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.

The children of Cindy and Darwyn Minary are keeping their family legacy alive in an important part of their community.

Minary Homestyle Bakery in Souris reopened on May 14. This is a joint venture by the Minary children Kendra, Cody and Adam. They grew up in the establishment and are honouring their parents, who both tragically passed away this spring. Kendra said they opened up briefly at the end of March after the passing of their mother on March 1, but then had to close again when their father passed on April 10. She said they were overwhelmed by the response of their return.

“We are so grateful that the community (and beyond) has been so unbelievably supportive,” Kendra stated. “They were very patient and understanding during our time off, and very welcoming when we came back. Our weekends are back to the usual lineup through the door and down the street for the first hour. We have been greeted by so many familiar faces, and many new customers as well.”

Kendra said the bakery had been a part of their lives from the beginning. Their father Darwyn worked there for many years prior to buying it, and she said she and her brothers spent a lot of time visiting him as kids, playing with toy cars and dolls in the extra dough balls and picking out their favourite treats. She added they always had the best birthday cakes with special characters growing up.

The Minary’s purchased the bakery in 2006, with Darwyn becoming the full-time baker and Cindy balancing the bakery with the library for a while before also moving to full-time.

Since then, they have all been a part of Minary Homestyle Bakery. They worked part-time until they graduated – Adam in 2007, Cody in 2011 and Kendra in 2014 – and then it became their full-time jobs. This is part of what made it important to keep it going despite their trials and heartbreak.

With a major fundraising event just around the corner, those involved in the Souris School playground project are hoping to keep momentum going for the sought after development.

A committee of staff members at the school is working to replace the early years playground. According to Grade 1/2 teacher Adrienne Cannons, they began work in 2023 when they started noticing growing problems with the current edifice.

“A few things we have noticed with the current play structure are issues of safety, accessibility, and engagement,” Cannons explained. “This structure was put in about 25 years ago and it is starting to show its age. There are broken pieces and areas that are falling apart, as well as a fairly diminishing base layer of protection from falls. This structure also lacks the accessibility for kids with mobility issues in terms of both the structure itself and the surface area in getting to the structure.”

She said the play structure is located behind the school, fairly hidden from Highway 2. It is primarily used by K-4, but grades 5-8 also enjoy it as does the after school program. It is an older style structure that incorporates climbing, sliding and a tic tac toe game.

One of the key events in Souris has found an added expense they were not anticipating and one they wanted help with.

The 26th Souris Survivor Curling Bonspiel is set to start at the end of the month. It takes a lot of planning to create this major draw to the community. This year, organizers were hit with a surprise insurance situation. As Sponsorship Committee Chair Mark Fenwick explained, they were asked to provide their own insurance to cover the five-day event. He said they have traditionally fallen under the Souris-Glenwood liability insurance, as they are using the municipal facility, the Memorial Complex. For their five-day event, they were quoted around $2,500 for this extra.

“We have never had to do this before,” Fenton said. “We’ve never had a legal issue, and unless we get sponsorship, it will be another expense for us.”

Fenwick wrote a letter to the Souris-Glenwood Council last month. He pointed out the municipality had always declared Survivor a community event in the past, and has in 2026 as well. Though the Curling Club, which organizes the bonspiel is being charged the insurance rate as a part of their rental agreement, they are not the only group that benefits. Quoting numbers, he said over the previous 25 ‘spiels, they have netted $750,000 with $180,000 going to facility rent, over and above the club’s $30,000 annual rent. They have also chipped in $200,000 to maintenance and capital projects in the complex. Different community groups have also benefitted from donations made in return for their help during the event.

Fenwick said they were looking for some help from the municipality.

“We were hoping they would cover it for us. They declare it a community event, so we were hoping they would waive this.”