Carillon Sports Second Shots: Oct. 29th edition

Featuring an SRSS junior varsity football game, Zone 13 volleyball in Ste Anne and a U18 AAA game in Steinbach Oct. 21, a Springfield Sabres football game Oct. 22 and Providence Pilots volleyball matches Oct. 24.

Regional U18 AAA championship coming to Steinbach

The second step on the path to the Telus Cup will be in Steinbach next season.

Hockey Manitoba announced the Southeast Event Centre will host the 2026 West Regional Championship, as the top male U18 AAA teams from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Northwestern Ontario will come to town for a chance to advance to the national level. Hosting rights means that Eastman will get an automatic bid as hosts of the tournament.

“Hosting the TELUS Cup West Regional Championship in Steinbach is a tremendous opportunity for hockey across the Eastman Region,” Eastman Region Minor Council Representative Dan Gilbertson said in a news release.

“Our communities have a strong tradition of supporting minor hockey, and we’re excited to welcome teams and families from across the West while giving our own players, volunteers and fans the opportunity to experience a championship of this level close to home.”

1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach Grow: Steinbach’s first Ford dealer still at same location on Main

It stands to reason that the “Automobile City” would be home to Western Canada’s first Ford dealership.

There are few firms in Manitoba that can boast of having served the public at the same location for well over 100 years. The Steinbach auto dealership established by J.R. Friesen on Main Street is one of those.

When John D. Penner opened Penner Motors, billed as the brightest spot in town, the Friesen family, just a block down the street had already been in business for 50 years.

What is now Fairway Ford had its start as a modest implement shop, long before the popular transportation method of horsepower on four legs was replaced by motorized conveyances on rubber tires with plenty of horsepower under the hood.

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback March 25, 1955 – Fast is in top 12 in 1954 Ford sales

A 30-year-old Steinbach salesman has been named as one of Canada’s 12 top salesmen in 1954 by the Ford Motor Company. Earlier in the year, he was awarded top rank in a Manitoba contest, having won all four of the quarterly awards given to the top-ranking salesman in each province for selling the most Ford products.

Elvin Fast, who started with the local Ford distributor as a parts and service man when he was 23, was credited with selling 250 units during 1954, which also has been his average during the past three years.

Fast attributes his success to the dealership he works for, the product he has the privilege of selling, and to being alert and quick to take advantage of sales opportunities.

“People like to deal at J.R. Friesen’s, and of course, our product is good.”

Providence volleyball celebrates return to campus

The Providence Pilots were welcomed back to campus with a bang. The school’s volleyball teams, which have spent the past five seasons playing out of the Niverville Resource and Rec Centre, opened their 2026/2027 campaigns in Otterburne on the campus of Providence University College.

The gym was packed Oct. 23rd for the school’s home openers, with another solid crowd the next afternoon.

“The atmosphere in the barn is going to be great and thanks to Pilots nation for coming out and supporting us,” men’s head coach Paul Armbruster said after a match Oct. 24, noting the turnout over the weekend was “awesome.”

Unfortunately for those fans they didn’t get to see much winning, as the Pilots could only find victory in one of the four games played over the weekend. The women’s team only managed a single set, dropping a 3-0 match to Canadian Mennonite University and a 3-1 decision to Assiniboine College, falling to 1-3 on the season.

1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach Grow – J.R. Friesen and Son is a five-man partnership

JANUARY 5, 1972—Western Canada’s oldest Ford dealership has officially become a five-man partnership.

Ed J. Friesen, president and general manager of the 69-year-old company since 1950, told The Carillon News this week he had sold the major portion of the company to four senior employees.

“This partnership has already been in effect for nearly a year,” Friesen explained, adding that all legal proceedings had now been completed.

Under the new agreement, Friesen became chairman of the board and a minor shareholder. Former sales manager Elvin Fast became general manager of the company. Three other directors on the board are Art Baerg, Jac Ketler and Alvin G. Reimer. Baerg is secretary-treasurer and office manager, while Ketler assumed all servicing responsibilities. Reimer is in charge of parts and sales.

Critter Dipping at Tourond Creek has kids enthralled by nature

Seven-year-old Arthur Thiessen and his little brother Franklin excitedly scooped out insects from the bucket of pond water at the Tourond Creek Discovery Centre on Friday.

“Look at what I found!” said an excited Arthur as he held out a predacious diving beetle in his white plastic spoon.

The beetle was just one of many creatures children at the discovery centre found during the RM of Hanover and the Seine Rat Roseau Watershed District’s Critter Dipping event.

“So, (the kids) have caught lots of different critters, I don’t know the names to any of them, but some dragonfly nymphs, and they’ve just been searching around in the water, stirring it up a little to see if they can stir some critters up, and it’s just been really cool to watch them, and learning from what you see,” said Tayleigh Giesbrecht, recreation program lead for the RM of Hanover.

SPORTS FLASHBACK 2002: Bombers defensive back offers advice to local fathers

“I do like to hit people on the field, not hurt them,” Winnipeg Blue Bombers defensive back Harold Nash, Jr. told a collection of fathers in a humorous moment Wednesday evening at Anna’s House in Steinbach.

The nine-year CFL veteran, including four years with the Bombers, has been a key reason that the Bombers have the best defensive unit in the league this season. At only 5’8”, 185 lbs., the 32-year-old native of New Orleans used his blazing speed and experience to shut down opposing receivers.

But his message to fathers Monday night in Steinbach was not just about football, but also about life and how to live it. A deeply religious athlete, Nash talked about his relationship with God, his wife, two-year-old son, his teammates and Coach Dave Ritchie.

Nash said his platform as a Christian athlete allows him to reach more people.

Red bison at Centre of Canada symbol of hope, strength, resilience

The newly erected red bison at the Centre of Canada is a symbol of Canada, hope, strength, and resilience.

The bison was installed in early October in the RM of Tache as part of an installation by the Toba Centre for Children and Youth’s Bison On The Boulevard endeavour, a 2025 community art initiative fundraiser supporting Toba Centre and young people impacted by child abuse.

“Initially, it was going to be really focused on a fundraising campaign,…but what it actually morphed into, which was really quite phenomenal, was being more of an outdoor art display. And it was sort of a beautiful combination of being both a fundraiser for our organization, an awareness builder for our organization, but also a really amazing way to share the stories of why we do the work we do,” said CEO Christy Dzikowicz.

Twenty-five artists from around the province submitted their designs to the organization and how they wanted to tell the story of childhood resilience, struggle, and community when it comes to abuse. The bison were then displayed on Roblin Boulevard in Winnipeg before finding homes within communities such as Winnipeg, Headingley, St Francois-Xavier, Brandon, and Winkler.

1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach Grow – Banman sells share of Fairway to Loeppky

MAY 8, 1996—A decade to the day after Bob Banman sold an automobile partnership to Ron Loeppky, the two got together to strike another deal.

On May 1, Loeppky moved downtown to Fairway Ford, where he became partner and general manager of the dealership Banman bought just last June.

Banman, still splitting his time between Steinbach and business interests in California, welcomes the infusion of youth his new partner brings to the business.

“The car business is a demanding industry needing the vim and vigor of youth. Ron is 15 years younger than I am, and is where I was 15 years ago. He has the enthusiasm and spark that this dealership really needs.”

Harv’s Air takes steps to prevent another mid-air collision after two students died: report

Harv’s Air Service has taken steps to prevent another mid-air collision following the death of two students last summer, according to a recently released report.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released its report last Wednesday, which showed Harv’s Air will have a limit of three aircraft in the circuit at any given time; radio calls made on the final leg must include the aircraft’s distance from the runway; all students and aircraft renters must attend a safety briefing on the importance of using effective lookout techniques and maintaining situational awareness and aircraft blind-spot awareness; and all aircraft lights must be on at all times during flights. It is unknown whether the students had their lights or beacons on at the time of the crash.

The company also began upgrading its fleet by installing LED lighting to increase the aircraft’s visibility in the air and by expanding the number of aircraft equipped with automatic dependent surveillance—broadcast (ADS-B) in and ADS-B out capabilities. At the time of the accident, neither of the two aircraft were equipped with an airborne collision avoidance system (ACAS) or ADS-B in, nor were they required to be by regulation.

Harv’s Air did not return a request for an interview by press time.