Daycare shortage hits home for Niverville mom

Dakota Johnston didn’t expect she would have to search for a daycare before she had her baby.

The 21-year-old single mother from Niverville began hunting for a spot when she was three months pregnant in April 2025. She called dozens of daycares, signing up for at least 30 wait lists in and around Niverville.

Johnston got the same answer with each call: there’s no room and she’d have to wait up to four years for a spot.

“I thought that was absolutely insane. Like, three to four years by that time she’s in school,” she told The Carillon. “As a single mother, there’s not a lot of support.”

PHOTO GALLERY: Christmas on the Farm hosted at MHV

Christmas on the Farm took place at the Mennonite Heritage Village on Jan. 4. The free event was organized by the South East Manitoba Draft Horse Association as a way to give back to the community and bring people together. There was also a Tin for the Bin for folks who wanted to donate food, which last year produced 300 pounds for food banks in the Southeast. This is the second year that the association has held this event at MHV, but it has been holding wagon ride events for 20 years. This year there were five teams and one single horse pulled wagon for crowds to enjoy. Teams came from Mitchell, La Broquerie, Kleefeld, Roseau River, and just south of Steinbach.

Wrong address delays Steinbach fire response

Confusion resulted after a 911 call that dispatched Steinbach Fire Department on Jan. 2. Fire Chief Kel Toews said the call came in stating there was a fire at a Pleasantwood address. Because no such street exists in Steinbach, crews went to Pleasant Drive instead. They quickly learned that was incorrect as well, responding instead to a fire in a garage on Crescentwood. Toews said the time lost did not change the outcome as the damage was to the item burning in the garage and not the structure itself.

COLUMN: Village News – January moments you won’t want to miss

Ahh January, the month of new beginnings, a fresh slate, a sigh of exhale after the busy Christmas season. To me, January signifies the opportunity to begin anew. We say goodbye to the past as we welcome in the new year. So 2026 looms ahead full of possibilities and new memories to make. While MHV remains closed until Jan. 6 at 9 a.m., we are busy planning and preparing for a new year full of events, programming, and memory-making opportunities.

December to February: Winter in the Village

From December to February, experience winter in MHV’s picturesque village! Enjoy skating, snowshoeing, sleigh rides, and a roaring bonfire. Don’t own skates or snowshoes? Rent them here! Try your hand at Crokicurl, a Canadian game that blends crokinole and curling into one fun, outdoor activity! See MHV’s Main Street lit up with Christmas lights during our light show on Saturday evenings. Warm up with our Winter in the Village Cafe, featuring hot chocolate, hot apple cider, and a variety of freshly baked goods. Open Tuesday to Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (most activities happening on Saturdays). While winter often feels long and dark, it is my hope that Winter in the Village at MHV can be a place for celebrating the unique winter season we experience here in Manitoba!

Jan. 8 and 22: Exhibit Explorers

SPORTS FLASHBACK 2000: Warriors cling to lead in tight HTHL race

Despite an 8-3 loss to the La Broquerie Habs last Wednesday, the St Malo Warriors still hold a precarious one-point lead atop the standings in the Hanover Tache Hockey League.

But the four HTHL teams that will be involved in the first round of the Allan Cup playdowns later this month are within easy striking distance of the Warriors and all four have several games in hand. Springfield and Ile des Chenes are a point back. Springfield has three games in hand on the Warriors and the North Stars have two.

Grunthal and La Broquerie are tied with 16 points each and each have played only 13 games compared to 16 for St Malo, in what is turning out to be one of the tightest races in the HTHL in years.

Wednesday at La Broquerie, when Michel Normandeau opened the scoring for the Habs with a shorthanded marker just two minutes into the game, it set the stage for a surprisingly easy victory for the Habs, who held period leads of 2-1 and 5-1 on the frontrunners. Normandeau also scored the final goal of the game for the Habs in the third.

Steinbach Christian School students to exhibit at Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre

Steinbach Christian School students will be exhibiting their artwork at the Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre’s Hall Gallery and Studio Gallery from Jan. 9 to Feb. 20.

“I think we sometimes put teenagers in a bit of a box and assume a lot about them. I think these types of exhibits that show adolescent artists - teenage artists - that we can still learn a lot from them and that they have fresh ideas that we can be inspired by as well,” said Ryan Polinsky, head of the school’s visual arts department.

SCS has exhibited previously at the Steinbach Cultural Arts Centre, with the last time being before the COVID pandemic. This year’s theme is tension and conflict in storytelling, which was left open to the students’ interpretation. They were shown other artists’ interpretations of tension and conflict to get them thinking about the theme.

“Stories aren’t interesting without some sort of conflict. Even if we don’t want that conflict to be there while we’re reading it, we still find it very intriguing to see how it gets solved,” said Polinsky.

AS I SEE IT COLUMN: Scheifele’s Olympic non-snub and Hellebuyck proving he’s not the best goalie in the world

Congratulations to Team Canada winning bronze at the World Juniors. Finishing third in the world is impressive. Full stop.

Many hockey fans and broadcasters have described Mark Scheifele not making the Olympic team as a snub. Those people are wrong. It wasn’t a snub. It was a strategic decision.

Scheifele has been an elite player these past two years. The grit he showed playing just hours after his father passed away and the game he played against the Leafs after learning he didn’t make the Olympic roster, showed that Scheifele has enormous courage that matches his impressive skills.

He is undeniably one the best offensive players in the NHL, but he’s not better than the players named to the top two lines on Team Canada.

DANKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: Loewen’s Pistons debut draws kudos from players, fans

There aren't many things that could happen in the middle of a 6-3 victory for the Steinbach Pistons over a league bottom feeder on New Year’s Eve which cause me to rush to one end of the ice to the other and have the entire Steinbach Pistons injured/scratches come down from their place above the ice.

But that’s exactly what happened Dec. 31, as Jaxon Loewen was called into the net for the final 90 seconds of game action.

Loewen, who was born in Steinbach, normally plays for the junior B La Broquerie Habs, where he’s one of the better goalies in the Capital Region Junior Hockey League but has been called into action for the Steinbach Pistons for well over two months now.

With Chris Quizi and Easton Thvedt, the team’s starter and back-up to begin the season, both out with long-term injuries, the team needed someone to battle, not just as a back-up for game days, but also in practice week-in, week-out.

Costs for Grunthal Arena increase

Costs for the Grunthal Arena have increased by $1 million since the project was first announced in 2024, when estimated costs were between $4 million and $4.5 million.

“Construction costs went up,” said Ward 6 Coun. Curtis Dawydiuk.

The current anticipated cost of the project has risen to between $5 million to $5.5 million. Funding for the arena will be divided between local fundraising, the municipality, and the federal and provincial governments. So far, the community has raised about $1.4 million of a $2 million goal.

The build will see an additional 9,895 sq-ft built onto the existing arena, which will include a new lobby, four new changerooms, a new viewing area, a multipurpose room, a hall, and a kitchen. There will be no changes to the rink area other than making the washrooms more accessible.

Ste Agathe bridge closed parts of January, Febrary

The Louis Riel Bridge in Ste Agathe will face partial closure in January and February as crews continue construction.

A Town of Niverville announcement said the Provincial Road 305 bridge over the Red River will be closed from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on weekdays starting Jan. 6. and lasting until Feb. 13.

Workers will be installing structural steel for the new westbound lane on the bridge during the closure, the announcement said.

The Carillon previously reported the $48.6 million project will widen both lanes, add new shoulders and rehabilitate the bridge. Work began on the 1959 bridge in October 2024, and its expected to be reopen by September.

Bethesda named as measles exposure site

Bethesda Regional Health Centre and the De Salaberry District Health Centre have been named by the province as measles exposure sites.

A Tuesday news release stated that the emergency waiting room at the Steinbach facility saw measles exposure on Dec. 27 from 8:30 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. and again on Dec. 28 from 12 a.m. to 2 a.m.

Those exposed should monitor symptoms until Jan. 18 and Jan. 19 respectively.

The De Salaberry District Health Centre in St-Pierre-Jolys saw exposure on Dec. 31 from 1:15 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Those present are asked to monitor symptoms until Jan. 22.