A young man in the tri-community is building not only himself up, but others as well. Carson Thibodeau is only 19 years old and is the Aging Out of Care Coordinator Assistant with The Pas Friendship Centre. Recently, Thibodeau received the Most Active Youth Award from the National Association of Friendship Centres.
“I first got involved with The Pas Friendship Centre last November,” said Thibodeau. “One of my friends’ dads worked at The Pas Friendship Centre at the time and they were looking for an assistant to help with cultural activities. I was the first one to be called up.
“Here at The Pas Friendship Centre, we do a lot of culture-based activities. I also started getting involved with the Opaskwayak Sundance.”

If you’re driving by Funky Threadz, you might notice a new work of art. A new mural has taken up residence on a side wall. It’s something the owner of Funky Threadz has envisioned, in terms of having a mural on the side of the building.
“We purchased the building a year ago to run our family businesses out of,” said Funky Threadz Owner Jerome Conaty. “That wall was a huge blank space, with such high visibility; we knew we wanted a mural on it before we bought the building.

A very special MMIWG2S awareness project made a stop in The Pas for the first time. The Pembina Valley REDress Project was on display at this year’s Kendara’s Memorial Walk on August 6, 2026. The REDress project was started by an Indigenous artist to create more awareness about the MMIWG2S.
“The REDress was a project created by Jaimie Black, who is a Metis artist out of Winnipeg,” said Pembina Valley REDress Project Co-organizer Courtney Yeo-Thiessen.

The Minitonas and District Lions Club hosted a community wide pancake breakfast last Saturday (August 8), at the Minitonas & District Arena. Many people attended the event that celebrated the residents and volunteers who helped with the 2026 flooding. Here, Levi Church helps Larry Holland collect his plate and untensils.

While buffalo farms aren’t rare, it’s always an interesting sight to see when the public catches a glimpse of a herd, such as this one found between Cowan and Camperville. This particular herd consists of several hundred animals. Pictured here, a small fraction of this herd was found roaming a field, with a couple keeping a close eye on this photographer.

The Inglis Fire Department’s fire chief Glen Gorda travelled to Brandon to pick up a Global Medic fire skid.
This self-contained unit has a 1000 L water tank, high-pressure pump and hose.
In addition, IFD was given 20 fire retardant coveralls. As one of the departments who volunteered to respond to the 2025 Manitoba Wildfires, the Inglis Fire Department was eligible to participate in this program provided by Global Medic, a Canadian-based charity, whose mandate includes equipping local departments for swifter and more effective wildlife frontline operations.
They and the RM of Riding Mountain West greatly appreciate being chosen as a recipient of these items that will help protect their fire fighters and increase their fire fighting capacity.

Last weekend, the Russell Golf Course celebrated their 100th anniversary.
After a day of golf amoung friends, the club members met again on the Sunday morning for a pancake breakfast followed by a speech by RM of Russell Binscarth councillor Brent Havelange and the cutting the official anniversary cake.
Councillor Havelange’s speeches are always a treat. This one, shown below, takes us through the history of the Russell Golf course. Thank you councillor Havelange for allowing us to pass this information onto our readers.
“My name is Brent Havelange I am a counselor, in the Municipality of Russell-Binscarth, also in attendance is my fellow councilor Barry Wishart and ex-councillor Ray Elliot, so on behalf of the municipality, I would like to congratulate the Russell Golf Course on its hundred-year anniversary.
That was all Joan Miller had asked me to say in our first meeting. But after a follow up meeting, she gave me five more chores and expanded this brief speech into the history of The Russell Golf Course.
So, if I see any rolling of the eyes ITS NOT MY FAULT...nor worries it will not last 20 minutes, no one here wants to hear my mumblings for that long.
This quarter section was originally owned by Mr. R. M. Anderson and was purchased for the price of $6000. Mr. Ken Reavie had indicated in a letter that the committee that was struck to negotiate for the purchase was not transparent about what they wanted the land for, fearful that Mr Anderson might raise his asking price if he had known the true purpose it was to be used for. Any councilors who have been involved in similar negotiations for the purchase of farmland in the municipality know what Ken is getting at.

Want to know more? Pick up this week's Russell Banner and get this story on the front page and page 2.

For the last eight years, the Pelly Trail Classic Soap Box Derby has been a favourite summer fun for the entire family. (Top centre) Modelled after old time community fairs, the derby gives kids of all ages (and their families) a chance to show off not only their mechanical creation skills with home-made derby carts but their driving skills down the steepest hill on Pelly Avenue. Participants can either rent a cart or buy it by the kit and build their own through Youth for Christ. Thanks to the efforts of dozens of volunteers helping with everything from the running the carts back up to the top of the hill, to face painting and the manning of the Pelly Classic food booth which served up home made burgers and cotton candy, or the climbing wall (top right) that comes from Madge Lake Bible Camp every year, the Soap Box Derby has been a favorite family fun day. Proceeds from the event go to Youth for Christ located on Russell’s Main Street. Turn to page 5 for more pictures of the event.

Local landscaper Peter Wyss is advising residents of Roblin to check their elm trees for signs of Dutch elm disease (DED).
He says while there are not as many elms in town as there are Manitoba maples, there are still quite a few and many are dead or dying.
Check out this week’s Review for more.

The Arts for Manitoba Indigenous Youth Choir headed to Italy earlier this year to perform in the 29th Alta Pusteria International Choir Festival from June 10 to 14, 2026. The choir was led by Choral Director Rhonda Head and it has been one of many life-altering experiences the youth have embarked on. The scenery in Italy was unlike anything the choir had seen before.
“It was a really awesome experience; it was surreal and all of us kept saying we couldn’t believe we were going,” said Head. “The flight was long and once we arrived, we had jet lag for about two days.