Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Cathedral will be celebrating its centennial anniversary this year. It was constructed in 1922 and replaced a church that was built in 1910. The bell that was situated in the belfry was originally beside the church built in 1910. In 1982, the bell was then removed from the belfry and placed in front of the cathedral in 1985.
Adjacent to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Cathedral was the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic School, which was a two-story wood frame building that was built in 1916. The school ran until 1973, when students were moved to the Mary Duncan Elementary School and the building was torn down in 1974.

There’s nothing like a really good cup of coffee to start your day off, but a local barista is hoping to offer more that just that. KB Coffee has been hosting pop-ups all over the community and providing specialty coffee as well as creating awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirited people (MMIWG2S).
“I’m originally from The Pas and have lived here most of my life,” said Gloria Ballantyne-Packo. “After I went to school, I moved to Calgary, AB, and lived there for awhile. I came back home after everything that happened with my sister, Kendara Ballantyne, to be with my family. I stayed home for a couple of years, before heading back to Calgary.
“When I moved back, I got a job with Monogram Coffee and this is where my love of specialty coffee grew. I trained with some truly talented baristas and a few of them have gone on to win the Canadian Barista Championship. One of the women I worked with was the first female ever to win the championship, and that happened just last year. Some of them have gone on to compete in the World Barista Championship.

With school out for the summer, it can be a challenge to engage kids in any kind of summer learning or reading activity. The Pas Regional Library is putting out some excellent literacy programming for both youth and adults to engage in.
“All of our programs are based on accessibility and opportunity,” said The Pas Regional Library Activities Programmer Rebecca Johnson. “We acknowledge that the families here in the tri-community tend to be bigger in numbers, so we make sure our programs are free. Being in the north, we realize that the cost of things can be so much more expensive and harder to do, so we make it free for everyone to enjoy.”
Once again The Pas Regional Library is hosting another Story Walk in the community and this one has a theme of Indigenous spirit animals and connects participants to nature.
“Our Story Walks consist of taking apart a book and displaying each of the pages either in the windows of the businesses or along the trail, which is what we’ve done for the Story Walk on Rosie Mayne Trail,” said Johnson. “At the beginning of the trail is the first page of the book and as you walk along, there will be other pages, which allows you to read the entire book. This is a program that was made in 2007, and I heard about it last year. We started it then and it’s been going over really well ever since.

Finding fosters for animals can be challenging most times, but is increasingly more so during the summer. Recently The Pas and Area Animal Shelter put out a call for help, looking for people who would be able to transport a canine companion or two to some locations west or south of the community.
Normally dogs are immediately placed with fosters and not kept in the shelter, but the increase in dog intakes has spiked.
“The number of dog intakes we receive varies greatly,” said The Pas and Area Animal Shelter Secretary Lynda Geswin. “I remember one week we had over 30 intake requests, so it’s rare not to have any. Like many other rescues, we have had an overwhelming number of owner surrenders this year. In the last two weeks, we have had requests for 13 dog intakes. Some of these come to us from the pound, as their owners did not claim them.

There’s a new way for northern artisans to promote their work and sell it without the hassle of trying to create something on their own. Uptown Emporium 54 is a sub-organization of the Flin Flon Arts Council that offers an online platform and a storefront in Flin Flon, that showcases handcrafted items by northern artisans.
“We first opened up our shop in December of 2020,” said Uptown Emporium 54 Project Manager Sophia Charuk. “It has started because our 40th annual Arts and Crafts Sale, which is usually put on by the Flin Flon Arts Council in November, had to undergo some changes because of the pandemic. With the public health restrictions in place, there was no way it could be set up for artisans to sell their arts and crafts in a traditional way.

American singer, songwriter, artist and author, William McCarthy, played at a free concert this past weekend held at The Pas Royal Canadian Legion. McCarthy was former the lead singer for The Augustines and has now struck up a solo career touring and performing all over the world. His experience in the community was definitely a notable one for him.
“My experience here in The Pas has been literally fantastic,” said William McCarthy. “I played a two hour show and it was like a long winding odyssey. I’ve had a really nice time here in the community.”
McCarthy had the opportunity to travel through The Pas and Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN) to see some of the local sights and scenery. He’s never quite seen an area like northern Manitoba and has fallen in love with its charm.

Many of us take Canada Day for granted and really don’t give it much thought, but for the Patel family, this year’s national day is also the start of a new journey for their family as Canadian citizens. The Patels came to Canada looking for more opportunities and were sponsored by family friend, who was already residing in the community.
“We’re originally from India and we came to Canada in 2017,” said Hemangi Patel. “We’ve been here now for five years and just got our Canadian Citizenship on June 7. Our family came to Canada seeking a life with better opportunities and a brighter future.
“One of our family friends sponsored us to come to Canada. At the time, he lived here in The Pas and recommended the community to us. We stayed with him until we were able to find an apartment and find a job. Over time we fell in love with the people and community, which led us to staying here.”

A well-known and accomplished musician will be making his way to play a free concert this week in The Pas. William McCarthy, former lead singer and songwriter for the band, The Augustines, will be performing a night of acoustic rock ‘n roll at the Royal Canadian Legion thanks to The Pas Arts Council and The Pas Friendship Centre.
McCarthy’s musical career debuted in 2004 when he released the EP All In Time with the band Pela. The band split in 2009 with a half finished album and some heartbroken fans. From there McCarthy teamed up with one of his former band mates to form a three-piece folk music act known as the Augustines.
The Augustines were signed to Votiv Records and released their first debut, Rise Ye Sunken Ships, on June 6, 2011. The album received praise reviews and was named iTunes Best Alternative Album that year. The Augustines did many network televisions performances and toured globally until they amicable disbanded in 2016, due to financial challenges.