Building a lagoon might not be the most romantic infrastructure project, but in Boissevain-Morton it is long awaited and seriously needed.

Municipal and Northern Relations Minister Glen Simard was in town on Tuesday, September 8 to break ground on the lagoon construction. Located on the old site southwest of town, practical work began this summer after a lot of planning and some frustrating periods. Simard recognized the importance of the project.

“These projects are huge for rural Manitoba communities,” Simard stated. “They are important to help towns like Boissevain grow into the future.”

The work on the new lagoon is progressing, although weather might be slowing things down presently. The municipality is handling the project in an unusual way. When they put out tenders earlier in 2026, they found the estimates came in $2 million over the $10 million budget. They decided they would be their own general contractors and hired sub-contractors like Dougall Excavating, Power Baron and Copperman to do the work. Engineers and the Water Services Board have been on and off site while the work has been ongoing.

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.

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.”