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.”

A break in the weather and a few changes made for a successful Boissevain Fair in 2026.

The annual running was held on June 20-21. According to Turtle Mountain Agricultural Society President Chris Walker, all went well.

“We couldn’t ask for better weather,” Walker stated. “It looks like our gate numbers were up from last year, and we added some events that worked well.”

The two days were marvelous ones, with plus 20-degree temperatures and plenty of sunshine. This was a great benefit as the days preceding and following saw cooler temps, darker skies and some rain.

“Everybody was in a good mood this year. The sun was shining and everyone was feeling good. It was just perfect.”

A lifetime of commitment to endurance riding by Myna Margetts of Boissevain has been honoured by Equine Canada.

Margetts was recently awarded the Ron Janzen Memorial award for “exceptional and sustained contributions to Endurance in Canada through leadership, trail development, event management and mentorship.” Margetts was thrilled with the news, which she had originally discovered through a Facebook post congratulating her.

“It’s for lifetime achievement and promotion of the sport,” she explained. “I’ve been involved in it since the ‘70’s. I started putting on rides in the ‘80’s because no one else was doing it and got very competitive. I’ve worked very hard at competing in the sport and promoting it and sometimes you wonder if anyone notices.”

A friend had asked for details of her riding career, and submitted them for the award.

Endurance riding is a long distance equestrian sport, which leads horses through varied terrain, which tests the horse and the rider. Margetts said she got involved pretty much by accident. She was interested in showing Arabians, and in the early 1970’s she was showing one named JA Hopes Jewel, Julie at the Brandon Light Horse and Pony Show in the Keystone in the open costume class. Margetts won the class, was given a bouquet of flowers, ribbon and trophy and asked to canter. Julie started that way, but soon went to a full gallop, which meant she had to drop her winnings and grab control. Once she did so outside, someone yelled she should take the horse on an endurance ride. Margetts said she had never heard of that, but was intrigued. This started something.

Her first run was a 30-mile endurance ride along the Winnipeg floodway. Julie won the race and Margetts was thrilled, even if it wore her legs out. Endurance riding became her adventure.

“That’s how I got started. My showing diminished and my endurance took over.”

A short-term loss for the northwestern end of Boissevain will lead to long-term gain.

Traffic has been shutdown at different times on Anderson Drive. This relatively new route running north-south and connecting the new development to Caranton Road is one of the many in the community seeing upgrade work over a three-year period. While the north part of that road is being prepared for work, a longstanding part of the community had to come down.

“The trees had to be removed,” explained Boissevain-Morton Head of Council Judy Swanson. “It has to do with the work on Anderson Drive North. In order to widen it, we had to cut down trees from the land we are purchasing from the Ag Society.”

The trees, which were removed the previous week, were on the fairgrounds property east of the road. As Swanson said, they needed to widen the road and work on drainage in the area, which is also the home of the Lions ball diamonds. To do this, a ditch has to be built in the area.

“It’s upsetting to see trees come down. I’m a tree person myself. They were at the end of their life cycle anyway, but we hate to cut trees down.”

With the purchase of additional land nearly complete, Boissevain-Morton is wasting no time putting it to use.

As soon as weather permits, the municipality will be starting work on about two dozen new campsites in Boissevain. The addition will add to the 40 sites at the Lions Campground, to the southwest in land they are currently acquiring from the Turtle Mountain Agricultural Society.

“The purchase of the land is almost done,” Boissevain-Morton Head of Council Judy Swanson stated. “It should be finished this spring and then we can start work on the campground.”

In late 2025, Boissevain-Morton was informed they had received $100,000 from Manitoba’s “From the Ground Up – Safe Communities for ALL” program. This is much needed help for an important project like the campground expansion.

Swanson said the building of a new swimming pool, completed and opened in 2024, increased the demand for spaces at the next-door campground located on the northwest corner of town.

“There is a need for it. We get a lot of requests for spots and bookings. With the new pool, there is the possibility of more classes, swimming lessons. We went by how many requests there were and how much need there was.”

As Recreation Director Wendy Giesbrecht explained, this is part of a larger phased project. In 2023, they received grant funding. A big part of phase one was the new washroom and shower facilities. Phase two included continued site prep work, including an accessible site. Picnic tables were added and recreational games were put in for the group use area. The group cook shack was relocated to the washroom area.

Inquisitive minds were bringing the planted seeds of science to bloom in Boissevain School on March 6.

The south gym was alive with questioning students at the Boissevain School Science Fair. Boissevain students, joined by their compatriots from Minto School, displayed the work they had put in on projects that spanned the years and the interests, as they learned new things by trying out experiments.

“There were a total of 82 students and 59 projects,” said Boissevain teacher/organizer Hannah Beghin. “The fair is open to students from grades 1-12, but there were only students in grades 1-7 that chose to participate.”

Beghin explained that information about the fair was sent out mid-January, allowing a month and a half for students to prepare for the day. Two lunch hours a week were set aside for students to get help for projects, but the vast majority of work was put in at home. 

There were a number of different projects over the many grades that participated. One was from Liam Fortier, a grade six student. He presented a study on energy, particularly a comparison of solar panels with other sources. Using a small, hand held solar panel, some testing and a lot of research, he put together a strong project. 

The Boissevain Arena was hopping with hockey talent last weekend, but the impact did not stick to the ice.

The U13 A Female Provincials were held from February 27 to March 1. It was a busy time on the ice, and according to Melissa Perkins, one of the organizers, it was also a great one.

“Hosting the Hockey Manitoba Rural U13 A Female Provincials in Boissevain this past weekend was a tremendous success,” Perkins stated. “This three-day provincial championship tournament showcased the best of the best of Rural U13 Female hockey teams and athletes. Featuring 10 teams from across the province, it was a true showcase of hockey skills, teamwork, and competition right here in our own barn.”

With the strong hockey culture and history in Boissevain, Perkins said, bringing the female tournament to town was extra special. The arena was packed all weekend and the influx of more than 145 players was noticed around town, although the start had a shaky look.

“The weather Friday was looking iffy and affecting travel plans for teams coming from the east, with some team families stuck on closed highways outside of the city. Thankfully conditions improved, roads re-opened and everyone made it in and the schedule ran as planned.”

A Boissevain roper will be able to continue on with his rodeo dream once he is out of high school.

Reid Armstrong, who graduates this year, will be moving on to Dodge City Community College in Kansas. The 17-year-old has participated in numerous rodeo events with the Manitoba High School Rodeo Association, including trips to provincials and nationals, and will be joining Dodge City’s rodeo team.

“I went on a trip last month, three weeks ago to choose a school,” Armstrong stated. “I visited four and ended up choosing Dodge. I liked it the most.”

At the end of the week, he will be heading to Dodge to officially sign with the rodeo team and have a media day. He will be going out in August to start his college rodeo career.

Although everything seems to be moving quickly, this was not a long-term plan. Armstrong said that when he qualified for National High School Finals, he was not thinking of college. While there, however, he checked out the college booths. He said they all offered such great programming with rodeo opportunities. Dodge was one of the schools who reached out to him and his first visit was there. Then he went to a pair of Texas schools and one in New Mexico. Dodge made the biggest impression on him. Economics were one reason, with all of their fees merged into one. All of the amenities were great. Of course, there was the rodeo program. He said they have the best coaches. Both Jacob Perky and Colton Valente went to great schools, are young and have the most ambition.

“When I went down there I was welcomed with open arms. I felt very at home there, they wanted me to come out there and check it out.”

Armstrong added he felt Dodge appreciated his good, positive behavior when he arrived, which showed they were looking at the right things.

“I think I made the right choice,” Armstrong said.

For Levi Nadlersmith, his upcoming support appearance at the Paralympic Games is a logical outgrowth of his lifelong competitive sport background.

Nadlersmith, a native of Boissevain, has long been known for his prowess in cross-country skiing. Now he will be helping another competitor, Jesse Bachinsky, compete in the event in Italy. At the beginning of the week, he was in Austria preparing for the days ahead, being thrilled at the chance.

“Absolutely,” Nadlersmith, who has lived in Golden, BC since 2021, stated. “It’s an exciting opportunity. The Paralympic Games are the pinnacle of para sport, being named as a guide for Team Canada is a huge honour.”

The story begins several years ago, when Nadlersmith was home for a visit. In 2017, he was asked to guide the then 16-year old Bachinsky in a race at the International Peace Garden. The local boy filled in for a race, and has been guiding him off and on ever since.

“It definitely grew out of my competitive skiing background. Having race experience and strong technical skills is essential, so it was a natural transition.”

Jesse Bachinsky is a visually impaired athlete from Winnipeg. He has competed on the World Cup circuit since 2017, and placed fifth in an event in Canmore, Alberta, which was one of the selection events for the Paralympic games.

With the resounding success of the new middle years playground, the Boissevain School Parent Advisory Council is eager to be moving onto Phase Two of the Playground Project, set to be completed this summer.

Phase two will include re-purposing the old, unused outdoor tennis courts at Boissevain School to create an inclusive and accessible community court space. The space will include a custom size basketball court complete with two full size three-point lines. With a generous donation from the Boissevain and Morton Foundation, two sets of five tier, 15 foot aluminum bleachers have been purchased to create a space for people to sit and socialize. One set of bleachers incorporates a central opening, ensuring individuals using wheelchairs can sit among their family and friends, rather than being segregated to sitting on the end.