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.

A dream that was conceived eight years ago was realized, last Thursday, when Vermillion Growers LTD., hosted the grand opening of its greenhouse facility.

Vermillion Growers Ltd., 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.

Phase 1 of the operation is a 10-acre glass greenhouse that will grow vine tomatoes for distribution to central Canada. It will employ close to 35 fulltime staff.

The greenhouse was the brainchild of John “Lucky” Deschauer, who came up with the idea eight years ago.

Deschauer explained he was doing construction in Dauphin in the winter right before Christmas during a snowstorm.

“And I’m looking at my guys working and we’re trying to close up the building and put windows in and I said, ‘what am I doing this for? It’s time to do something different with my life.’ So I started looking for other opportunities to enhance the community,” he said.

Since he always enjoyed greenhouses, Deschauer began looking into modern greenhouses and spent some time in Leamington, Ont., home of Great Lakes Greenhouses, and traveled to Netherlands, Germany and Belgium to learn about the greenhouse industry.

“And once I discovered what it’s all about and how it impacts your food security and how it creates jobs, I decided I wanted to give it a try,” he said. “And, literally, from that point on, I committed a lot of years of my life to learning, discovering and, finally, building a greenhouse.”

Deschauer received a lot of community support when plans for a greenhouse were announced, support he appreciates.

“It means a lot to have community members get behind you. Our city and province have been very good working with us. And I look forward to working more with them on our expansions,” he said.

With the grand opening celebrations now behind them, Deschauer said it is time to get to work.

“Now it’s time for the grow team to hustle, find good employees to work, work with Assiniboine Community College in training the people. Basically, utilizing our youth to make careers. Keep them in our community,” he said. “We’ll be doing a basic apprenticeship program with qualified students through the ACC Brandon and Dauphin facilities.”

Deschauer said it was a momentous day for him and his family.

“It’s very satisfying to have accomplished this,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the future. I’m looking forward to expanding this, working with the city in the development of affordable housing and things like that.”

An announcement on Phase 2 will be made soon, Deschauer said.

John’s sister Maria Deschauer, Vermillion Growers managing director, said a project of this magnitude, which they did not realize at the time, takes a long time to put together.

“There are a lot of parts and pieces to get this project up and running,” she said.

All three founders - John and Maria, along with Mark Kohan - were looking for something meaningful to do that would also be good for the community.

“And that’s where we decided to act upon Lucky’s vision, Lucky’s idea to do this,” Maria added.

With the facility now open, Maria said it was an incredible feeling to finally see it become a reality.

“When you pour so much time and energy into a project, it’s so satisfying to see it finally come to fruition, just knowing that this project will be employing so many people in the community,” she said. “It’s a huge relief, also, that we are now at this stage and actually operating in a sense, because we’re setting up for the plants to arrive shortly.”

Plans are to expand the facility to include growing peppers and cucumbers in the not too distant future.

“If all the stars align, we are hoping that we will be adding another five acres next year,” Maria said, adding they are currently working on getting the facility completely finished and ready to receive plants. She anticipates planting will be done in early September with the first harvest in early November.

“So we will be having fresh tomatoes in our local stores in November,” Maria said, adding she is grateful to the community for its support. “Without their support and their investment, this project wouldn’t be here today. And also just to mention that the opportunity is still there to get involved. We’re very, very grateful for it,” she said.

Dauphin deputy mayor Christian Laughland said the opening of Vermillion Growers means a lot to the city.

“It’s both the beginning and the end of a great journey for the city. Of course, with the opening it’s the end of the construction for the first phase and the beginning of something so great for our community,” he said. “Being a big fan of tomatoes, I’m really excited for this, but I know a lot of people that were at the event and others in the community are so happy and thankful that the group has decided to build and invest in Dauphin and create over 30 jobs to start.”

Laughland added the opening of the facility marks the start of many big things for the community with a number of improvements and additions coming in the near future.

“The next few months and years are going to be very exciting for Dauphin,” he said.

The Roblin Chamber of Commerce along with the Municipality of Roblin Recreation Department has partnered to offer an amazing celebration of community and the season of harvest.

Roblin's first annual Fall Harvest Festival is set for Saturday, Sept. 16.

Read more in this weeks' REConnection.

Poodle skirts remain as one of the most memorable  symbols of the ‘50s in the US and are frequently worn as a novelty retro item as part of a nostalgic outfit.

Teen age girls wore them as everyday wear and to school dances.

Read more in this week's Review.

A provincial roundtable was held a couple of weeks ago in Winnipeg focusing on MMIWG2S+, with families who were impacted by it in attendance. Nine Indigenous organizations, along with some funding from the provincial government, put on the Giganawenimaanaanig Manitoba MMIWG2S+ Regional Roundtable that was held over two days.
“I’m actually a member of Giganawenimaanaanig, which was known as the MMIWG2S+ Implementation Committee,” said Renee Kastrukoff. “That committee is comprised of several organizations from around the province and is tasked working to implement the 231 Calls to Justice. We organized the Manitoba MMIWG2S+ Regional Roundtable on July 13 and 14 in Winnipeg.

A series Moose Management Town Hall Meetings are scheduled to take place to discuss moose hunting in the Duck and Porcupine Mountains areas. The event is hosted by the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER), Manitoba Natural Resources and Development along with the Canadian Section of the Wildlife Society.
This is an opportunity for all licensed and rights-based hunters, community members and local stakeholders to learn and share about the current state of the moose population in the Duck and Porcupine Mountains.
“The Manitoba government is actively engaging with local Indigenous communities, licensed hunters, outfitters and other stakeholders to guide the development of a long-term sustainable moose management plan for the Duck and Porcupine Mountains,” said a spokesperson for the Province.

The Town of The Pas held a regular council meeting on July 19. During the council meeting, Town of The Pay Mayor Andre Murphy gave a report about the MMIWG2S+ roundtable that he and Councillor Atkinson participated in the week prior, in Winnipeg. The Pas was the only municipality in Manitoba to have their mayor present, after all mayors were invited to the event.
“It was an unbelievable event for me personally to learn,” said Town of The Pas Mayor Andre Murphy. “It was very sad, painful to hear of the loss that has impacted families and friends of MMIWG2S+. When I heard the families speak about the journey they are on and how they’re trying to make things better, I could feel the support in the room from all the allies present and I was thankful to be a part of that.

The Swan Valley Immigrant Services Day Camp group toured the Swan Valley Historical Museum this past Thursday (July 20), teaching the youth all about the history of the Swan Valley.