With the demand and need for more nurses in Manitoba, it’s nice to see some are eagerly choosing the profession. Lyz Tritthart knew all along they wanted to be a nurse, so it was no surprise that they entered into that field of studies at UCN.
“I grew up wanting to be a nurse but moved to The Pas with my husband at the end of 2017,” said Tritthart. “Due to a misunderstanding on my part, I opted towards a Bachelor of Arts degree. When I realized it would be possible to transfer to the Bachelor of Nursing program instead, I jumped at the opportunity.
“I have been learning at UCN since 2018, and was able to use courses from BA as my year 1 BA, with nursing intent. I have studied for since 2018, but the past three years have been solely BN classes.”

The old Gateway lot next to Giant Tiger was the backdrop for a 39 million dollar announcement Monday. Premier Heather Stefanson stopped in town to announce funding for new medical clinic to be built on that site.
“It was a great day with an exciting announcement for our Tri-Community,” Town of The Pas Mayor Andre Murphy said following the announcement. Murphy thanked the government for their commitment to improving the health and well-being of the communities. Work on the clinic from a local level has been on-going for years and despite a 2015 announcement for a medical clinic which did not happen, locally persistence continued.
There are many stakeholders such as the RM of Kelsey, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, NRHA, The Pas Community Development Corporation and others who have worked tirelessly over for many years to see an announcement such as this happen in our communities,” Murphy said, adding a special thanks to Kent Cook and Rod Berezowicki for many years of lobbying, meeting, and “no quit” effort to ensure we achieve this well needed service for our Tri Community.

The Valley can take in some really diverse and authentic barbecue cuisine this summer at a new food truck that has set up shop. Maggie’s BBQ not only makes food for the soul but is also about giving back to the community. The creation of Maggie’s BBQ - and its arrival in the Valley was all because of one very special woman.
“The whole intention of doing this was to bring something to Swan River that the community had never seen or experienced before,” said Maggie’s BQQ Owner and Operator Grant Bruce. “I lost my mom, Margaret Foster, late last fall and she was a pretty well-known figure in the community. I didn’t really know that until later in life.”
Grant and Margaret’s story of coming to the Valley is one of triumph, as they overcame some very personal struggles, only to find a community and place to call home with people who were there to accept and support them.
“I grew up in Bowsman and Birch River areas, but was born and lived my early years in Snow Lake,” said Bruce. “When my parents divorced, we moved to the Valley in 1992. From 1992 to 1997, life for my mom and I was difficult, as we were using the assistance of women’s shelters and food banks just to survive.
“When we moved here, the people in the Valley helped us immensely and it always overwhelmed my mom to the point where she felt she needed to do something to pay it back. Through that, she used her sewing skills and volunteering in the community to give back.
She volunteered a lot at the Legion and other community events. She would also sew for people and didn’t charge a lot for it, as it was her way of paying back. Her life was cut short as she died at only 68 years old.
“To bring this full circle I decided to come out here with the food truck that I owned and operated out British Columbia,” said Bruce.
The pandemic changed a lot of things; from the way people live to how businesses operate. These changes also led Bruce back to the Valley.
“The last few years of operating a food truck in B.C. have been very different,” said Bruce. “Pre-COVID-19, we were doing very well. Post-COVID-19, the demographics of the Okanagan Valley changed immensely to the point where there are fewer young families. We were also short-staffed and it was harder to access foods, which made it hard to operate a food truck there.
“Last fall I cut my season short to spend more time with my mom before her passing. During that time, we had a lot of back-and-forth chats about what I should do. Through one of those conversations, I asked her what she thought about me bringing the food truck to the Swan Valley and renaming it. In my mom’s typical fashion, she laughed and said ‘Oh Grant’.
“After she passed away, I felt there was a big hole left behind in the community from all the messages I was receiving from people here,” continued Bruce. “I received hundreds of personal messages about my mother’s passing and the impact she had on others and the community. I could feel the amount of emptiness left behind from her passing. I felt the need to do something in her memory.”
Bruce felt that creating Maggie’s BBQ out of respect and love for his mom and all that she did was something he just had to do.
“So I had a good friend from Minitonas design a logo for me,” said Bruce. “He took a picture of my mom’s likeness and designed a logo that I never in a million years could have dreamt up. It’s 100 percent to her likeness and when you look at it, it looks exactly like my mom did.
“A little comic relief was when I used to call her Maggie. She would hate when I would call her that and it would drive her to distraction. The only reason I would call her Maggie was because her dad did. As I got older, we would joke about it, but there’s not a more fitting name for my food truck than Maggie’s BBQ.
“I brought my food truck to Manitoba this spring, to just give my mom’s name a little more time on earth,” said Bruce. “This move has turned beyond my expectations and the response from the community is more than I could have asked for. At the end of the day, I’m trying to give my mom’s memory a little more time here and I’m also trying to rewrite my history in the Valley.
“As a youth, I was a pretty bad kid and had a lot of ups and downs in my life as a young adult. I was hoping that this would be my opportunity and the chance to give back to this community as well.
“It’s been nice to connect with people who knew my mom, but had never personally met me before too,” he continued. “I get to hear so many stories of how my mom made an impact in their lives.”
Bruce found his love of cooking from a few different sources and his biggest critic and fan, wound up being his mom.
“When my mom was a single parent, I took on the role of cooking for us and that started when I was eight,” said Bruce. “Mrs. Canada, from the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School, taught us food and I delved into watching the Urban Peasant show on TV. I was intrigued by it and wanted to try making what was made on the show.
“Watching this cooking show gave me the flair to cook. At first, my mom would choke down whatever I made and say it was good. I used to make taco salad all the time and it was my favourite thing to make. Just a few months ago, before she passed, I found out she hated it. She never admitted that until just before she passed away. She told me for years that she loved it and it was so good, meanwhile, the entire time she didn’t like it.
“Through the years of me cooking for us, I got a pretty good hand at cooking. I did other work as a logger and running equipment in different provinces, but what led me to do the food truck thing, was a result of the forest fires.
“In 2015, the forest fire issues started to have an impact on my summer jobs, so I had to transition to another line of work,” said Bruce. “So I had to figure out what other skillset I had, so I could look at making a career change, and that was cooking. I started looking into food trucks and it went from there. I would work in the winters and then operate the food truck in the summer, so I wasn’t stranded unemployed or left to claim Employment Insurance; now it’s my full-time gig.”
Maggie’s BBQ has a unique and flavorful menu, unlike anything you will find in the Valley and even around Manitoba. Through Bruce’s travels and life experience, he was able to learn how to make some very authentic ethnic dishes, which rotate through the menu at Maggie’s BBQ.
“In the beginning, I went down to Mexico and travelled around,” said Bruce. “I stopped in a town where this little old lady had a street cart where she made and sold tacos. I ate 30 of those tacos; they were so good. I offered to pay her to show me how to make them and she flat out brushed me off.
“I kept going back to her street cart to eat and three days later, I offered her $100 USD to show me how to make them, because they were so good. She put me to work at her street cart for the next three nights, and I learned how to make authentic Mexican tacos, guacamole and more.
She showed me how to make everything.
“The bacon cheeseburger is really my staple and it comes from being a farm kid,” he continued. “I love beef and steaks, so I never use a frozen patty when it comes to making burgers. I don’t make your regular hamburger; I just use ground beef and spice and it translates into something really flavourful.
“When it comes to the A5 Kobe Waygu, I worked with a Japanese Teppanyaki Chef and he now supplies restaurants with A5 Kobe from Japan. A5 Kobe Waygu can only come from one place in the world and that’s Kobe, Japan. They create a zen when raising the animal and feed it accordingly to create a marble within the meat that is unparalleled to anything in the world. The first time you eat that meat, it changes your life.”
He’s got a few other selections that are sure to make your mouth water as well.
“A Po’ Boy is an amazingly flavorful double-smoked garlic sausage grilled on a toasted bun, garnished with sauerkraut, onions, mustard and banana peppers,” said Bruce, describing more of his offerings. “Banh Mi is a Vietnamese-style sandwich that has a lightly toasted bun with garlic aioli, shaved smoked ham, a layer of sliced cucumber, a layer of pickled carrots and a layer of cilantro. Pollo Al Carbon, which is charcoal chicken tacos made authentically Mexican style.
“A donair is a Turkish food consisting of seasoned meat, which I use beef, on a pita with tomatoes, onion and sauce. We also have pork tacos, pulled pork, the McRib sandwich, Wagyu Bites, and wings.”
Maggie’s BBQ is definitely in demand, as the food truck is being booked for events and festivals all over.
“We are booked in for Countryfest this year and a few other events as well in the coming weeks,” said Bruce. “We’re going to run Monday to Friday in the Swan River and the weekends will be events.”
Bruce will be splitting his time between here and B.C. The response he has received since opening up Maggie’s BBQ will bring him back every summer to keep it going and to give back to the community that gave so much to him and his mother.
“I have two children, family and a life out in B.C., but I also have a life here and own property in Durban and Birch River,” said Bruce. “My intentions going forward are to spend the summers in the Valley and winters in the Okanagan.
“I thank my mom for my sense of adventure, exploring and community. The reviews from town about the food are amazing and I’m overwhelmed by it. I thank everyone for sharing their stories about my mom, expressing their condolences in her passing and for the tremendous support with this venture.”

After experiencing pockets of thundershowers all week long the skies really opened up Saturday afternoon, dumping a large amount of rain across the Valley with the south east being one of the hardest hit areas. 

Cancer is a disease that has impacted everyone and every year there are many fundraisers that are held for cancer research and treatment.

The family of the late Glen Kendrick has been dedicated to raising funds for Expanding Community Cancer Care in Russell for quite some time and they are putting on another fundraiser this year.

“We’re not exactly sure how many years we’ve been fundraising for cancer, but the first time we did it as a family team, was as Team Kendrick in the Relay For Life in 2008, in Roblin,” said Betty Dayson. “At that time, the money we raised went to CancerCare Manitoba.

We tried to do something every two years and then in 2012, we did a walk and the money we raised went to the Russell Chemo Unit. This was around the same time that plans were being discussed to renovate and expand the Russell Chemo Unit.

For more check this week's Banner!

The weather was perfect for a walk with your best friend - and their friends. On the last Saturday in May, hundreds of people from across the country met with their canine and human friends and set out on a bit of a trek for the Pet Valu Walk for Dog Guides. Here in Russell just around 20 people showed up at the dog park on the west side of town.

With the money still coming in (you have until the end of June to get your pledges in or make new pledges online) it’s hard to keep a grasp on the evergrowing total.

The Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides is a national charity that was created by the Lions of Canada. Its mission is to empower Canadians with disabilities to navigate their world with confidence and independence by providing a Dog Guide at no cost and supporting them in their journey together. Since 1983, Lions Foundation of Canada has been providing specially trained Dog Guides to men, women and children from coast to coast.

In addition to training Dog Guides for people who are blind or visually impaired, Dog Guides are also trained to meet the needs of Canadians with hearing, medical and physical disabilities, epilepsy, autism, diabetes and for professional agencies assisting people in traumatic situations. And they truly are life savers. All Dog Guides and required training, including transportation and accommodation, are provided at no cost to qualified applicants. Lions Foundation does not receive any government funding and relies on the support of fundraising events like the Pet Valu Walk for Dog Guides.

This past year the Lions held their 2021/2022 Pet Valu Walk for Dog Guides both in-person and virtually. Thanks to the incredible support of volunteer walk organizers, participants, donors, and their title sponsor, Pet Valu, they were thrilled to announce they raised an impressive $1,017,626!

Read the full story in this week's Dauphin Herald!

Dauphin’s long-awaited Community Safety and Well-being Plan is one step closer to being completed with the appointment of a consultant, last week.

After waiting more than a year for the process to get going, Dauphin learned the Canadian Municipal Network on Crime Prevention (CMNCP) will help guide them through the development of the plan.

City manager Sharla Griffiths was pleased with the announcement, not only because it marks a step forward in the process, but because the city is familiar with CMNCP.

“We have been learning from them for maybe three years, maybe more. We became a member of that network in 2019 or early 2020, and have been learning about community safety and well-being plans and programs and community safety concepts through webinars for all that time,” she said. “I truly think that they’re the gold standard and they are the best of the best.”

Upon hearing the news, Griffiths immediately reached out to the CMNCP executive director, but has yet to hear back. She added she suspects that the group was awarded the contract to develop all of the community safety and well-being plans on the schedule.

“I did want to position the City of Dauphin, to identify ourselves as ready to go and excited to work with them now as opposed to being further down the line on their priority list,” she said, adding Dauphin might actually be ahead of most communities in the process. “This council is extremely interested in getting going on addressing crime and addressing social issues and we’ve been meeting with social service groups, with RCMP, with Manitoba Housing, with groups like that. What we thought is that we don’t have to introduce the concept and try to sell our community on it. The community is already excited about getting going on consultations and creating plans and looking at action items and to do items.”

For the first time in the team’s history, the Dauphin Clippers girls rugby team are provincial champions.

Just one week after winning the Westman High School Rugby title, the Clippers captured provincial gold in Winnipeg.

Dauphin earned its spot in the gold medal game with a 46-0 win over Winnipeg Vincent Massey Trojans and clinched the gold medal with a 27-10 win over the Rivers Rams.

Clippers coach Shawn Sarkonak said it was an amazing feeling to win provincials, with the players sticking to a team mentality and not playing as individuals being key to their success.

“That’s what was preached and coached all year and they stuck with it. And that’s what led to their success,” he said.

In facing a team they had never seen before in the semifinals, the Clippers just stuck to their own game plan, like they have done all season.

“That’s what we’ve done with every game this year. Every game is a brand new game and you don’t know what you’re coming up against. So that’s out of your control, but you stay with what you can control and that’s the team game and the way that we prepare and practice. And that’s what led to the success,” Sarkonak said.

The Clippers were confident going into the gold medal game against Rivers, a team that had already beaten twice before.

“But again, we kept saying it’s a brand new game, so you never know what’s going to happen. You’ve just got to stick with the team mentality,” Sarkonak said, adding there were points in the game where the Clippers were taking needless penalties and had some core skill letdowns, such as knock-ons and forward passes.

“In the second half, we came out flying and cleaned it up and it led to the success and bringing home the gold,” he said.

Being a provincial champion is hard to describe, Sarkonak said.

“You start with the league title and it’s always hard just to get there. And to cap it off with a provincial title is indescribable. It’s amazing,” he said.

The Clippers finished the season with a perfect 9-0 record and only allowed 30 points in those games.

The Clippers boys won the bronze medal, thanks to a 39-0 win over the Crocus Plains Plainsmen.

Dauphin lost its semifinal to Dakota Collegiate, 5-0.

Clippers coach Aaron Miner said losing by just one try was heartbreaking, especially considering how close they came to scoring themselves.

“We were so close so many times. We were within an arms reach of putting the ball over the try line and popping one in. But it was such a defensive game on both ends. It was hard to make an inch, never mind an arm length,” he said.

The boys were confident going into the bronze medal game, as they were facing the Plainsmen for the fourth time this season.

“We knew all their ins and outs and all their plays and all those things. But we didn’t make it about the game, we made it about the graduating class that game,” Miner said. “We spent special attention to those 12 guys that are moving on or moving back to their home country, with the exchange students. We made it a meaningful game for those guys. The game was all about them and all their successes and learning experiences about rugby, the game, the heritage, the culture, the history of the game throughout all the years. It did have meaning to our group. There were some tears shed and some longer than usual hugs after the win. It was very meaningful.”

As a coach, it is hard for Miner to see the graduating players move on.

“This team was 10 years in the making. When Gerald (Lopez) and a few of us started the Parkland Pirates mini-rugby 10 years ago, this is what we envisioned,” he said.

“We feel we have a good program and we have a great feeder system now. We have high expectations that we end up in the top two minimum in the league every year for many years. And get a chance to compete at provincials yearly.”

The boys finished the season with a record of 7-1 while allowing just 25 points.

For Al Gray, a desire to improve the aesthetics of Riverside Cemetery in Dauphin all comes down to simple respect.

Recently, the founder of Friends of Riverside, a volunteer group with a mission to help improve the environment at the local cemetery, has been concentrating his efforts on headstones which are leaning, or fallen and broken.

“The thing of it is, is that like most cemeteries, the cemetery holds no legal responsibility for the stones. It’s a family thing and most people don’t understand that,” Gray said, adding he has taken on the task of contacting family members where possible to let them know the loved one’s marker needs attention.

“What I’ve maintained all along is that you can’t expect people to know what they don’t know if nobody’s telling them what they don’t know.”

In most cases the response is positive, Gray said, and many stones have been repaired as a result.

The problem is that in many cases there are no family members to be found, Gray said, pointing to the large spire of a former Dauphin resident.

“Dr. Law was buried in 1901, his wife was buried in 1902 and they had no children. The stone there, to lift it up is probably about $1,500, to put a new foundation underneath it. There’s no family, so who’s going to do it?” Gray asked. “So that’s where I’m at with this stuff, is to try and get people to understand that.”

Compounding the problem is the sheer number of stones which need attention.

In block one, the oldest block in the cemetery, there is more than 400 stones which need attention, Gray said.

“This is block one, this is 100 tears of neglect. There is over 400 compromised stones in this one block alone, 400, over 400,” Gray said. “Which, at an average of $250 dollars a stone, is $100,000 of repair work in one block. And there’s 14 blocks in this cemetery.”

There are two companies in the area which perform headstone restorations, Gray said, adding repairs can range from around $150 for a simple resetting to several thousand dollars for large stones which have toppled and broken.

To help facilitate some of the work, Gray has reached out to the councils of the City and RM of Dauphin to consider providing some funds over the next few years.

“I went to a (City and RM) liaison committee meeting and I said, ‘while we have two councils that look like they’re going to work together I would like to consider you guys putting in between $4,000 and $5,000 a year per municipality for four years,’ for mandate,” Gray said, adding he has yet to hear back from the councils on the proposal.

“That would give us about $40,000 to put into the cemetery.”

Riverside Cemetery operates under provincial legislation, which was passed in 1964, one of only two cemeteries in the province in that situation. As such, while representatives of the two municipal councils make up the majority of the cemetery board, they have no financial responsibility for its operation, Gray said. Operating funds, he added, come from the sale of burial plots and interest earned on the Perpetual Care Fund.

Gray has received some support from the public on the issue, citing a group of five ladies who, following one of his History Night presentations, provided funds to fix up one neglected stone.

“They not only picked the stone, but they did the research on the person, too. That’s been some of the good stuff,” Gray said, adding while such gestures are greatly appreciated he is banking on elected officials making a financial commitment to the cemetery. “There’s nothing we can do if we don’t have a nest egg to do it with. I need the financial support. We can do the family contact and we’ll keep plugging away at the families. But to get really active out here you need the City and the RM.”

Building upon its brand, Adventure From Here on Out, the City of Dauphin has launched the Dauphin Adventure Fund, an initiative they hope strengthens the community’s position as a destination for events.

Funded through the accommodation tax, the Adventure Fund will provide financial assistance to organizations involved in the planning, execution, and hosting of regional, provincial, national, or international events within the City of Dauphin and the Rural Municipality of Dauphin.

The fund will focus on fostering overnight stays in the community, Dauphin Economic Development manager Martijn van Luijn said.

“If you are a local organization and you want to put on an event that, at least, has some sort of overnight stay attached to it, because that is really what feeds our economy, then you can apply for some funds and we will help you get this project going,” he said.

van Luijn said as a vibrant community that values the power of events to stimulate economic prosperity, Dauphin recognizes the importance of attracting and nurturing diverse events that draw visitors.

Financial assistance will be available for a wide range of events, including, but not limited to sports tournaments, cultural festivals, art exhibitions, conferences, and more.

“We firmly believe that investing in events is investing in our community’s future. By supporting event organizers through the Dauphin Adventure Fund, we are empowering them to create unique experiences that attract visitors, stimulate our local economy, and showcase all that Dauphin has to offer,” mayor David Bosiak said.

“We invite event organizers to seize this opportunity and partner with us in driving Dauphin’s success as a thriving event tourism destination.”

The fund started with a balance of $40,000. The allocation of funding will be administered by the Sports-Tourism subcommittee of the Dauphin Economic Development Committee, working in close collaboration with the Economic Development Manager.

Through a thorough evaluation process, funding amounts will be determined based on the potential impact of the event, its ability to attract overnight visitors, and its alignment with the city’s strategic goals, van Luijn said.

Funding requests exceeding $5,000 will require approval from city council.

“We’ve already received three applications. There is a need,” van Luijn said.

For more information on the Dauphin Adventure Fund and the application process, visit tourismdauphin.ca/meetings-special-events or contact van Luijn or Ember Kutcher by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 204-622-3216.