The snow is finally down to a few stubborn patches lurking in the shade and your green thumb is twitching … and that means gardening. April 14 is National Gardening Day — time to open up the gardening shed and re-acquaint yourself with the tools and containers you packed away last fall.

It’s a good idea to do an inventory of the supplies and tools you have and the condition they are in. Check gardening gloves and kneepads for wear and tear, and from there you can move on to your tools.

Bernie Whetter at The Green Spot Home & Garden shared some advice, dividing essential tools into four categories: long-handle, D-handle, hand tools and pruners.

Whetter starts with the long-handle tools.

There’s only one way the Toronto Blue Jays can improve on their 2025 Major League Baseball season and fans don’t have to go to Google or Dan Shulman to find out the simple answer: Win the World Series.

Coming off a spectacular — and unexpected — season where they lost the Series to the L.A. Dodgers in the 11th inning of Game 7. Prior to the start of last year, the Jays were picked by most so-called experts to finish last in the American League East. After a slow start, they picked up steam and by mid-July, it was evident they were among two or three teams regarded as the class of the entire league.

This year, with pre-season expectations much loftier, can they maintain their winning ways and make it back to the Fall Classic?

Yes they can. Not only do the Blue Jays have most of their 2025 roster back for this season (except for infielder Bo Bichette, who signed as a free agent with the Mets), but management was aggressive in the trade and free-agent markets to fill a few holes. This spring, those so-called experts who had only bad things to say about the Jays this time last year, are crowing about the imminent repeat as American League champs. Canadian fans can only hope those experts aren’t as off-base as they were last year.

A new mural project at Sunnyside Personal Care Home in Birtle is helping residents feel more at home while making it easier for them to find their way.

The “Adopt a Door” initiative, part of Prairie Mountain Health programming, has seen personalized murals installed on resident room doors throughout the facility. The project aims to create a more welcoming environment and support wayfinding for residents, particularly those living with cognitive challenges.

Sunnyside recently marked the project’s completion with an open house, inviting family members and community residents to tour the updated space.

“We were very excited to see our residents’ family members and members from the community attend our open house,” said recreation workers Tracey Howe and Ashley LeFranc. “The residents really enjoyed seeing everyone.”

Sports fans may consider team mascots to be: a) entertaining; b) annoying; c) hilarious; d) adding to the game experience. Whatever your view, their existence in sports today is no laughing matter. Mascots are big business.

It’s almost mandated that every professional sports team must have a mascot to fire up the fans. Their efforts help to get the “Go Team Go” chants going, to help start the wave around the seating area, to tussle some youngster’s hair so Mom and Dad can get a picture, and in some cases, bang a drum so loudly that some fans go home with a headache.

There are endless mascot stories, but my favourite is when Harvey the Hound, the Calgary Flames’ mascot, got too close to the Edmonton Oilers bench in a 2003 game at the Saddledome and had his tongue ripped out by Oilers’ assistant coach Craig MacTavish, who then waved the piece of red felt in the air before tossing it into the crowd behind him. No penalty was called by the officials, who didn’t even give him a tongue-lashing.

As mentioned earlier, sports mascots are big business. The person who answers to Gritty, the smiling, scary, big-eyed, orange Philadelphia Flyers monster, recently signed a contract that pays him/her an annual stipend of $250,000 U.S. Pretty good dough, but not sure how the job description would look on a resumé.

Dauphin Citizens on Patrol spent part of last month promoting personal safety and community awareness during an outreach event at the indoor walking track at Credit Union Place.

Volunteers handed out free personal alarms to visitors at the facility, devices designed to attract attention and help deter unwanted approaches during emergencies.

Richard Ives, coordinator of the Dauphin Citizens on Patrol program, said the volunteer-led initiative works closely with the RCMP and other local organizations to help strengthen community safety.

“Citizens on Patrol is a volunteer-led program that works closely with the RCMP and local organizations to help keep our community safe,” Ives said. “Our mission is simple but powerful: to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement.”