The last of the acts are signed and the countdown to Dauphin’s Countryfest 2026 is on.

Canada’s longest running country music festival takes place, June 25 to 28, at Selo Ukraina south of Dauphin.

Headlining the 2026 festival are multi-platinum country stars Jelly Roll, Tyler Hubbard, and Nate Smith, each bringing their high-energy performances to the Play Now Main Stage.

Joining the headliners on the main stage will be the Hunter Brothers, Owen Riegling, Jade Turner and the Sean Taylor Band on Friday.

Sturday will feature Cameron Whitcomb, Hailey Benedict, Noeline Hofmann and Alli Walker, while Sunday will see Brett Kissel, Thelma and James, Blackhawk and The Martin Boys.

With a mix of international headliners, celebrated Canadian talent, and rising local artists, this year’s festival promises an unforgettable experience for music fans across the country.

“Each year our goal is to build a lineup that truly captures the spirit of Countryfest, bringing together world-class talent, Canadian artists, and the rising stars in our own backyard,” said Colette Hykawy, Programming Committee lead.

“We’re excited to welcome fans back to the hill for four days of great music and fun activities.”

The festival will get underway, June 25, with a Rockin’ Thursday Kickoff Party, featuring Canadian rocker JJ Wilde, a Kitchener, Ont., born artist, who will set the tone for an electrifying weekend, alongside Manitoba performers Leddwyn and The Haileys.

Additional highlights on the hilltop stages include acclaimed Canadian artists Charlie Major and Aaron Pritchett, along with a drink-raising, head-banging performance from Eddy and the Dirty Boys, a rising Canadian rock band compiled of members from both The Glorious Sons and Boston Levi.

Toque will return to the hilltop stage to bring their high-energy classic rock performance.

The remainder of the weekend features home-grown talent, and out of province rising stars, such as Josh Stumpf, Club Wagon Creek, Ryan Keown, Austin Ryder, Morgan Grace, Kates Outlaw, Sarah Vanderzon, JR Charron, Kris Anders and the Flatlanders, Irvin Miller, Petric, Brandi Vezina, Cassandra Star and Mitchell Makoons and Desiree Orvis.

Dauphin’s Countryfest has now entered Tier 3 pricing with weekend passes available at $369 plus fees and taxes.

Tickets and camping can be purchased online at Countryfest.ca or by calling toll-free to 1-800-361-7300.

No fooling here! With the weather and snow conditions remaining favourable for skiing and snowboarding, the Thunderhill Ski Area was still open on select days during spring break, which coincided with night skiing on the evening of April 1, as well as a full day of operations on Good Friday (April 3). (TOP) The JB Construction Lift brings skiers and snowboards up the first slope. (CENTRE) The Easter Bunny comes out to entertain the crowds on the last day of the season. (BOTTOM LEFT) A snowboarder carves around the last corner. (BOTTOM RIGHT) A skier takes a jump in the snowboard park.

Many talented and creative people have come from the Swan Valley and have gone on to have remarkable careers in fields that many only dream of. Former resident Brad Caruk had an interest that he was passionate about from his days growing up in the Valley and took it to an international level.
“I was born in Swan River and moved around for a bit in Manitoba and Saskatchewan as my Dad worked in the mines,” said Caruk. “Then we came back to Swan River when I was in Grade 3. We lived on Third Street North, only a short walk to Swan Valley Regional Secondary School, which I graduated from in 1983.
“Immediately after graduating from the SVRSS, I moved to Winnipeg to attend Red River Polytechnical, Advertising Art, graduating from there in 1985. I wanted to go into film, but art was the most affordable option I had, and they had accepted my portfolio submission, providing me with an in-person interview.
“I received an acceptance letter to attend, so I was all in,” said Caruk. “It wasn’t easy. Classes were 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with no spares and the homework was a little different from what it is today.”
What drew Caruk into creating experiences and design features stemmed from George Lucas’ cult classic movie – Star Wars. He was also very fortunate to have some very influential instructors both in Swan River and in his post-secondary studies.
“I sketched a lot through my school years, but honestly, seeing Star Wars in the local theatre in 1977 changed my life,” said Caruk. “Yes, as geeky as that sounds, it was the imagination and creativity of such visuals that I really wanted to be a part of.
“Once I entered high school, I enrolled in a course called Commercial Art, under Doug Stout. He was my mentor and honestly inspired me. I luckily had his twin brother, Andy, at Red River for graphic design; he led me to continue that pursuit. I had other very influential teachers as well, like Tony Klein for band, and music is also a big part of my career. Cliff Gussie, Mr. Yaroway, and others who were not even my teachers had an influence on me.”
Caruk’s career started on Manitoba soil and led him to work on some design concepts for museums in Winnipeg. From there, he worked on several projects on a global scale, many of them being world-renowned tourist attractions.
“In 1989, I had started my own company in Winnipeg, which several years later led to embellishments and designs for exhibits at the Manitoba Museum and another project for The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada,” said Caruk. “I remember the stress of those first multi-million-dollar budgets, but in parallel, the excitement and pride that followed. That was just the beginning; my ultimate goal was to get onto the world’s stage.
“I invented a technology to put on subway tunnel walls and installed the prototype in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which led to travel to over a dozen other countries around the globe. We were about to go public, but then the stock market crashed. That was a tough life event.
“I went on to work on concepts for Moana and Tron for Walt Disney, Orlando, Florida; attractions for Universal Studios, Singapore and Beijing, China; and designed several attractions for Ocean Flower, Hainan, China,” said Caruk. “I’ve also developed a whole theme park in Jurong, China, another in Tokyo, Japan and a Panda VIP animal park.
“I travelled with my wife, Crystal, up the mountains of Chengdu to the Panda Research Base. Not many get that kind of opportunity and it was a very special project dear to us.
“More recently, I developed an aquarium in Khobar, The Line, The Mukaab and Six Flags Qiddiya City Park, all in Saudi Arabia,” said Caruk.
The projects that Caruk has worked on take years to complete. Like anything else, the bigger the project, the longer it takes to finish.
“A lot of blood, sweat and tears literally go into designing and developing these kinds of projects,” said Caruk. “You’re always thinking how to make it better. These days, I’m responsible for multi-billion-dollar projects. You need to get it right. It’s all about the guest experience.
“Starting with the concept, then leading disciplines in schematic design like architecture, structures, engineering, area development, audio, lighting, etc., then on into construction supervision. It’s like a symphony. I get to be that conductor. If we are not all in tune, it falls apart. You need to create something unique, entertaining, and especially memorable.
“It starts with the executive strategy, pre-concept, concept, schematic design, design development, construction drawings, then onsite there’s preliminary works, infrastructure, etc., until opening day,” said Caruk. “Some projects can be two years or so, while other larger ones take upwards of five to seven years. It’s a major commitment of time and travel.”
Caruk focuses on delivering the most enjoyable experience for guests. He strives to design an attraction or theme park that people want to come back to and experience it again. He finds inspiration in challenging himself to outdo what he has done in the past and from his spouse.
“I work with the most brilliant people on the world’s stage,” said Caruk. “I get to imagine and build things people have never seen before. Create worlds from within my head and make them a reality. I’ll hang out by an exit of an attraction and listen to the guests’ reactions. The ultimate compliment, when I hear someone say, ‘let’s go on it again’, then I know I did something right.
“I think the energy comes from the passion to outdo myself on the next project. It’s not so much what I have done, I’ve had my share, but more about what I am doing now. It’s in my DNA. I live, eat, and breathe it. My ideas come from everywhere, everything. I credit a lot of it to Crystal. She is my muse and the most creative person I know. And, she puts up with my crap, to some degree, which lets me do what I do best.”
Caruk has worked on many notable projects over the span of his career and each one has something about it that ties him to it.
“When it comes to having a favourite project that I’ve designed, that’s a tricky question, as I have favourites for different reasons,” said Caruk. “It’s like asking me my favourite movie, not a short answer. Six Flags Qiddiya was an opportunity unlike anything else. I was the only creative director on that entire project. That park is completely my world, from the stories to the characters I created, such as Professor Screamore, to even the design and painting of ride vehicles. Even the music. I was in Prague with the symphony orchestra recording original compositions for this project.
“It came with a huge sacrifice, though. We lived on Vancouver Island during the pandemic and worked remotely from 10 p.m. through the night, finishing at 9 a.m., almost seven days a week, for two years. Then we relocated to the Eastern time zone and I was in the air more than on the ground for the next three years. That’s a lot of time away from family.”
Caruk still has projects on the go and plans to continue doing what he loves for as long as he can.
“Unfortunately, I can’t say much about current or future projects, as we are under non-disclosure agreements, typical of this genre of work, but I can tell you there’s more to come,” said Caruk. “My plan is to do this as long as I can, so retirement really isn’t in my vocabulary. I am very fortunate to do this type of work. My job is my hobby, and my hobby is my job. It doesn’t get much better than that.”

The snow plows, tractors, loaders, snow shovels and snow blowers continue to be in active duty mid-way into April, with a major dump of snow landing on the Swan Valley Tuesday and Wednesday (April 7 and 8). Environment Canada estimated an additional 30 cm had accumulated on the ground by Thursday (April 9) – totalling as much as 64 cm – accompanied by gusts as fast as 59 km/h. Despite several days of melting temperatures and the beginnings of spring flooding, the area is forecasted to receive as much as another 13 cm later this week. Pictured here, crews continue to clear the temporary snow median on Fifth Avenue North that still remained on Monday morning five days after the flurries ended.

On April 2, at approximately 3:05 p.m., Russell RCMP responded after a van collided with three parked cars in Rossburn.
The collision occurred on Victoria Avenue, in the vicinity of a local daycare at a time of day when young children and their parents are entering and exiting the building.
Investigators have determined the van was travelling at a high rate of speed, causing severe damage to all four vehicles.
Shortly after the collision, RCMP learned a male suspect matching the description of the driver had just assaulted a male at a nearby hotel. The victim of the assault went to hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
At approximately 3:30 p.m., multiple bystanders waved officers down and pointed out the suspect, who was walking in the community. He was arrested without incident.
Lawrence Jade Shingoose, 31, of Keeseekowenin, has been charged with:
• Assault causing bodily harm;
• Uttering threats;
• Failing to stop after an accident;
• Impaired driving; and
• Operating a vehicle while over .08.
Shingoose was remanded into custody.

The municipalities of Riding Mountain West and Russell/Binscarth are again working together to tackle long-held issues in health care for our area communities, hoping to expand to include the communities further afield, many of whom are dealing with the same issues of health care coverage.
“We’ve established a new initiative between the Municipality of Russell Binscarth and the RM of Riding Mountain West called the Assiniboine Valley Health Board,” Adrienne Falloon, CAO of the Municipality of Russell Binscarth explained at a joint meeting with members of the two municipalities with the Russell Banner.
“It’s like a reincarnation of what used to exist, which was called the Banner County Health Foundation,” she explained, adding that for now, recruitment and retention of health care professionals is one of their main priorities. “We’re going to start with doctors and move onto the rest of the health professionals like nurses, radiologists, lab techs etc.”
Together, councillors and CAO’s of both municipalities will continue to lobby for infrastructure and capital projects like improvements to the hospital - especially the ER, diagnostics and counselling area, and improvements to the hospital as well.
That’s part of the message they took to the Minister of Health on the first Wednesday of the month.
“We had been sending letters to the Minister of Health about the state of rural health care and their staff had reached out and said that they will be in Brandon for MLA Day at the Brandon Winter Fair and asked if we could meet with them there,” Falloon said
“We reiterated our concerns about the lack of health care professionals, the availability of ambulances in rural Manitoba as a whole as well as the need for support in infrastructure and capital projects,” Adrienne added.
“And they seemed to be really receptive.”
“Initiatives to support EMS training and recruitment were discussed,” said councillor Wes Anderson
“We did offer Russell/Binscarth to become a training hub and a host community for the new EMR program that they had successfully launched in Arborg,” Anderson added.
“And they did ask how many students we might be able to accommodate here, so that seemed to be very positive.”
“Overall, they seemed very receptive and willing to work together at the provincial level for both recruitment and retention of health care professionals,” Falloon said, explaining that the province now has their new recruitment office which is a step above Prairie Mountain Health.
“It's like a provincial agency where the Minister, and their Chief of Staff, is putting us in contact with them to work together on attracting doctors and keeping them here through their provincial recruitment agency.”
With that cooperative effort between the province and the two municipalities established, the conversation here turned back to the idea behind the Assiniboine Valley Health Board as a very necessary cooperative effort not only between our two municipalities but others in the surrounding area who have availed themselves of medical services in place here.

Be informed! Get the whole story in this weeks Russell Banner on page 2.

By Terrie Welwood
Russell Banner

Even if I don’t finish, we need to continue. It’s got to keep going without me,” Terry Fox.
Fred Fox is one of Terry Fox’s four siblings. As the oldest, he’s 18 months older than the man whose heroic efforts to run across Canada in aid of cancer research after having his leg amputated after a cancer diagnosis.
Now, Fred and his siblings Darryl and Judy are keeping their late brothers vision alive by spreading his story around 34 countries.
Fox has been touring across Manitoba and Saskatchewan visiting schools and community gatherings along the way.
He met with community members at the Park Manor last Monday, just six days before the 46th anniversary of the date that Terry Fox dipped his prosthetic leg in the Atlantic ocean in St. John’s Nfld before taking off on his cross country journey.
He was forced to end his run just outside of Thunder Bay on September 1, 1980, when cancer returned in his lungs. He was treated in Port Arthur Hospital before returning to British Columbia.
Fred Fox was with his younger brother on his run.
“We knew that Terry must have been in constant pain,” Fred told the room.
“Over the 143 days and 5,373 kms of his journey he was running on a prosthetic leg meant for walking and certainly not for running at all, let alone that distance.”
While Fred said it was impossible to know what his younger brother was thinking, he’d made one wish abundantly clear.
“We were all so thrilled to see Canadians lining the streets, cheering and making donations along the way and the one thing we did know was that this run would not end.”
While the majority of the events take place in Canada, over 60 countries worldwide have hosted a Terry Fox Run. In places like the United Kingdom, Cuba, India, and Australia. In February the Terry Fox Foundation announced that it had surpassed $1 billion raised for cancer research since the inception of the Marathon of Hope, funding over 1,300 innovative cancer research projects, medical breakthroughs and significantly improving treatments and survival rates worldwide.

Riding Mountain MP Dan Mazier has introduced legislation which would ban supervised drug consumption and injection sites from operating within 500 metres of schools, daycares and playgrounds.

In introducing the bill, the Official Opposition’s Shadow Minister for Health calculated that more than 80 per cent of federally-approved sites are currently operating within that zone.

“Allowing drug consumption sites next to children is dangerous and unacceptable,” Mazier said.

“No parent should have to worry about their child stepping on a used needle in the playground or walking through a cloud of fentanyl smoke on the way to school.”

Supervised consumption sites are facilities where individuals can use illegal drugs because the federal Minister of Health has granted a legal exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.

According to Health Canada, fentanyl is the most commonly used drug at federally approved consumption sites, accounting for nearly half of all visits, followed by methamphetamine.

Mazier referred to these sites as “drug magnets,” citing hundreds of reports to Health Canada with concerns relating to drug dealing, property damage, aggression, and the littering of drug paraphernalia.

“The Liberals have been approving drug consumption sites next to children without checking who is next door,” Mazier said.

“When I asked the Health Minister at committee how many approved sites are located next to schools and daycares, she could not answer because her own department does not collect that information.” he added.

At a press conference on Parliament Hill following the bill’s introduction in the House of Commons, Mazier pointed to specific cases to illustrate the impact these sites are having on families and communities.

He highlighted the example of Sandy Hill Child Care, a daycare in Ottawa that was forced to shut down in 2023 after a supervised consumption site opened blocks away. The daycare documented a significant increase in open drug use and aggression. Before the closure, the daycare had to hire a private security guard to accompany children for outdoor activities.

Read the full story in this week’s edition of the Dauphin Herald.

As much of northern Manitoba waits for the snow to melt and spring to arrive, the memories and aftermath of one of Manitoba’s worst forest fires in history are still on everyone’s minds. The tri-community has been very focused and dedicated to creating a wildfire plan to help protect the surrounding communities from the potential threat of wildfire, and this includes educating and training citizens.
“We’re seeing longer, drier burning seasons and more unpredictable fire behaviour across Manitoba,” said The Pas Fire Department Fire Chief Byron Shangraw.

While there still is a lot of snow left over for the first week of April – with more on the way – Old Man Winter is slowly showing signs of going back to sleep and letting spring emerge. Pictured here, a young deer wanders around Harlington in the shadow of Thunderhill.