Eastman Wildcats dominate U17 AAA provincials

The Eastman Wildcats cruised to a championship at Softball Manitoba’s U17 AAA provincials at Ashley Neufeld Softball Complex in Brandon on the weekend, beating Central Energy 4-0 in the final on Sunday.

Eastman went 6-0 in the round-robin, outscoring their opponents 54-21, then beat Central 10-1 in the 1-vs-2 game on Sunday morning to vault into the final.

The Westman Magic edged the Interlake Phillies 5-3 in the 3-vs.-4 game, earning a semifinal matchup with Central. After the Energy won 3-2 in nine innings, it set up a third meeting of the weekend between Eastman and Central.

Eastman coach Russ Kihn said his club, which went 18-6 in the regular season, had a great game against a tough opponent.

Six-storey seniors facility approved despite neighbourhood opposition

Steinbach city council approved variations that would allow for a six-storey facility described on city documents as “independent assisted living” on Stone Bridge Crossing despite massive neighbourhood opposition without a single person in favour except for the applicant, Bridge Park Manor, represented by Nic Thiessen of Three Way Builders.

Bridge Park Manor requested two variances. Located in the residential medium density zoning, the maximum permitted height is three storeys.

Bridge Park Manor asked for that to be doubled to six.

Because the initial plan calls for 81 suites the facility requires 1.5 parking stalls per residential unit plus 10 percent for guest parking, a total of 134 stalls.

Sultans continuing quest for MJBL 3-peat

The Carillon Sultans have kept their hopes of a Manitoba Junior Baseball League three-peat going all the way to the championship series.

Powered by a pair of outstanding outings on the mound from Cedric Lagasse in games one and four, Carillon cruised past the St Boniface Legionaires 3-1 in the best-of-five league semi-finals.

Lagasse allowed just three hits over 13 innings of work in a pair of shutout wins. Connor Martin had an excellent outing of his own in game three, accounting for 10 of his team’s 15 outs (seven strikeouts and three pickoffs) in a five-inning mercy rule win.

The Legionaires squeaked a 6-5 win over the line in game two, despite trailing heading into the bottom of the sixth.

Carillon Sports Second Shots: July 16th edition

Featuring photos from a Hanover Sting match in Steinbach July 8, a Winnipeg Senior Baseball League game July 9, Wheelchair Rugby at the SEC July 10 and Eastman High Performance Centre hockey camps at the SEC July 13.

‘It will hurt’: Trans Canada Trail funding to end in 2027

Federal funding for Trans Canada Trail will end next year, which could lead to difficulties for the Crow Wing Trail if its funding is not renewed.

The five-year grant will end in 2027 and Justin Fauteux, manager of communications for Trans Canada Trail, said negotiations are underway with the government to renew funding, though what that might look like is unknown.

“What we’re doing right now is really just making sure that everyone is aware that that’s the case. Currently as it stands, we don’t have that commitment (from the government), that renewal in place, so we’re really just working towards firming that up right now,” he said.

It costs Trans Canada Trail $11.4 million to operate annually and since 2022 it has received $55 million through Parks Canada. Funding covers programing to support trail development, community engagement, and long-term sustainability of the trail network. Since 1992, the federal government has invested about $145 million into the organization.

Central Canada Aerobatic Championships held in Steinbach

The Central Canada Aerobatic Championships were held at Steinbach’s North Airport this past weekend, with results from the three carefully scrutinized runs made by competing pilots to be tabulated and posted later this week. The winner of the competition will go on to Alberta this August for the World Championships.

“We had to run things a bit early this year because the World Championships are happening in August. Our pilot that wins here this weekend will be going,” explains competition director Abram Razon.

The weekend-long contest was deliberately kept low profile in comparison to past years, where up to 500 spectators were able to attend. The reason is not strictly due to the accelerated timetable of competitions that the World Championships has imposed on the flight teams.

“We’ve tried to limit publicity and the number of watchers in aerobatic contests like this; we’re just not able to invite the public to come out because the insurance doesn’t allow it. We save a ton of money needed for the setup that way. Plus, if the weather turns bad again, we don’t have to accommodate all those people inside the clubhouse,” said Razon.

1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach Grow: Easter Seals bring hope to children with disabilities

MARCH 16, 1951—More than two million Easter Seals were mailed out to Manitoba residents early in March, when the Kinsmen Clubs of Manitoba launched their annual Easter Seals Campaign in support of the Society for Crippled Children. (Later renamed the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities and now known as Manitoba Possible).

The Kinsmen Club of Winnipeg held the first Manitoba Easter Seals sale as part of a national Kinsmen fundraising campaign in 1949. In 1950, other Manitoba Kinsmen clubs joined in the campaign, which led to the formation of the Society for Crippled Children.

The 1951 drive for funds was the third Easter Seals Campaign, with all 15 Manitoba Kinsmen Clubs participating, including the new Steinbach Kinsmen Club, which had just received its charter in February.

Since the society began functioning a few short months earlier, 85 cases had been dealt with. Some children needed and received orthopaedic appliances; others had operations, and others received special training provided in such centres as the Nursery Treatment Centre for Cerebral Palsy at Children’s Hospital and the Paraplegic Training Centre at Deer Lodge Hospital, according to the Winnipeg Kinsmen Club’s Easter Seals fundraising chairman.

Southeast Event Centre ice back in arena

Just in time for the blistering heat wave that crushed southern Manitoba, the Southeast Event Centre has installed their ice for the season.

The ice in the main rink at the SEC was removed June 1, with the centre hosting the Manitoba Fire Chiefs conference among other community events, including during Summer in the City.

“While we’ve enjoyed seeing our arenas transformed for conferences, community gatherings, and recreational programming over the past several months, we’re thrilled to be preparing for the return of ice,” SEC director of sport programming Gabriel Brandt said in a news release.

“The excitement is building as we get ready to welcome participants for summer hockey and ringette camps, tournaments, and public skating and of course, the Pistons’ nearer to the end of August.”

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback January 13, 2011 – Turbines harness Manitoba wind

Less than six months after touring the construction site of the St Joseph wind farm, Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger was back for the official launch of the first half dozen of the wind harnessing giants.

A cluster of about half a dozen turbines was activated by Premier Selinger with a simple click of a mouse in front of a mix of municipal and business partners, landowners and media.

Selinger noted the project perfectly complements hydro generation already in place in Manitoba and the wind farm is a huge story for both Canada and the United States.

RM of Montcalm Reeve Roger Vermette opened the ceremonies by saying that it had only taken nine months to go from breaking ground to starting up the first turbines.

Tabin bringing Walter Cup to Oakbank

Kati Tabin is set for a celebration.

The Montreal Victoire defender grew up playing hockey in Oakbank and is returning to her hometown a Professional Women’s Hockey League champion.

Tabin, alongside the Walter Cup and her Olympic silver medal, will be in Oakbank July 25 for an event, which will be hosted by radio host Ace Burpee, who is from Crook’s Creek.

The Victoire became the first Canadian team to hoist the Walter Cup, defeating Ste Anne’s Jocelyne Larocque and the Ottawa Charge in the PWHL final, winning the winner-takes-all game five 4-0.

Quarry Oaks to mark 25 years

Since the day the Links at Quarry Oaks opened on July 1, 1992, it has been considered one of the top golf courses in Manitoba. In fact, the 27-hole layout, just east of Steinbach, is often mentioned as one of the top public courses in western Canada.

And although the quality of the golf course and the golf experience has never been in question, the financial stability of the golf club has been on shaky ground at times over the past quarter century, partly because of its location, away from the city of Winnipeg.

Although certainly not remote by any stretch of the imagination, being only a 30-minute drive from the outskirts of Winnipeg, its rural setting has created some challenges, as it is considered a destination golf course.

Now into its third year under the ownership of Steinbach brothers Arthur and Harold Rempel, Quarry Oaks has again returned to financial stability with a renewed business plan that is already paying dividends. The Rempel brothers are also the owners of Pro Vista Agriculture and a number of other agriculture-based companies in the Southeast.

High-speed internet coming to Middlebro

High-speed internet is coming to Middlebro thanks to an investment by the federal government.

As part of Canada’s Connectivity Strategy, the government aims to provide all Canadians with access to internet speeds of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 10 Mbps upload. The goal is to give high-speed internet access to every household in the country by 2030; currently 97 percent have access. In Manitoba, 94 percent of households have access to high-speed internet compared to 2017 when only 69.8 percent had access.

“High-speed internet isn’t a luxury; it’s essential and foundational infrastructure,” stated Buckley Belanger, federal secretary of state for rural development. “For people in rural and remote communities in Manitoba, having a reliable connection levels the playing field and can make all the difference in being able to access vital virtual health care, work online, or just keep in touch with loved ones.”

The more than $96.8 million initiative will see up to 7,875 households in about 50 Manitoba communities get access, all of which is paid through the $3.2 billion Universal Broadband Fund. Since 2015, the federal government has invested more than $322 million in connectivity projects in the province.