Amara’s Amigos, which consists of family and friends of Amara Campbell continue to fundraise money for CancerCare MB Foundation in memory of Amara, who passed away from osteosarcoma on September 14, 2020, at the age of 15. The money is used by CancerCare Manitoba Foundation (CCMBF) to support youth with cancer, especially rare and hard to treat cancers for children and young adults.
Last year’s garage sale and cookie and lemonade sale brought in $5,400. The silver collection at the Minitonas Stocking Stuffer and Craft sale last December brought in $500. Then earlier this year, the Swan Valley Stampeders Hockey Fights Cancer brought in a whopping $19,050.50. Blair and Lee-Anne Campbell presented a cheque to Patti Smith from CCMBF this past March.
“We are humbled by the ongoing support from our families, close friends and Swan Valley community at large,” said Lee-Anne Campbell. “We have received incredible support since Amara’s cancer diagnosis in 2019.
“Our awareness and fundraising events for CCMBF continue to give us a place to direct our grief and remember Amara before and during her brave 19 months of living with cancer. CCMBF provides critical funding to support cancer research and treatment for all children, with a special focus on children and young people with rare and hard to treat cancers.
“The genetic testing program called PROFYLE (PRecision Oncology For Young peopLE) and all funds that we collect stay in Manitoba, directed to this program, which supported Amara during her cancer treatment,” said Campbell.
“The first fundraiser was led by Amara as the ambassador for the 2019 CCMBF Ride Inside, alongside Blake Wheeler, former Winnipeg Jets hockey captain, and his wife Sam. That was a very special time for Amara. She felt the love of Swan River Valley around her as her team contributed more than $19,000 from the Swan River Valley in her honour. There have been various Ride Inside events every year since, other than 2023. The thank you list is too long at this point but includes our families, close friends, strangers, school staff, arena staff, businesses, non-profit groups, Stampeders group, Star & Times.”
In total, $97,216.21 has been donated to CCMBF in memory of Amara.
The Amara’s Amigos shirts and hoodies were created and sold for cost. There was a huge response from the community and the Campbell family finds it heartwarming to randomly see people wearing them when around town.
“The Amara’s Amigos group and clothing logo were initially created in 2019 by a group of school friends, as a sign of support after her cancer diagnosis,” said Campbell. “The most recent version of the Amara’s Amigo’s logo was a collaboration with the Swan Valley Stampeders Junior A Hockey Team in February.
“We also incorporated a small blue heart with our son’s initials ‘JC’, in memory of our son, Amara’s brother, who also passed away in 2020. He was a gentle, kind support to his sister during her initial year of treatment. Also, his favourite sport was hockey with his hometown buddies.
“It has been heart-warming to see people wearing the purple shirts and hoodies at our events and also randomly in the schools, at the campground, at the arena, on the streets,” said Campbell. “The clothing helps to keep Amara’s memory alive as well as representing support for all kids and families who have suffered from childhood cancer.”
Amara’s Amigos are hosting their annual garage sale this weekend. Another event being planned for November is the CCMBF Ride Inside and then the Stampeders Hockey Fights Cancer Game which will be announced at a later date.
“Annual Amara’s Amigos Garage Sale & Cookie Sale started in 2021, as one step of the fundraising for CCMBF,” said Campbell. “Each year it has been held in September as it is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, also in memory of Amara as she passed away Sept 14, 2020. Family and friends donate their baking skills, time and a variety of gently used items. So far we have not run out of treasures to sell.
“The event provides everyone with a special few days to visit, support each other, remember Amara and fulfill a personal purpose for Blair and me, to support other kids and families living with childhood cancer. Amara’s cousins, grandmas and aunts have taken on the cookie sales as their special project.
“This year’s garage sale and cookie sale is scheduled for Saturday, September 21, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 215 Parkview Drive Swan River,” said Campbell. “People can also drop off monetary donations to CCMBF that day, and all donations of $15.00 or greater will receive a charitable receipt mailed out from CCMBF.
“We thank every single person who has supported Amara’s Amigos since 2019. We are very thankful and blessed to live in this special community. Please wear a gold ribbon in September in honour of all children and young people who have missed out on precious years of life due to childhood cancer.”

A group of people gathered together on Sept. 10 in downtown Swan River to walk in recognition of World Suicide Prevention Day, held every year at this time. World Suicide Prevention Day was first launched in 2003 by the International Association for Suicide Prevention as a way of focusing attention on the problems of suicide worldwide. The theme of this year’s walk is ‘Changing the Narrative on Suicide’ which aims to raise awareness about the importance of changing the narrative surrounding suicide and transforming how we perceive this complex issue.

The Roblin & District Health Care Auxiliary is celebrating a major milestone in October.

The auxiliary is celebrating its 75th year of dedicated volunteer service to the community and is holding a fundraising luncheon Oct. 25.

Read all about it in this week’s Review.

The Manitoba government is establishing nutrient targets to protect Manitoba’s lakes and rivers.

Through the Water Protection Act, the Nutrient Targets Regulation will include Lake Winnipeg and the Red, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and Dauphin rivers.

It commits Manitoba to report regularly on progress towards implementing the targets and actions underway to reduce nutrient levels in waterbodies in Manitoba.

This provides a clear, measurable benchmark with the goal of effecting real change in the protection of Manitoba’s waterways.

In recent decades, nitrogen and phosphorous have increased in Lake Winnipeg and the Red, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and Dauphin rivers, contributing to increased frequency and intensity of algal blooms. These potentially toxic algal blooms have serious economic, health and environmental implications and contaminate beaches, reduce water quality and are detrimental to the communities and industries that depend on the lake.

The Swan Valley Credit Union partnered with the North West Regional Immigrant Services to host a Newcomer Welcome BBQ on Saturday, Setpember 7 at the Swan Valley Historical Museum.  Train rides, face painting, soccer and a scavenger hunt kept participants busy...  

The Swan Valley Animal Protection League (SVAPL) held their Annual Open House and BBQ on Saturday, September 7. Currently there are 42 cats and kittens and 10 dogs being fostered that are looking for a place to call home. Please contact the SVAPL to see how you can help...

The Municipality of Roblin Recreation Department and the Roblin and District Chamber of Commerce have been working hard to bring a traditional Fall Harvest Festival to our community for a second year!

The event takes place this Saturday, Sept. 14.

Want to know more? Read this week’s Rec Report.

Local band Low Budget Rock Star has had the opportunity of a lifetime present itself to them. After years of struggles and hard work, their efforts have paid off and they recently signed a record deal with a company in Nashville.
“When I left Nashville, from the last time I was there to record, I got a call back from them and they told me what they wanted to do with my music to get me on their label,” said Low Budget Rock Star Lead Singer and Songwriter Kennie Henderson. “It never really set in for a few months for me, I just thought oh that’s really cool.

A byelection is set for Oct. 30 to fill four vacant positions on the Mountain View School Division board of trustees.

The polling will seek to identify two trustees in Ward 1, which covers the Municipality of Roblin.

One trustee is to be elected in Ward 2, which encompasses the Municipality of Ethelbert, Gilbert Plains Municipality, Grandview Municipality and a portion of the RM of Mountain.

Finally one trustee will be identified in Ward 4 to represent the city of Dauphin.

The Ward 2 seat became vacant this past March when trustee Charlene Gulak resigned from the board to pursue a professional opportunity.

The other seats at the board table became vacant when trustees Scott McCallum, Floyd Martens and Liefa Misko stepped away from the board in early June after superindent/CEO Stephen Jaddock was fired without cause during a special board meeting, May 31.

For the three, the firing was the last straw in a series of events they considered “dark and repressive,” highlighted by a presentation on residential schools by trustee Paul Coffey, which was widely condemned as racist and prompted Manitoba Education Minister Nello Altomare to launch a governance review of the division.

Altomare eventually appointed a three-person oversight panel comprised of Manitoba Métis Federation vice-president Frances Chartrand, Brandon School Division trustee Jim Murray and Manitoba Teachers’ Society staff officer Andrea Zaroda, to assist in navigating board and staff turnover, strengthening governance practices, and community relations and to “ensure that MVSD progresses on key priorities, such as diversity, inclusion and reconciliation.”

Candidate packages for the byelection can be picked up at the Mountain View School Division office, beginning today.

All nominations need to be made in writing and be signed by at least 25 voters, or not less than one per cent of voters in the ward, whichever is less. In all cases, nomination papers need to be signed by at least two voters.

Each nomination must also be accompanied by the candidate’s declaration of qualification.

Nominations may be filed in person at the Mountain View School Division office, Sept. 18, 19, 20, 23 and 24, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. The papers may also be filed by fax or by a candidate’s official agent.

For more information contact senior election official Kirk Dawson at 204-621-7165 or the MVSD office by phone at 204-638-3001 or by fax at 204-638-7250.

Byron Hardy and his adult son, Andrew Hardy, have lived in the Swan Valley for several years now, with Byron semi-retiring from his work in policing and Andrew joining the local Emergency Medical Service (EMS).
Byron started his career as an RCMP member, going through training in 1982, but spent the majority of his career with the Saskatoon Police. However, at 63 years old, he’s made the choice to rejoin policing as an RCMP member, making him and his son first responders at the same time, and soon in the same jurisdiction. While Byron has been recently serving in the Ste. Rose detachment, he will be soon serving shifts in Swan River this fall.
Andrew started working as EMS locally 12 years ago and has been going strong since.
“When I grew up, my dad was a cop and my buddies were firefighters and other cops and paramedics,” said Andrew. “I was kind of always around that whole emergency world and I’ve always been interested in it.”
At one point when the Hardys were living in Calgary, Andrew was exposed to some medical training while working security alongside ski patrol in Canada Olympic Park, which is part of what incepted the idea in his mind to join the world of EMS. It was in Calgary where he first became a licenced paramedic before moving to Swan River and getting licenced in Manitoba.
“I’ve always kind of been interested in it since high school,” said Andrew, noting his dad’s initial reservations, because of when he was nine years old and went to a blood donation clinic with Byron and saw the needle go into Byron’s arm and fill with blood.
“At that moment, everything went looney tunes and the floor went vertical. (Dad) thought I was a bit too woozy with blood, but I think I’ve gotten over that and I’ve been okay since.”
With Andrew growing up as a cop’s son, he always saw his dad as the classic hero cop. He would hear stories about what Byron would do on shift sometimes, but his perspective shifted a bit once he joined the first responder world and experienced it first hand.
He added that the two of them have not worked a call together since Byron joined the police force, but noted that when he has noticed him on the street, Byron was happy to be back in that world.
“Once a cop, always a cop,” said Andrew. “I could never lie to him ever, he was a walking lie detector. He had that cop mentality and I was never scared to go with him anywhere.
“It’s cool that he’s back in it now because I’ve never seen him in an RCMP uniform because he quit before I was born. I only ever saw him in Saskatoon Police uniforms.”
Even though Byron may have had some concerns about Andrew’s brief childhood blood aversion, he said otherwise was never concerned about Andrew joining a first responder role.
“My wife, Darlene, and I raised our children to have that warrior mentality,” he said. “When I say warrior, I mean paramedics, policing, firefighting and all those front line guys like nurses and doctors too. Even though we seldom use that term ‘warrior’, that’s really what some of those front line people are.
“I know Andrew has a reputation for being a very good medic and know some of the calls he’s gone to. I think sometimes paramedics in general don’t realize what they go through. There have been calls where they save people’s lives and the general public doesn’t hear about that. It’s good to see these guys out in the street, especially Andrew and the level of professionalism that he has and as good as he is at his job.”
While nobody hopes for a bad call while on shift as a first responder, both Byron and Andrew look forward to being called out together for the first time when they are both on shift in Swan River. Byron even double-checked when Andrew was working around the time when Byron returns to work in Swan River so he could ask to work the same shifts.
Andrew noted that the times he and his dad have been on a call together in the past was when Byron was working as a chaplain, and he got suited up with basically everything but the weapons.
“I started my chaplaincy with Calgary Police Service in 2009,” said Byron. “Calgary is large enough to have several, and with different faith backgrounds.
“I came back to Swan River in 2018, and enrolled into the chaplaincy in 2019, but for the Manitoba Veterans Association. (The job) is all about spiritual care, not even as much faith-based as much as spiritual care. We would phone these guys every six months and ask them how they were doing, and that would be a piece of it as well (in addition to going on calls).”
As a chaplain, sometimes even active members would consult with Byron to get his take on things, given that he has multiple decades of experience in policing.
Byron comes from a Christian faith background, and naturally raised his children in that faith as well. With the two of them being in roles that can be intense or traumatic, they find their faith is at least part of the reason why they can stay grounded and focused on the work they do without too many negative impacts.
“Some of the guys I work with don’t have that faith component and several of them are still grounded and have pretty level heads, but I think there’s the additional component that faith brings,” said Byron. “That’s one of the reasons chaplaincy is involved in policing, firefighting and paramedics, is so that those guys can have that outreach as well.”
Byron recalled a moment when he was working in Calgary when a member of the police service took her own life, and he helped perform the funeral as chaplain
“When you go to a funeral and it is a faith-based funeral, you’re able to at least speak hope into people’s lives,” he said.
Both Byron and Andrew enjoy their respective jobs and feel well-suited to their roles.
“I know it’s cliche, but I like to help people,” said Andrew. “We have saved some lives, but when it comes down to it, it is difficult to do that successfully. I feel like it takes a certain mentality to do that job and a lot of people don’t handle it well.”
Andrew added that he also likes that he is empowered with the tools and the skills to help people as best as he can where they are, acting as a mobile emergency room, to give people their best chance.
Andrew even likes the shift work and working nights.
“Most of the calls seem to come in at night, based on how society works,” he said. “I like the pace of the night shift. Things are kind of low key. Also, having four days on and four days off is sweet.”
For Byron, who has worked in policing off and on since he was 20 years old, he finds policing to be second nature to him.
“The thing that I have found that has been super important is that this job forces you to work out and stay in shape,” he said. “Certainly not everyone has that mentality, but my older brother and I are in our 60s and we push each other to work out and stay in shape. He’s still doing major case management with the RCMP as well, and was a high-ranking officer with the Mounties.”
Byron added that he had a stint as a full-time teacher during his break from policing, and he found teaching to be more stressful and more difficult than policing.
Andrew also added that whenever he picked up his child from daycare, he also didn’t know how people managed that many children that were not their own, even though he can handle the three boys of his own when his wife isn’t around.
With Byron back in policing, his family agrees that he is back in his happy place and he has communicated with Andrew that he is having fun, doing what he is meant to do.
And, soon enough, both of them will be on shift protecting and healing the streets of Swan River and area.