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The Community Foundation of Swan Valley recently received a donation of $20,000.
In a press release, the CFSV says the donation is from Matt Black. Matt currently offers a bursary with the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School and wishes to have the CFSV take over management of the fund. The memorial bursary is in honour of his late wife Monica and adds more opportunities for students to advance their education at the post-secondary level.
The endowment will create a new Education Fund with the CFSV.
Each endowment with the Community Foundation provides a never-ending source of income to the community. The original gift remains untouched and the interest earned is used to support local charities, scholarships and bursaries. For more information on the Community Foundation call 204-734-9129 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
A group to help kids feel safe enough to express their feelings called Finding Your Voice is being created.
Eleanor Snitka is hoping to start in the summer and keep it going throughout the school year.
The group will be a safe place for kids to talk about their feelings that are harder to talk about.
Snitka will help kids by doing interactive activities like drawing or making crafts to help kids express themselves.
She’s starting this group because of the high amount of adults she works with at Mood Disorders that could have used this kind of help when they were younger.
She would be looking for volunteers that could help out the group especially if they have a larger group. Snitka thinks teenage volunteers could be a great help.
Snitka wants to make it clear that she’s not trying to take away jobs from teachers or guidance councillors, she’s trying to be a helping hand.
If anyone wants to talk to her about this for volunteering or if you know a kid that could use this program, her phone number is 638-7278.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The City of Dauphin is getting an emergency alert service.
At last night's city council meeting, councillors approved a contract with All-Net for their Connect services.
Deputy City Manager Renee St-Goddard explains that in an emergency the city will be able to send one message and have it received many different ways.
“It will have a database of all phone numbers that are currently listed in our phone book. You can register your cell phone, email, you can also download an app.”
The app is currently being developed.
“If we have an urgent emergency message to get out to the public, such as a boil water advisory, we can send that broadcast from city hall in one message or a few quick steps. It will reach all those outlets in a short amount of time.”
St-Goddard says the current way they get information out is limited. They usually only contact a few select few places like the media, hospitals, daycares, schools, and post it on their website.
One reason the city decided to go with this company is because the RM of Dauphin also uses it and said good things about it.
The service is expected to be active sometime in the spring.
The software has an initial purchase cost of $5,485. There is also an annual hosting, support, and maintenance fee that costs $4,985.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Amendments have been made to the RM of Dauphin’s dust control policy.
The amendments made to the policy are the addition of deadlines.
One of the deadlines is to tell the RM that you plan on using dust control, the date for that is April 30th. By June 30th, the RM will have the sites prepped for dust control. Finally, by August 1st, the RM can resume all regular maintenance.
The transportation committee made the changes because they thought this will allow more communication between the ratepayers and RM.
Most people coordinate their own dust control. There are some people who are coordinating for a group of people if you would like to figure out if your area has a coordinator or would like to become one give the RM a call.
They will provide area coordinators with some extra information such as, contact info for distributors, what other coordinators in the past have done, go over the deadlines, give them a copy of the policy, and answer any other questions.
The RM of Dauphin’s phone number is (204) 638-4531.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
A man, whose life was saved during the battle of Vimy Ridge by someone from Selkirk, wrote a letter to their family.
Amanda Kehler, owner of Prairie Pickers Café in Steinbach, is the one who found the letter. Kehler found the letter while searching for things for her store. The letter was found in a box of old newspapers and documents.
Reading old letters has been a hobby of hers for years.
Kehler received lots of help to find the descendants.
It took some help and about a week for Kehler to get in contact with the descendants of the people involved in the letter.
The letter is dated May 1917, sent from a hospital in Birkenhead.
An excerpt from this letter says,
“Well on Easter Monday the big advance on VIMY RIDGE started. At 5 o'clock we were all lined up in the trench waiting for the barrage to open up, and then we were to advance. At 5:30, we started. Gorden, sergeant of the platoon #9 led. The barrage was like a thunderstorm and we were trotting at a good pace. We had gone about 1200 yards and then "bang". I felt a sharp burn in my back and left arm. The next thing I remember was Gorden pulling me in a shell hole and he told me to stay there. That was the last I saw of poor Gorden. After I was helped to the dressing station by a corporal. It was the other day, in this hospital that I heard Gorden was killed. He died a hero, along with many others that day."
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The Coldest Night of the Year event was on Saturday.
The walkers were really thrilled before they left because, hovering around -16 with the wind chill, this was the warmest Coldest Night of The Year ever.
After only 10 people pre-registered, there were 25 walkers.
Despite the decrease in walkers compared to last year, they expect to raise more money.
They have raised about 10500 dollars.
The money has helped turn their dream of building a bunch of 1 and smaller 2 bedroom houses into a reality. The plans are being drawn up now with hopes of breaking ground in the spring of 2020.
If you’d like to donate you still have a chance. You can send a cheque to the Parkland Crossing office or donate online here.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Researchers at Brandon University are studying the stress experienced by men in western Manitoba.
Completed suicide rates on the Prairies are the highest in Canada outside the Territorial North and are higher among men than women.
Project lead Rachel Herron says they are working with community partners to expand current understandings of men’s mental health.
“We want to work directly with the people who take the information we gather and put it into action. So we work with people like the farm rural and northern support services, for example, to tell them what we think they could do better. We work with other community organizations who might support men who are experiencing various health issues.”
Men tend to be less likely to seek formal service. So they are looking to understand what is needed and the best way men can reach out.
Herron says they are looking for men who are 18 years or older. “You self-identify as experiencing stress or feeling low. Then we’re looking to talk to you one-on-one in an interview. At a time and place that works for you, where you feel comfortable talking about it.”
“Initiatives such as the recent Let’s Talk campaign and Movember have helped to bring mental health and wellness into the public eye, but we also need to understand the challenges and stress men face in the region to provide better support to them and their families. We need to know what is getting in the way of their health.”
Anyone interested in participating in the project can contact Herron at 204-727-9771 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
A period of very cold wind chills will occur over the Parkland.
Most regions will experience wind chills around -40 to -43.
The weather is expected to get warmer tomorrow afternoon.
For all the areas affected, click here.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The Gilbert Plains – Grandview Ag Society is holding their annual general meeting Monday night!
Lori Bremner encourages people to get involved.
“It’s a busy little group, and it’s all for the good of the community.”
Bremner says the amount of time you put in depends on how involved you want to be. You can help out with the fair weekend or help improve the area.
“We made a little bit of money last year, so we are trying to put money back into our grounds. Like, we’re setting up some, and we set up our new fence. We replaced our bleachers.”
The meeting starts at 7 in the evening at them EMS Center in Gilbert Plains.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
It’s important to know signs of dementia before conditions get worse.
Liz McLeod says there will be a presentation about dementia on Tuesday from 6:30-8 at the Dauphin Hospital in room 246 on the second floor. There is no cost to attend.
McLeod says the presentation is important for anyone interested in dementia or helping someone with dementia. Or to be informed about what to do if they feel they will deal with it in the future.
Sheila McIntosh is the presenter and she’ll be talking about how to cope with the changes, how to notice the changing behaviour, and she’ll help with problem-solving.
If dementia gets caught early enough, plans can be made by the person diagnosed to make things much easier for them and their loved ones.
There are treatments that can slow the process of dementia if caught early enough.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
A 2000 dollar donation has been given to Whitmore School, for their playground fund, from CUPE Local 3305.
Colin Cherpako, president of the Local 3305, says they wanted to start giving back to the community, they decided to give 2000 dollars to Whitmore, as well as Barker and the Winnipegosis playground.
The parent group from Whitmore made the proposal and the membership decided to go forward with the donation at their general membership meeting.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
