PHOTO GALLERY: Blumenort Fun and Fair Day

The Blumenort Fun and Fair Day took place Sept. 7 as the community celebrated their 150th anniversary.

SPORTS FLASHBACK 2004: Fly-In basks in success of national golf finals

The Steinbach Fly-In Golf Club and the City of Steinbach put their best foot forward in hosting the highly successful Royale Canadian Senior Women’s Golf Championship last week.

It was the first national championship in any sport staged in Steinbach, and by all accounts came off as an unqualified success.

Sixty-nine of the top senior women’s golfers in Canada converged on Steinbach for the four-day event, which included a practice round on Monday, followed by three competitive rounds on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

To a player, the competitors sang the praises of their experience in the Steinbach tournament. Although some of the golfers did not perform as well as they would have liked to, they were generally in awe of the spectacular conditions created by superintendent Rob Fast and his grounds crew.

RCMP seek public’s help in identifying man

Police say a man stole multiple items from Canadian Tire in Steinbach before fleeing, breaking the security barriers on the way out of the store.

They are hoping the man can be identified from the security image.

He was described as wearing a blue jacket, grey ball cap and a Batman T-shirt.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Steinbach RCMP at 204-326-4452, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477, or submit a secure tip online at www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

Living her dreams at 95

It’s never too late to try something new, and Jean Tarnick is living proof.

At 95 years old, the Altona resident fulfilled one of her lifelong dreams last week by attending her very first football game.

A passionate Winnipeg Blue Bombers fan for years, Jean has always admired linebacker Adam Bighill and defensive end Willie Jefferson. While her late husband Michael didn’t share her passion for the game, he supported her enthusiasm for the team.

“They’re a big part of being a Manitoban. You’ve got to cheer for your team,” Jean says.

New exhibit looks at one’s artistic journey

A new exhibit opened at the Steinbach Arts Council’s Hall Gallery on Sept. 6 titled Journey, which represents the walk a painter takes in his or her artistic voyage.

“With art I see it as a journey as I’m still learning and I consider myself as a student actually. I’m still learning and I’m still on my journey. I’m not done yet and we always can learn. I can imagine myself sometimes later in life I would be trying out and still learning or gaining experiences,” said Swetlana Stang.

Stang said she wanted to do an art exhibit but didn’t have enough paintings so she asked members of her Southeast Artists Group if anyone wanted to show with her. Kim Gwozdz and Arlene Rattai decided to join Stang.

“To me art is emotional and usually you identify with the subject you’re looking at. Basically, an artist wants a person to enjoy it and buy (the painting),” said Rattai.

Chamber proposes first membership fee increase in eight years

Steinbach Chamber of Commerce members will vote on a proposed fee increase at their Sept. 26 AGM.

The proposed increase is the first for the local chamber since 2016 when all fee categories were raised $10.

This time the proposed increase varies for each category, ranging from a $5 increase for non-profits to a $65 increase for those with 150 or more employees.

Proposed rates are $100 for non-profits, $175 for one to five employees, $300 for six to 20 employees, $400 for 21-49 employees, $500 for 50 to 149 employees, and $750 for 150 or more employees.

COLUMN: Village News – Steinbach’s First Families – Klaas B. & Maria (De Fehr) Friesen

This week we are winding up the exploration of the first families of Steinbach. This series has looked at the 18 families that settled on the 20 Wirtschaft that comprised the original town of Steinbach along what is today Elmdale street. There are many other individuals who contributed to the growth and development of the Steinbach and surrounding communities, and hopefully we will have an opportunity to share some of their stories in the future. Thankfully, many of these important stories have been recorded by family or local historians and we encourage you to come by the Village Books and Gifts to peruse our wealth of books covering stories of Mennonites both local and worldwide.

Klaas B. Friesen moved around the villages of the Molotschna colony as a child due to his father’s work as a school teacher. He married Maria de Fehr in 1861, and they moved to Annafeld, Borosenko to live near his father and stepmother. Together with his parents they travelled to Canada on the Austrian, arriving in Quebec on Aug. 31, 1874. Klaas’ parents settled in Blumenort, while he, Maria and their children settled on homestead SE25-6-6E on a gravel ridge east of Steinbach. Arriving late in the year, they had just enough time to construct a semlin (sod house) before winter and shared their home with a cow and some chickens.

In the spring of 1875 the Friesens moved to Wirtschaft 20 in Steinbach, the most north-west property in the town (where Victoria Plaza stands today). According to KJB Reimer’s history in Die Mennonitische Post, the bush was so thick in summer they could not see the lanterns of their neighbours, a testament to the difficulty of preparing the land around Steinbach for farming. In the late 1880s, Klaas and Maria built a housebarn which stood on the site until 1960, the last remaining example of its kind in Steinbach. It was torn down, to great protest, by A. D. Penner who owned a Dodge dealership and roadworks company (For more info, see: mennotoba.com/protest-medicine-cabinet). They farmed in the Steinbach area until 1909, when they retired and lived on their property until Maria’s death in 1916, after which their property was auctioned.

Klaas and Maria had five children, eldest Cornelius left the Kleine Gemeinde on marrying Maria Klassen and joined the Chortitzer Gemeinde, moving to Osterwick west of New Bothwell. Son Klaas married Anna Wiebe and moved to Greenland, north of Blumenort before leaving for the Mennonite community in Needles, B.C. They lived there less than a year before returning to farm near Friedensfeld. Son Jacob was a cheesemaker in the factory in Steinbach before moving to Kansas. Daughter Katharina married a Dutchman, Herman Krebs, and youngest Johann worked the farm and spoke English by the time he was school-age.

Grunthal celebrates Family Fun Day

Family Fun Day was celebrated in Grunthal on Sept. 7.

Pansy Fall supper dedicated to former volunteer

Pansy kicked off the fall supper season on Sunday. The first of many across the province and close to a dozen in the Southeast, this year was another sellout, with over 1,250 people served.

Organizers said this year’s event was dedicated to the late Justina Golowaychuk who volunteered for over five decades at the Pansy Hall. Organizer Leanne Germain described the event as an amazing show of support with incredible volunteers who not only served the massive crowds that included four packed charter buses from Winnipeg, but also helped with preparation. And that was no small task. Feeding the masses involved the making and serving of 5,000 meatballs, a chest freezer filled with 430 dozen (5,160) perogies, 30 roasters of cabbage rolls, more than 100 litres of whipping cream to top up dessert, 50 quarts of preserved mushrooms, 1,800 perishky and 50 pounds of cottage cheese to fill the nalysnyky.

Ste Anne, Grunthal, Mitchell return to HTJHL

For the third consecutive season, the Hanover-Tache Junior Hockey League (HTJHL) will be expanding.

Returning to the league are the Grunthal Red Wings, Ste Anne Aces and Mitchell. The Mitchell franchise will now be known as the Mustangs, changing from the previous team name of Mohawks. Those changes were locked in at the league’s annual fall meeting, held Sept. 9.

The name change follows the Mitchell minor hockey program, which made the switch in 2020.

“Part of that is creating a buzz inside the minor hockey program,” Mustangs team president Jason Fehr said.