Dauphin’s Countryfest, has announced its first round of performers for 2024.

And with some of the biggest acts from throughout country music history set to take the stage, organizers say the 35th anniversary festival will take those in attendance on a nostalgic journey back to the roots of Countryfest, featuring “an incredible honky-tonk, two-steppin’ lineup that will have country fans reminiscing about the good ol’ days in Dauphin.”

“Join us in Dauphin as we put the Country back in Countryfest, and we celebrate 35 years of incredible music, unforgettable moments, and community spirit,” said Countryfest promoter Rob Waloschuk. The June 28 to 30, 2024, festival takes place at Selo Ukraina and has been dubbed “35 and Still Alive.”

Confirmed for the main stage at this point are Alabama, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jo Dee Messina, Mark Chesnutt, and Diamond Rio, along with the Great Canadian Roadtrip package featuring Michelle Wright, Jason McCoy and Doc Walker.

Another main stage surprise for festivalgoers is the super group The Frontmen, featuring Larry Stewart of Restless Heart, Richie McDonald, formerly of Lonestar, and Tim Rushlow, formerly of Little Texas. The three will come together to perform decades of chart-topping hits.

And Waloschuk said it wouldn’t be a proper throwback without some ‘90s queens of Canadian country music such as Patricia Conroy, Lisa Brokop, and Beverley Mahood, all of whom are confirmed for the main stage to deliver “some powerful performances that will keep you dancin’ all day long.”

Weekend passes, VIP packages, camping and reserved seating go on sale, Nov. 13, at 10 a.m., and can be purchased online at www.countryfest.ca or by calling toll-free to 1-800-361-7300.

A new payment plan lets customers reserve their ticket packages for only $100 down.

A presale for Countryfest members started, Oct. 23, and runs until Nov. 3.

Dauphin RCMP would like to have a conversation with the community.

And to begin the dialogue, a Community Policing Town Hall has been scheduled for the Aspen Lodge in the Parkland Recreation Complex, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m.

“The detachment has not been able to actually just have a discussion with the town, the residents in the community about what we do,” Sgt. Scott Linklater of the Dauphin RCMP detachment said, adding the event was originally scheduled for this past June, but was cancelled following the Carberry bus crash. “Policing has changed over the years and I’m not sure if people get that. So we want to be able to say what we’re doing, who we are, how many members we have here, what the state of detachment is and the services that we’re doing.”

On top of discussions about area crime trends and policing priorities, Linklater said they will be sharing some crime reduction strategies and will set aside some time for a question and answer period.

“I want to make some time for that so I can hear what they have to say,” he said. “I’m not going to talk about specific investigations, but if they want to know about issues that we’re dealing with or what’s going on.”

A key message Linklater wants to share is that community safety is an issue which requires a response from the entire community.

“I want to be able to explain that there’s a lot of things that are put on our plate that are more of a community issue that we all have to work together on, he said. “Finding resources for the homelessness and the mental health in the community and addiction, so there’s more resources for people to keep them out of the justice system.”

There is a perception that the justice system will not hold people to account, he said.

“So if we can do more programs outside (the justice system), I know there’s a lot of good people out there doing some different things,” Linklater said, adding supporting existing social services organizations and groups will go a long way to improving the situation for everyone. “Hopefully, employ the community to help these people out so that they’re not doing it alone and getting burned out, so that we do it all as a community. We’re all here for the safety of the community, the betterment of Dauphin.”

Ultimately, Linklater wants the public to be aware of issues in the community so they can make some informed decisions about getting involved and the role they might play.

RCMP members, he added are doing a good job in their role and he hopes being open about issues will help people to realize that.

“I think our members here do a great job. We’re not perfect, we’re human. We have members with two months service all the way up to 20 and 25 years service,” Linklater said. “I just don’t think the community is aware of what we’re doing, so I think this is a good opportunity to say what we’re doing, how we’re doing things, what’s changed, some of the trends that are going on and how they can help. At the end of it, I think it’s just going to be a good conversation. Hopefully some people see that we are doing something. Hopefully, they realize that they can help out, as well, and policing isn’t just the members of detachment, it’s a community thing to make everyone safe. That’s my hope anyway, just engage them at least. I don’t think it’s been done in a while and it’s kind of good to hear.”

A Rivers entrepreneur was declared the winner of Fusion Credit Union’s third annual Community Infusion live event held Oct. 18 in Brandon.

Danielle Pilatic of Danielle’s Studio 12 was declared the winner, receiving $20,000 in grant monies to help expand her business ideas.

Read all about it in this week’s issue.

Goose Lake High’s Junior Varsity Angels and Raiders volleyball teams, both ranked #2 in the province, hosted their home tournaments Friday and Saturday and despite some weather-related delays, the tourney went off without a hitch.

The boys side featured teams from Warren, Russell, Swan Valley, Hamiota, Virden, Ebb & Flow and The Pas while girls teams from Swan Valley, Warren, Hamiota, Gilbert Plains and Killarney battled it out.

Check out some actions shots and find out how the home teams fared in this issue.

Another well-deserving community member from The Pas has been presented with the Sovereign’s Volunteer Medal. Bev MacTavish was also presented with the prestigious award for her volunteerism with a few different entities in the community.
“I received the Sovereign’s Volunteer Medal for my involvement with the choir, Sam Waller Museum and my work at the hospital,” said MacTavish.
“I got involved with the Sam Waller Museum in 1978, when I first came to The Pas to teach at the high school. I really love history, so that made me get involved. I got on the board and have been on it ever since.
“I knew Sam Waller and he was such a unique and interesting person,” said MacTavish. “He collected all of the stuff in his school house at Opaskwayak Cree Nation. When he retired, he had nowhere to put it. Then The Pas Rotary Club built him a bigger building and then outgrew that, because there were donations from all over the world to add to the collection.”

With the success of finalizing the build of the boardwalk for the Boreal Trail, the Opasquia Trails held a planning meeting last week, to determine what the board and trail’s needs would be for the foreseeable future.
“We wanted to have a planning meeting, because we haven’t had one since inception,” said Opasquia Trails Board Member Al McLauchlan. “The board thought it was time to get together as a board and with organizations in the community, to make sure that we still had community support and were on the track we had anticipated. We were pleasantly surprised and the ideas that came from the planning meeting were consistent with what the board had wanted.
“There is still a huge interest in trails and unbelievable support for what our board is doing. That is evident from what we saw at this meeting and in terms of the number of people using the trail. Our visitation numbers are outstanding and it’s great to see how many people are actually using the trail. This summer we estimated around 14,000 people walked the boardwalk, and that’s a very conservative low estimate. We’re still seeing high numbers of people using the trail during the fall months.”

The litter of discarded sharps in the tri-community has been a long-standing issue that has yet to be properly addressed. While there is a great need for harm reduction in the tri-community, there is also a great need for more public sharp disposal containers to be put out.
There has been some earlier dialogue about this issue, but what it ultimately boils down to is the severe lack of sharps disposal containers in public places and no one wanting to seem to take ownership of that responsibility.
The Pas Bear Clan Patrol has been busy once again picking up discovered discarded sharps in various places throughout the tri-community. Just this month alone, The Pas Bear Clan Patrol has received an overwhelming number of calls about discarded sharps. They were notified of sharps found at Margaret Barbour Collegiate and behind North of 53 Industrial.

31 Paramedics from across Manitoba attended an Awards Ceremony last week at Government House, hosted by the Honourable Anita Neville, Lt. Governor of Manitoba. They were honored with the Governor General of Canada Exemplary Service Medals. These Awards are part of the Canadian Honours System, for members of Pre-Hospital Emergency Medical System. They must have served Canada at least twenty years in a meritorious manner with the highest standard of good conduct and seen as an example for others to follow. Recipients came from Winnipeg Fire/Paramedic Service, STARS, North, South and West Districts of Shared Health Emergency Medical Services.
The North District had its largest presentation of Awards, with seven Recipients.
Jody Ssuki, Quality Officer, Flin Flon. Robert Trubiak, Manager, Flin Flon.
Carol Ross, EMR, Cranberry Portage. Dennis Fourre, Paramedic, Grand Rapids.
Jarett Ketcheson,
Manager, The Pas. Cam Ritzer, Executive Director Allied Health.
All received their Medal for 20 years of Exemplary Service.
And Darren Baker, Regional Director of Emergency Medical Services, received the next highest Honor. His First Silver Bar, for 30 years of service.
Of the 2,200 Paramedics in Manitoba, Only 263 have achieved 20 years, only 67 have achieved 30 years, and only 10 have achieved 40 years.
Ken Gurba, Chairperson
Manitoba EMS Awards Committee

During the pandemic, it became more apparent that there needs to be healthy and positive coping mechanisms for students. Students come to class from different backgrounds, experiences and home lives that all have an impact on their ability to focus and learn. Swan Valley School Division (SVSD) recognized this need, which led staff to create a program to apply for funding to assist in giving students a space with activities to help them reset and resume learning.
“In 2020, the SVSD recognized the need to improve the quality of our student’s mental health in order for them to be successful in school,” said SVSD Student Services Achievement Coordinator Patti Hack. “Based on neuroscience, and the research from top trauma specialists such as Dr. Bruce Perry and Dr. Stuart Shanker, we created a four-prong approach to address these needs.”
“The four prongs are first to create a co-regulation room in each school,” said SVSD Counsellor Kerrilynn Behrman. “According to research, there is a correlation between adverse childhood experiences such as abuse, poverty, and parental addictions; and later in life social, emotional and psychological struggles. The one thing that can help them off that trajectory is having one person they feel connected to. Dr. Stuart Shanker’s research also indicates that in order to be successful in school, we need to be connected and regulated so that we can access the cortex or thinking part of our brain. There are many different ways that we can regulate our bodies and nervous systems that are incorporated into the co-regulation room.”
“The co-regulation room has an active area with stationary bikes, mini trampolines, swings, and gliders that help students upregulate,” said SVSD Counsellor Jocelyn Bender. “There is a quiet area with bubble towers and rocking chairs that help students calm their autonomic nervous system. The third area of the room is an expressive area with arts, crafts, and sand trays or games. The co-regulation room also has a caring, trained staff member who connects with the students and helps them choose up to three activities to help them regulate and return to class, ready to learn.
“The students and activities are tracked to ensure the choices are effective. This room is a proactive approach, not a punishment, for all students in the school, as everyone gets dysregulated from time to time. Some are scheduled for regular 15-minute intervals in the day, others may be drop-ins from time to time, depending on life events.”
“The second prong is educating all staff on trauma based on neuroscience and Dr. Bruce Perry’s neurosequential model of therapeutics,” said Hack. “Staff have learned about trauma, its impact on the brain, and tools to help their students.”
“The third prong is teaching all the students about their brains and therapeutic tools that they can use during difficult times,” said Behrman. “They learn about the parts of their brain and make a play dough brain, and how to listen to their bodies to identify and name how they feel. Students then learn different tools in a sequential way, based on neuroscience, to calm their bodies and become regulated. These include body-based tools such as breathing, mindfulness, muscle tension and relaxation, and butterfly hugs and tapping. Later in the year, cognitive tools such as helpful versus unhelpful thinking and how to change our brain channel, as well as empathy and gratitude are learned. In each session, students add a tool to their toolbox and at the end of the year go home with a toolbox full of ideas to help them become regulated through difficult times.
“The final prong was to educate parents about what we are doing and we created a video that can be found on our school division’s website,” said Bender.
Through the Teacher’s Idea Fund, SVSD has been successful in receiving funds to not only pilot the program but to build and expand it to other schools in the division.
“In the fall of 2020, we applied for the Teacher’s Idea Fund with the Manitoba Government and received $15,000 to pilot it in one school, which was Taylor School,” said Hack. “With its success, we then applied the following two years to continue to build and use the full framework in Taylor, Heyes, Benito, Bowsman and Minitonas schools. Swan River Ecole School will be using two of the prongs this year; the co-regulation room and staff training. In the following two years, we received $150,000 to cover staffing and materials to facilitate this program and its framework.
We currently have funding until the end of the 2023/2024 school year.”
This program will focus on elementary and middle school-aged students, with the goal being that by the time they reach high school, they will have all the positive and healthy coping mechanisms they need to be successful in learning.
“The framework has currently been used from students in Kindergarten to Grade 8,” said Behrman. “It has been incorporated in their daily learning by having access to the co-regulation rooms and knowing what the purpose of the room is and how to use it.”
“As well, staff are encouraged to continue using the classroom tools taught, as we know repetition helps create habit,” said Bender. “Their coping toolboxes they create throughout the year are kept in the classroom and we encourage the teachers to have the students use the items in the room when they become dysregulated.”
This program was developed by a local staff member and is being taught to other staff in the division to implement with students.
“The program initially was created and facilitated by Kerrilynn Behrman,” said Hack. “Kerrilynn has a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology and training in Dr. Perry’s NME model, as well as play therapy and various therapies used in classroom activities.
“In 2022, the school vision recognized the importance of fostering positive mental health and hired a second counsellor, Jocelyn Bender. Jocelyn is a long-time educator at SVSD. She has a Master’s Degree in both Special Education and Guidance and Counselling and has training in child development, behaviourism, and various therapies including play therapy.
“Together the two have trained the educational assistants who manage the co-regulation rooms in trauma, what co-regulation is and how to manage them,” said Hack.

On Oct. 19, local residents were invited to the first open house of the newly renamed Swan Valley Fire Department (SVFD), formed through the amalgamation of the Swan River Fire Department and the Thunder West Fire Department. Here, SVFD firefighter Joel Fedorchuk (left) assists Grant Rewerts (right) with the fire hose...