Shawn Bailey
Council candidates coming forward
With the registration period for those seeking council seats in the Oct. 26 general municipal election opening last week, Kirk Dawson has been busy.
The Senior Election Official for the City of Dauphin and the Rural Municipality of Dauphin said inquiries from prospective candidates and requests for registration packages have been brisk.
“There is tons of interest. (In the City) We’ve already got five registered and none of those are incumbents,” Dawson said. “We’ve had a few other inquiries beyond that. So for the first week basically, it’s under a week actually, it’s been very active.”
At this point, registered candidates for city council include Joe Houston, Ted Rea, Michael Winter, Carter Luke and Sharon Riehl while the mayorality is being contested by David Bosiak and Kerri Riehl.
In the RM two candidates have registered with incumbent councillor Tom Gibbs entering the race for reeve while incumbent reeve Ron Ryz has registered to contest for a council seat.
“Again there are a couple of other packages out, where we’re waiting for the registrations,” Dawson added.
Prospective candidates will have an opportunity to get a better feel for the job of an elected official when the City and RM hold prospective candidates forums, at the RM of Dauphin Office, July 13, at 7 p.m. for rural candidates and at City Hall, July 14, at 7 p.m. for city candidates.
At each forum municipal staff will lay out what is involved in being a councillor in terms of duties and time commitments while the two governments have partnered to bring in former Association of Manitoba Municipalities executive director Joe Masi as a keynote speaker each night.
“He’s been around politics for a long time and he’s going to be coming out and talking about what makes good councils and what doesn’t,” Dawson said. “It’s for anybody that’s considering running, to give them a little better perspective on what it might look like if they did put their name forward.”
While he waits for other registration packages to be returned Dawson is busy preparing for polling day. Currently he is hiring voting officials and assistant voting officials. About 30 people will be needed to assist with the city election while another 10 are required to help out in the RM process.
“These are the people that work at the polls on election day and the advanced polls.” he said, adding he already has an extensive list of interested applicants.
Anyone interested in getting on that list can contact city hall at 204-622-3200 or by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
“We’ll probably start phoning next week. We have a list of the people in the past and I’ve got several other people that have mentioned their names, but I can always take more names. It’s sort of a first come, first serve thing,” Dawson said. “We’ll certainly get their names down and as they go down the list we’ll make sure we consider them.”
The nomination period for both head of council and council positions runs Sept. 14 to 20 with Sept. 21 as the withdrawal deadline.
Advance polling runs Oct. 3 to 21, and election day is Oct. 26, with polls open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
A triumphant return for the GP-GV fair and rodeo
With the beautiful weather and the strong support from sponsors and the public, it is evident to Kevin Boese the return of the Gilbert Plains- Grandview Agricultural Society’s Fair and Rodeo was meant to be.
The society president said considering the event has not been held for two years, he could not be more pleased with the result.
“I think it went really, really well. The gates were busy. It was well attended, the stands were full and we had beautiful weather the entire time,” Boese said. “Everything went very smoothly.”
The two years off did present some minor challenges for organizers as some minor details went unaddressed.
“Considering that we haven’t had a fair for two years we had kind of forgotten how to run one, but in the end everything went very smoothly,” he said. “The beer gardens were full, the sun was hot and everybody had a great time.”
Participation in the rodeo was tremendous, Boese added, with more than 200 contestants registered, along with 18 chuckwagons and 13 chariots. That was a nice surprise for Boese, who worried the cost of travel might be too much for some competitors.
“With the high gas prices that we’ve been having I was a bit concerned about people driving and showing up,” he said. “But it didn’t seem too offensive. I noticed that a bunch of guys were carpooling together and they made it work.”
The results of the chuckwagon and chariot races is available on the Manitoba Professional Chuckwagon and Chariot Association website while rodeo results will be available soon on the Heartland Rodeo Association website, Boese said. On the fair side of the equation things went well with the trade show and craft show both proving to be popular stops. Also popular was the Show and Shine Car Show in the arena and the Manitoba Junior Hockey League champion Dauphin Kings booth which saw players displaying the Turnbull Cup and posing for pictures with fans.
Other fair highlights included the light horse events and kids activities centred around the petting zoo.
Boese said plans are to grow the fair side of weekend in the coming years.
“It was a great way to start out but it’ll definitely be better and maybe arranged a little bit better, so it’s very good for next year,” Boese said, adding the time away made organizers a little rusty, but things worked out in the end. “There was just little things that we maybe kind of forgot to do and just made it a little bit more difficult on the volunteers to try and kind of step up and do things on the go that we forgot. But we powered it through and it went very well.”
Like other events which have returned following the pandemic, securing volunteers was somewhat of a concern heading in, but the people involved made it work, Boese said.
“We definitely could have used a few more volunteers, But boy oh boy the ones that showed up, did they ever work hard to get stuff done,” he said adding dedication to, and support for the event is what makes it work “Everything just went very well thanks to all the volunteers and everybody that supported us and all the great sponsorships. We have a huge team of the sponsorships that we rely on throughout the Parkland and we just couldn’t do it without them either.”
That kind of support invigorates organizers, Boese said, and they are already back at work planning for next year.
“I already sent out a group message this morning about writing down ideas to get bigger and different for next year, so it’s fresh in our minds,” he said, adding the success this year shows organizers that people want to see the event continue.
“The stands were packed full both days. We had great attendance, zero complaints about any of that. It was very well attended.”
Dauphin’s Countryfest back in the groove: Ransom
Planning and executing a world class music festival is a lot like riding a bike - it doesn’t matter if you haven’t done it for awhile, muscle memory kicks in and everything comes flooding back.
At least that is the experience for Dauphin’s Countryfest organizers who brought Canada’s longest running country music festival back to Selo Ukraina after a two-year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There might have been some rust on day one, festival president Ann Ransom said, but by day two everyone was “back in the groove.”
“Of course, there is always going to be a few things where you think ‘right, I forgot about that’ or ‘how did we do that in the past?’,” Ransom said. “Everybody was pitching in and everybody was helping each other out. We have a really, really, really good team. Everybody rolls up their sleeves and everybody pitches in. When you need somebody you are never on your own. We work really well together, so it has made it a lot easier to shake off the cobwebs and get going again.”
In fact the return of the festival exceeded all expectations, Ransom said, adding she was cautiously optimistic heading into the weekend. Comments organizers received from patrons throughout the weekend were encouraging, Ransom said, adding the smaller crowd this year was a highlight for those attending and is something organizers will put on the table for discussion when it comes to the future of Countryfest.
“Because it was truly a unique experience that we hadn’t had before because we have always had the big, big crowds and that just doesn’t feel the same,” she said. “This a little bit more personable and it really just had a different vibe this year. And we would like to replicate that for future festivals.”
Of course, limiting crowds affects income and it is a fine balancing act to a combination that works, Countryfest general manager Rob Waloschuk added.
“We’ve made adjustments in some things like the entertainment, the production, all of that sort of stuff. We’ve tried to play both sides of it. We’re going to have less income we know that, so how do we how do we make it work on this other side? So we’ve been working hard at trying to do that,” he said.
One of the big changes this year was a return to a three-day festival with Thursday night set aside for an appreciation evening in honour of festival patrons who rolled over their tickets for Countryfest’s two-year hiatus in 2020 and 2021.
“We went back to what we originally started this festival as, a three-day festival. However, we made that Thursday available to everybody who kept their tickets,” Waloschuk said. “So many people came up to us and said ‘we just want to thank you for doing this for us.’ And I said to them that ‘we want to thank you for doing this for us. You saved us’.”
That nod to the past was a big theme of the 2022 festival, Ransom added.
“We had this whole ‘Return to the Hill’, but I think we also had a return to our roots. We have really found a core of people for our festival who will always come out and support us and we just really need to recognize that and thank them for it. Applaud them for helping us out and knowing how important it is to keep this festival going. “Those that really truly believe in the festival have shown up and lots of kudos to them. It has just been fantastic.”
Other changes made for this year around vendors and the use of tokens rather than cash for purchasing food and merchandise have, after some initial pushback, worked as predicted, Waloschuk added. It was always the plan to cut back somewhat on vendors to make things more viable for all vendors, he said.
“This year we knew would be a little slower than normal, so cut a few back and help those vendors that are here actually make more money. And that’s been successful,” he said, adding one vendor, a festival veteran, sold out of her weekend supplies by the end of Friday night, restocked for the weekend the next day and sold out again that night. “So that’s kind of been the story everywhere.”
Ransom added vendors are already signing up to return next year.
“From the festival patrons there has been lots of comments about the variety and the unique items that we have up there. Which is always kind of nice,” she said. “It’s great feedback for us because, of course, we changed something. We went a different way. We are just trying to stay at pace with other festivals and other events in what they are doing. And we are finding it works for us. It is good to see.”
Change is always hard, Ransom said, but the results speak for themselves.
“Obviously, we had to make money this year to keep the festival going. And we didn’t want to do that unsustainably, or by causing hardship for others, so we came up with a system that we thought would be fair and the feedback has been really good,” she said. “The vendors definitely bought into the process and are fully supportive of it. And it is great that they are already interested in next year.”
And that means big things for the community, Waloschuk said, reflecting on all of the development and support Countryfest has provided Dauphin over the last three decades.
“I just want to make sure everybody realizes how hard this organization has worked for this community and how much it means for this community. I think that gets lost sometimes and when it’s been gone for a couple years,” he said, adding the festival did have some difficulty securing volunteers this year. “All the local sponsors have stepped up, and beyond what they would normally do, absolutely stepped up in more ways than just their sponsorship, just to make sure this happens. We can thank them by doing certain things throughout the year and having a reception and stuff here. But I just want to thank them publicly like this.”
That support and confidence adds up to a bright future for Countryfest and the community.
“We are back, baby, and we are excited to be back,” Ransom said, “We are definitely alive and well and healthy and that bodes well for the city of Dauphin.”
Organizers, she said, are ready to go and feel like they have turned the corner.
“We will see some changes. The board of directors will be busy meeting after the festival, once we have all caught up on our sleep, just to debrief and say this worked well, we need to fix this. We are always looking at other festivals to see what they are doing and listening to our patrons. We are constantly trying to be innovative and change things, but also keeping our core values in place,” she said.
“We weathered the storm and we are starting to pick up steam and we are going to be in a good place.”
City, RM host AMM district meeting
Municipal representatives from across the Parkland were in Dauphin last week for the Association of Manitoba Municipalities’ June District meeting.
“It was a decent crowd with people from as far as Roblin and as close as Gilbert Plains,” Dauphin mayor Christian Laughland said, adding between 60 and 70 delegates attended. “People were excited to be back, because that’s the first one we’ve had since 2019.”
The district meeting is an opportunity for elected officials to discuss issues of common concern, such as the new RCMP policing, municipal insurance options, materials procurement and immigration.
But more than that, it is an opportunity to get to know other elected officials from the area, which can only really be done face-to-face and lays the foundation for future co-operation.
“It’s very important, not only from getting stuff done, but just the networking and talking to people,” Laughland said, adding he had good conversations with NDP leader Wab Kinew, Swan River mayor Lance Jacobson and AMM president Kam Blight.
“I wouldn’t do that on a virtual meeting, because at virtual meetings you just get down to business and unless you have a question, you’re not going to be talking one-on-one with people.”
As well as Kinew, the province was represented by Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration John Reyes, who gave a presentation on immigration to the province.
Most importantly, the meeting was an opportunity to debate and vote on resolutions to be presented to the AMM Fall Convention.
A number of resolutions were chosen to move on including one to lobby the province for waste disposal financial assistance, sponsored by Mossey River Municipality; a City of Dauphin-sponsored resolution calling on the province to encourage and fund all municipalities in developing community safety and wellbeing plans; a resolution calling on the province to make changes to Farmland Portioned assessment, sponsored by the Ste. Rose Municipality; a Roblin Municipality resolution calling for a review of the licensing procedures for internationally educated nurses; and a resolution calling for the wages of municipal personnel to be covered under disaster financial assistance, sponsored by Mossey River Municipality.
The meeting was also a chance to present RM of Dauphin councillor Dennis Forbes a 20-Year Service Award.
No mosquito fogging, says City
Manitoba’s two largest urban centres are gearing up to begin fogging operations for nuisance mosquitoes, but Dauphin residents will have to deal with the pervasive pests on their own as the City of Dauphin has opted against fogging as a control measure at this time.
“The City of Dauphin is not in a position at this time to fog our community in an effort to kill adult nuisance mosquitoes,” mayor Christian Laughland said, adding there is a lot of preparation for such an operation and its effectiveness is dependent on many factors, such as rain, temperature, the creation of buffer zones for residents who do not want their property fogged and time of day fogging occurs.
“Number one is we don’t have the equipment to do it, so we would have to hire someone to come in and do it, and we’d be looking at a significant charge in the tens of thousands of dollars. Cities like Brandon, they have their own pest control unit and we don’t have that here,” Laughland said.
Laughland added the City is currently exploring all aspects of fogging, from the costs of renting and buying equipment to proper procedures and planning fogging areas.
“Do we stop at the city lines, or do we start going outside into the RM because of the possibility of a 40 kilometer an hour wind blowing mosquitoes back in?” he said. “There’s been reports of places mosquito fogging and the mosquitoes coming back within three days. But then it’s been good and worked up to 14 days, too. So if we had to hire someone to come in and do it, would they be coming in every two weeks? Would they be coming in every week to do it? If we’re paying them that adds up pretty quick. So they’re investigating the cost of equipment and everything to do with mosquito fogging and just improving things down the road.”
Laughland said the situation is continually being monitored and fogging could be triggered by the right set of circumstances, specifically the appearance of the West Nile Virus. Should that occur, he said fogging efforts would be supported financially by the province.
One of the problems, he added, is that the province removed its mosquito traps from Dauphin a number of years ago meaning the City has to rely on data from other communities. For now, the City will continue with its annual larviciding efforts in an attempt to impact the appearance of adult mosquitoes by striking them in their larval stage.
“It’s going to be pushed to its maximum capabilities. As long as the staff at DRS are able to do it, they’ll be doing it to its maximum capacity possible to slow down and help drop the mosquito population,” Laughland said. “Again, they’re looking into research on how often can they do it. If they can do it say once a week they’ll do it once a week.”
There are also ways city residents can help with the effort by eliminating problem areas on their property. One of the most effective measures is to control standing water by changing the water in pet bowls, bird baths, wading pools and vases at least once a week. Ensure that rain barrels are covered with a fine screen and tightly sealed around the downspout and clean your yard of old tires, empty flower pots and buckets and empty standing water from children’s toys, eavestroughs, tarp covers and plant trays.
“Keeping your grass mowed is kind of a significant one,” Laughland said.
The City appreciates residents’ frustration, Laughland said, and hopes everyone can work together to reduce nuisance mosquitoes around the community.
“We were due to have a bad year for mosquitoes. The last two years mosquitoes have barely been noticeable it was only a matter of time before the mosquito population exploded. Hopefully this year is just a one-off,” he said.
Dauphin’s Countryfest returns to the hill after two-year hiatus
Dauphin’s Countryfest’s return to the hill is only days away and, after a two year absence, festival president Ann Ransom could not be more excited.
“It is just wonderful. We’re a little rusty, but it is so good. Being a community person in the City of Dauphin and working in the Parkland here for so many years, I just can’t wait to see that new money flowing in to give a boost to these poor businesses that COVID has just been so hard on,” she said.
In the past Countryfest has kicked off with a Thursday night party open to everyone. This year things will be a bit different.
“It’s a smaller Thursday kickoff,” Ransom said, adding the evening will be for those who have rolled their tickets over while the festival has been cancelled the last two years. “Just because we wanted to show our appreciation to those folks that knew that we were going to be struggling without having our big revenue, being the festival, for two years. It’s been a bit of a struggle and thankfully those people recognized it and said ‘hey we believe in you. We’re going to keep our funds in there.’ And really, we wouldn’t be where we are without those folks. So we just wanted to do a bit of an appreciation just to say thank you, you’re keeping us running.”
The festival hits full stride Friday with a Canada Day celebration “like no other,” Ransom said.
“We’re finally getting together and I just can’t wait to feel that energy off the amphitheater. People coming together, having a good time, singing along and just getting together with our friends. I’m already getting goosebumps,” she said.
Don Amero gets things started on the Club Regent Casino and Event Centre Main Stage at 3:30 p.m., followed by Jess Moskaluke at 5 p.m.
Washboard Union gets the evening celebration going, hitting the stage at 7 p.m., followed by Terri Clark at 8:30 p.m. Paul Brandt takes over the show at 10 p.m. to round out Friday’s entertainment.
“It’s just going to be a fantastic, nice way to kick things off,” Ransom said.
Saturday’s main stage entertainment gets underway at 2 p.m. with Nate Haller, followed by Jade Eagleson at 3:30 p.m. and The Reklaws at 5 p.m.
Chad Brownlee kicks off the evening at 7 p.m. followed by Dean Brody at 8:30 p.m., with Dallas Smith taking to the stage at 10 p.m. to round out the day.
On Sunday the main stage gets underway at 1 p.m. with Madeline Merlo. Tyler Joe Miller takes over at 2:30 p.m., followed by Doc Walker at 4 p.m.
Michelle Wright opens the evening show at 6:30 p.m., followed by Hunter Brothers at 8 p.m.
Johnny Reid closes out the weekend with a 9:30 p.m. start.
As always there will be lots to do away from the main stage with a full lineup of entertainment set for the Bell MTS Stage and Credit Union Corral Stage. And a full range of food vendors will carry on the Countryfest tradition of offering a wide array of culinary delights.
Ransom said basically all of the pieces are in place for the weekend, although additional volunteers would not be turned away.
“We’re still looking for volunteers here and there. But thankfully people have really come out. I understand it’s been two years that people haven’t really gotten together and I get that there might be some hesitancy in that. But we put a call out there for volunteers and, Dauphin being Dauphin, they have come out and supported us,” she said.
“It’s nice to see people coming back and wanting to volunteer. They understand how important Countryfest is to the community and it’s so great to see people coming out and just going ‘yep, we’ve got to make this happen.’ It just feels like a great big team effort.”
Ransom added there are still some tickets available for the festival, both day tickets and weekend passes, although she thinks that might change quickly.
“Tickets are going to be a hot commodity, especially when people start seeing what the weather’s like and once folks are starting to post on social media,” she said. “I think we’re going to see people going, ‘you know what, let’s maybe take a day from the lake and go and visit friends that might be up there’.”
Either way, Countryfest is back and that means big things for small groups and organizations fund-raising for their year’s activities or local businesses recovering from the effects of the COVID pandemic.
“So businesses out there in Dauphin just a heads up that we’re basically causing a population boom for the city,” Ransom said, adding the festival will provide exposure to other attractions in the area such as the Northgate Trails. “It’s always just nice to see that injection into fund-raising that’s not out of everybody’s pocket here in the city, but that’s new funding coming in. That’s always a nice little boost to all our great non-profits we’ve got in the Parkland.”
Family fund effects positive
For the last few months the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund has been soliciting support for its efforts to relocate families displaced by the war in Ukraine.
And with nine families making their way to the Parkland so far, the positive effects of those efforts are starting to show.
“Our original plan was 12, however if the funds continue and we are able to, we will support more,” said Fr. Brent Kuzyk of Saint George’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church who sits on the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund.
Nataliia and her daughter Milana arrived in Dauphin recently, after fleeing Kyiv on Feb. 24. The two made their way to Lubin, Poland, by car, unsure of what lay ahead for them.
“We couldn’t make our way right to Poland so we spent six days in our car waiting in a line,” Nataliia said. “Then we travelled around Poland to find a place to stay.”
The young family were included in a federal government chartered flight to Winnipeg.
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Bosiak enters race to become Dauphin’s next mayor
There is officially a race to become Dauphin’s new mayor as local businessman and community advocate David Bosiak registered as a candidate yesterday.
For Bosiak, the motivation for letting his name stand was simple, to ensure the progress he has seen in the community over the last number of years continues.
“We were on pause for two years with COVID and I think that the city right now has an opportunity to continue on in a forward direction or be diverted or distracted by what I would call minor issues,” Bosiak said. “And so I just want to assist in moving us forward in a method that has sort of been my process my whole career. Working with other people.”
To illustrate the effectiveness of a collaborative approach, Bosiak points to the restructuring of recreation delivery in the early 1990s and the formation of the Dauphin Joint Recreation Commission which brought together several groups which had never officially worked together in the past.
Baseball advocates wanted new fields, soccer advocates wanted new pitches, proponents of hockey wanted a new arena and swimmers wanted a new pool.
“Our strategy was let’s get people together. We have to hear what their priorities are. Because before that people had priorities, but they were never collectively shared and then prioritized,” he said, adding a community roundtable discussion brought together 50 or 60 groups, each with an opportunity to express their wants and desires.
The process resulted in a list of community priorities which were worked on by everyone.
“We held everyone accountable by saying if this is priority one for us as a community we’ll all work on priority one. And if it gets accomplished then we just won’t go away, we will then work on priority two, three, four,” he said, adding he recently looked at some old notes from that time. “We listed 20 priorities, which is a lot at any given time for sure,” he said, citing a new arena, a new curling rink, a new pool, new sports fields, new soccer pitches and new walking trails and bike paths as being all in the top 10.
“When I looked at that list a couple weeks ago, we achieved everything. Not at once and not immediately, but up to 20 community priorities from 1993, they’ve all been achieved, they exist today. And mostly because nobody ran away after their priority got completed.
“Obviously completing the project is a priority, but it’s how you get it completed.”
It is all about what is good for the community, he continued, recalling a conversation with an older resident during the time when the push was on to develop the Parkland Recreation Complex.
“He said, “I don’t swim, I don’t curl. I’m an old guy, I’m 75, 80 years old. But if this means my kids will come home more often to visit me, I’m in favor of it. It’s good for us as a community’,” Bosiak said. “That just was such a message to me . . . you may not be the primary consumer or user of that service, but if it benefits the general sense of community it’s good.
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Jaddock ready for his new role as MVSD superintendent/CEO
Stephen Jaddock is preparing to step into the role of Mountain View School Division superintendent/CEO.
The current assistant superintendent has been hired to take over from Dan Ward when he leaves the division at the end of the month.
“I’ve been three years in the assistant superintendent role, and, of course, came to that position from the ranks of being a teacher and a principal and vice-principal within the division,” Jaddock said, adding he enjoys his role in administration. “It’s the ability to make decisions that influence education and influence what happens with students and with teachers and staff involved in the system. It just gives you a little bit of a role in that.”
Born in Brandon, Jaddock came to Dauphin via Edmonton.
“Of course my dad was born in Dauphin and we’d visit my baba here. I knew where Dauphin was on the map and I spent some good times here,” he said.
Jaddock started with MVSD in the 1993-94 school year as a Ukrainian language and Chemistry teacher at Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School.
“I had sent sort of an application package just blindly to every school division that had an English/Ukrainian bilingual program,” he said, adding it was the year Grade 9s were leaving Mackenzie Middle School for the DRCSS and a Ukrainian instructor was needed. “I got called for an interview and the rest is history.”
After three years teaching at the DRCSS, Jaddock moved to Smith-Jackson School where he taught for another four years before moving into the principal’s chair for a nine-year stint following which he moved back to the DRCSS as a vice-principal.
“My first year at the DRCSS they had an adult learning center, so I was also the director of the adult learning center. I just finished a master’s degree, so that was something that they were looking at having somebody look after,” he said, adding the program moved out of the school after the first year. “So then I did almost two years as a dual credits facilitator for the school division, working on getting high school students some college courses and university courses while still in Grade 12.”
And Jaddock is looking forward to putting everything he has learned throughout his career into action as superintendent.
“I’m just humbled and honoured to serve and I feel that all of the different positions that I’ve been able to have throughout my career will help me in that role as superintendent,” he said. “Right now the big thing is after coming out of COVID, learning and the mental health of students and staff is first and foremost. And making sure that we get on that firm foundation of where we want to move.”
Jaddock added the division has not been able to complete any “robust” planning in the last number of years.
“Looking at where do we want to be in the next five years or three to five years. We’ve just been able to do one-year plans the last couple of years, so what we’re looking forward to is being able to do a little bit more of the long-term planning,” he said. “Our minds were just in survival mode throughout the pandemic. When we were in the throes of the pandemic, we were just worried about one day at a time and we weren’t doing a whole lot of future thinking.”
Jaddock added the job will be made easier thanks to the firm footing Ward has put the division on and the talented staff at the division office.
“The great thing about Mountain View School Division is that there’s an excellent team in place at the division office and with all of our administrators and staff to work with students and to help them along the way,” he said.
Jaddock’s replacement in the assistant superintendent’s role will be announced soon.
Grad celebrations returning to “normal”
Graduation ceremonies throughout Mountain View School Division will have an air of familiarity this spring, as the division has cleared school to return to in-person convocations.
Over the last couple of years graduation exercises across MVSD have been “different”, said MVSD superintendent Dan Ward, with formats such as drive-through ceremonies, outdoor events or grad parades promoting the social distancing requirements of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve always made our decisions guided by the public health guidance of the day,” Ward said. “In reviewing the public health guidance as it stands right now, we felt comfortable moving ahead with in-person grads and really a return to normal so to speak. The grads will have the look and feel of grads pre-COVID.”
Ward added there are elements of the pandemic years grads which will have been adopted going forward. For instance, most communities will continue to have a grad parade following the ceremonies, he said.
“And some of our schools, including Dauphin, are looking at live streaming the events, knowing that there could still be some family members of our graduates that don’t feel comfortable coming to a large in-person event. Maybe they have a family member who’s immunocompromised or maybe they’re immunocompromised themselves, so they’ll still have that opportunity in particular at some of our larger schools for the live stream,” Ward said. “And we’re still going to recognize our grads in local publications like we’ve done in the past because we felt that was very well received in terms of having the grad pictures and write-ups from our six high school principals and our board.”
All six high schools in the division have decided to return to in-person convocations. Gilbert Plains will kickoff the schedule with its traditional Friday night graduation, June 17, followed the next day by Ethelbert and Grandview. The following week, Dauphin Regional comprehensive Secondary School, Winnipegosis and Goose Lake High in Roblin will have their graduations.
“Most of our communities are participating in the safe grad initiative this year, as well. By and large those safe grads are happening following the actual convocation event. That’s something that, of course, has been around for some time to ensure that our graduates are safe and can celebrate their accomplishment in a safe way,” Ward said. “We’re still going to emphasize good hand hygiene and masks are certainly welcome for those that choose to wear them. We’re encouraging any family members who are symptomatic to stay away, and if their school has that live stream option to use that option instead.”
Ward added a complete listing of graduation dates, venues and time will soon be available on the division website at www.mvsd.ca. A list of elementary and middle school year-end events will also be available.