Junior high teams from Minitonas and Swan River converged in the gymnasiums of the SVRSS and the ESRSS on Wednesday (Nov. 23) to compete in Valley Champs, determining the best junior high volleyball team in the Swan Valley.

The Valley Stage Players made their grand return last weekend (Nov. 18-20) with a production of Deputy Jan, a play by Richard Gremel produced by special arrangement with Heuer Publishing LLC. Proceeds from the dinner theatre event went to benefit the Swan River Valley Agricultural Society.

Community Remembrance Day services returned to being held indoors for the first time since 2019.
Prior to the service in Swan River on Nov. 11, a parade – featuring RCMP members, Cadets, Swan River Fire Department, Canadian Rangers, the Swan Valley Stampeders and community members – marched from the Veterans Community Hall to the Cenotaph near Taylor School to lay four wreaths – to honour the Air Force, Navy, Army and RCMP.
The outdoor ceremony continued indoors at the Veterans Community Hall.
Royal Canadian Legion (RCL) Branch No. 39 President Neil Griffith opened the ceremony by requesting to March on the Colours. O Canada was sang before trumpeter David Gnida performed the Last Post, followed by a minute of silence, the Rouse, and the Act of Remembrance. Griffith also recognized those from the Swan River Legion who have passed on, which included Maurice Roberge and Brent MacDuff.
After the Deposit of Colours, those in attendance observed 24 wreaths laid by Veterans, local government members, RCMP, the fire department, service clubs, and families honouring their relatives who fought.
Pastor Bob Lewis led this year’s service, opening with the song In Flanders Field from the Taylor School Choir.
“Beauty has a cost,” he said. “We see through the poppy, to the men and women who gave and sacrificed their time, their energy, their lives.
“Today is set aside for those living icons, the men and women of the First War, and then that Second War, and then the Korean War, and the peacekeeping missions, and in Afghanistan and around the world today. We do look to them for their knowledge and wisdom, and as living icons, we look through them to see humanity. We see us, and that capacity within us to give of ourselves, our capacity for sacrifice.
“We have not been able to gather together on this day, these past two turbulent years,” Lewis continued. “Remembrance Day is the only day of the year that we as Canada gather together in one room with all of our differences, political, religious, ethnic, cultural. Remembrance Day is not about us. This service looks beyond this month, this day, this hour, because of the serge, the poppy and the veteran.”
Following a Prayer of Remembrance, the ceremony concluded with the singing of God Save the King, and with the March off of the Colours.
And, until the next Remembrance Day, we will continue to remember them.

The Swan River Curling Club hosted a curling clinic on Friday (Oct. 28) for all ages, bringing in instructors Lorne and Chris Hamblin from the Cargill Curling Training Centre in Morris. Sessions included stick curling in the afternoon and a Learn to Curl session for everyone in the evening. Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 29 and 30) also included other more advanced individual and team classroom and on-ice sessions to hone the skill of the local curlers.

Sergeant Ryan Peden and Master Corporal Terry Fullerton of the Swan River chapter of the Fourth Canadian Ranger Patrol Group have just returned from six weeks of working in Ottawa with the National Sentry Program (NSP), which posts members of the Canadian Armed Forces to guard in front of and around the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The National Sentry Program reinforces Canada's commitment to remember and honour Canadians who served in the 20th century's major wars, including both World Wars. NSP also honours those who have contributed to Canada’s long-standing tradition of military excellence through to the present day.
The Canadian Armed Forces have posted sentries at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier since 2007. The program includes a rotation of sentries from the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Army, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the Canadian Ranger units from across Canada.
On Oct. 22, 2014, Corporal Nathan Cirillo was tragically killed while on sentry duty. Sentry duty at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier now holds an even deeper meaning for both the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian public.
Peden and Fullerton left Swan River for Ottawa on Sept. 8 and got back on Oct. 22. The first week of their arrival was spent training while the rest of the time they participated on four-days-on, four-days-off work weeks where they would spent their days on guard duty, sentry duty and security rotation.
“It’s been outstanding,” said Fullerton. “Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is quite an honour. The group I’m in has six Rangers and the rest are Air Force.
“We had a really good time meeting people from all over the world. When we weren’t doing sentry duty, one of our duties was being out on the tomb where we are walking and watching for any hazards and also watching if the people that are guarding need a hand. Other than that, you’re interacting with the public. We had to do a big history lesson on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier so that we could explain everything correctly.
“It’s been quite rewarding,” Fullerton continued. “You get quite a mix of reactions. You get some people who just come, sit, walk around and leave. The last few days it seems to be we get more emotional people who are laying wreaths or some memorial piece on their own. Then we go over and ask them if we can help them or if they just want to be alone.”
Peden and Fullerton worked in separate groups, but when they weren’t standing at attention on sentry duty, stone-faced and motionless, they were keeping a watchful eye on and around the tomb. And, when they weren’t doing that, they were watching security screens.
And, in addition to the every-day tourists and pilgrims that visit the site, dignitaries such as Canada’s Prime Minister and other foreign leaders stopped by on occasion.
On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, they also had a smudging of the site performed by Chief Petty Officer Pat Stevens, followed by a traditional lunch.
“It’s been an honour, a once in a lifetime experience to get to come to Ottawa and do this,” said Peden. “Standing in the memory of those that gave their lives is a humbling experience, and amazing to interact with people and make them more aware of the sacrifices made.”
Peden added that the most memorable highlights of his experience is the first time he was posted onto the tomb and the last time.
“The first time, you’re incredibly nervous,” he said. “There’s crowds of people, you’re being piped up and all the drills you’ve been learning for the past week are racing through your head. You want to make sure you get it right because of where you are.
“The last time, I was on shift for the last hour of the day that we were doing guard duty, and to stand there as the sun was setting and we were playing the lament on the bagpipes for the final time during the day, facing the monument and again just in that presence of that memory, you feel very grateful for what we have and very humbled by what other people gave so we could have that.”
Peden will also be returning to Ottawa to participate in similar duties during the National Remembrance Day service held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
“During the day, there’ll be four people standing guard over the tomb,” he said. “There’ll be a member of the Army, a member of the Air Force, a member of the Navy and an RCMP officer. I will be the one posting them onto the tomb, so I’ll be calling the command drill and marching them down from where we’re posted to the tomb itself. It’s a big honour and I’m the first Canadian Ranger to do it.
“Hopefully it goes well because my chain of command and the Armed Forces put a lot of trust in me to come down and do it for the first time. I’m very honoured by that trust and I hope I do everyone proud by it.”