Last week Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) held their OCN Youth Gathering over three days for for youth ages 12 to 30 to discuss and engage the Wahkotowin Tawastak, as part of developing new C92 legislation. Some keynote speakers and presenters were brought in to work with the youth and they were Scott Wabano, Jackie Traverse, Adam Beach, Brett Mooswa, Kairyn Potts and James Jones.
Scott Wabano has made a name for themselves as an award-winning fashion stylist and designer; creative director and content creator. Wabano grew up as a two-spirited Cree from the Mushkegowuk and Eeyou Istchee territories and has always had a passion for bringing Indigenous representation to the fashion industry.

Two talented artists from Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) are earning international recognition for their work. Rhonda Head and Gabe Constant teamed up together to create a music video called Island Dreams, which represented not only an experience of being in another country, but gave the opportunity to showcase Indigenous people from that area as well.
“I went to Belize for Christmas two years ago, and it’s such an amazing country with beautiful lands and people,” said singer and songwriter Rhonda Head. “I was about seven days into my trip, when I was sitting in my room alone and all these images came to me of my trip. I grabbed a piece of paper and began writing about all the images that came to me. Before I knew it, I wrote a song.

Swan School of Dance held their annual recital last Wednesday (March 20) at the SVRSS gymnasium. Dancing to songs that related to the theme ‘Imagine...’ the performers put
on a spectacular show for the audience who filled the space.

A former Parkland resident has entered the world of publishing.

Chenise Puchailo joined forces with some friends who were writing short stories, which became Debut, the first book published by Spud Pub, an independent publishing company the group started.

“Everybody was writing their first drafts for submission. We had everything kind of hammered out,” she said, adding they were trying to decide how to get the book published.

Puchailo had met a publisher with At Bay Press at a fantasy sci-fi convention in Winnipeg. What followed was a two-hour conversation all about publishing and the ins and outs about it.

“Initially, my questions were about distribution, because we were just going to do the one print run or do it on Amazon,” she said.

Check out the full story in this week's Herald!

On Wednesday afternoon (March 20), the Swan Valley Fire Department (SVFD) was dispatched to a Vehicle Fire on Westwood Road behind Swan Valley Funeral Services. Upon arrival of Incident Command, a vehicle was observed to be fully involved. SVFD crews advanced one attack line to extinguish the fire. Shortly after the first call was cleared, a call came in for a rekindle to the same location. Upon arrival of SVFD units, a small smolder was observed in the box of the truck. The call was responded to in a non-emergency capacity. Crews advanced a trash line (short attack line for small fires and smoldering fires) and inundated the box with water. No injuries are reported.

The Parkland Chamber of Commerce hosted its appreciation lunch, Mar. 19, at the Watson Arts Centre.

The Chamber handed out its milestone achievement awards, recognizing membership tenures of five to 50 years.

Five years - Business Development Bank of Canada, Dawson Logistics Ltd., Duane McMaster CPA Inc., Gilbert Plains Municipality, Grandview Pharmacy, Habitat for Humanity Dauphin Chapter, Hot Shot Entertainment, Liquid Glamour, Mountain View School Division, SciMar Ltd., and Wiebe Building Solutions Ltd.

10 years - Magnetsigns Dauphin, Momotiuk Enterprises Ltd., Mullen Contracting Corp., Parkland Campus Kids Inc., RM of Lakeshore and Winnipegosis and District Residential Services Inc.

15 years - Boulevard Hotel, Dauphin Bible Camp, Dauphin Magical Horizons Daycare, Dauphin Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation, Lorray Manor, (Parkland Living Assisted) McDonalds, Nolan Farms, Seitter’s Construction, SYNC CPA Inc., and Tim-Br-Fab Industries.

20 years - Strilkiwski Contracting Ltd., and St. George’s Place.

25 years - Canadian Tire, Norwex Canada Inc., and Dauphin Lions Club.

30 years - Ready Mix of Dauphin TYM Ltd., and Dauphin’s Countryfest.

35 years - Irwin Law Office, Dauphin Chiropractic Centre and Baker Computers.

40 years - Steiner Plumbing and Heating Inc., Manitoba Public Insurance, Assiniboine Community College - Parkland Campus and Cruise Farms.

50 years - Fusion Credit Union, Dauphin Medical Clinic Inc., and Watson Arts Centre.

The next event hosted by the Parkland Chamber of Commerce will be the State of the District luncheon, Apr. 16.

The Parkland Chamber of Commerce took some time to recognize the efforts of local business and community leaders during a Celebration Night, Mar. 20, at Countryfest Community Cinema.

Local car dealer Dean Cooley received the Business Person of the Year Award, a testament to a passion for excellence and leadership in the business community and his commitment to economic development, innovation, business ethics and community involvement.

Ian Leighton of ICL General Construction was on hand to accepted the Outstanding Business Award recognizing success in company growth, growth prospects, and employment creation, while demonstrating a clear strategic vision and engaging in innovative practices which have a continuing positive impact on the community.

Tanner Bennet of Grow Media in Dauphin was recognized as the Young Entrepreneur of the Year. The award is presented to an individual between the ages of 18 and 35 who has been in business no longer than two years and exemplifies the qualities of effective leadership, innovatively applied know-how, and excellent potential for growth.

The Community Appreciation Group award was presented to The Bridge Ochre River, a safe place for children and teens in the community.

The Community Appreciation Individual Award went to Marge Beyette. The Community Appreciation Awards recognize those who have contributed through their personal efforts to the wellbeing of the community as a whole.

Hot Shot Entertainment owner Cory Gulenchin was honoured as the winner of the Side Hustle Business Award. The award recognizes an entrepeneur who demonstrates success within a venture they operate outside their regular job.

For the second year in a row, alcohol played a role in the presentation of the Start-up Business Award as the ownership group from Obsolete Brewing Co. accepted the award from last year’s winner Pierce Cairns of Grand Vieux Liquor Co.

The evening wrapped up with a special presentation of the Legacy Award to Dauphin Music and Electronics recognizing the extraordinary things the business accomplished which benefited the region in unique and meaningful ways and served as an inspiration .

Dauphin Music and Electronics closed its doors last fall after 77 years in business.

The Dauphin Kings are halfway to the semifinals in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League playoffs.

The Kings rode a 46-save performance from Cole Sheffield to a 2-1 victory over the Blizzard Jr. A Hockey Club in game one, Friday in The Pas.

Joshua Schmidt was the overtime hero, beating Blizzard goaltender Tomas Anderson through the five-hole, 6:21 into the extra period to lift the Kings to a 5-4 win and a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven quarterfinal series.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley, who missed game one due to illness, credited Sheffield for stealing the game with his performance.

“The biggest thing is we weathered the storm up there. And Sheff stole the game. Let’s face it, Sheffield stole the game for us,” he said. “They had pressure after pressure. But the good thing about up there is that we kept them to the perimeter. They only had 12 prime scoring shot areas and they usually have more than that on us the last couple times we played them.”

After the Kings took a 2-0 lead after the first period, the Blizzard outshot Dauphin, 39-7 in the final 40 minutes. That was when Sheffield took the spotlight, stopping all but one of those shots.

In game two, the Kings, playing with just five defencemen, were able to relieve a lot of pressure by getting pucks out of the zone and moving it as quickly as they could.

“And taking advantage of mistakes on the rush. Their D-men are always pressuring their five-man unit down low, so if we can get in behind them and get pucks in behind them, then we end up with two-on-ones,” Hedley said. “But the biggest thing is we had to relieve pressure and I thought our guys did a hell of a job tonight.”

Forward Jordan Bax also missed game one due to illness, while defenceman Brett Magarrell is day-to-day with an upper body injury and may return for game three, tonight in The Pas.

Defenceman Charlie Sandven is likely out for the remainder of the playoffs after contracting mono.

Schmidt, forward Rylan Gibbs and defenceman Ty Pratte also missed some practices due to illness.

“We went up there with a few guys at about 80 per cent, 75 per cent, found a way to get it done and it was just a good follow up today, that’s for sure,” Hedley said.

Schmidt and Carter Zalischuk, who opened the scoring in game two, are examples of the team effort needed to be successful in the playoffs, Hedley said.

“That’s what playoffs are for. It’s for the guys in the bottom of the order. The bottom of your order are the guys that are going to get it done, because you’ve got to play everybody,” he said. “You have to deposit energy into the bank and you’re going to use it in game five, six, seven, depends on how long it goes.”

Madden Murray and Rylan Gage were both outstanding, Hedley said and Zalischuk played his best hockey of the season in the last two games.

“Since we put him back in the middle, that 200-foot game, he’s been outstanding. The energy level, the work ethic, that’s what he brings. He brings energy, he finishes checks and he kills penalties like a trooper,” he said.

Game three gets underway tonight in The Pas at 7 p.m., while game four will go Thursday in Dauphin at 7:30 p.m.

Despite having the series lead after two games, Hedley knows the series is far from over.

“Every game is as important as the last one. We do enjoy today and get back to work tomorrow,” he said. “It’s great we won at home, but there’s still a lot of work to do. This team is not going to go anywhere. They’re too good of a team to do that. Their goaltender is too good to do that. So it’s a matter of us coming back with a good solid effort and, hopefully, take the next step.”

Game five, if necessary, will go Saturday in The Pas at 7:30 p.m., while game six, if needed in Monday in Dauphin at 7:30 p.m.

Local eye doctor R.P. Ashcroft may have retired but the service he provided for decades continues thanks to a long-time colleague at Ashcroft Vision Care.

Dr. Kara Vanderhayden, who has been seeing patients in Roblin and Dauphin for about a decade now, has taken over the reins. She has rebranded the practice – it is now known as WillowBrook Eye Care – and continues to maintain Ashcroft’s offices in both Dauphin and Roblin.

Read all about it in this week’s Review.

A new committee has been formed to help raise funds for community projects.

Thanks to a big push from local producer and councillor Walter Hammond and the Municipality of Roblin’s generous donation of rent-free land as well as the offer to handle the financial aspects and provide seed money, the Roblin & Community Harvest Legacy Project is embarking on the first of what is hoped will be many growing projects over the years.

Find out more and how to help in this week’s issue.