Having a pet is a wonderful thing, whether it be as a companion in a home or to instill a sense of responsibility to a child.
Typically, household pets that are available for purchase or adoption in the Swan Valley have been limited to cats and dogs.
For those interested in something a little more scaly than furry, business owners and engaged domestic partners Stu Coulthart and Shay Bresky have set up a new pet store in Swan River known as S&S Reptiles that features a wide variety of exotic or atypical pets of the generally more cold-blooded variety.
Walking through their brick-and-mortar location on Sixth Avenue North, you’ll see plenty of reptiles – such as bearded dragons, chameleons, geckos, monitors, skinks, snakes and tortoises – as well as some toads and frogs, fish and small mammals like pet rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils and the like. Or, if invertebrates pets are what you’re after, they even have a selection of tarantulas.
“I’ve had reptiles personally since I was about seven or eight years old,” said Coulthart. “I’ve had pretty much everything and anything that could fit in a 50-gallon tank or less, bearded dragons to geckos to salamanders and things like that.
“There was a lot of things that I couldn’t get when I was young. The world has really expanded so much in the reptile world. There’s probably about 240 species of reptiles that are available in Canada, whereas when I was young, you could probably only get about 50.”
Many times, Coulthart would have to pick up his reptile pets in Winnipeg, and he has gone as far as Edmonton to pick one up.
“My favourite was probably the bearded dragon, just for the simple fact that they are great for children, from age two all the way until you are in your 90s,” said Coulthart. “We have a two-year-old boy that absolutely loves them and has been with them, and our grandmas come in here and hold them.
“Bearded dragons are calm, not aggressive by any means and overall they are playful. They know who their owner is. I’ve seen videos of bearded dragons playing tug-of-war with a chihuahua. They are just an all-around great pet.”
The lifespan of a bearded dragon also ranges from seven to 11 years, depending on husbandry and environment.
The reason that Coulthart and Bresky got into selling reptiles as a business was because Bresky had her salon business Shay’s Shears out of their home and they found people were interested in the reptiles they had.
“We would have children that would come to get haircuts, screaming and crying,” said Coulthart. “I’d go get a bearded dragon to give to them and they would forget all about the haircut and would get interested in the bearded dragon.
“As customers would come in to get their hair done, our two boys would take out the bearded dragons and show the customers. Parents would wonder where we got them and told us we should start selling them.”
Once they started selling a few, the side business necessitated a new space and so both S&S Reptiles and Shay’s Shears both have a downtown Swan River location now, on the backside of Spruce Country Computer where Dr. Theodore used to have his clinic.
“We were in our home for about three or four months, and we looked at a couple of places before we got into here,” said Coulthart. “We got a decent price on this place and for the amount of room we need right now, it’s perfect.”
In addition to the various species of exotic pets, with new kinds seemingly arriving all the time and the access to order more, S&S Reptiles also has the support systems needed to set up a tank or habitat for your creature companions, as well as the selection of food and nutritional supplements to keep them comfortable and healthy.
“I really enjoy doing this as a hobby,” said Coulthart. “I’d like to eventually expand and do a breeding program and become a breeder for my own supply of reptiles. But, I want to give everybody some information that reptiles aren’t as icky and gross as what some people think they are. They are no different than having a small dog.
“I would like to acknowledge people in all the different species and temperaments that reptiles have. There’s some reptiles that are aggressive, just like a mistreated pit bull might be, but then there’s some like the bearded dragon that is as friendly as a poodle. Everyone has their hesitations and a lot of the time, reptiles are misunderstood for what they are.”
The added benefit of the new store is that access to pets such as these is normally limited for a town like Swan River.
“The closest places that have what I have is either Winnipeg or some places in Regina that might have some of it,” said Coulthart. “I do try to carry some of the more unique stuff that you wouldn’t find just walking into a pet store.
“And, with our area where we are, we have no pet stores or anything going up north as far as six hours, and four hours travelling east, west or south. I’m trying to serve a large area, so I like to try to keep some neat stuff so people can have a grasp on what different stuff is out there than what you might normally see in a PetSmart, for example.”
The standard of care for these animals isn’t necessarily more complicated or time-consuming than other pets of their size, once a habitat is set up. The important thing to remember is that – apart from the small mammals – everything is cold-blooded and needs a temperature controlled home to match their original environment.
“There are reptiles that I’ve considered getting in here that have a lot higher standards, needs and requirements,” said Coulthart. “But, for the most part, I try to keep it as simple as possible because we haven’t had a pet store or a store like this in our area for a long time and I know a lot of the people coming in are just beginners and first-time reptile owners, so I want to keep it as simple and easy for them as possible.”
S&S Reptiles is normally open from Tuesday-Saturday afternoons, or by appointment by calling Stu at 204·281·7298 or Shay at 204·281·2985. They are also available to contact at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or their online sites at ssreptiles.ca or facebook.com/swanriverreptiles.
Either of them will be willing to answer any questions you have and introduce you to the wonderful world of reptiles.

The SVRSS Tigers Soccer Teams hosted the Zone 8 Championships at the Swan River Rotary Soccer Fields on Wednesday (Oct. 5) where both teams punched their ticket into the Provincial Championship.

When someone has a modestly sized yard in town and they have to choose between having a garden and having a lawn, and they hate mowing lawn and love gardening, the idea of dedicating almost every square foot of lawn space into productive ground seems like a no-brainer once you get past the implicit expectation of houses being surrounded by grass.
Devon and Donna Jorundson are one such couple who did away with most of their lawn in favour of vegetable and fruit plants, even including their entire front lawn on their side of the sidewalk.
“I’m retired and I had time on my hands,” said Devon Jorundson, regarding the main reason why he decided to do this. “I like my own organic vegetables. And, in a small little space like this, I don’t have room for a lawn and a garden.”
He added that he is still not completed the garden takeover on his modest town property in Swan River, even though most of the square footage is enveloped in productive and nutritious plants, or the systems that support those plants, such as an extensive irrigation system that harvests as much rainwater as possible, or a couple of greenhouse structures that are utilized to extend the growing season and enables Jorundsons to have fresh vegetables much later than most other home gardens.
It took Jorundson approximately 10 years to build up his garden to where it currently is. His yard sports a variety of tomato plants, fruit trees, asparagus, garlic, onions, sunflowers, strawberries, lettuce, squash, swiss chard and more, much of which he harvests seeds from to plant and nurture future generations for free.
Another part of the reason that Jorundson wanted to grow a self-sustaining garden is because of the large amount of leafy greens that he eats.
“My doctor told me I had Type 2 Diabetes and put me on a low-carb keto diet,” he said. “Part of that is eating leafy greens. You can buy it in the store but it’s too expensive.
“I start (seeds) in the house and can start eating out of the garden by the second week of May, and I can eat the produce from the garden after freeze up when I pull it and put into my fridges well into the end of December for all my leafy greens.
“I’ve learned how to do things so it doesn’t overwhelm me,” Jorundson. “I used to do a whole bed of just swiss chard, but then when it came time to process that, you have to blanche it and freeze it. That might take two days of doing that. So now I’ll plant four feet and in another month do another four feet. I find four feet to be perfect. I can eat it while it’s green and when it gets to a certain point, I cut it out, turn it over and get the bed ready for next season.”
Jorundson’s garden also involves a no-till approach and plenty of ground cloth and cover on top of the soil so weeds are a relatively minimal nuisance.
“I used to spend 45 minutes per bed throughout the season weeding,” he said. “Now I’m probably down to 15 minutes per bed per season.”
Part of the ground cover includes wood chips, which Jorundsons picked up from a toppled truck that was carrying them while up in Flin Flon where they own another property and tend another garden.
One part of his garden that Jorundson doesn’t get to enjoy very often are his apple trees, even though apples are among his favourite foods.
“My doctor got me on low-carb and there’s an amazing amount of drugs I don’t take anymore,” he said. “One of the first things she asked me is what I like to eat. I said apples, but there is too much sugar in apples. I spent six years planting apples in my backyard and I was told I couldn’t have them.
“(The compromise was) that I get my blood sugars down, and as long as the apples are seasonal and are ripe on the tree, I can have an apple a day. When they are no longer ripe or on the tree, I stop eating apples until next year.”
Next time you drive down Seventh Street North in Swan River across from the Legion Park, keep an eye out for the wonderful example of self-sustainability in an urban setting.

On Wednesday (Sept. 28), Grade 7 and 8 students from around the Swan Valley converged onto the Rotary Soccer Fields to prove which school has the best soccer team.

At the end of the month, and the end of this week (Sept. 30), Canada will recognize the second ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a statutory holiday that was declared last year soon after the revelation of more than 1,000 unmarked graves near former residential school sites.
Prior to the federal declaration, the day was already recognized for years as Orange Shirt Day, which brought awareness to the abuse of Indigenous people in Canada and the cultural genocide at the hands of the government and the church. The orange shirt was chosen as a symbol inspired by the story of Phyllis Webstad, a six-year-old girl who was stripped of her clothing when she first arrived at her residential school, including a brand new orange shirt given to her by her grandmother, never to be returned.
Every year, orange shirts emblazoned with the words Every Child Matters are sold across the country. Swan Valley Teachers Association (SVTA) President Nicole Bobick thought it would be a good idea to commission a locally made shirt with a design from an Indigenous student and the print job being sent to 734 Custom Apparel and Promo.
“The inspiration for getting a local artist to design an orange T-shirt came from True North Youth Foundation Vice-President Kevin Chief and Leticia Spence, a graphic designer who incorporated Indigenous symbols into the Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose logos,” said Bobick. “I have heard Kevin Chief speak on a number of occasions. Every time he is impactful and inspiring. His story reminds me that we have a long way to go towards an equitable society.
“The hope for these shirts is to unify the community with an orange shirt that was designed by a local Indigenous student leader.
“Many people or organizations are purchasing orange shirts from non-Indigenous companies,” Bobick continued. “This seems unjust that companies are selling shirts to make a profit from harms Indigenous people like Phyllis Webstad encountered when attending residential school. The orange shirt story is her story, we must honour and respect it. We also must do what we can to protect it.”
The artist who created the local design is Grade 12 student Rylee Stevens. The design features a dreamcatcher with beads and feathers, as well as a picture in the middle of trees and a train track. The design also includes silhouettes of birds flying.
“The seven beads on the feathers of the dreamcatcher represent the Seven Teachings,” said Stevens. “The train track through the trees in the middle of the dreamcatcher represent the story of a boy who ran away from his residential school and tried to follow the train tracks home.”
The story was of a 12-year-old boy named Chanie Wenjack who escaped Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ont., in 1966. He died of exposure a couple of days later.
The birds on the front symbolize freedom, for all the students that made it home to their families.
The back of the shirt also features a translation of the phrase ‘Every Child Matters’ in several recognized Indigenous languages, according to the Indigenous Languages of Manitoba organization.
“To do something like designing an Every Child Matters shirt really means a lot to me,” said Stevens. “I have family that went to residential schools. To be asked to create a design for something so important like these T-shirts is a big step to honour the children that made it home to their families and the ones that didn’t.
“I also really love the idea of a lot of people out there going to wear these shirts.”
While Bobick and the SVTA have organized the purchasing of the shirts for those who were able to confirm an order in time, neither the SVTA nor 734 Custom Apparel and Promo is making a profit off of the custom shirts. Stevens will receive an honorarium for her work and the remaining profits will go towards an organization of her choice.
“If we truly want to foster reconciliation, we must respect Indigenous people, cultures, identities and history,” Bobick added. “We must include Indigenous people when we are working on projects, changing colonial systems and especially when working towards reconciliation.
“We must support Indigenous organizations and individuals. We must face the hard truth about residential schools and the lasting effects they had on many generations. We must acknowledge the racism taught to non-Indigenous people in schools. We must counter the systemic racism within our systems by allowing our Indigenous peoples to guide us in the right direction. Indigenous voices must be part of the conversation but also must be part of the decision-making process.”

Sitting in front of a shrouded portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, Town of Swan River Mayor Lance Jacobson signs a letter of condolences to the Royal Family on the day of Her Majesty’s death. The letter will be available to the public in the Town office for a few more days to sign as well before it is mailed off to the Queen’s family. At the moment of Queen Elizabeth’s passing, her eldest son Charles automatically became King of Canada, the United Kingdom and many other
countries around the world where the Royals remain the official heads-of-state. After 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth had nearly the longest reign of any sovereign ruler in world history, second only to King Louis XIV, who became ruler of France at age four and reigned for 72 years.

A total of 70 golfers showed up for the RCMP Charity Fundraiser tournament at the Swan River Golf and Country Club on Monday (Aug. 29), putting around the course in a team scramble event on a windy but pleasantly sunny day.

Mere weeks after the finale of the NorthWest Round-up and Exhibition, the Swan River Centennial Arena is gearing up for another kind of rodeo as the ice surface is frozen for another season with the Swan Valley Stampeders, as well as the several other organizations and groups that use the facility throughout the fall and winter.