The Community Foundation of Swan Valley (CFSV) recommenced their annual gala for the first time in three years, hosting a full crowd of 132 in the Veterans Community Hall on Saturday evening (Nov. 12). The event produced a net profit of approximately $6,000 for the CFSV.

The Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division is getting tighter with each passing week.

The Dauphin Kings find themselves in a tie for second place with the Swan Valley Stampeders, with 26 points each, five behind the division-leading OCN Blizzard, one ahead of the Waywayseecappo Wolverines and two up on the Virden Oil Capitals. The Neepawa Titans bring up the rear with 18 points, six back of Virden.

The Kings earned a split in a pair of home games over the weekend, dropping a 5-2 decision to Virden on Saturday, before scoring a 3-2 overtime victory over the Winkler Flyers, Sunday.

Virden led 1-0 entering the third period and scored four times to break the game open.

On Sunday, after killing off a Winkler power play in overtime, Owen Wareham scored on a Kings power play to lift Dauphin to the victory.

Considering Saturday’s contest was a four-point game against a divisional opponent, it was a disappointing result, said Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley.

Since a 5-0 win over the Wolverines, Oct. 31, Hedley feels the Kings have gotten away from their game.

“And started doing more individual stuff and it carried over into Virden’s game. I don’t think we had the jump. We might have thought it was going to be easier than it was. We didn’t really play fast,” he said.

The Flyers are a big club and have some speed, Hedley stated.

“They can play,” he said.

The Kings were set back on their heels in the first period, thanks in part to four minor penalties. The Flyers controlled the second period, but the Kings, Hedley said, didn’t break.

Get the full rundown in this week's Dauphin Herald!

Dauphin’s new city council held its inaugural meeting, Nov. 6, after those successful in the recent municipal election took their oaths of office.

Forming council are mayor David Bosiak and councillors Kathy Bellemare, Randy Daley, Christian Laughland, Ted Rea, Devin Shtykalo and Steve Sobering.

Deputy-mayor

Under provisions of the Manitoba Municipal Act and the city’s organizational bylaw, council elected Laughland to serve as deputy-mayor. Laughland took on the role of mayor for the remainder of the last term following the death of Allen Dowhan in September 2021, but decided to step down and run for a council seat this past October.

Youth councillor

Under provisions of the Municipal Act, council appointed Emma Fox as a youth member on council, effective immediately to the end of June 2023. A youth member must be less than 18 years of age or enrolled as a full-time student in school and can participate in council’s deliberations, but is not counted for the purpose of determining a quorum or deciding a vote of council.

Signing authority

Council voted to assign city signing authority to Bosiak, Bellemare and Laughland as council representatives along with city manager Sharla Griffiths, deputy city manager Lisa Gaudet and director of Finance Scott Carr.

Commitment

Council passed a motion acknowledging the “efforts of its predecessors to establish and grow Dauphin into the thriving city it is today”, and commending “the local community groups and organizations that, through the hard work of their staff and volunteers, accomplish great things.” The motion also committed councillors to, “working with each other, municipal staff, the community and all other stakeholders to build upon the foundation of past successes to create a bright and prosperous future for Dauphin and the Parkland.”

Councillor privileges

The meeting closed with each councillor taking a few minutes to express their thanks for those who supported through the campaign and at the ballot box.

Dauphin’s Countryfest is getting ready for another successful edition of Canada’s longest running country music festival in 2023.

Last week, Countryfest organizers announced the first round of artists who will perform at Selo Ukraina between June 30 and July 2, 2023.

John Fogerty, Dierks Bentley, Walker Hayes, Tenille Townes, Tim Hicks, James Barker Band, Robyn Ottolini, Jason McCoy, Tim and The Glory Boys and DJ Johnny Rivex have all been contracted to perform throughout the weekend.

“We are thrilled to announce one of the most well-rounded lineups we have ever done,” said festival general manager Rob Waloschuk. “There is truly an artist for every Countryfest fan.”

Fogerty is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman of Creedence Clearwater Revival. He embarked on a highly successful solo career in 1973. Fogerty has been named by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the greatest singers and guitarists of all time.

Bentley has been pegged as “one of Country music’s most enviable brands, equal parts affability and authenticity” and boasts more than 6.4 billion overall digital streams. He has amassed nominations from the ACMs, CMAs, Billboard Music Awards, and Grammy’s and is currently nominated for CMA Male Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year and Music Video of the Year.”

Hayes, from Mobile, Alabama, is best known for tracks such as “You Broke Up With Me” and “Fancy Like.” He plays guitar and piano, and is known for his distinct voice. He’s toured with the likes of Kelsea Ballerini, Old Dominion, and Dan and Shay.

Townes is an award-winning singer, songwriter and musician and a 14-time Canadian Country Music Award winner, including being the reigning CCMA Entertainer of the Year.

All four performers will appear on the Club Regent Event Centre Main Stage.

Organizers also announced that Countryfest goers who purchase their tickets prior to Jan. 6, 2023, will also be able to enjoy the Thursday Kick-Off Party with The Road Hammers and Honeymoon Suite for free.

Weekend passes, VIP passes, camping and seating go on sale Nov. 21st at 10 a.m. and can be purchased online at www.countryfest.ca or by calling toll-free to 1-800-361-7300.

A program aimed at helping Dauphin residents get in the habit of securing their properties was a great success according to organizer Lisa Gaudet.

The 9 PM Routine - a municipally-led campaign featuring nightly email reminders to secure property by removing valuables from vehicles, locking vehicle doors, locking all exterior doors and turning on an outside light - wrapped up Nov. 6, the deputy city manager said.

“Our social media analytics show that we reached more than 23,000 people, so that is well above and beyond the majority of any other post we have republished on our social media,” Gaudet said. “There was really lively engagement. We had lots of people sharing, liking, commenting. It really helped us to spread the message.”

Gaudet added other municipalities have reached out to her hoping to duplicate the campaign.

On top of the nightly email messages, the campaign involved the local RCMP detachment with officers scouring neighbourhoods and leaving calling cards when they found unsecured property.

“I’m supposed to be having a meeting with (RCMP) next week, just to review from their perspective what the impact was of the campaign. But by all accounts, they felt that occurrences were reduced,” Gaudet said. “So it was very successful. I think we really needed positive messaging. It was the kind of messaging that brings us all together and lets people know that the city is listening. And it was kind of a fun catchy campaign just to connect the community and to connect the city and the RCMP with our residents.”

Given the importance of being aware of crimes of opportunity, Gaudet said the information used in the campaign will be placed on the city’s website in the coming weeks as part of a community safety. It is also quite likely that in the future the campaign will be resurrected, Gaudet added.

“Just as a refresher, possibly in the spring. Because the incidence of mischief, people roaming at night and getting into people’s vehicles and backyards, generally increases in the spring and during the summer,” she said. “So it’s probably a good time to resurrect the campaign at that time. So that’s something we would look at.”

Members of Roblin Branch #24 of the Royal Canadian Legion and the community took time to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country at Friday’s Remembrance Day service at the Community Centre.

The service, which was emceed by Branch #24 President Wes Smigelsky, above at right, offered some poignant reminders of those who died serving their nation.

Check out our tribute in this week’s Review to find out more.

The Manitoba government is implementing a health human resource action plan moving to end mandating overtime by adding 2,000 health-care professionals with an investment of $200 million to retain, train and recruit health-care staff across the province

“Manitobans, and all Canadians, expect their leaders to come together to solve issues that matter most to them. We are listening and we are taking action,” said Premier Heather Stefanson in announcing the plan.

Read more in this week’s Review.

It’s taken longer than everyone on the board of Roblin Minor Baseball expected but work has finally begun on the long-awaited Currey Park concession.

Along with the demolition of the old and derelict canteen building on the site, construction crews got footings and grade beams poured and finalized before winter set in.

Read all about in this week’s issue.

The Major Pratt Senior Girls Varsity Volleyball Team have had an absolutely stellar season to date, winning all but one of the six high school tournaments they’ve entered.

The team is hoping to continue their success throughout the remainder of their season and their goal is to bring home the Provincial Championship banner for the second year in a row.

Provincials are set for Dec 1-3 in The Pas. While that record is due to the skill, hard work and determination of the ladies of Major Pratt, someone who hasn’t been talked about much is their coach Tanya Thompson who helped coach Team Manitoba to a gold medal in the 2022 Canada Summer Games for Women’s Indoor Volleyball (U19 age class).

Tanya says her admission into the Canada Games Women in Coaching Apprentice Program was a dream come true - even if Covid changed things up a little and definitely made the process longer. (Tanya found out she was accepted into the program in March 2020 and was originally supposed to be coaching as part of the games in 2021 which, because of the pandemic, was delayed until this past summer).

Get the full story in this week's Russell Banner!

The wait is over and change has finally come to Swan Valley West municipality.
Voters elected their new reeve and council to represent them and they’re already at work. Newly elected Swan Valley West Reeve Bill Gade says the feedback he has been hearing from ratepayers has been nothing but positive.
“I’ve never seen ratepayers so happy to see a change in leadership,” said newly elected Swan Valley West Reeve Bill Gade. “We’ve already held two meetings already, and at the end of those meetings, every member of Council was sitting around the table laughing, chatting and talking, not about municipal business, but about what was going on in our lives and in general. That, in my mind, was step one to get a Council of seven people to actually speak and listen to each other. Council members seem happy to see each other and that’s going to be the basis of making a difference.”
There has been some concern in the past with Swan Valley West ratepayers feeling like there was no transparency or open communication with the previous council.
The newly elected council for Swan Valley West is aware of that issue and trying to provide more information to the public about what is going on.
“We’re going to do a few things,” said Gade. “At our first meeting, we chose to discuss the fire department in the public meeting. I have heard from countless numbers of people who watched that discussion, that they appreciated that we told them a little bit more about what is going on, instead of going in camera and hiding. We can’t do that for every topic, every time, but we’re going to try to discuss it more in meetings so that people see what’s going on.
“Outside of the meetings, we’re going to do a much better job of telling people what is going on. We’ve already discussed as a council a few different topics that are a high priority to the public, of getting the information together and making sure it’s accurate, and then releasing it to the public, so they can form their own opinions.”
Gade knows there are several issues on the table, that need to be dealt with, but the new council can’t address them all at once. Swan Valley West is working on putting a plan in place to deal with both the roads and water situation in Benito.
“There’s a bunch of them,” said Gade. “We’re looking at roads right now and everything to do with them. Unfortunately, it’s so late in the year that we’re not going to make an impact on that right now, but we’re going to when it comes to snow plowing and do a better job of that. It will be springtime before we can address the issues with the roads in the municipality, but we’re already talking about what kind of gravel we need and where it needs to go. We’ve got some contractors ready to get more product available so when spring comes, we’re ready to go. This is one of the main things we want to get done.
“The water quality in Benito is an ongoing discussion. It’s just as important as the roads and is being dealt with. There will be more to publicly say on that in a couple of week's time. On Oct. 1, we saw an interim order from the Public Utilities Board that is seeing the water rates in Benito triple or quadruple. That’s on our radar and we’re looking into that. We’re hoping to have information for the public on that matter in a couple of weeks and what we’re going to do about the water quality and pricing. There’s likely some resolution other than saying pay more, pay more. There’s probably something more fairly that we can do for people in Benito because we want fairness. We want everyone to pay their fair share and no one to get a free ride.”
It’s been well known about the controversy of having someone working in media and being on a municipal council, and Gade has been no stranger to this ordeal. This time around, he is taking a more active stance to try and separate the two roles.
“There’s going to be some challenges and we can all see that there will be some in terms of this,” said Gade. “We’ve hired an additional person at the station, to work as a reporter, to try and address that challenge and get me out of the day-to-day news operations. I will always be here managing the stations; that’s what I do and I own them.
“I’m trying to get out of some of the roles to prevent any conflict so that we don’t have a matter where it’s the reeve saying something. We’re going to be working very hard that when things are broadcast, it’s the radio station, and if the Reeve has something to say, it’s the Reeve who says it. On Facebook, there’s now a reeve account and if I need to say something as reeve, it will be posted on that account, so it will be clear as to who is saying it, rather than a news story from the station.”
Recently Swan Valley West has accepted the resignation of former CAO, James Webb. Gade knows it’s been a challenge in the past to fill that role, but feels with the positive changes moving forward, that the municipality will find the right and properly educated person to take on the job.
“We’ve had some discussion about this and there’s some advertising out for the CAO,” said Gade. “We’re looking for someone who has municipal experience, that understands The Municipal Act, and the rules we have to operate by, so we don’t have any more expensive mistakes. It’s not a secret that we’ve had some challenges in the past filling that role, but we’ve had some interest in the position already.”