The 58th annual Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival (CNUF) is in the books and it could not have gone any better.

CNUF president Kayla Gillis said the weekend went better than expected.

“Our crowd (Saturday) was phenomenal. The stands were packed. We ran out of alcohol and we had to get more, which is a good thing. We ran out of day passes, which is a good thing, as well, too,” she said. “It’s been phenomenal. The support from everybody coming out, the support from the community, all our volunteers, it’s been amazing.”

The weather, Gillis added, was fantastic.

“It’s been a little breezy, which is great because it’s fairly hot. But the weather has been fantastic for this year,” she said.

Although the final attendance numbers are not in yet, Gillis estimated this year’s crowds surpassed last year’s numbers.

The highlight of the weekend for Gillis came Saturday night, watching Shumka Ukrainian Dancers from Edmonton dance on the main stage.

“And seeing the stands completely filled. And at the end, when we did (the finale), everybody put their cell phone light on and everything was lit up. It was beautiful,” she said.

Gillis had the opportunity to meet with some of the Ukrainian refugees displaced by the war in Ukraine. She met with groups from Regina and Winnipeg, as well as some of the families who have relocated to Dauphin, who volunteered at the festival.

“The ones that joined us last year and came for this year and said it was bigger and better, which was great to see. And the ones that just joined us for this year, they said it’s phenomenal how we can make a party happen and still keep our culture and heritage going,” she said.

Work on next year’s festival has already begun with some talent already booked.

“It nevers ends, the planning. We’re already looking ahead to the 60th, too,” Gillis said.

Gillis wishes to thank everyone who attended this year’s festival, as well as all the entertainers, sponsors and volunteers.

“Just thank you for everything,” she said.

The Manitoba Métis Federation will educate and employ up to 25 Ukrainian newcomers to work in the child care profession after receiving $1 million in funding from the provincial government.

Wayne Ewasko, Manitoba’s Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning was in Dauphin, Aug. 1, to present the funds to Frances Chartrand, MMF Minister for Early Learning and Child Care.

Noting it is an exciting time for MMF, Chartrand said the initiative is part of a commitment MMF made to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC)

“We wanted to make sure that we could train 25 Ukrainian refugees in early learning,” she said. “So now we found out that they’re going to have a 140-space childcare centre in the city of Dauphin and the work force is so slim, not inly in the province of Manitoba, not only in the Parkland, but right across Canada. So there’s probably about 300 vacancies in the province of Manitoba. So it’s exciting times that we can help train and then they could learn about the Métis culture, learn the language and are able to sustain their homes and make sure that they can care for their families. So it’s exciting times for us.”

Chartrand said they reached out to local contacts to learn where refugees are located, adding there will be a community townhall in Winnipeg.

Classes, Chartrand said, will be held at the Métis Community Centre in Dauphin, as well as in Winnipeg, with both featuring a mix of Ukrainian refugees and Red River Métis citizens, with training to begin in October.

“So we’re doing intake right now. We met with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and we’ve met with about 38 Ukrainian refugees in Winnipeg. So we’re doing a call out in the Parkland and the surrounding area and we’re going to try and get a class ready here,” Chartrand said.

The first four to six weeks, Chartrand said, will be teaching the refugees English and about Manitoba and Canada.

The following four to six weeks will be spent learning the Métis culture, followed by 18 months of learning the early learning childcare program.

“I think this is an exciting time and I’m so excited that our province is finally seeing and following our path, making sure that we could find employees to work throughout the province,” Chartrand said.

Hitting the farmers’ market circuit and the buzz about their all-natural, home-made products has been a great business move for Deanna and Ben Andres.

The couple, who live on an acreage east of Swan River, began experimenting with plant-based remedies about four years ago because of their children, Dryden and Clara.

Read the rest of the story in this week’s Review.

There is a growing and apparent need for more physicians in Manitoba, and recently a former Roblinite has completed her medical studies and residency to become a physician in Canada.

Dr. Jenilee Misko, the daughter of Robert and Leifa Misko, recently passed her certification exam in Family Medicine from the College of Physicians of Canada and graduated from the U of M this past June.

Find out more in this week’s issue.

A dream that was conceived eight years ago was realized July 27 when Vermillion Growers Ltd., hosted the grand opening of its greenhouse facility in Dauphin.

Vermillion Growers uses an innovative, fully-automated control system for growing vegetables under glass greenhouses. The greenhouse showcases industry-leading Gakon Netafim irrigation and greenhouse technology that reduces the amount of water and energy used by 50 per cent.

Read more in this week’s Review.

Some bad apples are coming to town, but even though their show is known as the Bad Apples Comedy Show, these apples are likely the kind you do need to keep the doctor away. Three comedians are starting off their comedy show tour in The Pas tomorrow. Comedians Nelson Mayer, Clayton T. Stewart and Scott Porteous are bringing the gift of laughter to an audience at the Norlite Hall.
Each one of the comedians performing has had an introduction to comedy and a desire to make people laugh.
“I've been a huge fan of comedy for as long as I can remember,” said Mayer. “At a very young age, before I ever should have heard these comedians, I would remember comedy bits by Cheech and Chong and Andrew Dice Clay, and perform them on the playground during recess for a small crowd of classmates.”

Two local events are coming up this weekend in the tri-community, focusing on the national epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two spirited people (MMIWG2S+). The MMIWG2S+ Family Wellness Weekend and the Annual Remembering Kendara Memorial Walk are being held in conjunction and are giving the families and friends of MMIWG2S+ an opportunity to spend time with others who have experienced the same kind of loss.
The MMIWG2S+ Wellness Weekend is being hosted through a partnership with KB Memorial and MKO MMIWG2S+ Liaison Unit.
“During the Red Dress event, we had a debriefing and were talking about how the energy was and how we needed more events in the community for impacted families going forward,” said event organizer Lorraine Ballantyne-Packo. “When we were talking with MKO, this came into the plans. We started planning the MKO MMIWG2S+ Family Weekend in June. We met on a regular basis and starting talking about what we would like to see happen with the event and what we would like to see people take away from it as well.
“Bringing MMIWG2S+ families together can be heavy at times, and we wanted this event to be an atmosphere where people felt comfortable being at, so we called it a Wellness Gathering. “It’s so important to us that MMIWG2S+ families do not feel alone. We’ve had to go through this alone and we know what it feels like. We want to make sure families know we are there for them and can connect them with the supports they need.”

Seemingly thousands of people gathered along the streets of Swan River on Friday morning (July 28) to watch approximately 80 float entries amble down Main Street in the Swan Valley Chamber of Commerce Parade, with this year’s theme celebrating Diversity in the Valley.

Visitors to the NorthWest Round-up and Exhibition were entertained with an exciting rodeo event on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons (July 28-30). The grandstand was standing room only and the weather couln’t have been more perfect. 

The Dauphin Mavericks have been yearning to play a game this season after Rugby Manitoba failed to come up with any opponents for the local men’s rugby squad this season.

But the Mavericks were able to hit the pitch for an actual game thanks to the Winnipeg Wasps, who made the trek north for a friendly match, Saturday afternoon.

Dauphin took advantage of the opportunity to play again, scoring a 56-31 victory over their Winnipeg counterparts.

Mavericks president Codi Harrigan said the game was confirmed on Friday.

“We were hunting down the refs. So it ended up being that one of their players and myself reffed it,” he said.

Harrigan said a few new players had shown up for practice last week and they committed to play the game.

“And they were able to get on the field. Right off the bat, they showed us their skills and they definitely came out to play. They helped us a lott,” he said.

One of those players, Daniel Evans, led the Mavericks with five tries.

“That was a huge debut for him,” Harrigan said.

Given that the Mavericks haven’t played much at all this season, one might expect the team to have been a bit rusty. But the only aspect of their game that showed any rust, Harrigan said, was their conditioning.

“Our ball handling was great. Our set pieces were great. It’s just the conditioning that we need to work on,” he said.

At this point, there are no other games scheduled other than the King of the Hill match against the Brandon Barbarians later this fall in Brandon.

Harrigan appreciated the Wasps for coming out for the match.

“They support us a lot, so it was nice,” he said.

Harrigan invites anyone interested in playing rugby to come out to practices, every Tuesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Kin Field at the Vermillion Park Sportsplex.