“It’s an exciting day, we’re getting the $25,000 cheque from BASF that the whole community helped us win back in the spring,” Janssens said. “As the first place winner in Manitoba, they’re throwing us a party. It coincides with the completion of our playground so it also gets to be our grand opening. Really exciting to have a great community event like this.”
The work on the project began about two years ago, when it was noticed the existing playground was old, out of date and not very accessible. There was planning, surveys with impacted groups and a lot of fundraising. Janssens said at times it seemed like a long road, but when she talked to other communities Boissevain was ahead of the pack.
The cost of this phase of the project is around $190,000. A sign needs to be made, which would pretty much complete everything.
“The kids are making use of it, whenever you drive past there are always kids playing on it. You see them come out of the south doors and they head for the playground. They seem to really enjoy it.”
There is plenty for the middle school students to do. The structure includes a big slide, where kids can go down together, as can parents. There is the transfer station, which makes it easier for those with mobility concerns to access the fun. There is a “crazy bones” monkey bars set up, a converged climber, a set of swings. Janssens said they also wanted some of the aspects to be a challenge to the older kids.
“You really have to get into the playground and start exploring it and all of these different things pop out at you once you get in there. It’s not just your standard slide and monkey bars.”
The playground is not only a wonderful structure, but it is in the green and gold of the Boissevain Broncos. Janssens said this came from a visit Jackson made with designers in Winnipeg. She said when she showed the scheme to her daughter, she stated, “it looks like it was made for us.”
The BASF Growing Home Contest netted the playground $25,000 on April 29. Janssens said the contest was a major achievement for the playground committee, more than just the money. There were three projects for Manitoba and whichever received the most votes won. She said they were locked in to winning the first place prize and so was Boissevain.
“The community clearly has a competitive spirit,” Janssens explained. “People just latched on to it. They were sharing it. I talked to someone in the grocery store who shared it with her mother in Vancouver and she shared it. Everybody was just focused on getting this $25,000 for our kids and it really helped to make the project the whole community’s project.”
She added it sparked more donations and more awareness of the project.
The BASF Growing Home program started in 2023. According to Kasia Kistelski, Public Relations and Social Media Manager for BASF, who came out from Calgary for the event, the program was her baby. It was designed to give back to the communities the company operates within. She added Growing Home grew from a previous program, but they wanted to make it help make their growers and customers the “star of their communities”. The customers in each agricultural community make the initial nominations. Then everyone in the country can vote on their favourite per province.
“It’s quite special to go through a nomination process where you see literally hundreds of nominations each year,” Kistelski stated. “This year in 2025 we got 612 individual nominations to get a portion of the $160,000 prize fund.”
There are three winners in each of the four provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario). She said it was exciting to see a first place project like the playground come to fruition.
“It was very awesome to see the kids using it, the laughter and the joy. It is really quite special.”
Turtle Mountain School Division Trustee Rob MacTavish was also impressed.
“I’m very appreciative of the parent body that was the germ of this project and their commitment as I know it is a multi-year project.” MacTavish said. “This is a wonderful addition to the school and community. As a trustee for Turtle Mountain School Board, I would really just like to say thank you to those who made this happen.”
Although the committee had originally planned to focus on the middle years playground, that became the first phase. Once this part was completed, they would move on to the other two spots in the school grounds. The primary playground on the north side is also very old. There is also nothing for the high school students to do on the east side.
Janssens said they decided they would focus on both areas at the same time. The primary one will cost more, so more fundraising time will be needed for it. The idea at this point is to try to complete the high school space next summer and then move to the primary playground in 2027. This is the goal, but due to different grants being available changes might occur.
The high school spot will move ahead with a basketball court where the old tennis courts are. There is also the possibility of a couple of pickleball courts.
She said they are very proud of what they have accomplished. There was a lot of planning and fundraising. The generosity of the local people – groups and individuals – showed what a great community Boissevain is. Their project manager from Winnipeg was fantastic to work with, helping every step of the way. There were around 100 volunteers over the course of a week in the summer to put the structure up, which was amazing.
The committee is looking for more people to join in, particularly with the primary playground, as parents of younger kids will have a good perspective.
“I hope seeing how much this added to the community will make people continue to donate,” Janssens said. “I think the basketball court will be great for our high school students, as now they don’t have a space to play outside. Boissevain’s an active community, people like to be outside.”
“I think a playground’s great. You can play for 10 minutes if you are moving back and forth. Or you can spend an hour. I think it makes sense to put things on the school grounds because then the kids can use them during the day and everyone can use them in the evenings or in the summer. There is so much here for the community to be proud of.”
by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff