The northern lights were out in full force Sunday night (April 23) with a nearly 360 degree show happening that was visible to the naked eye. All shades of green and even some purple exploded and danced across the sky for several hours starting around 10 p.m..

There is something about playing on their home court that brings out the best in the Parkland Vipers volleyball players.

The 15U Vipers became the program’s third team to win its home tournament, this past weekend.

Parkland finished second in its pool after round-robin play, opening with a 26-24, 7-25 and 8-15 loss to the Westman Wave.

The Vipers rebounded with a 25-8 and 25-20 win over CW Smash, followed by a 26-27, 25-20 and 15-11 win over Vision Elite Blue.

Parkland opened the playoffs with a 25-15 and 25-17 win over the Kenora Lakers in the quarterfinals and advanced to the championship match with a 23-25, 25-21 and 15-12 win over the CW Rage.

The final was a battle of the Parkland with the Vipers coming out on top over the Predators, 25-22, 20-25 and 16-14.

Vipers coach Nicole Yarema said the team played well throughout the tournament.

“It feels like things are finally coming together. This was their last tournament before provincials and it feels really good to end things on such a positive note,” she said.

The team has been consistently improving with every tournament they’ve played since the start of the season, Yarema said.

“This tournament especially, they were playing like a team. They were playing strategically. You could see the things that they’ve been learning in practice. It was really, really good for everyone,” she added.

Yarema hopes the team can carry the momentum from this tournament win into provincials, May 6 and 7, in Winnipeg.

“Our ranking is pretty low, so our goal is to come out in the top half,” she said.

Winning their home tournament is a special moment, Yarema said.

“As a coach, it’s definitely one of those moments that makes you super proud. All the girls worked really hard and they definitely deserved the win,” she said.

As for provincials, the expectation is to keep playing they way they have in recent tournaments.

“They’ve definitely shown me that they have got it in them to win. The team that we beat in the final, the Predators, are ranked quite a bit higher than us, so I’m hoping that they can really show everything that they’ve learned,” Yarema said.

Branch and Riley Langevin, who will soon turn three years old, enjoy an ice cream treat from A Scoop of Happiness, Dauphin’s new ice cream shop.

A Scoop of Happiness opened for business on Friday, serving soft and hard ice cream treats, just in time for summer.

It will be open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Braving unseasonable weather, local members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada whose jobs were deemed nonessential, were on the picket lines last week as the union seeks  a new contract with the Government of Canada.

Among other things the union is seeking wage increases and a deal on working remotely.

As the strike drags on across the country, the union is preparing to ramp up by moving picket lines to more “strategic locations.” 

A special concert will take place later this week in support of the Ukrainian army’s defense of their homeland.

Ukrainian artist Kozak Siromaha will perform at the Ukrainian Orthodox Hall, Apr. 30.

Those attending the special evening will be immersed into the authentic lifestyle, music and singing of the Cossacks.

Living according to ancient Cossack traditions, which includes not consuming alcohol or meat, Siromaha is a free Cossack who lives on the banks of the Dnipro River in a Cossack settlement, bringing up his children according to Cossack traditions, and teaching them Cossack art.

Siromaha knows the hopak martial dance, which is more than 1,000 years old, and uses the dance in his performances.

He also fences with Cossack sabers and creates a proper shamanic ritual on stage.

Siromaha is the only Ukrainian Cossack who plays the harmonium and he performs his compositions in an authentic Cossack style.

In addition to music and vocal compositions, a lot of Cossack legends, interesting facts, and stories will be shared during the event.

Doors to the hall open at 4:30 p.m. and the concert gets underway at 5 p.m.

Tickets are $30 for adults and can be purchased at the door, online at www.eventbrite.ca/e/kozak-siromaha-in-dauphin-mb-tickets-620479349437, or by calling Oleksandra Berdnyk at 431-738-8996.

Those 17 and under will be admitted free.

All proceeds from the event will be used to support operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The clubhouse of the Russell Flying Club was absolutely packed with kids and their parents this past Saturday. In just a few hours, seven members of the Russell Flying Club worked together to have 82 kids taken up for flights around the area.

As they have (almost) every year for more than a couple of decades, the members of the Russell Flying Club took kids up in their personal planes, donating their gas and their time.

Bruce Christopher, a long time member of the club explained that every year, the grade six students of Major Pratt take a Theory of Flight unit in school. “We go in and have a chat with the kids who are taking the class,” he said. “The idea is to get kids interested in flying and these flights give them a practical application to the theory they’ve learned in school which is why we have an age limit on the kids we take up.” Whenever possible, the kids who have taken the flight training at school are put up in the front seat, next to the pilot, giving them a hands on take at what they’ve learned. This year, the addition of another pilot, Bruce said added a special element. “We had a young lady from Roblin flying this year,” he said. “Which was really nice to have the young girls seeing a female pilot.”

There’s chanting and cheering and lots of smiles. Skills are learned on and off the ice.

And friendships are made by the players, the parents and the volunteers who are so integral in making Fierce Female Hockey work.

Fierce Female Hockey is the brainchild of former U of M Bison player Amy Doerksen.

The camps were launched last year in Brandon. In only a year, the word about the all-female hockey camp is out and spreading faster than the water off a Zamboni on ice.

So much so that their two day camp this June in Brandon was a close to an immediate sell-out with a growing wait list.

Read the full story in this week's Russell Banner!

The gym at Roblin Elementary School was packed Sunday afternoon as the Roblin Dance Club held its first live spring recital since 2019.

The recital featured performances by the club’s seven different Ukrainian dance groups – including the adult group; Senior Ballet; Movin’ n Groovin’; Senior Jazz; Junior Hip Hop; Junior Tap; Kinder Dance; Buko Boys; Junior Jazz; and Junior Ballet.

Check out the picture page in this week's Review.

You would think that with all the dangers and perils children are subject to online – the Benadryl challenge and sextortion to name a couple – the Goose Lake High gym would have been filled to the rafters for Val Caldwell’s session on tech and internet safety. But you’d be wrong.

Just a handful of people turned out at the school back in March for Caldwell’s second visit to Roblin.

Caldwell has been providing presentations on the topic of safety around the use of technology for 17 years – addressing the various forms of hidden sexual exploitation that exists in the “virtual world”.

Read the first part of a three part series about in this week’s Review.

With the raving success of The Passover presented during Holy Week at the Evangelical Mission Church, another play is in the works to hit the stage in Roblin.

Locals Bethany Brade and Jenni Johnson are co-directing another production featuring some familiar faces in the community.

For the rest of the story, pick up this week’s paper.