The Northern Manitoba Skills Competition always brings out the best of the best when it comes to high school students demonstrating a certain skill set. Once again, the hairstyling portion of the competition was held in The Pas and showcased many talented students taking hairdressing at Mary Duncan School
“I taught hairstyling part-time between 2017 and 2023, while I went to school to complete my education degree,” said Mary Duncan School Hairstyling Instructor Becki Crozier. “I graduated this past June and am now teaching hairstyling full time at Mary Duncan School.

Cree Nation Tribal Health (CNTH) is presenting their first gathering, known as Weesahkayjak Comes Home, for Indigenous 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals in the tri-community. The event will be held for two days at The Pas Legion.
“This is our first time hosting the event,” said Connie Merasty. “I’m the 2SLGBTQIA+ Program Manager at Cree Nation Tribal Health and this position came up last year, so it’s fairly new. With the funding we were allotted, I decided to try and hold a gathering for 2SLGBTQIA+ people in the north. From that concept, we had an opportunity to host a small gathering here in The Pas.

The Pas Guest List has contracted an artist, this time from northern Manitoba, to do the second mural as part of their Walking Path Mural Project, which brings new life and art to the community. There were no specifications given to the artist on what to paint for this second mural, so it was like a blank canvass waiting to be brought to life.
“For the second mural it was really important to feature a local northern Manitoban Artist,” said The Pas Guest List Treasurer and Co-founder Gabrielle Swan. “Mike Spencer is so active in the arts community and his style is unlike anything we have in the other murals in The Pas; it was an obvious choice for us to commission him to create the second mural.

Opaskwayak Cree Nation’s (OCN) Rhonda Head has accomplished a great many things in her musical career, but now she has achieved something that was a personal goal she had set for herself. Head was asked to sing the national anthem in Cree, as part of the Winnipeg Aboriginal Sport Achievement Centre (WASAC) Night during a Winnipeg Jets game.
“This is their sixth year for the WASAC Night and they contact various Indigenous singers and performers to be a part of that evening,” said Head. “When they contacted me and I immediately said yes.

This year’s Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival (NMTF) Queen Trapper has come from a long line of competitors. She has competed against her sister who was last year’s Queen Trapper in hopes of winning the title and this has been her year.
“I have been competing in the NMTF’s Queen Trapper events since I was 13 years old, and I'm 36 now, however, I did take a break in between than to have my four children Marcus, Myles, Kacey and Kylie,” said NMTF 2024 Queen Trapper Kristen Burns. “It’s been almost 20 years that I've been competing and I owe it to my family who has always been supportive of me.

It was another successful run for this year’s Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival (NMTF). Despite the dog sled races being cancelled due to the lack of snow, there were still lots of highlights, events and festivities for spectators to engage in.
“The biggest difference from this year’s festival compared to last years is there were no dog races,” said NMTF Board of Directors Chairperson Laurie Stevenson.

The Pas Handi-Van is preparing for their annual radio pledgee show to help raise money for their operations this year. Along with raising operating funds, they are looking at raising money to purchase a new handi-van unit.
“We have our radio pledge show coming up on March 7 and 8,” said The Pas Handi-Van Office Manager Val Miron. “The community has always been beyond generous with their donations to support The Pas Handi-van; it simply amazing. The radio pledge show provides more ongoing operational support to The Pas Handi-van. Anything over that will go to the costs of a new van.

Canada Post is still struggling to provide consistent service to residents in the tri-community area. A letter of complaint was sent to Canada Post by a long-term resident of the area, who is beyond frustrated at the delays and lack of service.
In a letter written to the Churchill-Keewatinook Aski MP Niki Ashton and Manitoba NDP MLA Amanda Lathlin the following was stated, “I’m a long-time resident of The Pas with a considerable concern about the abysmal service from Canada Post in our community. I ask as elected representatives for the people in The Pas and surrounding area that you look into this matter and advocate for us for immediate improvement.
“Aside from the lack of access to the wickets in the post office during business hours, to the lack of timely delivery of parcels and mail that as a community we hear is due to staff shortages and inadequate space at the local post office; this has led to unreliability and limited access to a service we used to trust.