Old Tom Backyard Ultra draws nation-wide attention

The eyes of the endurance running world were on Blumenort last week, as the Old Tom Backyard Ultramarathon exceeded all expectations.

The event, in just its third year of existence, saw a pair of runners battle for 55 hours to set a new season-best for Canadian events. Backyard ultramarathons feature runners completing a 4.1 mile lap every hour, with participants starting a new lap at the top of every hour. The winner is the runner who completes a lap on their own.

Race director Stephan Reimer said he didn’t expect the event to develop into such a competitive one so soon. The first year’s winner completed just 26 laps, with last year’s champion finishing 35 to win.

“When you organize this, the goal right away is to become the top backyard in Canada,” Reimer said.

Carillon Sports Second Shots: July 9th edition

Featuring a Carillon Sultans MJBL game in Steinbach July 3, Winnipeg Jets Development Camp July 3 and Hanover Kickers games July 2 and 6 at the Steinbach Soccer Park.

Quarry Oaks steps up to host provincial Mid-Amateur after flooding

Torrential rainfall meant the scheduled Manitoba Women’s Amateur and the Men’s Mid-Amateur provincial championships had to be scrapped last week. The tournaments were scheduled for Gilbert Plains Country Club, just West of Dauphin, July 1-3.

The re-scheduled men’s mid-amateur is coming to Quarry Oaks in late-July. The women’s amateur was quickly re-scheduled to be at St Charles as nationals are right around the corner. Flooding at Gilbert Plains nearly reached the roof of their storage sheds that weekend.

“I’ve never seen something like this in 20 years,” Gilbert Plains golf professional and general manager Scott McCallum told the Brandon Sun. McCallum was unable to drive into the property on the day of the tournament.

“I’m looking for a boat to try and get there… It’s certainly disheartening, especially in a year when you’re trying to empower your grounds crew to be detail-oriented all the way up to this event, and we were two days away or one rain away, essentially, from hosting the event.

Local players make the cut for Hockey Manitoba

It’s likely the Team Manitoba hockey roster at the upcoming 2027 Canada Winter Games will have some Eastman flair.

Four players from the region were named to the U16 Boys Program of Excellence summer roster. The named 28 players were born in 2011 and 2012.

Goaltender Haize Brightnose (Ste Anne), defenseman Brady Piec and forwards Reed Sherry (St Malo) and Nixon Gaudet (Ile des Chenes) were named to the roster. Brightnose and Piec suit up for the Rink Hockey Academy in Winnipeg while Sherry and Gaudet play for the Eastman Selects AAA program.

The U16 Program of Excellence team will play a series of exhibition games against AAA and prep school programs Oct. 2-4 in Winnipge.

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback February 17, 2011 – Son carries on his mother’s legacy

Friends and acquaintances, including her children’s friends, were often invited to share Ruth Oommen’s home-cooked dishes at their home in Steinbach. Oommen would repeatedly say, “No matter if it’s a small party or large party, Ruth’s kitchen is always open.”

She was not afraid to try new recipes or to change a familiar one to suit her own tastes, and her dream was to open a business that would take her joy of cooking to the next level. With a great deal of inspiration from their mother, Ruth and Thamby’s sons, Mark and James, learned the love of cooking, and are carrying on her dream in her memory.

Thamby Oommen, born in India, was attending Mennonite Brethren College in Winnipeg when he met Ruth Reimer, a native of Kleefeld. Their relationship carried on through Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, where he studied social work and she pursued a career in music.

Back in Manitoba, Ruth went on to teach voice for 33 years, and also directed the Eastman Youth Choir. But her true passion was cooking. It was in 2000 that she began making cookie mixes to be sold as fundraisers, followed by catering for small office lunches, specializing in desserts.

COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – Stories that should not be forgotten

All of us have stories to tell, many in fact. After all, there isn’t a day that goes by when something we hear or experience becomes in one way or another, a story. Whether it’s worth repeating may or may not depend on whether you consider it important to do so. It might also be the case that no one else deems what you shared as being noteworthy. Sometimes it is the skill of the storyteller or the circumstances under which it is told that determine whether a story will come alive, or will be retained by the listener.

There are stories however that tell us a great deal about ourselves and about those who have shaped our lives in ways that are truly immeasurable. Such stories for me are the ones our parents told us about events in the life of our family in somewhat more recent times, but also, more particularly, the stories of the personal lives of members of our family before they arrived in Canada.

Some of those stories, augmented by photographs, hold enormous value for me on countless levels. The longer I live, the more compelled I feel to celebrate and honour those stories, not only for their historical value, but also for the examples of grace and courage my parents, and many others in like circumstances displayed, functioning as they did with phenomenal resilience. Frequently such qualities were demonstrated in circumstances fraught with loss of enormous proportions.

I have no doubt that the people of Rosengard were, in large part capable of such resilience, by the sense of community that they exhibited and fostered. Such was the environment of my home and community throughout my childhood and youth.

Loeppky signs 2-year extension with Lube

Steinbach Regional Seconary School graduate Eric Loeppky will remain with Volley Lube for the next two years.

The outside hitter has played in three consecutive Italian SuperLega finals, including the last two with Lube. The franchise has made a home at the highest levels of volleyball in Italy, appearing in four of six finals since the 2020 season was cancelled due to COVID-19.

“I’m truly honored and excited to stay with Lube,” Loeppky said in a translated team news release.

“I’m coming off two positive years with the club, and I hope this is just a taste of what this team can achieve in the future. Living in the Marche region is wonderful for my family, and Civitanova is starting to become a second home for us. We’re happy in every way.”

Former Piston Cole Smith signs NHL deal with Chicago

Cole Smith, who played two seasons with the Steinbach Pistons, is continuing his journey at the highest level of professional hockey.

Smith signed a three-year, 9$ million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on the first day of NHL free agency.

After leaving the Pistons, Smith joined the University of North Dakota, signing as an undrafted free agent with Nashville in the 2020 season.

After a couple years mostly playing in the American Hockey League, Smith nabbed a full-time spot on the Predators’ roster in the 2022/2023 season.

Ritchot signs MOU with biochar manufacturer to extend landfill, potentially see profits

The RM of Ritchot has signed a memorandum of understanding with a biochar manufacture with the hopes of bringing an environmental and economic benefit to the municipality.

“We love the idea of finding new, regenerative, sustainable ways to take - essentially garbage - and turn it into something usable. So, we bought into it right away, and here we are,” said Mayor Chris Ewen.

The RM’s MOU with Carbon Lock Tech began when one of the councillors was at the Manitoba Environmental Industry Association annual conference in late 2024. He saw what Carbon Lock Tech was doing and thought it was a perfect fit for the RM and shared his encounter with council. After about eight months of meetings, a presentation was made to council last summer and the MOU was signed April 22, 2025, on Earth Day.

This summer, the four-year-old company will begin the process of turning organic waste found at the St Adolphe landfill into little black pellets called biochar, with a high-heat reactor. The reactor burns off oxygen and hydrogen in the biomass and leaves behind covalent bonds of carbon in the form of biochar.

SPORTS FLASHBACK 2006: MIT Roadies ride for fun

MIT stands for Mennonites in Tights, although Mennonite affiliation is not necessary to belong to this recreational cycling club. In fact, there is a Lutheran or two along for the ride. Others, such as Steinbach lawyer Marcel Jodoin, have nary a discernible shred of Mennonite in them, but are still welcomed into the fold, as well.

Sixteen riders marshalled near Steinbach’s water tower at 6 a.m. last Saturday morning for their weekly excursion.

The one common thread amongst this group of avid cyclists, apart from the spandex of course, is their love of cycling, a form of recreation that provides exercise and camaraderie among the riders.

Saturday morning’s ride was 68 kilometres from Steinbach to Richer and back. According to unofficial MIT Roadies coordinator Jac Siemens, it took 2 hours and 38 minutes to complete, which included a stop for porridge in Richer.

AS I SEE IT COLUMN: Connor Hellebuyck is a coward

Being a man of your word, honouring your commitments and standing with your teammates in tough times are character traits that Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck appears to be sorely lacking.

At press time, Hellebuyck has still not said whether he wants to stay in Winnipeg or be traded.

It’s unclear why Hellebuyck has adopted this approach. Does he not realize his reputation is taking a beating? Does he think this “leave everyone hanging” approach is good for his teammates, the organization, his fans or the media?

If he does, he’s delusional.