Rural Roundup for Thursday, March 7, 2024

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This article was published 07/03/2024 (791 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MINNEDOSA

Sharing the award with his four-legged companion, Minnedosa resident Chad Moir was honoured and awarded the Shikar Safari Club International Wildlife Officer of the Year Award.

Moir attended a ceremony at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Jan. 31, where he was presented the award by Jamie Moses, the provincial minister of economic development, trade, investment and natural resources.

Moir, who has been a conversation officer since 2005, received the honour for his outstanding service and contributions to conservation law enforcement in Manitoba. For the past 12 years, he has served as the department’s canine officer. His current dog, a three-year-old Belgian Malinois, is named Riot.

Moir has also served as the vice-president of the Manitoba Conservation Officers Association for two years, and president for four years. Recipients are nominated for the award by their peers, he noted.

It is a great honour to even get nominated for this award, as it means your co-workers recognize the countless hours of hard work one puts in through their career,” Moir said.

» The Minnedosa Tribune

The 18th annual Skate the Lake event was held under sunny skies on Feb. 17-18 in Minnedosa. Teams, families and spectators came out to support one of the community’s favourite winter events.

“The Town of Minnedosa staff did an excellent job getting the ice and rinks on the lake ready and the rinks were well-used by the community in the weeks leading up to the events,” said Tanis Barrett with Minnedosa Minor Hockey.

BQ Dudes won the title of Men’s A Side Champions, defeating Dirty Mike and the Boys, while Work in Progress was named the Ladies’ A Side Champions after their victory over the Old Crows. In the youth division, the winners were The Ice in U9, The Duckies in U11, the Black Bullets in U11, Slicin’ Ice in U13, The Cyclone in U15, and Nordeeks in U17.

For the Rock the Lake curling event, the Rock Throwin’ Bad Boys came out on top with the Freezing Our Rocks Off team finishing second and Icy Edge in third.

» The Minnedosa Tribune

ELKHORN

As part of an update it’s going through, the Manitoba Antique Automobile Museum in Elkhorn has found a better home for the Indigenous artifacts it has on display.

Located on the Trans-Canada Highway, the museum opened as a centennial project in 1967. The Rural Municipality of Wallce-Woodworth heard from Coun. Barb Stambuski that the museum board is currently updating policies for managing the collection and digitally indexing the contents. After discussions around these policies, it was deemed that some of the items that were unrelated to antique cars would be more appropriate in other venues.

The Indigenous artifacts will be going to the Southern Chiefs Organization, who are redeveloping the Hudson Bay Company building in Winnipeg, Stambuski said.

A display of firearms is also being considered for relocation. Coun. Denis Lachapelle said he’s talked with different people about acquiring them.

» Virden Empire-Advance

DAUPHIN

The Parkland Humane Society in Dauphin was recently forced to take care of six kittens that were in a box that fell off a truck within the city limits.

Denise Penrose, the statistics director of the society, said a female resident was on her way to the city’s dump and was following a white truck filled with garbage bags when a box fell out of the truck. When the resident stopped to pick up the crate to take it to the disposal site, she found six kittens inside.

The individual contacted the City of Dauphin and was told they could not take custody of the animals because its pound was closed. She went to the Dauphin Vet Clinic too, Penrose said, but was told they couldn’t help her.

“Then she came here. We really had no foster homes or no room left, but it just so happens that our quarantine room was empty. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to bring them in,” she said.

Of the six kittens, four were three months old, while the other two were older and from a different litter.

Taking in the kittens has put a significant strain on the society’s resources, Penrose said. Despite this, people continue to dispose of animals when they become too much to handle, she added.

“It’s pretty sad, and it seems to be getting worse. People just don’t care,” she said.

Penrose says it’s integral that all pet owners have their animals spayed or neutered so the unwanted pet population does not continue to grow.

The kittens are now ready for adoption, the humane society says.

» The Dauphin Herald

After being in business for less than a year, one of Obsolete Brewing Company’s brewers has already won the Brewer of the Year award by the Brewers Journal Canada.

Marcos Bardelli, who brews at the Dauphin businesses, said winning the award was “awesome.”

“Being new to the brewing scene here in Canada and being a start-up brewery and everything happening so fast. Everything was amazing,” he said.

Bardelli began his brewing career in his home country of Brazil in 2009, starting with home brewing. He opened a contract brewery in 2012 and began selling his products in 2014. He also used to work for a big brewery in Brazil called Bastards Brewery and began managing its operations and brewing for them in 2015.

» The Dauphin Herald

NEEPAWA

In mid-February, members of the Neepawa Wildlife Association (NWA) donated 300 pounds of frozen elk meat to the Salvation Army Food Bank in Neepawa.

The meat was collected during the hunting season from September to January. Community and Family Services worker Leah Anderson said the food bank was grateful for the donation, which will provide two to three food bank visits worth of meat to each family that uses the food bank.

“We are currently serving 55 families every month and the meat received will provide multiple portions … to each family we serve,” she said.

Specific rules and regulations are followed for the donation of meat, Anderson said, adding that the NWA was very accommodating in their efforts to follow those rules.

“We cannot accept donated meat that has not been processed through a butcher due to not knowing how, when or where it was prepared. The NWA was willing to cover the costs of butchering the elk for us, allowing me to accept it and distribute it,” she said.

» The Neepawa Banner & Press

BOISSEVAIN

As of April 1, a new well water system will be in place in the municipality of Boissevain-Morton.

The change was spurred on by many people not from the municipality using its water, said Head of Council Judy Swanson.

“There’s a lot of work to keeping and maintaining the wells sites,” she said.

The municipality has an in-town pumping station for treated water and five rural well sites that pump untreated water.

“It seems every other municipality around us charges for bulk water, so we decided to do the same,” Swanson said.

Users will need a fob key to access the water under the new system. Each fob costs $50. Any time people go to the well, they will flash their fobs to receive water.

“This is nice because it works on a pre-paid account, which is paid for at the municipal office,” Swanson said. “People don’t have to worry about having the correct change because it’s all through the fob.”

The new system will allow the municipality to monitor how much water each fob holder is drawing from the well.

» Discover Westman

The Beckoning Hills Museum in Boissevain has been a long-time fixture in the community, but people haven’t been able to stop by and see the items featured there since 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of volunteers to staff the museum means the doors haven’t been open for the past four years. But now, a new group of volunteers has stepped forward with the goal of re-opening the museum.

“Right now, we’re doing a lot of cleaning,” said museum co-chair Sandra Pearce. “We’re also moving stuff around and making new exhibits.”

The museum is working with the local library to get some pictures digitized, and with the Wildlife Museum to possibly make exhibits with them, she added.

“We’re hoping to open the doors by May, and we’ll start with weekends and we’ll see how many volunteers we can get to help out,” Pearce said.

The museum has about 10,000 items and they’re all on display. The group has applied for grants to help cover costs.

» Discover Westman

KILLARNEY

Lakeside Christian School in Killarney added a major addition in 2016, and now the board is considering more upgrades to the school.

Principal Nancy Reimer says the school made its final mortgage payment in May of 2023, and the addition is paid off as well.

“So this year, we started looking to see what the next need is here at the school, and our library and kitchen areas need some updating, so we’re starting to fundraise for that specific space in the school,” Reimer said.

Renovations will make those spaces more functional, she added, and the school hopes to have quotes for the work by the end of May.

Enrolment at the school remains steady with 65 students this year. Reimer hopes the renovations can start sometime this year.

» Discover Westman