High school rodeo continues to be a big part of the lives of local riders, with at least one moving on with the sport this year.

Nine riders from the different communities in our area participated in the last season of the Manitoba High School Rodeo Association, with most coming back this time around. The new season has recently kicked off for this year, with plenty of events coming.

Also, many young people have also participated in higher-level events, and had success when the gate was pulled.

From Boissevain School, there are sisters Abby and Riata Dalby and Lexi and Kaity Janssens, as well as Zoe Vorster and Reid Armstrong.

Kesley McGee has competed from Deloraine, Jett Lockie from Waskada and Grace Cole from Goodlands.

After more than three decades, T&S Recycling will be picking up their last blue bins at the end of the month.

The business, owned and operated by Tina and Scott Patterson of Boissevain, started home and business recycling pickup in July of 1993. Tina Patterson said it was just time to give it up.

“After 33 years, we decided it’s just time for a change for us,” Patterson explained. “Life on the farm is busy, and now with grandkids to enjoy we’ve decided we are ready to have the extra time back.”

She said they had originally noticed how much their own recycling piled up and knew people in the city had curbside pick up. They figured it was something people in Boissevain would also enjoy. There were originally 25 customers who signed up for the service, and some of them remained to this day. Currently there are around 80 residents and businesses.

A major manufacturing centre and employer in Boissevain received the go ahead for more expansion by the local council.

Boissevain-Morton held a public hearing into By-Law 2026-05 on September 1. This was to close two blocks of Buckingham Street on the north end of town and sell it to Western Archrib.

In speaking in favour of the move, Meeghan Paterson Canada of Western Archrib explained the company has been in contact with the community for several years about their plans. The moves they have made, she said, would allow the company to continue to grow. The purchase of the Buckingham property would allow workers and community members to stay safe while operations continue.

Western Archrib owns property on both sides of Buckingham and for decades has moved lumber and finished products back and forth across the street. Two years ago, in what amounted to a swap, Boissevain-Morton and the company changed properties on the north side of the street. This meant a trailer court was relocated, and the new Western Archrib property on the east side was open for further development. The closure of this portion of the street was long proposed.

With a sigh of relief and a determination to get the job done, Boissevain-Morton started moving earth just southwest of Boissevain.

It has been a long haul to get to this point, but the practical work on the new lagoon has begun. According to Head of Council Judy Swanson, the final approval of their project was received about a month ago, and the digging began. She said it was good to see.

“It is a positive thing to finally get started,” Swanson stated.

It has been a many year process to get a new lagoon, including many delays and a change of site. Most recently, they ran into a snag with their environmental license, which was cleared up in July. More importantly, they put the project out to tender and found it came in $2 million over budget. For something budgeted at nearly $10 million, this was not acceptable. In response, Boissevain-Morton decided they would in fact be the general contractor for the lagoon’s first phase and they moved from there.

“I enjoy learning both the technical and artistic aspects of photography, some of which can be challenging. Seeing how light brings an object to life, the direction of its shadow and how one can be creative with the light and shadows.”

This is Eric Hildebrandt of Boissevain explaining what attracts him to photography. The winner of the photography class at the Boissevain Fair in June sponsored by The Recorder, he has a great love for capturing the image, with several favourite subjects, and that love is growing. His winning entry shows how his passion can inspire and be enjoyed by everyone.

Hildebrandt said he took the photo of a ruby throated hummingbird in May of this year. He was sitting on his front step with his camera waiting for the doves to return to their nest in the cedar tree. Something else grabbed his attention.

“Out of the corner of my eye I see this hummingbird flying around a couple of our bushes,” he stated. “So I went from watching for the doves to watching and photographing the hummingbird. For the next couple of hours I sat there watching and getting the odd shot off as it was flying blossom to blossom.”

For the next week, he kept an eye out, with the hummingbird returning to the area, chasing other males away and introducing his mate to the feeding area. On the night he took the fair photo, he was trying to get in position, as the bird would usually fly in and visit the feeder or blossoms. This time, he perched on one of the branches of the cherry bush.

When the final out was made on July 30 at the Centennials diamond, the Boissevain squad completed not only a finals sweep, but also reached a major milestone.

The Cents shut out the Oak River Dodgers 6-0 in the third  and deciding game for the South West Baseball League championship at home. This is their fifth consecutive title, which is incidentally what the New York Yankees did from 1949-53, the longest run in Major League Baseball history.

In game three, Connor Martin of the Centennials pitched a complete game (seven inning) shutout, allowing only two hits and one walk while striking out 10. In contrast, the Dodgers used three hurlers, with starter Riley Shamray taking the loss, allowing nine hits and five earned runs in three and two thirds innings of work. Dylan Schroeder and Mitch Battersby finished up on the mound.

Tyler Robertson led Boissevain in hits with three, all singles, and drove in one run. Tanner Clyne and Jay Pringle chipped in a pair of singles apiece, with Jordan Foote showing speed with a triple and two stolen bases. Austin Clyne and Griffin Albrecht each had a hit with Foote, Pringle, Robertson, Zane Sawyer, Bryan Laing and Drew Hilhorst driving in single runs.

The series started in Boissevain on July 27, and set the tone for all three games. The Centennials won the opener 5-0, with Zane Sawyer getting the complete game shutout. He scattered five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Oak River starter Kaden Rozdeba was hung with the loss, allowing five hits and four earned runs in two and two-thirds innings. In relief, Dylan Schroeder allowed the final run.

Jordan Foote had a pair of hits, including a double and drove in a team leading three runs. Tyler Robertson also had a pair of hits and Tanner Clyne had a double. Skylar Canada had one hit but made it count, taking a pitch deep. Drew Hilhorst also had a hit and an RBI.

The community of Deloraine came out in droves for the red carpet premiere of a short film made by a few of their own.

On July 23, “Whitetail” a film by Nick Dietrich and Laughlin McKinnon, made its debut at the Deloraine Theatre. The cast, crew and much of the town were out in full force to see a locally made movie. It was everything they were looking for, McKinnon said.

“It was awesome,” he stated. “We hoped to have a full house and we did. You couldn’t ask for more. That was the dream, to have a premiere of a movie in Deloraine, raise some money for the Ag Society, and we met those goals.”

As McKinnon explained, the venture started when Dietrich, a Deloraine native who is a filmmaker in BC, was on the cusp of a larger film project. He wanted a smaller one to practice putting all aspects of it together. He asked McKinnon if he would help with it, to write a short film.

“We were thinking maybe three to seven minutes. He has an impressive career in videography, but he was going to be looking after everything, editing, directing, cinematography. He wanted to try something short, low stress, before he moved on to something bigger.”

McKinnon said it caught him off guard, as he had not done anything like that. He got a skeleton of what Dietrich was looking for, and a story including a storm-stayed drug dealer, a deer hunter and more came into focus. There was an immediate desire to have a local feel with local place names used. There would be a hunting cabin, a gun, some tension and what McKinnon referred to as a “twisted re-telling of the Hansen Buck (world record typical whitetail shot) story.”

With the great response from the community, admirers of a local rugby phenom were able to honour her twice in Souris.

Emily Tuttosi has been a great source of pride in her home community, bringing Souris positive attention on the national and international stage. As she moved on further in her rugby career, the time was right for a pair of signs in town honouring her. Barb Murphy, who spearheaded the project, said it started last year. Tuttosi graduated with Murphy’s daughter and they played together on the Souris rugby team.

“When Emily played in the latest World Cup (2025), we were excited as a whole town,” Murphy said. “It was amazing to have someone from Souris in the World Cup. When Canada won silver, it was extremely exciting.”

Murphy said it was simple to set up. They partnered with the Souris rugby program and coach Brian Yon, and began appealing for funds for a sign honouring Tuttosi. Starting last summer/fall, they were hoping to raise about $3,000 for one sign. The first donation came in October 2025, and they just kept coming. With local individuals and businesses chipping in, they eventually raised around $5,470.

Anyone wanting to appear on screen while enjoying the beauty of the International Peace Garden will have their opportunity on July 30.

An international video crew will be out at the Garden creating footage of the local attraction. According to Peace Garden CEO Tim Chapman, they are looking to promote the area now and into the future.

“This is a different type of promotion this year,” Chapman explained. “We want to get some footage made up, some deeper footage we can use for 10 years down the road.”

Chapman said the Garden receives a lot of outreach from video production companies who want to be hired to film promotional material. This year, a company made a positive impression and they are moving forward.

“They can do these films that can go on US and Canadian cable TV and web versions. They make a five minute piece that can be picked up by stations.”

As well as the film itself, the company will be shooting the whole day of  July 30, with footage going to the Peace Garden. As they hired them, the Garden will decide where the shooting will take place, who they will talk to – staff and supporters – and this will be used by the Garden for their own promotions. Chapman said it could be for something as simple as a small feature on their website.

“The way the internet has changed, if you have good footage, you can cut it up for 15 second clips, or still pictures. It will make a nice library of film to access.”

Round one of Mother Nature’s wrath upon the area left the area soggy, disheartened but strangely resilient.

In the early evening of Monday, June 29, Boissevain was shaken by a sudden and explosive rainstorm. In around an hour and a half to two hours, the community and surrounding area received a whopping six plus inches of water. Coming at that speed, there was nowhere for that amount of moisture to go except everywhere. Within minutes, basements were flooding and in some cases, sewers were backing up. Results varied around Boissevain, but the majority of homes had a least some water, and for many, the results were catastrophic.

“It was huge,” said Boissevain-Morton Head of Council Judy Swanson. “It had a huge impact on all of us. I don’t know how many people had problems, but it sounds like everyone.”

Streets were awash shortly after the storm began, with some being under enough water that people could swim or in at least one case, kayak. Swanson said the town has a good system of storm sewers, but they cannot handle this level of water.

“The system is built for regular rain. I have never seen rain like this, so much in so short a time.”