In what could be described as a potential “game changer” the Municipality of Boissevain-Morton feels a recent purchase might solve their rural road issues for a long time to come.
As of September 15, the municipality is the owner of a quarter section of land in the southwest corner within its borders. Bought from Al Hammond, the property is right up against the eastern edge of Deloraine-Winchester. According to Head of Council Judy Swanson and CAO Leo Poulin, the area has been earmarked as a major gravel source, as shown by tests from Glacial Aggregates of Birds Hill, outside of Winnipeg.
Despite a questionable forecast, Mother Nature held for most of Boissevain’s Street Fest, producing another successful community event.
The fifth annual festival was held on Saturday, September 13. Boissevain-Morton Executive Assistant Melissa Perkins said she and other organizers were very happy with the numbers coming out, especially since they had to do some interesting planning.
In August, construction began on a rehabilitation project for the Turtlehead Creek Dam at the Deloraine Golf Course that, when all said and done, will cost $16.8 million and take the better part of three years to complete, according to a provincial spokesperson.
Amid proposed changes in the Municipality of Two Borders, the community of Pierson is waiting to see what their LUD petition will also bring.
Residents of the village passed around a petition this summer to see if they could dissolve their Local Urban District, a committee within the municipality. The goal was to have two-thirds of Pierson sign it and get it into the municipal office by the end of August. Last week, Two Borders Reeve Sandra Clark confirmed the petition was in.
“I haven’t seen it yet,” she said at the time, “but they handed it in. The CAO (Grace Carr) is looking at it now. We’re looking at either a special meeting or using a regular meeting in September to deal with it.”
With the success of Cherry Creek Place now demonstrated, Boissevain is now making first steps into phase two.
The active living facility on the south side of town is now full with residents, and a space next door has been secured and cleared. As Boissevain-Morton Head of Council Judy Swanson explained, there were always plans to move forward on different aspects of senior housing and care in the community, and this was discussed at a meeting at the end of July.
According to Souris-Glenwood Council, the abuse of municipal employees ends now.
At their June 24 meeting, Mayor Duane Davison made a passionate speech about the way the people working for Souris-Glenwood were being treated and how they were no longer going to put up with it. After this part of the meeting was released on social media, Davison said they were dealing with a long-standing issue.
“It’s been going on for years,” Davison explained, “but it kind of came to a head a while ago.”
On Saturday, August 23, a group of five women on their motorcycles left Melita for the third annual Southwest Ladies Ride. They were joined by six more riders at Virden and Brandon and rode together to Killarney for an ice cream break at The Beach Hut before continuing their trek down Highway #3 back to Melita.
The Ride is organized by two business owners and motorcycle enthusiasts out of Melita, Rhonda Dickson and Stacy Downey, who have been riding for 25 and five years respectively. Dickson said that she had been riding with men for most of her life, so she wanted to get a group of like-minded women together, too.
A project that began in 2023 is in its final stages of completion. After two years of grant writing, fundraising, and designing, the new middle years’ playground at Boissevain School is ready to greet the upcoming school year and incoming middle schoolers. Not only is it brand new, it is bigger and better too, ending up with a 270-foot perimeter with 3,921 square feet of fun made specifically for older kids.
The idea, which was spear-headed by Heather Janssens and Susan Jackson, began as a seed planted by Janssens’ daughter, who had just entered middle school.
“She came home after just a couple days and said she missed having swings to play on because you don’t need a friend to play on the swings, you can just swing by yourself and you don’t feel lonely,” said Janssens. “So, I went to the first parent advisory council meeting in September and inquired about if it would be possible to add some swings to the middle school, then it blew up into all of this.”
The Scottish Heavy Games, or the Highland Games, have been practiced, in some form or another, since the 11th century, but it is only the second year they have been held in Deloraine. Traditionally, the participants would gather wearing kilts in the tartan colours of their clan to determine bragging rights for the strongest men in Scotland, or in some cases to choose the next clan chief. The games were revived in the 1800’s, both in Scotland and abroad, as a way to bring back the old ways after the Dress Act of 1746, which outlawed typical Highland dress in an effort to disband the clan system and assimilate the Scots. The earliest noted Highland Heavy Games in Canada were held in Nova Scotia in 1863.
These days, kilts are still strongly encouraged, however the games have changed slightly and now modern women are getting in on it, too.
Judy Wells has been known as Deloraine’s reporter for a long time – 33 years, in fact, for three different local newspapers.
Wells grew up in Holland and Treherne, MB and ended up in Melita after marrying her husband Kelly in 1980. She had just graduated from a Social Services program at Assiniboine Community College, and Kelly was hired as manager at the UGG elevator. Wells was working as an Educational Assistant at Melita School, but by 1992 she was looking for something part-time. There were not many jobs in her field so she expanded her search.
“I had young kids and I didn’t want anything full-time, but then a part-time typing job came up at the Melita New Era and I thought ‘I can do that’, so that’s how it started,” she said.
A recent reunion of Boissevain’s senior baseball team founders and players was a testament to a tradition that goes on.
The Centennials held a get-together on June 27-28. According to organizer Ken Pringle, the idea to hold a reunion came from the Southwest Baseball League reunion in 2024 for 1970’s and 80’s players. On the van ride home, the Cents who travelled together discussed holding something for their own team while the majority of the players were still around. One of their players, Dean Jago, passed away right after that.
“That was our trigger to go ‘let’s not blow this off,’” Pringle said.
“The future is brimming with possibilities and the future is entirely yours to shape.”
So said Turtle Mountain School Division Superintendent Grant Wiesner. Speaking to the Boissevain School Class of 2025, he was saying a special farewell at the graduation ceremony held on June 25. With the family and friends of the 27 graduates in attendance, they too were able to say goodbye in what was a poignant day as another group of the community’s young people moved on to their next phase.
A recent award is another part of Alex Moody’s return home, which includes running a business he loves in a town that nurtured him.
Boissevain Bakeshop won Small Business of the Year from Tourism Westman at their gala in Brandon on June 11. Moody said it was a big moment.
“This one was extremely important, winning small business of the year,” he explained. “It’s a big one as people keep telling me and I tend to agree. I’ll keep the trophy on the wall over there. I think it’s a big deal.”
The 89th annual 4-H Rally day was held June 6, 2025 in Boissevain, Manitoba. Seven clubs including the Boissevain Boots n’ Bits, Boissevain Beef Club, Boissevain Home and Hobby Club, Deloraine Community 4-H Club, the Goodlands Variety 4-H Club, Archie Light Horse and Pony Club from the Hamiota area, and the Southwest Saddle & Spurs Club (from Hartney, Reston, Pipestone and Pierson) came out to show off their horses, cattle, and other projects.
The day started off in the Boissevain Curling Rink with the multi-purpose projects and workshops for those who were not involved with livestock. Deloraine Community 4-H Club hosted a few activities and workshops like a bubble-blowing contest and making fidget toys out of cornstarch.
On the morning of Wednesday, June 4, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) held a mock car accident at Boissevain School. The purpose of this display was to bring awareness to the issue of impaired driving, particularly in rural areas.
The scene was set where “victim” Grey Stewart had been struck while riding a bike by “driver” Daniel Godin, with passengers Jane Anderson and Amanda Gervais. Graham Neufeld served as the witness via phone who called in the accident.
Within moments, police, EMS, and Fire Department crews were on scene. Constable Katherine Muir of the Turtle Mountain RCMP spoke to Godin and passengers while EMS tended to the “injured” passengers and victim.
University of Manitoba first year medical students Michael Movshovich and Jammie Lee were grateful for their Rural Week experience at Deloraine Health Centre, May 25-30.
Rural Week is a mandatory part of the medical course and the experience enhances the student’s understanding of the rewards and challenges of rural practice. Perhaps, most importantly it is a recruitment tool in encouraging them to consider a career in rural medicine.
Lee said he was very excited for Rural Week. He immigrated to Canada from South Korea as a child and has lived in Winnipeg, Brandon and Minnedosa.
“I was looking forward to Rural Week as I enjoyed living in Minnedosa. Rural life is more laid back, everyone knows each other and they are so friendly. I was telling my former piano teacher Dr. Lawrence Jones (former dean at Brandon University) that I was going to Deloraine and he said it was a nice place.”
Jones was a participant in the Deloraine Border Festival when he lived in Ninga years ago.
The opening for the season at the Goodon International Wildlife Museum, and grand opening of the Boissevain Model Railway Exhibit made a cool May Long weekend a little more enjoyable in Boissevain.
According to Boissevain-Morton Executive Assistant Melissa Perkins, Saturday and Sunday were great days to start the 2025 season.
“The poor weather did not keep people away which was great to see,” Perkins stated. “Our opening day of the season on Saturday was an extra special one with the official opening of the Boissevain Model Railway Exhibit. The event was well attended by a mix of locals and visitors of all ages with over 220 visitors on Saturday. Visitors travelled in from various Manitoba communities, as well as Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Missouri, and Oregon. It was a great start to the visitor season at the museum with just under 300 visitors despite the weather.”
The railway museum was originally housed in a building on the same spot as the Wildlife Museum, right next to Tommy Turtle. Members of the community like Earl Patterson, Jake Rempel and Stan Peck brought the exhibit of their model trains together, sharing their passion with the public. Their volunteer dedication kept their love of trains alive for everyone until the building closed in 2021.
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Boissevain’s Kyle Howarth was happy to continue to hone his skills at the Livestock Markets Association of Canada auctioneering championships last weekend.
Held in Virden on May 9, it was part of the LMAC Convention. Howarth said it was a good overall showing.
“It was great,” Howarth stated. “There were 39 auctioneers from across Canada, from Quebec to BC competing. There were a lot of cattle selling for a good price.”
As well as the national championships, the ManSask championships were held at the same time. This year, it was won by Allan Munroe of Killarney Auction Mart, a colleague of Howarth’s.
Howarth said auctioneers get an opportunity to compete by signing up. Many cattle auctioneers want to test their skills and get one of the championship buckles. What makes this event interesting is it is not separate from the sale.
“Yeah, it’s a live sale. There is money changing hands, a lot of money changing hands.”
He said they sign up and draw for selling order the night before. The morning of the competition they all get together for breakfast. It makes for an interesting situation, as they are all competitors, but also friends.
After the opening ceremonies, they get down to selling sets of cattle, including four single cows. There is also a “black box” made up of sponsors’ donations sold by each competitor, which helps fundraise for the event. Each competitor sells, and then judges pick those who will move along. When the top ten are chosen, they sell again, with numbers increasing until someone wins the final.
“Our sentinel is gone,” said Dawn Minne of Waskada as she watched the remains of the former Pool Elevator in flames on May 5, 2025.
Flames were first spotted by Oscar Spence when he woke up at 5:00am. He said to his mom, “The elevator is on fire.” His mom, Marlys Spence said, “Oh no it’s just the flame stacks from the oil battery.” Oscar insisted saying, “No the elevator is on fire.” Then she went into her kitchen, which was orange from the flames reflecting into it.
The Waskada, Melita and Deloraine fire departments were alerted immediately.
The organizers of the new playground at Boissevain School received thrilling news and are giving thanks to the community for their continued assistance.
It was announced on April 29 that the project was the Manitoba winner of the Growing Home with BASF prize. Finishing first in the province means they are walking away with a $25,000 portion of the national $160,000 fund.
Co-chair of the playground committee Heather Janssens was thrilled.
“This is so awesome, it’s a little bit surreal,” she stated. “The best part is the community helped us win this money. They saw it as a great community project and we are so thankful for their support.”
A contract pharmacist will be taking a lot of memories, as well as a lot of learning, back home after her time in Boissevain.
Hien Ha has been serving clients at Hazlewood Drugs for about a month. A native of Vietnam, she is very much enjoying her time at the pharmacy.
“I like it very much,” she stated, “in the way that Boissevain is a very peaceful town and people are very nice and friendly. Whenever I walk outside and if I see anybody, they will say ‘good morning’ and that really makes my day.”