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.

The Swan Valley U15 Stampeders went undefeated during the weekend of March 1-3, bringing home the Championship banner from the U15 Rural B Provincials in Russell. The team captured the title after defeating the Minnedosa Bombers 3-1.

By: Ed Stozek
For The Herald

Featuring trained animals and various other thrilling performances, the offer of free tickets to attend the circus was part of the excitement that my wife Janice and her fellow Grades 1 to 8 students experienced during the early 1960s. A large crowd aided local organizations in their fund-raising projects.

An open letter in the Dauphin Herald and Press by the Dauphin Junior Chamber of Commerce advertised the impending arrival of the King Brothers Circus with performances scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Monday, June 20, 1960. Special convoys used for the transportation of 50 wild animals, circus artists and equipment soon followed.

Under supervision by the Dauphin Jaycees the proceeds from ticket sales were to be used for the Jaycee Little League Baseball Park.

Two years later the Shrine Circus was scheduled to arrive for its first ever appearance in Dauphin. Sponsored by the Dauphin and District Shrine Club the Gil Gray Shrine Circus commenced on Wednesday, May 23, with matinee and evening performances at the DMCC arena. The 2-1/2 hour shows featured 46 acts suitable for all round family entertainment.

Business firms and merchants had been contacted earlier with requests to help in sponsoring children’s tickets in accordance with a plan used in other centres where the Shrine Circus was an annual event. All proceeds from this new community project were earmarked for the Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg.

In mid-April a representative from the Shrine Circus organization, as well as two local members from Dauphin visited Ste. Rose to make preliminary arrangements for the distribution of children’s tickets by the town businesses. Since it was a first for the Shrine Circus to come to the area a large number of attendees were anticipated. In previous years one had to travel to Brandon or Winnipeg to attend the Shrine Circus. Dauphin’s ticket prices included $1.50 for adults and $1 for Grades 9 to 12 students. Tickets were available at the arena box office with no reserve seating. It was “first there, first served.”

One year later, on May 29, 1963, the Shrine Circus made its second appearance at Dauphin with local sponsors guaranteeing more than 3,000 free tickets to school age children for the action filled shows. For the second year the Shrine Club had been helped by sponsors who bought the tickets and distributed them to the elementary schools in the area.

“In addition to the 1,300 pupils in Grades 1 to 8 in Dauphin, tickets were also distributed as far east as McCreary, north to Winnipegosis and Pine River, west to Grandview and south to the park.” (May 29, 1963, The Dauphin Herald and Press)

The first performance at 1 p.m. at the DMCC arena was filled to capacity. The ensuing shows at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. also anticipated a “full house” as families were encouraged to attend.
At a Shriner’s social event held at the King’s Hotel on June 22, 1964, John Gardner outlined the concept of a Shriner’s hospital for handicapped children and indicated that the first hospital was opened in Louisiana in 1922 to treat children irrespective of race, creed or colour. In 1925 the Khartum Temple developed a mobile unit in Winnipeg based out of the Children’s Hospital. By 1949 the project of a new self-contained Shriner’s for Handicapped Children’s Hospital was completed.

Located at 633 Wellington Crescent it replaced facilities at the Children’s Hospital and was turned over to the board of trustees in 1950 making the only occasion in all of Shriner history where a project was fully paid and completely free of debt. Gardner noted that 4,700 young children had already been treated.

The facility operated until 1977 when it was turned over to the provincial government and renamed the Rehabilitation Centre for Children. It closed in May 2016, and the buildings stood vacant, except for occasional use as movie sets, until being demolished in October 2022.

During the 1980s and 90s, Janice and I took our children to enjoy the Shrine Circus at the DMCC. Several years ago, we accompanied our grandson to a performance culminating three generations of our family members enjoying the sights, sounds and action associated with the circus.

By Ed Stozek
For The Herald

Produced and directed by filmmaker Ken Burns, best known for his documentary films and television series chronicling American history and culture, PBS aired the first of eight two-hour episodes of Country Music on Sept. 15, 2019.

Along with the music and recording artists, the documentary also featured unforgettable stories based on the hardships and joys shared by everyday people.

Many of those stories became the basis for many country songs. The first episode, Beginnings-1933, introduced the first “hillbilly music” rising stars and included ballads, hymns and stories of the Carter Family, as well as Jimmie Rodgers and his combination of blues and yodelling.

The ensuing seven episodes covered a variety of country artists and some of my favourites, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, The Judds, Garth Brooks, and Willie Nelson.

In one interview Willie Nelson referred to a quote originally made by Harlan Howard. “1950s country music is three chords and the truth.”

Howard originally noted that he was captured by the songs as much as by the singer. “They grabbed my heart. The reality of country music moved me. Even when I was a kid, I liked the sad songs, songs that talked about true life. I recognized this music as a simple plea. It beckoned me.”

Howard completed only nine years of formal education, though he was an avid reader. When he was 12 years of age, he began writing songs, “an enthusiasm fueled by an appetite for books and an ear for a telling phrase. I take a whole life story and compress it into three minutes.”

Howard became a songwriter mainly composing country music songs in a career spanning six decades with over 4,000 songs to his credit.

In 1961 Harlan Howard had 15 compositions on the country music charts. Some of Howard’s songs became country music standards including “I Fall To Pieces” (Patsy Cline), “I’ve Got A Tiger By The Tail” (Buck Owens), “Heartaches By The Number” (Ray Price), “Why Not Me?” (The Judds) and “Somewhere Tonight” (Highway 101).

On Mar. 23, 2023, Willie Nelson released his 73rd studio album, a tribute to Harlan Howard entitled, “I Don’t Know A Thing About Love: The Songs of Harlan Howard.”

Willie’s first job as a songwriter was initiated by Harlan Howard for the publishing company, Pamper Music. Willie Nelson ended up composing many songs that only had three chords and other originals such as “Crazy” that were very complex. Seeing Willie perform at the Minot State Fair in the early 1990s was a memorable musical highlight. We also made several trips to see other country recording artists including Reba McIntyre, Kenny Rogers, Highway 101, Garth Brooks and The Judds.

Another Harlan Howard quote noted, “A lot of songs you write are just for exercise - just pencil sharpeners.” As a person who has dabbled in writing poetry and songs, it always is a great deal of fun “noodling” on the guitar and writing down ideas. One can spend a great deal of time and energy trying to elaborate on a song idea. As Harlan would say it, “I’m always collecting emotions for future reference.”

As a young boy I recall one of my mother’s notebooks with her beautiful handwriting and the lyrics to many of her favourite songs including “Red River Valley,” “You Are My Sunshine” and “Keep On The Sunny Side.”

After ordering an acoustic guitar from the Eaton’s catalogue, it was a challenge to learn how to play it. In an era long before computers and the Internet one had to rely on other options of how to tune a guitar, learning those three basic chords and figuring out where they fit in a song. “Keep On The Sunny Side” was one of the first songs that I learned to play. It also helped that my sister had a Carter Family record for me to listen to.

I enjoy playing the three chord songs and especially lyrics that tell a story.

There’s an old joke. What do you get back when you play country music backwards? Your wife returns, your dog comes back to life, and you get out of prison.

Just three chords and the truth.

By Ed Stozek

In 1918 a group of Western Canadians met at Winnipeg to solve an urgent problem.

They wanted every prairie farmer to gain knowledge of the value of shelterbelts for home improvement, productive gardens, more pleasant living conditions and the betterment of farm values.

The Canadian Pacific Railway agreed to provide a railway car to the Forestry Association of Western Canada and along with the Canadian National Railway agreed to move the “classroom on wheels” free of charge to communities located by their tracks.

The railroad car was designed as a travelling classroom including living quarters for the “travelling lecturer.” Long rows of seats were set up like a motion picture theatre with a screen at the front and an operating booth at the rear. This facilitated the showing of lantern slides and motion pictures promoting the benefits of tree planting, forestry and shelterbelts.

The travelling lecturer planned and delivered the presentations, kept daily records and produced annual reports. One report noted, “Last summer a Tree Planting Car (TPC) was sent on a trip over the prairie provinces with the object of showing settlers how to improve their homesteads with shelterbelts. One rural school was found where out of eighteen pupils only three had ever seen a tree. There are said to be thousands of children in Southern Saskatchewan and Southern Alberta who have seen only the scrubby growth along the coulees.” (Jan. 26, 1923, Dauphin Herald and Press)

An article in the July 3, 1931 Dauphin Herald and Press acknowledged that the annual TPC tour included stops from Sinclair to Souris and along the Estevan line from that point to Pierson. “13 towns were visited, 33 lectures were held with townspeople, farmers and school children numbering 4,900.”

The car had a seating capacity for over 100 people and with free admission the average attendance was 148 with overflowing crowds at each stop. The TPC became a fabric of Canadian life and a social highlight for many prairie folks. The object of encouraging the planting of trees as windbreaks preventing soil drifting, moderating wind damage to grain crops, helping to conserve moisture and beautifying rural and urban home surroundings was very successful.

“Splendid assistance was given those in charge of the car during the tour by officials and employees of the TPC, postmasters, school teachers and editors of both local and city newspapers.”

For the 37th annual tour, Dauphin was part of the TPC itinerary. The TPC was parked at the CNR station on June 20 and 21, 1957. All Dauphin area residents were encouraged to take advantage of the car’s visit. Alex Paton, an experienced horticulturist noted for providing entertaining programs with practical lessons delivered the program, answered questions and helped with garden problems. Members of the Dauphin Horticultural Society took special interest and arranged to hold their meeting in the car on the evening of June 20.

The TPC never distributed trees. It relied upon various tree nurseries to provide the stock that the travelling lecturer advocated to be planted.

For example, in 1901 the government of Canada established the Forest Nursery Station at Indian Head located east of Regina with the purpose of researching, cultivating and supplying hardy trees and shrubs suited to the prairies.

Between 1901 and 2001 more than 570 million evergreen and deciduous tree and shrub seedlings were distributed. The site was dismantled and ceased operations in 2013.

When the TPC was “retired” in 1973 it was moved to the Sandilands Forest Discovery Centre near Hadashville. It was estimated that in its 53 years of operation it had travelled 420,000 kms, hosted 1.5 million visitors and promoted the planting of half a billion trees on approximately 100,000 farms. At the Sandilands location the car remained stationary and served as a teaching facility with displays and exhibits. On Nov. 8, 2022 the car was re-located to the Manitoba Agricultural Museum at Austin.

During its tenure as a classroom on wheels, crowds of students arrived in the afternoon and townspeople and farm folk congregated for the evening presentation.

All were eager to learn about the importance of shelterbelts on the prairies.

By Carl Stewart
Parkland Campus Director

“Community.” It’s right there in our name. This is because Assiniboine Community College and its Parkland Campus belong to all of us.

As our region’s sole post-secondary institution, we are more than just programs and courses. More than classrooms and trades shops. We are more even than our valued students, staff and faculty. Assiniboine is the sum of all of these, and still more.

Building community is what we seek to do. Prospective and current students bring their aspirations, creativity and commitment to Assiniboine, as part of their journey to learn new skills and build successful career paths. As graduates, they represent a significant array of skills, education and experience, which they invest back into our region. Assiniboine alumni live, work and stay in Parkland; they grow our businesses and services, and enhance our community for all its residents. And in turn, the Parkland community - its citizens, governments, industry, school boards and service organizations - has embraced Assiniboine and looks to us to deliver education and training which meets the needs of our local labour market.

So when we get the chance to celebrate our community, we want everyone to be involved.

Assiniboine Effect Day, Feb. 6, is our opportunity to gather with our many Parkland friends and partners, and to acknowledge some very special alumni.

Our jam-packed day starts at the DRCSS with hands-on activities for high school students led by our faculty. Our team will be on hand to showcase all the Assiniboine programs offered at Parkland campus, including Business Administration, Social Service Worker, Early Childhood Education, Practical Nursing, Applied Electrical and other trades, Horticultural Production, and more.

After work, Feb. 6, our annual Assiniboine Alumni Awards dinner will recognize three individuals who represent the best of Assiniboine. This year’s recipient of the One to Watch Award is Tyler Antoniuk, who has made exceptional achievements and significant contributions to his profession and community since graduation. Antoniuk graduated from the Business Administration program with an Accounting specialization in 2020, and is currently working with the Province of Manitoba in Workforce Development, Training and Employment. Because of his exceptional work ethic and curiosity, he has already secured two promotions since starting with the province, gaining more responsibility with each role. He consistently exhibits a positive and collaborative attitude inspiring those around him to strive for excellence.

The Excellence in Education Award honours an Assiniboine staff member or retiree for extraordinary contributions to teaching and the student experience. This year, the award goes to two outstanding instructors - Cindy Shroeder and Scott Willing. Shroeder is a valued member of the Early Childhood Education faculty at Assiniboine’s Parkland Campus. Throughout her time at the college, she has demonstrated a deep commitment to teaching and a genuine passion for helping her students succeed, and shows a remarkable level of dedication and professionalism.

Willing’s first experience at Parkland Campus was as a student, graduating from Assiniboine’s pre-employment Construction Electrician program in 2011. He has since returned as an instructor, teaching Applied Electrical Installation at Parkland Campus, in addition to holding contract instructing positions in communities in the region. His dedication to the college and his students extends beyond the classroom. He gives his time to promote trades at Assiniboine in the surrounding communities and to ensure his students are supported.

And there’s no better way to wrap up Assiniboine Effect Day, than having our entire community join us at the Dauphin Kings game, the evening of Feb. 6. Let the CUP box office know you’re with ACC to get $10 tickets.

For more information, or to purchase tickets to our Alumni Awards dinner, at 4:30 p.m., Feb. 6 at the Ukrainian Orthodox Hall (8th Ave. Hall), contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 204-622-2222.

By Ed Stozek
For the Herald

My parent’s income on their mixed farm stemmed from selling grain, eggs, cream, pork and poultry.

In an era long before universal health care, their medical expenses included fees for appointments to see a doctor or for a hospital stay.

At a time when dollars were hard to come by, I recall one visit for an appointment with Dr. Ed Hudson at the Hamiota Hospital. A ready to roast chicken and several dozen eggs were used as part of the payment for his services. At our next visit Dr. Hudson noted that he enjoyed the farm products.

It’s always interesting to peruse my father’s expense records. My mother had health issues resulting in some major medical expenses. In 1947 several trips were made to Shoal Lake to see a doctor. Along with paying Dr. Bardal for his services, other expenses included fees for x-rays and for prescriptions filled at the local pharmacy.

Since my parents didn’t own a car, they also paid a neighbour to drive them to their appointment. The following year precious income was spent for five medical related trips to Winnipeg.

My contribution to my parent’s medical expenses included $81.15 for Dr. Hudson’s “delivery” fees and for my mother’s hospital stay when I was born. Seven years later the costs associated with getting my tonsils and adenoids out added up to $36. I still recall the awful feeling when ether was administered prior to the operation. Following the procedure, a treat of ice-cream helped to alleviate some of the distress.

As leader of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation Party, Tommy Douglas led North America’s first socialist government and served as premier of Saskatchewan between 1944 and 1961. His government initiated the concept of the Hospital Services Plan, the first publicly-funded medical insurance system in Canada.

The road to universal health care began in 1961 when the Saskatchewan provincial government announced a plan to have visits to the doctor paid from taxes rather than having individuals pay out of pocket. Premier Douglas noted that people had a right to medical care whether or not they had the money to pay for it.

Most doctors opposed this idea stating that the government was turning them into civil servants and that it would interfere in their relationship with their patients.

Premier Douglas noted that the only thing that would change was the method of payment with doctors billing the government rather than the patients for the services that they provided.

Initially the doctors had support from the “Keep Our Doctors Out Committee” launching a well-organized campaign against the government with rallies, petitions and advertisements.

On July 1, 1962, most of the province’s doctors went on strike. Loud demonstrations and the potential for violence arose from the bitter division over the government’s proposal.

Families with health problems were very concerned. The government brought in doctors from Britain and encouraged others to come from the USA and other parts of Canada to combat the emergency. Local groups organized medical clinics and hired doctors to attend them. After 23 days the Saskatchewan doctors went back to work.

In 1964, the Royal Commission on Health Services delivered its report to Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson. The commission was established after Saskatchewan’s introduction of “the merits of single-player, universal medical insurance as compared with the alternative of the state providing targeted subsidies for the purchase of private insurance as championed by provincial governments in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario as well as organized medicine.” (Canada: Health System History)

In 1966, the federal government passed the Medical Care Act, with federal cost sharing transfers to begin in 1968 to those provinces that conformed to the four conditions of “universality, public administration, comprehensiveness and portability.” By 1971 all of the provinces including Manitoba implemented universal coverage.

Throughout my formative years some of the farm-related chores included herding and milking the cows, as well as feeding the poultry and gathering eggs from the chicken coop.

The cream cheques derived from milking the cows, as well as funds from selling eggs and poultry were put to use by my parents in an era when payment was required for medical care.

Jon Bettner of Dauphin, took first place on tiebreaks in the Winnipeg Open Chess Tournament U1600 section with a score of 4/5 from three wins and two draws.

The tournament was held from Jan. 5 to 7, at the University of Manitoba with 41 players contesting the U1600 section and a further 33 playing in the higher-rated Premiere section.