With seeding nearing completion, a little warmth and a little precipitation would not be amiss.
Spring 2019 has continued to be a bit of a mystery, with warm temperatures mixed with the unseasonably frigid. A 20-degree day seems to be followed by one where the furnace runs well into the afternoon. Compare that with 2018, where the heat was already upon us. Manitoba is living up to its reputation for unpredictability.
However, it seems our agricultural community has been able to get a good jump on seeding. Ian Froese of Froese Family Farms and Boissevain Select Seeds said things are moving well.
Although the process might be a little different than the past, the lines being drawn regarding a possible hog barn development in the municipality seem very much like a decade or more ago.
Earlier this year, it was announced that HyLife was planning a swine operation in Boissevain-Morton. What is known as the HyLife Merlot Nursery, it is to be located at S ½ of SE 34-04-20 WPM, on the north side of the municipality, close to the border with Grassland Municipality. It would be a 24,000 head hog nursery operation consisting of four barns and a provincially approved, engineered earthen manure storage facility. It would be the first HyLife project in the municipality, and the first new hog operation in a long time.
The lack of consultation with professionals, as well as concerns regarding the deterioration of health care in rural areas, led a locally-raised physician to challenge the government and its handling of the issue.
About a month ago, Dr. Danielle Paradis, who is currently a chief resident at the Parkland Rural Family Medicine Program in Dauphin, decided to raise her voice with an open letter to Premier Brian Pallister, which was picked up by different news outlets, including CBC. Paradis, a native of Dunrea who graduated high school in Boissevain, said this move was not sudden, but did have a recent trigger.
“My concerns had been percolating a while,” Paradis explained, “but what really drove me to speak out was when the Province put out this awful ad.”
With the new minor ball season beginning, a generous donation will be put to use to help the community ball diamonds.
In 2018, the Dalrymple family donated $100,000 to minor ball in Boissevain. As Minor Ball President Chad Reimer explained, the money was to assist the organization with improvements and upkeep with the community’s ball diamonds. After the donation was made, the group wanted to make sure it was spent appropriately.
“We got a committee together,” Reimer stated, “and we did some brainstorming, coming up with ideas. We thought why not use it for legacy projects, not for general maintenance. We have money from our tournaments for that.”
While working on developing a new centre for senior living, those involved are already looking toward the next step.
For the last while, community leaders have been planning and developing an assisted living centre in Boissevain. Plans have been made and fund-raising is going well. The assisted living committee, known as the Turtle Mountain Heritage Development Group, feels the project is moving forward in the right direction.
“We’re tracking well,” said committee member George Heide. “We’re days away from the second draft of our business case being here. It will be the last draft and we’ll be ready to go.”
A popular fundraiser for the Boissevain Lions Club is reaching its end for this year, with the pot building into a solid winner.
Chase the Ace is held by the Boissevain Lions at the Home Hotel along with their popular meat draw. According to Lions President Murray Fingas, it continues to get a lot of support.
“It’s going rather well,” Fingas said. “The pot is not a huge amount, but it is has reached almost $3,300 and still growing. It is a good fundraiser for us. It goes well with the meat draw. They really compliment each other.”
There will not be a Chase the Ace on Good Friday, but there are three weeks left, held on Friday evenings, April 26, May 3 and 10.
With a priority given to easing the tax burden on those with higher assessed property, Boissevain-Morton Council presented and explained their proposed expansion of a special services levy to the urban ratepayers at a special meeting held April 9.
By-Law No. 2019-01 is a levy to collect taxes for specific services within the urban community of Boissevain. At the well-attended meeting in the Council Chambers, council and administration presented the reasons for the levy; the decision making that went into it, and its impact, while taking questions from the crowd. Head of Council Judy Swanson said it took a lot of time and work from everyone in order to come up with the proposed changes. She said there was a special services by-law for 25 years, so changes were new to everyone involved.
“We’ve been working diligently on this,” Swanson said. “These changes are not easy.”
Burton Cummings Theatre
April 8, 2019
Emcee
Maureen Fitzhenry
Song by Issy Dahl & Evan Rogalsky
Speakers
Zach Turner, nephew
Kent Turner, brother
Visual Presentation
Speakers
Wes Morningstar
Bob Irving
Buzz Currie
Song by Issy Dahl & Evan Rogalsky
Speaker
Mayor Brian Bowman
Thank-you from the family
Kali Wilkinson, niece
To watch the full service: https://vimeo.com/329268705
Although it officially started on April 1, the new carbon tax in Manitoba is no joke.
The first of the month saw the imposition of a new and controversial tax on emissions. Prime Minister Trudeau’s government had announced previously that any province that did not come up with its own acceptable plan to reduce carbon usage would have a federal tax imposed on it. Manitoba, along with Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick were the culprits and saw the increase come earlier this week.
As it stands, people in the Keystone province are seeing gas prices at the pump go up 4.42 cents a litre, with a 6.4 cent increase for diesel. These are the increases consumers will see right up front and immediately. For any driver, this will be problematic. For others, the impact will be heavier.
It might have been hard to see when he first got involved in the Boissevain Border Kings reboot, but Saturday night was what Manager Ed Dyck had in mind all along.
On March 23, the Kings made it a three game sweep over the defending Tiger Hills Hockey League champion Gladstone Lakers. The first championship since they took the last South West Hockey League title a decade ago, it was a dramatic moment even though from Chris Low’s goal at 5:31 of the first period, it was the Kings all the way in an 8-1 win. For Dyck, who was part of getting the team back in play after a two-year hiatus about seven years ago, it was definitely a highlight.
Although numbers might have been down from previous years, Prairie Partners once again were able to connect locals with made-in-Manitoba beverages to raise money for a worthy cause.
The night before St. Patrick’s Day, March 16, was the date for the third annual Craft Beer Tasting at the Sawmill. According to Prairie Partners Executive Director Misheyla Iwasiuk, the event again went well.
“It was good,” she said, “It was fun and it seemed like everyone out there had a good time.”
There were about 50 participants this year. Iwasiuk said that was down a bit from previous years, but they had a fair bit of competition on that night. There were two socials in the area, and the Border Kings were hosting Gladstone in the first game of the Tiger Hills Hockey League finals. However, they raised around $1,300, which was in line with previous years.
With some help from the Municipality of Grassland, Minto is looking to turn around at least some of their recent business losses.
A small but vibrant community, Minto has seen some unfortunate shut downs in the recent months. Now, with the resignation of the postmaster, the municipality is getting involved in finding a solution.
“The postmaster decided to quit the job,” explained Municipality of Grassland Councillor Ruth Mealy. “Canada Post has advertised for a new one, and I have heard there have been several who applied. The municipality wants to be pro-active and support the continuity.”
The post office has been in the Minto Community Market, and one of the market owners, Aglaia Englebrecht had been running it. However, she resigned as of March 1. The search began with Canada Post saying the application deadline for the position was on March 13. Until filled, the office remains open with part-time personnel.
As they say farewell to their head driver and search for a replacement, the Boissevain Transit Committee realizes the importance of their continuing service.
On March 1, Ken Dixon retired from driving the handi-van. According to Raylene Conway-Smith of the committee, he had been driving for them since July of 2006. He has been the primary driver and they are looking to replace him, although they do have a few casuals. Between trips in and out of town and delivering groceries, Dixon has made an outstanding contribution to the service, says committee chair Howard Dalrymple.
“There was a time we were going through the head drivers every six months,” said Dalrymple, who has been involved in the committee for many years, and head for five. “Not the last while. Ken’s done a lot of work, I would say above and beyond the call of duty.”
Although willing to continue to fight for what works best, Boissevain-Morton Council also does not want to hit a deadline without working out options.
Council held a meeting with the public on February 25. The gist was to let the public know what was in store for the community when the next step of amalgamation was completed, if they were not able to get the Province of Manitoba to be flexible.
In 2015, the Town of Boissevain and the RM of Morton were amalgamated into one municipality. It was not a marriage that either bride or groom were thrilled with, but instead was arranged by their Provincial parent. The Manitoba Government of the time had decreed a few years before that smaller corporations had to become one, with the nuptials to be completed by January of 2015. Although Boissevain-Morton were now of one flesh, they did have one prenuptial agreement – separate mill rates for taxes, which recognized the unique character of the couple.
The agriculture industry in this area has given opportunity to many. Historically, many immigrants have come to Manitoba to farm and work in agriculturally based pursuits. In the past, they were mostly from Europe. Although they are still well represented here, others are coming from different areas of the world, bringing their own experiences and enthusiasm to the work.
Two representatives from the Philippines are Roberto Maningus and Tony Juanito. Both have different backgrounds but both have found their mark in local agriculture, as have many of their countrymen. They have been here nearly a decade and are getting used to a different climate and culture.
Maningus has been in the country nine years as of summer 2018. Although from Manila, he has not actually lived in his home country since 2000, spending years working in the Middle East. His wife Theresa was the main driving force bringing him to Canada. She was the first to come, getting a job in Whitewater Swine north of Boissevain. He followed.
With the special holiday coming this weekend, Southwest Region Director for the Manitoba Metis Federation Will Goodon understands the work needs to continue to improve the lives of his people.
Goodon, who has a strong connection to the Turtle Mountain area, has long been working with the MMF and Metis causes. He said he started more than twenty years ago with someone who would have future importance.
“I started working with President (David) Chartrand before he became president, in 1996,” Goodon said. “I was in-between employment and in my career. The MMF was in a tough spot at that time with a suspended president, and just went through receivership. President Chartrand ran for president in 1997 and I worked as his assistant for many, many years.”
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For the first time in several winters, a groomed snowmobile trail connects to Boissevain.
In January, volunteers helped get signs up on the new trail in town. According to Greg Graham, the development got its start about a year ago.
“Last winter we talked about the groomer coming to Boissevain,” Graham said, referring to a snow groomer that makes and maintains the trails. “Years ago, the Killarney group would come from Killarney to #10 and then from #10 into Boissevain. Then the Killarney group stopped grooming to Boissevain.”
Although winter might be at its most bitter, Westview Lodge residents do not have to worry about being bored, just with keeping up to the schedule.
The senior’s residence has plenty of activities available to keep people busy. Activity Supervisor Cheryl LaRocque and staff make sure of that. Serving in that capacity for three and a half years in Westview, and more than 20 in different locations, she says she is responsible for planning the programs on a monthly basis and working with fellow staff member Nancy Bighia in a partnership to deliver them.
“We work together on everything, we’re really a team,” LaRocque stated. “In fact, we work with all of the different disciplines – nursing, dietary, maintenance. Everyone helps. We have a good team here.”
Although the field has thinned somewhat, there are still plenty of hair options in Boissevain.
Over the past couple of years, established follicle businesses like Hair Teasers and Boissevain Barber have been closed. For others in the community, they are still going strong with perhaps new opportunities.
REKK Beauty is the largest in town. Established by Kamara Sisson, the business on Broadway Street has seen plenty of work, becoming a full on salon. According to the proprietor, everything is going well.
“REKK Beauty is going great,” Sisson said. “We’ve tripled our size into a beautiful space where we’ve grown not only our size, but our services as well.”
Although Premier Brian Pallister may be a little coy about when he will drop the writ, he is certainly not shy about getting ready for the next Manitoba election.
Pallister was in Boissevain on January 16 at the Bordertown Restaurant to kick off the start of the new Turtle Mountain Constituency Progressive Conservative Riding Association. As the Electoral Boundaries Commission created new constituency boundaries for the 2020 election, the old Turtle Mountain constituency was reborn, with Boissevain back in with Killarney. There was a large crowd of local Tories on hand, who also chose Arthur-Virden MLA Doyle Piwniuk as their candidate.
Although the election is formally slated for October 2020, the party is starting to get candidates in place for the running now. Pallister said it is good to get going.