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Our Birthday Your Party is a contest set up by Countryfest.
It’s a way to celebrate Countryfest’s 30th birthday while giving back.
They are giving away a free concert to a non-profit organization to help raise funds for their community.
The winning community keeps all proceeds for their organization.
The concert will be headlined by Canadian Country Music Legend, Charlie Major, in the spring of 2019.
Contest opens at 9 this morning and will be open until 11:59 pm on March 31st, 2019.
To be eligible for the contest your community must have a population of 10,000 people or less.
Judges will select the top 7 finalists, with the community that receives the most votes online winning the concert.
Submissions can be made at www.ourbirthdayyourparty.ca.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
A touring group of classical musicians is looking for a place to perform in Dauphin.
Living Room Live is a program that gets people to open their homes to musicians and everyone around the community who wants to experience it.
The bulk of house concert organizations cater to every acoustic genre except classical; that’s where Living Room Live comes in.
Executive Director Nicola Davies explains what goes on during an evening of live music.
“The musicians will usually have two sets of about 30 to 40 minutes each. They’ll play, and then there will be an intermission. Sometimes the host will provide food, and sometimes the host will make it a potluck. It can be anything from really simple like cookies and coffee to a potluck spread. I’ve seen both versions, and both work really great. And the musicians will play the second set.”
She shares why going to a living room concert is ideal.
“Much more relaxed than going to a concert hall and it means we can bring music to people in their homes and it’s much easier for the musicians to talk about the music and for people to get to know it.”
Davies says acoustic music is arguably best suited to a house, where musicians play for a small group of attentive listeners who can appreciate the music from a few feet away, often with a glass of wine or coffee in hand.
Hosts can either join a tour route and host two to three concerts per year, or they can try out hosting on a one-off basis.
Anyone who enjoys organizing events and inviting friends into their home could be a good fit for a house concert host. A well-maintained acoustic piano is ideal but not always necessary; some ensembles might not require a piano or may be able to bring a digital one.
If you would like to host a concert send Davies an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Former Dauphin Mayor and past Countryfest president, Eric Irwin, was inducted into the Manitoba Country Music Hall of Fame.
It happened at the Manitoba Country Music Awards that took place on Saturday.
President of Countryfest, Ann Ransom, spoke with us about the night and how everyone involved with the festival was feeling during the ceremony.
“So our whole festival family was quite excited inducted into the Hall of Fame. Eric’s daughter, Erica Irwin accepted on behalf of the family. It was just a great presentation Ryan Keown did the induction speech and it was really fantastic to see Eric being recognized in the province for all of his contributions throughout his span with Dauphin’s Countryfest.”
Ransom says Eric was a staunch supporter of showcasing Manitoba talent at Dauphin’s Countryfest.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
There are many things to do when getting ready to drive in the winter.
Erika Miller, communications consultant for CAA Manitoba, recommends drivers get winter tires, check their oil and block heater.
CAA’s recommended temperature to plug in your vehicle is -15 or colder. Your vehicle should be plugged in at least three hours before you want to drive it.
When preparing to drive in the winter you can check out CAA’s road cameras here, and give yourself extra time in the winter.
When driving give yourself extra room between you and the car in front because when it’s slippery or snowing you may need that extra room to stop.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
The list of performers for the 30th anniversary of Dauphin’s Countryfest is out!
Things are kicking off Thursday with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band on the Bell MTS Stage.
Lined up on Friday for the Club Regent Casino & Event Centre Main Stage, Andrew Hyatt, Madeline Merlo, Brothers Osborne, and Old Dominion. On the Bell MTS Stage, Chris Buck Band is performing.
On Saturday at the Club Regent Casino & Event Centre Main Stage, The Reklaws, Chad Brownlee, Terri Clark, and Jason Aldean.
Then on Sunday, June 30th, Countryfest is having a throwback Birthday Bash. On the Club Regent Casino & Event Centre Main Stage, Neal McCoy is the featured host for the day. Collin Raye, Sammy Kershaw, Charlie Major, David Lee Murphy, Clay Walker, Toby Keith are performing. On the Bell MTS Sage is Doc Walker.
Countryfest is taking place June 27th to the 30th 2019.
Early Bird passes are still available.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
There was a provincial pre-budget meeting yesterday afternoon in Gilbert Plains.
The meeting took place so Local MLA, Brad Michaleski could give an overview of what the province is dealing with, while updating where the spending is at and talking about the priorities of some issues. There were a lot of concerns brought up at the meeting by local municipal council members.
Infrastructure costs, taxes, education funding, health care funding, and concerns towards how much red tape businesses and municipalities face were some of the main concerns brought up to Michaleski.
He thinks these meetings are very important because it helps to explain his point of view while getting input from those on the front lines.
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- Contributed by Isaac Wihak
Dan Mazier has been chosen to run as the Conservative Party of Canada Candidate for the Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa constituency.
Mazier spoke with us and shares how he’s feeling after being chosen.
“Humbled and honoured to be nomination candidate and I guess candidate now.”
Speaking about the campaign, “the whole process is finally done. It took a good day to sink in and it was quite a process.” He continues, “so we had four meetings. Because the riding is so large started in Swan River Thursday night, Friday night in Russel, and the, of course, Dauphin was Saturday Morning. And then we came down to Minnedosa and finished up there the afternoon of Saturday.”
“At the end of the day it was good, we had a great turn out.”
Ben Fox and Floyd Martens had also put their names forward as candidate hopefuls.
“My congratulations to the other candidates that ran. The constituency had a really good selection of great candidates to pick from, and I thank them for that. It was great to hear the speeches, what they were going to do, and just to get to know them.”
Mazier will replace the retiring Robert Sopuck as the candidate for Dauphin-Swan River- Neepawa.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
296 people were without power in the RM of Dauphin this afternoon.
The power outage is affecting residents south of the City.
Crews are responding to an equipment problem at the moment. Hydro estimate restoration at 3 p.m.
Hydro heard reports from a customer of lights flickering a few times and going out at about 1 p.m. today. Another customer, a Hydro representative says, heard loud noises like shots before power failed.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
The creator of many superheroes, Stan Lee, passed away at the age of 95.
Lee created many Marvel Comics' heros as a leading writer, editor, and publisher in the industry.
It's being reported that he died early this morning in Los Angeles.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
Producers in the Parkland have the opportunity to learn about Clubroot and what they can do to prevent the spread of the disease in their crops.
Tanis Sirski says it’s important to learn about the disease because it’s showing up in areas surrounding the Parkland like around Swan River and just below the lakes.
Sirski says Dan Orchard, from the Canola Council of Canada, is the guest speaker.
“We’re having Dan Orchard. He’s from the Canola Council of Canada. He works in the central part of Alberta. He has been working with clubroot since it was found in 2003. He’s acutely the gentlemen who found Clubroot in a field when he was working for a retail location there. So he’s been working with clubroot since day one.”
Orchard is the Clubroot specialist with the Canola Council of Canada.
A presentation is taking place tomorrow in Dauphin at the Rec Complex from 3 until 6, and then another one is taking place on Wednesday from 9 until noon.
You'll learn how to reduce the risk of clubroot, rotation and resistance strategies, and much more.
Sirski wants everyone to RSVP by today. Give her a call at 204-572-7350 if you plan to attend.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
After some bulls got loose the Gilbert Plains- Grandview Ag Society realized they needed to upgrade their fence.
The society has built a 5 bar continuous rail fence made out of pipe that Jack Bremner says will last for a very long time.
Bremner shares the story of what happened to the old fence.
“Well, what happened was that we had the rodeo stock inside a fence, and it was built as a temporary fence about 20 years ago, and last year the rodeo bulls got into a fight and pretty much wiped out one side of it, and we managed to prop it back up and get them back in. It took a little work, and we used a tractor and a quad to chase them back in. But we did get them back in, so they didn’t go through Gilbert Plains. And our rodeo contractor looked at the fence and said ‘if you guys don’t get a new fence, I'm not coming back.’ Because he’d be liable for any damage that was caused.”
Bremner hopes the bulls will respect the new steel fence, the group has put up, and not try to smash through it.
“It’s a new type of fencing that different welding shops have come out with. It’s a five bar fence made out of pipe, and it’s welded together into 20-foot panels. Each panel slides together into another, so it makes a continuous rail. It’s about five feet high. The panels are four feet, and we put them about a foot off the ground. And they are actually leg bolted to the fence post. And we used some really heavy fence posts to put it up so the bulls won’t be breaking those off.”
The group applied for an Infrastructure grant from the Manitoba government as well as the Gilbert Plains Community Fund to raise enough money to complete this 5 thousand dollar fence.
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- Contributed by Josh Sigurdson
