Cooks Creek Medieval festival hosts enthusiastic crowds with Tolkien-UFC blend of feudal fun

Last weekend saw Cooks Creek come alive with the opening of the biannual Medieval Festival, held on the grounds of the Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church and its adjoining castle-like grotto.

Featuring a light-hearted approach to the medieval theme, the festival combines historical traditions such as feasts with modern carnival midway attractions, blacksmiths and artisans with Lord of the Rings inspired costumes, and time-honoured combat techniques with a UFC-type feel to behaviour and scoring.

“There is so much to see and do at the festival,” says organizer Gary Senft, and that explains why tickets consistently sell out well before the gates even open. “We hosted 450 for the feast that was held on Friday night of Festival Weekend, and the event sold out with over 3,000 in attendance each day.”

“It is family friendly in terms of affordability, with lots of hands-on activities for young attendees, including live action role play, a bouncy castle and petting zoo. There was a medieval merchant market, axe throwing, archery and an open chess match that anyone can participate in,” said Senft.

Penner gets assist from 7-year-old son in Mid-Amateur win

Doug Penner had the benefit of experience on his side, and yet it was his far less seasoned caddy whom he credited for helping him capture the Golf Manitoba Men’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Quarry Oaks on Wednesday.

The Steinbach local’s tournament-low seven-under 65 in the final round to win by a pair of strokes was aided by his seven-year-old son, Liam, whose young eyes helped his father read some tricky greens as they enjoyed a high-stakes day on the links together.

“Surprisingly, he calms me down, gets me into the zone and made some good reads,” said Penner, who grew up playing at Quarry Oaks and now golfs out of the Steinbach Fly-In. “He helped quite a bit. He’s only seven, but he’s into golf, and he knows the game, so very special having him on the bag.”

The tournament was scheduled to take place in Gilbert Plains, but massive flooding forced a change to Quarry Oaks. That was a benefit for Penner, the former golf professional at La Broquerie Golf Course who grew up playing at Quarry and now owns Doener Grill Express.

COLUMN: Village News – Steam engines, outdoor ovens, horse-powered fieldwork, and more

Pioneer Days has been an annual celebration in Steinbach since Mennonite Heritage Village opened as a museum over 60 years ago. Demonstrating pioneer activities has always been important, like threshing grain using the steam engine, or doing fieldwork using horses to pull the farm equipment, or baking bread in an outdoor oven and spinning wool in a heritage home. These activities remind us of the way our communities began and developed in the early years of settlement in Manitoba.

Gathering as a community to share these experiences, to recall stories of our grandparents, our great grandparents, and our great great grandparents, and to eat waffles with white sauce or Vereneke (perogies) with Schmauntfat and Rhubarb Plautz, provides the foundation for understanding our roots and for building a growing, caring community. Pioneer Days encourages conversations between older and younger generations, passing on stories, values and traditions.

The program this year has all the usual features, including an Old Colony Worship Service on Sunday at 10 a.m. and a Sunday afternoon horse show where drivers and horse teams demonstrate skills needed to accomplish the work in a pioneer community. We will also host a Saengerfest Service on Sunday afternoon in the auditorium at 3 p.m, featuring a choir and congregational hymn singing. But we have some added features as well.

For the kids, Pioneer Days is loaded with interactive experiences. The petting zoo is a favourite area to interact with farm animals, and the Kids Carnival Corner offers face painting and fun games to play. Barrel train rides and horse-drawn wagon rides offer a fun way to see the village. Each afternoon features a kids and family show in the Peter Barkman Summer Pavilion including Sleepy the Clown on Saturday, Dave and Friends on Sunday, and Ken Sky Magic Show on Monday.

Pioneer Days parade sets new record

This year’s Pioneer Days parade will set a new record for the number of entries.

Steinbach Chamber of Commerce executive director Tessa Masi confirmed this week that the 145 entries that will take to the streets on Friday are indeed the most they’ve had in 58 years.

This year also marks a return to the former parade route which had been impossible due to construction on Highway 12 for the last two years.

This year the parade will begin on Main Street and Kroeker Ave., proceed down Main Street, turn north on Highway 12 and pull off the road at the Traiblazers’ parking lot.

COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – Memories of mountains

We had mountains in our community. In the conventional sense of the word they were not really mountains, but when the snowplough first made its way down the gravel ridge in Rosengard many decades ago, it looked for all the world as if they were mountains. The snowfall must have been exceptionally heavy that year, back in the 1950s, and to the eyes of Rosengard’s children those enormous mounds of snow must surely have taken on the features of mountains.

If truth be told we all knew that longer hours of spring sunshine would, in due time cause our imaginary mountains to vanish, leaving us instead with our wonderful natural gravel ridge formed so long ago by the receding waters of ancient Lake Agassiz.

Even then however, we could claim something akin to a small mountain. We called it “the hill” formed by the slight incline of the roadway now known as Blatz Road where it approached the gravel ridge. All that, of course, is in the distant past, and much as all of us have changed during those many decades since my childhood, so too has the lay of the land in our community of Rosengard.

In the meantime, I have had occasion to experience mountainous landscapes in various guises and locations. In due time several members of my family decided to make their homes in British Columbia. So too our widowed mother, Katarina Falk when she married Henry Enns, formerly also a Rosengarder, and now a widower himself.

Joy in Action Steinbach to become annual event

The Joy Smith Foundation will make Joy in Action Steinbach an annual event after 94 runners and walkers took part in the July 25 event and raised more than $25,000 at the Steinbach Soccer Park.

The Joy Smith Foundation has existed since 2011 with a mandate to end human trafficking, and Joy in Action, which features a four or eight km run and walk raises money for that purpose at locations across Canada.

Joy Smith, the founder of the organization said Steinbach’s event, held for the first time this year, will definitely have to happen again.

“It was fantastic,” she said. “People were just blown away. The sun was shining and everybody had big smiles on their faces.”

Country Classic Car Show at MHV returns to thrill car enthusiasts

The Country Classic Car Show returned to the Mennonite Heritage Village (MHV) this past weekend to the delight of hundreds of automotive enthusiasts and car buffs. Entries ranged from restored 1920s rat-rods to the latest edition “Vettes” with speeds only limited by chip-enforced governors. Several two-wheeled showpieces were also featured to complete the spectacle.

Show judge Rene Bouchard, owner of Reborn Automative Detailing (RAD) was delighted by each of the 266 entries, the dozens of volunteers who made it possible, and the spectacular sunshine that showcased the mesmerizing paintjobs that typified the displays.

“There were several amazing cars, incredible builds and craftsmanship, rare vehicles and simply, quirky cars,” he said. “I can’t pick a favourite as they all have different stories and history. Just like the people that own them, every car has been through different stages of life and I’m happy they are able to make it out to the show to tell theirs,” said Bouchard.

Organizer and Country Classics Club president Mario Silva was also thrilled with the eclectic entries and with the attendance numbers at this year’s show, as it not only brought together club members and other enthusiasts, but also helped his club and its adopted charity.

Carillon Sultans cement MJBL dynasty

For the third consecutive season, the Carillon Sultans lifted the Darryl Steen Trophy as champions of the Manitoba Junior Baseball League.

The Sultans dominated the Elmwood Giants in the final, winning all three games in abbreviated fashion with mercy rule victories to claim the best-of-five series, including the 12-2 series clincher in Steinbach at A.D. Penner Park July 28.

All nine Carillon players in the line-up recorded at least one hit, with leadoff hitter Joe Plett knocking in a two-run single to give the Sultans a 10-run advantage in the bottom of the sixth inning.

“We wanted to make sure we finish tonight and everyone came through and did what they had to do,” head coach Don Meilleur said.

Anderson seeks fourth term as reeve in Piney

RM of Piney Reeve Wayne Anderson is seeking a fourth term as head of council.

“We have a lot of projects on the go right now, and I’d like to see them through,” said Anderson. “There’s probably half a dozen, or maybe more, but it’s kind of like an ongoing thing, they have to be looked after. And in the same manner we’ve been doing it because it’s been successful so far.”

Anderson was born and raised in the RM of Alonsa in the Interlake. He moved to Winnipeg as an adult to work mostly as an engineer for Manitoba Hydro. He and his wife moved to Piney to look after his mother who moved from Ottawa to Sprague and needed care. When he retired from Manitoba Hydro he opened an auto repair shop in Sprague, which he later sold in 2017. Since 2014, he has been leading Piney’s council.

He said the biggest problem right now in the municipality is trying to complete all the projects while there is an election looming. He said the hiring of an economic development officer coupled with implementing a new recreation master plan and finding ways to financially support the nine community centres in the RM are top of mind.

Carillon Sports Second Shots: July 23rd edition

Featuring photos from the football Canada Cup July 14, a U15 AAA Carillon Sultans game in Ile des Chenes July 15, a Hanover Kickers game July 17 a softball tournament at AD Penner Park July 19 and game three and of the MJBL semi-finals in Steinbach/St Boniface July 19/21.

PHOTO GALLERY: Dawson Trek returns for second year