The Swan Valley Golf and Country Club hosted their Men’s Open last Sunday with a small but competitive bunch.

The Louisiana-Pacific Swan Valley mill (LP) has found a new way to offer their employees and on-site contractors an enjoyable lunch and give back to the community at the same time.
Beginning in mid-June, LP has been getting a few of their summer students to arrange a barbecue lunch every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Dubbed Wieners on Wednesdays, LP covers the cost of all of the food and other items required, and everyone on site has the opportunity to purchase a meal, with every dollar going towards the charity of the week.
“Our employees use this time to make connections with co-workers and management that they wouldn’t necessarily spend time with otherwise,” said LP Swan Valley HR Manager Cassidy Delaurier. “It’s also nice for management to spend time getting to know new employees and catching up with our long-time ones.
“I saw an opportunity to better our relationship with our employees while acting as a community-minded employer. By helping fund local events, charities and community groups, we are able to ‘Build a Better World’ both within our mill and surrounding it.”
Each week, a different manager or supervisor helps out, connecting with employees at each lunch.
Delaurier added that since LP contributes so much already in terms of financial support and product donations to large projects and groups in the Swan Valley, the intent of the weekly donations is to support the smaller groups that aren’t necessarily working on big projects at the moment, but still could use the funds for day-to-day operations or small projects. Many of the donations are focused on youth-centred groups, like the local day cares.
LP has also been keeping things fresh from the employees as well by expanding the weekly event. A few weeks ago, ice cream treats were added, and last week, cheeseburgers were also added to the menu, nicknaming the barbecue Hamburgers on Hump Day.
Those organizations that have benefited so far include:
• Swan Valley Crisis Centre
• Adult and Teen Challenge
• Heyes Childcare Centre
• ACL (Association for Community Living)
• Swan Valley Sport Fishing Enhancement
• Wade Philip Galloway Learning Centre
• Kinsmen Nursery School
• Sunflower Early Learning Centre
Those organizations remaining that will benefit from the initiative include:
• Swan River Day Care Centre
• ESRSS Daycare
• Benito Day Child Care Centre
• Swan Valley Food Bank
The weekly barbecues will continue until the end of August, and restart again next summer. As of Aug. 4, Wieners on Wednesdays/Hamburgers on Hump Day has raised more than $5,400 for local charities.

The public was invited to visit some of Swan River’s private green spaces during the Garden Walk tour, which serves as a fundraiser for the Swan River Ladies Golf Club. 

 In just a couple of days, the NorthWest Round-up and Exhibition will be a go for the first time since 2019. Here, a grader operator lays down the sand for the chariot and chuckwagon track.

Last week (July 11-14), youth between the ages of 10 to 14 had their first experience with the first ever Rec Angling Day Camp, hosted with a partnership between Swan Valley Sport Fishing Enhancement and the Elbert Chartrand Friendship Centre. The first of the five weeks saw youth cast their rods into Red Deer River, with future weeks taking them to Wellman Lake and the Red Road Compass Land-Based Learning site along the Swan River. Cohen Bulycz stands by the shoreside, waiting for a bite on his line.

Activities in the area included pancake breakfasts in Minitonas and Benito, baseball and slo-pitch, live music, a car show, a picnic-in-the-park at Swan River Legion Park, fireworks and plenty more fun for all.

Festival du Spikageur was the latest event in the sophomore season of the Munro Smashball League, which features a volleyball-variant backyard game called Spikeball. Pictured here, participants compete by returning the ball bounced onto the ground-level net instead of over a vertical net.