A social media challenge launched by a family-owned restaurant in rural Manitoba has grown into a provincewide campaign celebrating small-town communities after attracting visitors from dozens of communities in a matter of days.

The Somerset Food Bar & Lounge launched its “60 Towns in 60 Days” challenge on July 6, inviting customers to visit the restaurant and represent their hometowns.

The original goal was to welcome visitors from 60 Manitoba communities over the course of the summer. Instead, the restaurant expects to reach that milestone in about 10 days and has expanded the challenge to include 100 communities.

Owner Jay Friesen said the idea came after staff noticed more customers making long drives to the restaurant, which has been operated by the same family for more than 45 years.

RM OF DAUPHIN

It will take some time to get a handle on the flood damage caused in the RM of Dauphin this season, Reeve Ernie Sirski said.

Initial reports are that there are more than 200 road washouts, but Sirski expects that number to increase significantly. The rural municipality has more than 800 kilometres of roads.

Sirski said for now the municipality is focused on ensuring residents are safe, as some are stranded in their homes, so the extent of the damages still needs to be assessed.

One of the most perplexing sports stories in Canada this year is about Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and his woeful power statistics.

There’s more to baseball than hitting home runs, but in Guerrero, Jr.’s case, hitting home runs and driving in batters reaching base ahead of him are why the Toronto Blue Jays signed him to a contract extension last year that pays him an astronomical sum — in the vicinity of $500 million for 14 seasons.

At last glance, Guerrero Jr., stood tied for 205th in the list of Major League Baseball home run leaders, with six in more than 90 games, all on the road. That’s a pace that brings his season total to around 10, about one-third of what the Jays’ hierarchy expects of him annually. Another sick stat is his double play grounders — only four MLB players have more than Vladdy.

Guerrero Jr., who has never hit fewer than 20 homers in any of his past five seasons, is reportedly playing with tightness in his back, which could be the reason for his meagre offensive production. But his health is apparently not bad enough to keep him out of the lineup.

While reports of tick sightings are up across many parts of Canada this year, the risk of contracting Lyme disease from a tick bite remains relatively low in Manitoba, according to a provincial specialist.

Dr. Stephen Goulet, an Internal Medicine Specialist and physician with Manitoba’s Tick Collaborative Care Service (TiCCS), said most people bitten by a blacklegged tick will not develop Lyme disease, even as the number of confirmed cases in the province has gradually increased since the early 2000s.

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is transmitted through the bite of an infected blacklegged tick. Southern Manitoba remains the province’s highest-risk region for exposure.

“The number of ticks carrying Lyme disease in Manitoba is still pretty low,” Goulet said, noting that infection following a tick bite remains uncommon.