Typically, when you receive a 30-year pin to honour your service to an organization, it acknowledges a career well done as that individual nears retirement. For Kerry Midford, it’s likely to be just a milestone on a legacy that is far from done.
Midford is just 36-years-old but already has earned a 30-year pin from Girl Guides for her nearly life-long and continuous efforts in support of The Pas Girl Guides. Joining when she was just five-years-old, Midford has continued onward with the organization since, progressing through the ranks from being a Spark to a Ranger over a 13-year span as a girl guide before jumping almost immediately into a role as a Guider, which she has now carried on for another 17 years. All-in-all, it adds up to three decades and countless hours spent in service of The Pas Girl Guides.
Through it all, there was only one moment Midford could recall where the idea of stepping away crossed her mind.

The Pas Girl Guides held their annual Girl Guides Wind-up and Advancement Ceremony at the end of May, with three dozen girls drawing to a conclusion a year that began in a pandemic and ended with the start of a return to normalcy.
The girls were honored for advancing into the next level of guiding, while a few others were recognized for other achievements during the in-person event; a welcomed sight after two years of not being able to gather and celebrate their achievements.
Thirty-six girls were enrolled in Girl Guides this year, along with a dozen guiders. Ranging in ages from five to 13, there were nine girls in Sparks, 11 in Brownies and 16 between the Guides and Pathfinders. Rangers, which is for the oldest girls aged 14 and up, did not have any participation this year, according to Guider Kerry Midford.

Taylor School held their Tabloid Day on Friday (June 10) where students went from station to station playing games and having a great time.

It was not the colour they were hoping for, but both of Dauphin’s high school rugby teams came home from this weekend’s provincials with medals.

With no Winnipeg teams entered in the provincial tournament, the Westman High School Rugby League finalists earned an automatic berth into the championship game, which again pitted the Dauphin Clippers against the league champion Rivers Rams.

The Rams came away with a 34-14 win and the provincial title.

Clippers coach Aaron Miner said the Clippers, which was limited to only 15 players, played their hearts out.

Get the full rundown in this week's Dauphin Herald!

Dauphin native Will Hlady has taken his baseball career to the next level.

After finishing his college career with the Valley City State University Vikings, Hlady signed with the Tucson Saguaros of the Pecos League of Professional Baseball Clubs, an independent league with teams in California, Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Texas.

Hlady was heading to a Vikings practice when he received a phone call inviting him to a tryout in California, which resulted in his signing with the Saguaros. Hlady made his professional debut, June 4, earning the win in a 15-4 victory over the California-based Martinez Sturgeon. Hlady pitched five innings, allowing four hits, four runs of which only one was earned, while walking four and striking out seven. Hlady helped his own cause going two-for-two at the plate, with a walk and four runs-batted-in.

It was the first time in five years Hlady stepped to the plate, which, he said, made things interesting.

“Guys throw a little bit harder than what I’m used to seeing from playing back in high school. So it was a little bit of an adjustment, but it worked out well for me in my favour,” he said.

There is a period of adjustment, Hlady said, because the ball moves quicker and players are bigger and stronger and have more experience.

“Obviously, the guys that are here are here for a reason. They can all play at the next level. So it’s a little more competitive, I feel, and there’s a lot more consistency from players,” he said. “The guys that are coming up hit more frequently. Guys are making plays more frequently. There’s a lot more professionalism to it, as well, with showing up on time, being there before games and taking care of yourself.”

The biggest adjustment for Hlady is learning to hit his spots when he is pitching.

“Because guys will be able to hit the ball over the fence quite easily here. And I’ve seen that from our team firsthand and from other teams we’ve played against so far,” he said.

Hlady feels he has matured on the mound throughout his college career and he is able to control his offspeed pitches and fastball better.

“And just sticking with it and not being too frustrated when things don’t go my way,” he added.

Tucson is the two-time defending champions in the Pecos League and the goal, obviously, is to win a third straight championship.

“Which seems very doable with the way we’re playing right now,” Hlady said of the 8-2 Saguaros.

As for his own goals, Hlady hopes to improve enough to take his skills to the next professional level.

Pecos teams play in cities that do not have major or minor league baseball teams and they are not affiliated with either. The Pecos League has a 22-man roster with no designated hitter used in games. Each team roster has eight experienced players and 13 rookies.

The Pecos League regular season runs through the middle of the summer from June 1 to Aug. 5.

Assiniboine Community College Parkland Campus celebrated its Class of 2022, Friday with a graduation ceremony in Dauphin.

This year’s Class of 2022 consists of 43 graduates.

Business administration: Human Resource Management diploma - Carley Coulter, Claire Gingera, Campbell Orvis, Ashley Poynting and Jessica Zurba.

Comprehensive Health Care Aide certificate - Tyra-Jane Delaurier, Wynona Guiboche, Noeline Muoneme and Madison Stratuliak.

Early Childhood Education diploma - Julia Bluhm, Carlee Farrow, Chloe Genaille, Faith McLaughlin, Britteny Sinclair, Amber Tkachyk and Aminay Yusuf.

Mature Student High School diploma - Carly Blady, Don Geriko Estanislao, Maxwell Genaille, Michelle Gouldsborough, Niki Guiboche, Sebastian Keewatin, Dustin McKay, Skyla McKay, Anna-Maria Ogg, Amanda Pangman, Kylie Paterson, Karen Renshaw and Mathew Walls-Orosz.

Office Skills certificate - Singh Harpreet and Nicole Sutherland.

Youth Employment Skills Certificate of Achievement - Denee Baptiste, Robert Baron, Angel Bull, Johnny Campbell, Shaydon Davis, Brody Denbow, Wynona Guiboche, Kennedy Ironstand, Edina Malcolm, Hope Roulette and Taylor Vier.

Karen Renshaw, a graduate of the Mature Student High School program was valedictorian.

As a mature student, Renshaw and her peers viewed life experience as an incredible asset to supplement the learning that took place in their time at ACC.

In her speech, she thanked everyone who attended the ceremony, noting it is the first time since 2019 that graduates have been able to celebrate with family friends and faculty members.

“This has been a wonderfully amazing year for adult learners, the challenges that came with a decision to improve the quality of our lives. Congratulations to you,” she added.

Renshaw also thanked the teachers, staff and Elders for the high standard of education they provided to students. Noting ACC is part of Treaty 2, she said it is because of the land they were all able to meet together over the last few years to improve themselves as a community.
Renshaw poked fun at herself during her speech.

“Returning to school at the ripe old age of 54 has been a journey. Next year, I can order from the seniors menu at Smitty’s,” she joked. “You know you are older than your teachers when they would ask, ‘hey, Karen, do you remember when?’ I would answer with, ‘man, you are lucky I remembered pants’.”

Renshaw admitted she was shocked to learn she was valedictorian, as well as honoured and amazed.

“After a couple of days, it came to me no one else applied,” she joked.

It took Renshaw a few tries to come up with a speech. Her first attempt, she said, was a reference to mountain climbing.

“Heck, I can’t even climb three flights of stairs. Thank God ACC is all one level,” she joked.

Her second attempt was about how we survived COVID, Zoom classes, masks, a winter storm in April, late night studies and cramming for last minute essays. She finally decided to write her speech the way they had lived the past eight months, by the seat of their prayers.

“Thank you, Lord/Creator, our higher power for guiding us to make a change. Thank you for putting these amazing people on our path for a better future. Thank you mostly for helping us make the grade. Amen,” she said.

On behalf of her fellow graduates, Renshaw thanked family members for their support, encouragement and for joining the graduates on their special day. She also thanked her classmates to teaching her so much.

“Your kindness will always be close to my heart. You folks are top notch. You will shine bright in your careers and lives,” she said. “The knowledge we have acquired will remain with us for the rest of our lives and we are grateful for that.”

Following the ceremony, graduates, family and friends enjoyed a barbecue meal.

There is officially a race to become Dauphin’s new mayor as local businessman and community advocate David Bosiak registered as a candidate yesterday.

For Bosiak, the motivation for letting his name stand was simple, to ensure the progress he has seen in the community over the last number of years continues.

“We were on pause for two years with COVID and I think that the city right now has an opportunity to continue on in a forward direction or be diverted or distracted by what I would call minor issues,” Bosiak said. “And so I just want to assist in moving us forward in a method that has sort of been my process my whole career. Working with other people.”

To illustrate the effectiveness of a collaborative approach, Bosiak points to the restructuring of recreation delivery in the early 1990s and the formation of the Dauphin Joint Recreation Commission which brought together several groups which had never officially worked together in the past.

Baseball advocates wanted new fields, soccer advocates wanted new pitches, proponents of hockey wanted a new arena and swimmers wanted a new pool.

“Our strategy was let’s get people together. We have to hear what their priorities are. Because before that people had priorities, but they were never collectively shared and then prioritized,” he said, adding a community roundtable discussion brought together 50 or 60 groups, each with an opportunity to express their wants and desires.

The process resulted in a list of community priorities which were worked on by everyone.

“We held everyone accountable by saying if this is priority one for us as a community we’ll all work on priority one. And if it gets accomplished then we just won’t go away, we will then work on priority two, three, four,” he said, adding he recently looked at some old notes from that time. “We listed 20 priorities, which is a lot at any given time for sure,” he said, citing a new arena, a new curling rink, a new pool, new sports fields, new soccer pitches and new walking trails and bike paths as being all in the top 10.

“When I looked at that list a couple weeks ago, we achieved everything. Not at once and not immediately, but up to 20 community priorities from 1993, they’ve all been achieved, they exist today. And mostly because nobody ran away after their priority got completed.

“Obviously completing the project is a priority, but it’s how you get it completed.”

It is all about what is good for the community, he continued, recalling a conversation with an older resident during the time when the push was on to develop the Parkland Recreation Complex.

“He said, “I don’t swim, I don’t curl. I’m an old guy, I’m 75, 80 years old. But if this means my kids will come home more often to visit me, I’m in favor of it. It’s good for us as a community’,” Bosiak said. “That just was such a message to me . . . you may not be the primary consumer or user of that service, but if it benefits the general sense of community it’s good.

Read the FULL STORY in this week's Dauphin Herald!

There seems to be an unwritten rule somewhere saying that at least one of the events of the Russell Lions Prairie Classic Walleye Tournament must involve rain.  This year, the rain came during the boat parade but it didn’t seem to dampen spirits of the kids collecting the candy thrown from entrants.  Both the Saturday and Sunday of the derby saw sunny skies and calm conditions for the 105 teams out on Lake of the Prairies.

The community of Inglis and the Inglis Grain Elevators are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year.

And to commemorate this historic milestone, the Inglis Area Heritage Committee is hosting a big celebration in conjunction with its usual Canada Day party.

Get all the info in this week's Roblin Review!

Roblin Forest Products (RFP) has promoted one of their managers to be their new General Manager.

Carley Coulter has been working at Roblin Forest Products for some time now while completing her post-secondary studies.

Check this week's Roblin Review for more details!