Next month, the sun will rise in a new spot for Soleil Massage Therapy.

The old home of Paisley Pockets Emporium on South Railway Street was purchased by Jeff Gervin. His daughter Allie will be moving her massage therapy clinic into the space. Gervin has been most recently operating out of RISE Salon on Broadway Street. However, the salon ownership is selling and a new spot was needed.

“I’ve been over there for over two years,” Gervin said, “and it’s been great. Super good opportunity to grow my business.”

Gervin said her father had been looking for a new karate studio for Synthesis Martial Arts, so he asked if she wanted to take a look at the building. After taking a peek, it looked like it would be a good fit.

Gervin has moved a few times, starting on Mill Road, moving to a suite in Cherry Creek Place and then to RISE. Although she was not looking for another move, she is looking forward to a permanent place and to make it her own.

She started up in August 2020 out of school, saying it was a challenge at first due to the pandemic and constant changes. In fact, it was interesting to see the faces of people later on when the masks came off.

Why go into massage therapy? Gervin said she was always a little “nerdy” about physiology, the working of the body. This is what one in the profession needs to know – what are the muscles, what nerves impact them, what arteries supply blood to them.

As a massage therapist, Gervin said she generally sees people come in who are in pain. They have a problem and want a fix for it. She will look at what the problem is and what is causing it. Are there posture problems, an old injury flaring up, what is the root of the pain? Then she works from there.

The day many in Minto were fighting against will come to pass at the end of the year.

At a meeting on November 8, Council for the Municipality of Grassland passed a resolution to close the administration office in the community on December 31, 2024. The motion passed three to one. In January all operations will move to the head office in Hartney.

The issue has been a big one for Minto for over a year. Originally, the office was the centre of the RM of Whitewater, which amalgamated with Hartney and the RM of Cameron to create the Municipality of Grassland in 2014/15 due to a provincial decision. Afterward, it was open for the eastern citizens of the far-flung corporation. In 2022, council passed a motion to limit operations to two days a week. The idea was to bring all of the admiration under one roof and improve the workings of the municipality. Members of the community, including the LUD, fought to have the office reopened full time. In 2023, a motion was made to close the office altogether, but there was no seconder. Eventually, a decision was made to carry on with the two day a week schedule. That was until November 8.

Deputy Reeve Claude Martin said there was a feeling the restrictions were making the situation untenable.

It was an important meeting for the Manitoba Beef Producers District 1 in Deloraine on October 30, with many items up for discussion, including protecting from cattle theft.

A key point of the MBP fall meetings for all districts was to get feedback from producers on the potential for an expanded livestock inspection service in Manitoba. Inspection is currently only conducted on an as needed basis to meet regulatory requirements.

This topic has been debated for decades and has been defeated previously when debated at MBP’s annual meetings. Funding such a service is always a concern but illegal activity has put the subject of an expanded inspection service into the limelight again. One case of cattle theft in Manitoba resulted in multimillion losses. The cattle disappeared, they were sold on paper but there is no trace of them. They cannot be found, it is like they never existed.

“An added problem is there are no dedicated RCMP offices working on livestock issues and getting charges laid and prosecution pursued has been a challenge. Lenders are the real push for an inspection service.

As it is right now without an inspection service, lenders are less interested in financing Manitoba producers’ cattle. There is no surety.

“We could lose young producers if there are not start up loans,” said Callum.

A great monetary gift to the Boissevain and Morton Foundation is continuing the great work started 50 years ago.

The group received a new major donation this year. After Eric Ekin passed away in 2023, the Foundation was notified they would be receiving $100,000 to start the Eric and Barb Ekin Legacy Fund. Barb had passed in 2021. The couple had married in 1968 and farmed in the RM of Morton, with Eric remaining active with the cattle until the summer of 2023. Clyne said they are very much thrilled with the news.

“It was a pleasant surprise. It is more money to invest and that will mean more money to the community. It is in the undesignated, so it will go into the pot for all of the grants we give out each year.”

Clyne added they have a few such funds, and would like to see that grow into the future.

The Foundation is preparing for its annual granting evening on November 14. They have made the decisions about who will be receiving undesignated funds, but for now that is confidential. However, they will be giving out about $94,000 this year in undesignated, and $220,000 overall. According to Foundation Board member Wendy Clyne, all is going well.

Although the amounts bounce around year to year, those involved in Boissevain’s Donor’s Choice still feel it serves its ultimate purpose.

At their annual meeting on October 21, the Donor’s Choice Committee gave out the cheques for a total of $62,735 to the 25 charities/organizations on the canvass. According to Chair Barry Lamb, they were happy with the results.

“The year was good,” Lamb stated. “We took a dip this year in ’24. We’re down about $5,000 roughly, but we are still in the $63,000 neighbourhood. Anytime you can top the $60,000 mark we think we are doing pretty good. We really want to thank the community for continuing its support, for recognizing the value of these community groups and provincial agencies that do all this good work.”

In 2023, Donor’s Choice collected around $67,830. Lamb said he was not sure of the reason for the drop, but added times are a little tougher economically, and that might have played a role. As well, one major donor did not give this year. The numbers do hop around a little from year to year, so a bounce back is possible in the future.

Foundations are a wonderful way to assist various community groups. Southwest Manitoba Regional Foundation (SMRF) is one of 57 in Manitoba. On October 3, 2024 SWRF received a significant donation from Souris River Water District (SRWD) when manager Dean Brooker presented a cheque for $103,000 on behalf of the district. The funds will be held in trust and used for bursaries, which will be available in 2025.

The SRWD consists of nine municipal partners, including municipalities of Boissevain-Morton, Deloraine-Winchester, Souris-Glenwood, Pipestone, Wallace-Woodworth, Brenda-Waskada, Grassland, Two Borders and Sifton.

Brooker says this is a new SRWD initiative that covers the entire district. Any graduate from the district who is pursuing an education in natural resources or agriculture is eligible to apply.

With a large crowd on hand and a special day upcoming, the partners who created the new Metis mural on the north wall of the Irving Goodon International Wildlife Museum were able to celebrate what might be an ongoing relationship.

The new artwork, painted by Metis artist Jayde Goodon, was given its official welcome on September 27. This was a few days before National Truth and Reconciliation Day, and students and staff from Boissevain School made a big impression on everyone in their orange shirts. The mural was a replacement for the Goodon Family one removed from the building earlier in the year so it could be refurbished and moved elsewhere by the Cherry Creek and Turtle Mountain Metis locals. The large artwork, which took up the full north wall, features a bison and other Metis motifs.

After an opening prayer by Elder Elaine Scott, Will Goodon, the Manitoba Metis Federation Minister of Housing, emceed the event. A native of the Turtle Mountains and the son of Irvin Goodon, the founder of the museum, Goodon was a major part of the project and understood the impact of the artwork, saying he still has the connection to the area he grew up in.

“I live south of Brandon,” Goodon stated, “and most people would say they come from Brandon. Not me, not us, not the Indigenous people, certainly not the Metis. When you ask us where we’re from, we’re from the Turtle Mountain, we’re from the bush.”

Excerpts from The Recorder in celebration of the 75th anniversary in 1974

The weekly newspaper is often referred to as the only reliable voice in a rural or urban community.

The Boissevain Recorder has proven its right to that title because it has been published regularly since its establishment on October 5, 1899.

Seventy-five years of operation for any business (now 125 years of business) is indeed a commemorable feat, and for a weekly newspaper it is a goal that is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain.

However, for 14 years, the voice of the Boissevain area and surrounding communities was relayed in store. This was the period when The Recorder competed with the Boissevain Globe, a weekly newspaper founded in 1892.

When The Recorder entered the scene, the Globe had been publishing for seven years under the direction of founding publisher and proprietor W.H. Ashley. Mr. Ashley maintained The Globe until its demise in 1913.

The Globe published in obvious competition with The Recorder. In almost each issue, The Globe publisher boasted that his newspaper was “the spiciest, the newsiest and altogether the most readable local paper in the district.”

As was the rule with the majority of that era’s weekly newspapers, The Globe concentrated mainly on local news but a spattering of international and national stories was contained in each issue.

While The Globe’s front page was often dedicated to a local event and considerable advertising, it was not uncommon to find inside the paper an interview with France’s chief guillotiner, a report of a stagecoach robbery in Colorado, or even a ghost story from Michigan.

The early Boissevain Recorder, however, dedicated more space to district and town news than did The Globe.

The Medical Licensure Program for International Medical Graduates accepts 30 students per year. Dr. Saadial Mobil recently completed the program and has been allocated to practice at the Deloraine Health Centre by Prairie Mountain Health (PMH). Dr. Mobil’s first day was September 17.

Mobil is originally from Pakistan. Prior to her placement in Deloraine she worked as a clinical assistant in Winnipeg. 

Mobil has moved to Deloraine with her husband, son and mother-in-law.

The word ‘sold’ is one people like to see, especially on storefront windows in small towns. A sold sign went up at Petals & Presents (a fresh flowers, giftware, seasonal greenhouse business) in Deloraine when sisters-in-law Meghan and Hannah McKinnon purchased the business in August. Their husbands Alexander and Laughlin were born and raised in Deloraine.

Meghan moved to Deloraine a year ago with her husband Dr. Alexander McKinnon who is a general practitioner at the Deloraine Health Centre. They have two young boys Angus and Royce.

Hannah moved to Deloraine this past summer with her husband and their infant daughter Lois.

For some time Meghan had been looking for a small space to rent in town to put some pottery equipment.

“I wasn’t thinking about Petals and Presents as an option at that time, but when we found out that Hannah and her family were moving to Deloraine, it seemed like the perfect fit for both of us.”