Colleen Talbot, Martijn van Luijn and Lana Davidson put some smiles on cookies baked at the local Tim Horton’s as the annual Smile Cookie campaign took place last week.

At last report, Dauphin was the number one seller of the special delicacies across Canada.

Proceeds of the campaign will go to the Parkland Crisis Centre and Women’s Shelter.

The Dauphin branch of Kang’s Taekwondo Academy hosted the academy’s annual inter-club championships, Saturday at the Watson Arts Centre.

Athletes from across the province competed in the tournament, which featured patterns, sparring and breaking, with a maximum of two boards for each division.

The Dauphin Kings hosted their annual spring development camp over the weekend, with 125 players hoping to get noticed by the team’s coaching and scouting staff.

The team is currently offering early bird season tickets for next season.

Adult season tickets are $249, senior tickets are $219, student ages 13 to 17 are $119 and children ages six to 12 are $59.

Flex tickets are also available with a 30-game flex pack going for $295 and a 10-game flex pack is $105.

Kozak Siromaha performed in front of about 60 people, Sunday at the Ukrainian Orthodox Auditorium.

The Ukrainian artist shared with the audience the traditions and customs of the Cossack lifestyle, while performing on the harmonium.

All proceeds from the event will be used to support operations of the Ukraine Armed Forces.

Twenty local groups and organizations looking for volunteers had the chance to take part in a volunteer market at the Dauphin Active Living Centre, Saturday afternoon.

The market included a presentation from Volunteer Manitoba, as well as Martijn van Luijn, economic development manager for the City of Dauphin, and Jerry Joss, who spoke about his own volunteerism.

Deborah Slonowsky, Dauphin and Area Welcoming Communities Coalition co-ordinator with Regional Connections, said there is no limit to the number of volunteers they can use.

“Because we need volunteers sometimes just to work at an event, which will be a two-hour commitment. And sometimes volunteers will want to commit to a longer term like being a language buddy, which might take place over several months, sometimes years. And those flourish sometimes into a friendships that becomes a lifelong thing,” she said, adding they will go with whatever the volunteer is looking for.

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Earl Thompson tees off on no. 6 at the Dauphin Lake Golf Club, Friday, as the local course opened for business earlier than expected.

Although it was a cool day, the course was busy as local golfers were eager to hit the links. The Gilbert Plains Country Club also opened for the season on Saturday.

It was the best of both worlds when the Rotary Club of Dauphin hosted its annual wine tasting event, Friday, in conjunction with its bi-annual book sale, which ran from Thursday to Saturday at the Ukrainian Orthodox Auditorium.

The book sale itself proved to be a hit with a new record of just under $8,000 in books being sold over the three days, including more than $1,200 in sales on the evening of the wine tasting, for which 238 tickets were sold.

The combination worked quite well, according to organizer JL Guillas, with many positive comments from the wine vendors, who thought it was a unique and interesting combination.

Costs and profit for the wine event are still being calculated, but it was a definite success, Guillas said, with a lot of fun for attendees.

There is something about playing on their home court that brings out the best in the Parkland Vipers volleyball players.

The 15U Vipers became the program’s third team to win its home tournament, this past weekend.

Parkland finished second in its pool after round-robin play, opening with a 26-24, 7-25 and 8-15 loss to the Westman Wave.

The Vipers rebounded with a 25-8 and 25-20 win over CW Smash, followed by a 26-27, 25-20 and 15-11 win over Vision Elite Blue.

Parkland opened the playoffs with a 25-15 and 25-17 win over the Kenora Lakers in the quarterfinals and advanced to the championship match with a 23-25, 25-21 and 15-12 win over the CW Rage.

The final was a battle of the Parkland with the Vipers coming out on top over the Predators, 25-22, 20-25 and 16-14.

Vipers coach Nicole Yarema said the team played well throughout the tournament.

“It feels like things are finally coming together. This was their last tournament before provincials and it feels really good to end things on such a positive note,” she said.

The team has been consistently improving with every tournament they’ve played since the start of the season, Yarema said.

“This tournament especially, they were playing like a team. They were playing strategically. You could see the things that they’ve been learning in practice. It was really, really good for everyone,” she added.

Yarema hopes the team can carry the momentum from this tournament win into provincials, May 6 and 7, in Winnipeg.

“Our ranking is pretty low, so our goal is to come out in the top half,” she said.

Winning their home tournament is a special moment, Yarema said.

“As a coach, it’s definitely one of those moments that makes you super proud. All the girls worked really hard and they definitely deserved the win,” she said.

As for provincials, the expectation is to keep playing they way they have in recent tournaments.

“They’ve definitely shown me that they have got it in them to win. The team that we beat in the final, the Predators, are ranked quite a bit higher than us, so I’m hoping that they can really show everything that they’ve learned,” Yarema said.

Branch and Riley Langevin, who will soon turn three years old, enjoy an ice cream treat from A Scoop of Happiness, Dauphin’s new ice cream shop.

A Scoop of Happiness opened for business on Friday, serving soft and hard ice cream treats, just in time for summer.

It will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.