By Ed Stozek
For the Herald

Attending the St. John one-room country school from 1958-64 resulted in a variety of life-learning experiences. Our daily routine always started with the singing of “Oh Canada” and reciting “The Lord’s Prayer.”

Having eight different grades in one room provided exposure to a wide range of events. Occasionally I took a break from working on my assignments and listened to Mrs. Kowalchuk teach Egyptian history to the Grade 8 class. Visions of pyramids and a sphinx spurred my interest.

Throughout my tenure as a student at St. John, recess and noon hour provided an avenue for a variety of games and tested the strategy of tag, hopscotch, dodgeball, soccer, baseball and cricket. We improvised playing cricket by using a baseball and a baseball bat. A piece of cordwood functioned as a wicket. If inclement weather occurred we stayed indoors for recess and noon hour and honed our crokinole and checkers skills.

When classes resumed after lunch Mrs. Kowalchuk read to us for 15 minutes. During my Grade 5 year we followed the storyline of Anne of Green Gables. As four o’clock approached it was time to clean up the classroom. Running water literally meant running to the well to get a pail of water for classroom use. Washing the blackboard, going outside to clean the chalk from the brushes or taking down the flag were all part of our school routine. There were certain rules to follow associated with flag protocol. We also followed the rule of law in Manitoba to sing “God Save the Queen” before we were dismissed.

A highlight of the school year included the annual Christmas concert. We practiced singing carols and perfected our acting skills for a variety of skits and plays. In Grade 5 we became the proud owners of a red tonette, an instrument similar in principle to a recorder. As an ensemble we learned to play “Jingle Bells” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

On the evening of the concert the school was “packed to the rafters.” The annual concert was equivalent to performing at Carnegie Hall. Weeks of rehearsal paid off as we presented the program on the stage constructed for the special occasion.

Our reward was thunderous applause from an appreciative audience followed by Santa Claus giving us a brown paper bag filled with an assortment of candy, nuts and an orange.

After the concert the parents and children filed out of the school and made their way to their cars, one horse open sleighs or cabooses. Under the stars on a cold winter night the Chevys and Fords moaned and groaned before their motors finally started. For the patrons who had arrived using actual horsepower, the horses were hitched up to the sleighs. Most had unhitched the horses prior to the concert and left them some hay and oats to munch on.

My sister noted that on the way home from one concert, she found out that it was not fun to ride in an open sleigh. She personally experienced the lyrics from Jingle Bells. “We got into a drifted bank and then we got upsot.”

‘A caboose or van was generally shaped much like a modern day Boler camper except that it was made from lumber. Instead of wheels, sleigh runners were used. A small box heater fueled with wood kept the inside of the caboose warm for the passengers. A set of small round holes beneath a sliding window at the front of the caboose enabled the driver to handle the reins and communicate with the horses. The horses didn’t need much guidance as they instinctively knew their way home where they would enjoy some hay and a well-deserved rest in the comforts of the barn.

The St. John School was the last school in the area to be consolidated into the Pelly Trail School Division.

It closed its doors on June 30, 1964. That September I boarded the school bus and started Grade 7 at the Oakburn Elementary School. I now had 32 classmates in one grade. During the course of my six-year experience at St. John my grade always consisted of only three students.

A new era had begun.

The Manitoba government has relaunched the Manitoba 511 highway and traffic information service following enhancements to the Manitoba 511 website, mobile app and 511 phone system.

Enhancements include faster and more interactive map features, new customized notifications and hands-free audio alerts, as well as:

• up to three route options with corresponding travel times and hands-free audio alerts for selected routes when a destination is entered in the mobile app;
• notifications for traffic incidents and road closures with registered accounts; and
• interactive voice response on the 511 phone system to allow hands-free access to road conditions and traffic alerts on preferred routes.

Manitoba 511 is a free traveller information service operated by the Manitoba government. The service is available by phone, computer and mobile device. In 2021, there were approximately six million visits to the Manitoba 511 site and telephone line.

Manitoba 511 can be accessed on a computer or mobile device by visiting the Manitoba 511 website at www.manitoba511.ca or by downloading the app to a mobile device. It can also be accessed toll-free (within Manitoba) by calling 511.

Travellers should always check the Manitoba 511 website for current road conditions to ensure safety prior to making the decision to travel.

The website is updated regularly by road patrol, but conditions can change in a matter of minutes. Manitobans can also follow @ MBGovRoads on Twitter for closures or incidents.

Council of the Municipality of Roblin held its inaugural meeting Nov. 7 and made its appointments to boards and commissions for a one-year term or until a successor is appointed.

Council also made its citizens appointments at a subsequent meeting.

Find out who’s where in this week’s Review.

There’s nothing like a good scam to catch people off guard and ruin the holiday season. For some reason, there never seems to be a shortage of scams going around, but this latest one is more deceptive than the average run-of-the-mill ones.
If you’re thinking about giving a gift card this holiday season, you need to be aware of the latest gift card scam that is hitting Canadian retailers all over. Retailers who have racks of gift cards to different department stores, restaurants, and online gaming platforms seem to be the hot spot for this scam. Scammers have been tampering with these gift cards by placing a sticker that has a fake barcode on it over top the original.

The community of Swan Valley demonstrated its lasting legacy when the Community Foundation of Swan Valley (CFSV) held their 18th annual meeting and grant night on Wednesday (Dec. 7) in the banquet room of the Westwood
Inn. During the evening, more than $140,000 in grants and scholarships were announced...

The Swan Valley Community Band presented The Music of Christmas on Friday (Dec. 9) at the ESRSS Gymnasium. The band played a selection of tunes with a brief intermission by the Highly Strung ukulele group.

The Parkland Rangers missed a chance to close the gap on a playoff spot with a pair of losses to the Eastman Selects over the weekend.

The Rangers couldn’t overcome a 3-0 first-period deficit, Saturday, dropping a 4-2 decision, before falling 4-3 on Sunday.

Parkland (6-17-3-0) now trails the eighth-place Selects by 10 points. Eastman (12-11-1-0) is one point ahead of Interlake (11-14-1-1) and seven up on Kenora (8-17-2-0).

Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said the Rangers deserved a better fate in both games.

Parkland, he said, ran into penalty problems right off the bat in Saturday’s game, which resulted in two Eastman power-play goals.

“I thought we did a pretty job of trying to get back into the game. We hit a couple of posts and might have had an opportunity to make it a little bit closer,” he said.

The Rangers wanted to play a strong third period to build momentum for Sunday’s game, which they did. The Rangers could have pulled the goalie, Carefoot said, but they decided to focus on winning the period.

“Sunday, we were the better team. I think we hit two cross bars and then, with 10 seconds left to tie it, we hit a post,” he said. “I thought we played five solid periods of hockey this weekend. For the most part, I’m pretty happy.”

There are games where teams have to contend with questionable calls by the officiating and that was the case on Sunday, according to Carefoot.

“We had to persevere, not only through the Eastman Selects, but we had to beat the stripes. I just didn’t like some of the calls,” he said. “I just thought some of the calls were far too soft.”

It didn’t help that the Rangers were shorthanded with some players out of action due to injuries.

“So I was proud of how everybody competed and just didn’t quit,” he said.

The Rangers have just one game this week, Sunday on the road in Souris against the Southwest Cougars. Then they play the Yellowhead Chiefs, Dec. 20, in Shoal Lake.

Carefoot hopes the team can enter the Christmas break on a high note.

“We always say that the rural teams are the teams we’re supposed to compete well against and we beat both of them this year. So I feel that the guys will be up for it. If we can find a way to get four points going into the holidays, everybody will be feeling good about themselves,” he said, adding the Rangers will face the league power houses in the new year.

Defenceman Bo Eisner had a tremendous weekend for the Rangers.

“He’s one of those guys who, not only does he produce offensively, but he’s a tremendous defender,” Carefoot said. “He logs a lot of minutes and he does a tremendous job in the O zone and defensive zone. He’s a quiet leader. He just goes out and does his job. He’s a low-maintenance kind of guy. For him the journey is just starting and he’s got lots of recognition throughout, not just the Manitoba Junior Hockey League, but also going west, as well. I just feel he’s a guy that goes under the radar.”

The Dauphin Kings snapped a four-game losing skid, last week, and are now riding a three-game winning streak.

Dauphin snapped the losing streak with a 6-5 shootout win over the Portage Terriers, last Wednesday in Portage, with local product Rylan Gibbs netting the shootout winner.

The Kings made it two straight with a 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Freeze, Friday in Winnipeg. On Sunday, Jakob Brook’s second of the game, 47 seconds into overtime lifted Dauphin to a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Swan Valley Stampeders.

As a result, the Kings enter the week in fourth place with 36 points, one back of the Waywayseecappo Wolverines and three behind the Stampeders and OCN Blizzard, who are tied for first in the MGEU West Division.

Get the full rundown in this week's Herald!

When the current skating season started 16-year-old Breken Brezden’s goal was to qualify for the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships.

To do so, she had to finish in the top 18 skaters from among the 37 other competitors hitting the ice at the recent Skate Canada Challenge in Winnipeg.

The only Manitoban in the event, Brezden accomplished that goal, finishing 10th overall, thus qualifying to compete at nationals, Jan. 9 to 15 in Oshawa, Ont.

Brezden started skating at the age of four. Her dad Brian, first put her in hockey skates.

“Because he was a hockey player,” Brezden noted.

After Brezden was registered for CanSkate, it wasn’t long before her local instructor Donna Kemp-Drysdale told her parents to get her into figure skates.

“Because I don’t think I’m really built for hockey,” she said.

Kemp-Drysdale has had a great influence on Brezden’s skating, teaching her a lot of the basics.

“She’s taught me all of my dances pretty much. She’s taught me the good skating skills and good work ethic. She really started me young on those types of things,” Brezden said, adding Kemp-Drysdale was also the one who encouraged her to start learning under guidance of Patricia Hole, a professional skating coach based in Virden.

Kemp-Drysdale had told Brezden she didn’t think she could provide the resources and knowledge to keep improving.

“I’m super thankful for her and all the things that she’s been able to help me with and the fact that she’s been able to pass me on to more coaches who can really help me out,” Brezden said.

Brezden has always considered herself to be someone who enjoys skating, something Kemp-Drysdale saw, as well.

“That’s why she told my dad, ‘you’ve got to get that girl in figure skates,’,” she said.

Brezden has been training under Hole for about seven or eight years now, initially traveling to Virden once a week.

“But as things progressed and I really wanted to get more competitive and I was really more committed to it, we started seeing her more often,” she said.

While it took some time to adjust to the travel, eventually, the Brezdens got used to it.

“I’m really thankful for my dad. He calls himself my chauffeur for skating. I’m thankful for him for being able to make all this time and drive me out to Virden and to Brandon and to Yorkton when it’s horrible driving conditions,” she said.

Brezden’s mother has family in Hamilton, Ont., and it was while visiting last Christmas that she skated with the local skating club.

“It was for a couple days and then we came back. And then this summer is where we really kicked it up and we said that’s the place that I need to be, because they have a lot of good competitive skaters there and I wanted to be around that. And I wanted to have that intensity of training,” she explained. “So we decided for the summer, we went there and I skated for about five weeks.”

At the end of the summer, a decision was made for Brezden to continue training in Hamilton through the fall and early part of winter.

“For me, I realized I had been progressing so much and I really felt like I was making improvements and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to keep that same rate of improvement up as we were coming back to Dauphin and having to drive everywhere,” she said, adding she is thankful she made that decision. “Because it’s turned out really well so far to move out there for a bit for my first semester of classes and to really work hard and train with the coaches in Hamilton,” she said.

To accommodate her training, Brezden is taking courses online.

Brezden has noticed an improvement in her skating herself since she started training in Hamilton and it is showing in the results.

“From the past competitions, we’ve just kept building, kept on making those, whether they be small steps or big steps, we just kept on making those improvements,” she said.

One of the highlights of her training in Hamilton came a couple of months ago when Brezden hit her first triple flip, which was a great accomplishment.

“It’s been a jump that I was working on for quite a while throughout the summer. The feeling of landing a new jump is always a really good feeling, because it’s satisfying because you know it’s something you’ve been working towards and you’ve been really wanting to get,” she said, adding it will be a while before she is confident enough to incorporate the jump into her program. “I definitely need to gain more consistency on it, though, because right now, it’s not to the point where I can include into my programs. For now. I’m continuing to work on it and hopefully, we can get there.”

Last month, Brezden won the gold medal at provincials, a feat which gave her a good feeling to be able to skate well in her home province.

There was some trepidation at the Skate Canada Challenge as to whether Brezden would qualify for nationals after her long program skate wasn’t as good as she had hoped it would be. But there was a sense of relief when she realized she had made it.

“That’s been my goal for this whole season. That’s what has helped push me through the hard training moments,” she said.

Brezden’s goal for nationals is to train to get her triple-triple into her short program.

“And I just want to go out there and have the best skates that I can. Do what I know I can do and what I’ve been doing in training,” she said.

Throughout her skating endeavours, Brezden has received a lot of support from her family and friends, which she appreciates.

Her dad, she said, spends a lot of time on Facebook and constantly posts updates on her. And when she can’t read the comments herself, he reads them to her.

“It’s nice to have people believe in you. It’s a good feeling, for sure,” she said, adding there was a lot of family and friends at the Challenge in Winnipeg cheering her on. “I’m really thankful for it and it’s nice to know they have an interest in what I love to do and what I’m doing,” she said.
Brezden admits the Olympics is a dream, but at this point in her career, it is a distant dream.

“I have a lot of goals that I need to get before that point. People don’t realize, the Olympics is the competition that’s put on a pedestal to everybody. I think they don’t understand how difficult it actually is to get to that level of competition. It’s pretty crazy,” she said. “That would definitely be a dream, but baby steps for now.”

Mountain View School Division (MVSD) invited the community into its budgeting process through a 2023-24 Pre-Budget Consultation, Dec. 5.

The evening provided an opportunity for MVSD trustees and staff to get a sense of the community’s priorities as it embarks on setting out the numbers.

“The establishment of the school division budget is indeed a significant part in our role as trustees,” board chair Floyd Martens told those assembled in person at the division office and on online.

“In many ways it sets the direction or vision for the school division by putting resources where our priorities are.”

Martens stressed input from the public is crucial to ensure the direction set by trustees is lined up with community priorities.

“It’s important to hear, and have as many opportunities to hear from community members as we can when it comes to developing the budget,” he said.

Get the full story in this week's Herald!