting one of our children who was attending Li Po Chun United World College in Hong Kong during the 1990s. The individual who had called our number wanted to know where he could find Rosengard since his 80-year-old uncle wanted to see this place! He had even gone to the Surveys Branch at the Land Titles Office in Winnipeg to try to get the necessary information.

Yet, there was so much more to our community than might readily meet the eye. The visit to the Surveys Branch could not possibly provide all the nuanced details of the lives of the individuals and of their families living in this unique place we called home. In a sense all the people of my childhood neighbourhood of Rosengard were my neighbours. That’s not to say that I or members of my family interacted with all of the individuals on a personal basis. Nevertheless, we were all connected in various ways. Our public school bore the name of Rosengard, officially bearing the number 2168.

The children of our community were students at the Rosengard School. Those individuals who attended our wonderful school remain part of my memory bank. As a matter of fact, thanks to Eva Doerksen, who contacted me one Sunday several decades ago, connected me with members of the Toews family. Mary Toews was my classmate in Grade 1, but at the end of that year, in 1947, the family moved to the west coast. Our ties run deep. It wasn’t that our family connected with the Toews family on a regular basis, but what bound us together so many years later was that sense of community that all of us who have lived in Rosengard, shared. When Tina came to Winnipeg a number of years ago, we had lunch together, and on a later occasion we linked up with Tina in Abbotsford, B.C. When Peter Toews and his wife were in Steinbach some time ago, we had coffee together. It was heart-warming to share that sense of community so many decades later.

There are countless memories of Rosengard that continue to arise in my mind, one often leading to another, and then, before I realize it, an entirely new setting and series of experiences surfaces within my memory bank. One such new development occurred last Sept. 22, when I called my niece Dianne on her birthday. She, in her characteristically ebullient style, regaled me with details of her own family’s activities and circumstances. Dianne was especially thrilled that one of her grandchildren, together with her family, had moved to a property on the farmstead of her own childhood in Rosengard. In a sense that saga had come full circle.

My dear niece, Dianne Wiens died on July 9, 2025. When we spoke with her shortly after her recent surgery, she was still her usual feisty self, although, as she well knew, she acknowledged that she still had health issues with which she would have to deal.

And so it is that my bank of memories continues to be filled, but never to overflowing. Its wonderfully unique landscape, the gravel ridge, provided us with a schoolyard that would be difficult to replicate. Not only did it give us an all weather road, it also gave us a school location with a playground that was never muddy. In addition, that schoolyard had its own beautiful woodlot. I have no doubt that Dianne could have filled volumes with her memories of the Rosengard School.

The words of the Psalmist come to mind:

Hear our prayer, O LORD!

Listen to our cries for help!

Don’t ignore our tears.

For we are Your guests –

travelers passing through,

as our ancestors were before us.

-Psalm 39:13