A two-vehicle accident on River Avenue, Saturday morning delayed the start of the Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival parade.

One vehicle had pulled over to let passengers out to watch the parade and was rear ended by another vehicle.

No one was injured in the accident.

Ashcroft Vision Care is partnering with the province to provide advanced eye care options for Parkland residents that does not involve travel to Brandon or Winnipeg.

Health Minister Audrey Gordon was in Dauphin last week to announce a retinal specialist pilot program, which will see retinal specialists from Winnipeg travel to Dauphin once a month to deliver services normally not available in the community.

“Manitobans living in the Parkland region currently have to travel all the way to Winnipeg to access a retinal specialist and this can create an unnecessary financial burden, as well as additional stress for patients and their families,” Gordon said. “To have a specialist provide services right here at Ashcroft Vision Care will help reduce out-of-pocket expenses for these patients and families, strengthen health care in the region and ensure the same level of care closer to home.”

Retinal specialists diagnose retinal diseases and treat a wide variety of eye conditions including age-related macular degeneration, hereditary diseases of the eye, diabetic retinopathy, retinal detachment and cancers of the eye. They also treat patients who have experienced severe eye trauma.

According to Dr. Kara Vanderheyden of Ashcroft Vision Services, intravitreal anti-vegf injections are imperative to prevent permanent vision loss, as well as blindness in individuals who develop certain eye diseases such as wet macular degeneration, retinal venous occlusions and proliferative diabetic retinopathy, and can only be performed by retinal ophthalmologists.

Beginning this fall, the program will service 60 to 80 patients each month, which Vanderheyden said will make a real difference in the lives of area residents displaying “increased concern and anxiety” around the need to travel to Winnipeg for treatment. “I’d say there’s around 200 patients from this area that are traveling and there’s new ones all the time.” she said.

“At this point, I am unsure of whether or not we will be over capacity to not accommodate all the patients from this area. Not all patients have to have injections every month, so we should be able to accommodate most patients in this area from having to go to Winnipeg. That is the goal of this project.”

The Manitoba government will cover travel expenses for the specialists and supply costs to support the project. Ashcroft Vision Care will provide space for the retinal specialist to perform procedures in one of their clinic rooms.

“It was becoming very evident, particularly over the past two years, the financial and physical burden patients were experiencing having to travel to Winnipeg as much as once a month,” Vanderheyden said. “Doctors (Randy) Ashcroft, (Jeremy) Mills and myself are more than pleased to provide our clinic for this pilot project and facilitate in bringing this important service closer to home for many Manitobans.”

This pilot project is in alignment with Manitoba’s Clinical and Preventive Services Plan’s goal to provide care closer to home, Gordon said, adding the initiative is expected to run over the next year to evaluate its effectiveness and impact on patient care.

“We’re saying this is a pilot and the pilot will initially benefit a certain number of individuals, so that we can test demand and look at how often we need to bring those specialists in,” Gordon said. “So in the pilot it may be one day, but once the program is fully up and running it may be more.”

After a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival (CNUF) made a triumphant return over the weekend with three fun-filled days full of Ukrainian culture and heritage.

CNUF president Kayla Gillis felt this year’s festival was fantastic, thanks in part to more people attending than expected.

“I would say that we had about 7,500 through the gates, which was phenomenal,” she said.

Gillis feels the festival’s success year-after-year can be attributed to the patrons who keep coming back.

“Bringing in that high caliber entertainment. Bringing in local entertainment, as well. But I really have to say it’s our patrons and our sponsors that really keep the festival going. So I hope they continue,” she said.

Gillis was at a loss to explain what made this year such a success, suggesting the lack of a live event the last two years had people eager to celebrate its return.

“I think it was just getting together and just having that enjoyment. Coming together as a community, coming together as a festival family again,” she said. “I know with recent events that happened in Ukraine, too, I know a lot of people have been coming just to show their support to our culture.”

Some of the Ukrainian families who relocated to the Parkland because of the war in Ukraine were in attendance and even stepped up to volunteer at the gates and in Baba’s Kitchen.

“It was really nice to see,” Gillis said.

Saturday’s Zabava was cut short because of rain, but it did little to dampen the enthusiasm of everyone in attendance. Gillis was appreciative of the support of the many people who volunteered during the festival. Of the 210 people who volunteered at the festival, Gillis noted an organization came from Brandon, as well as some from Saskatchewan.

“A lot of the service groups in town helped us out. So it was really nice to see that everybody came to help and support us,” she said.

But the plan for next year is to being in something new every year.

“Which brings in new attractions, which brings in new people that haven’t been here before,” Gillis said.

The war in Ukraine was on the mind of everyone in attendance, with one dance group performing a military style dance.

“That was a very special moment. There wasn’t a lot of dry eyes in the stands for that dance. But I think everybody is thinking about it and you could tell, everybody wants to make sure that everybody is happy and supporting (Ukraine),” Gillis said, adding there were a couple of groups were collecting funds, as well.

Planning is already underway for next year, Gillis thanking everyone who attended this year’s festival.

“Thanks to our supporters, contributors, everybody. It’s been phenomenal. It’s a little overwhelming, a little emotional. It’s been fantastic.”

Jayce Hawryluk is getting another shot in the big league.

After playing last season in the Swedish Hockey League and signing with the new 3ICE league in 2022, the talented and gritty forward has signed a two-way contract with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators, the same team that had picked him up on waivers in 2020 and subsequently dealt him to Vancouver.

Full details in this week's Roblin Review!

Most of Main Street was transformed into a pedestrian mall Saturday as the local chamber of commerce hosted its much-anticipated Street Fair and Summer Sidewalk Sale.

The event featured plenty of attractions including craft vendors and artisans, a farmers’ market, food vendors, plenty of activities for the kiddies, live music featuring just a small sampling of the community’s wealth of talented performers, and plenty of bargains courtesy of Main Street merchants.

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

The dedicated members of the Roblin Agricultural Society are more than a little excited to be hosting the fair and rodeo after a two-year break.

And while all the volunteers definitely benefitted from some time off, society president Ellen Arnott says they’re always looking for more.

Get this week's Roblin Review for more!

More and more stories are coming out about peoples’ potentially dangerous experiences with ER closures in rural and northern communities.

Many people are thinking that there’s no other choice than to accept emergency room closures in rural communities as the new normal.

Most think that way, until they experience an emergent situation that requires immediate medical care.

This was the case for Mandi Addis’ 11-year-old daughter Briar.

Check out this week's Roblin Review for more!

What started out as a fun and engaging way to host a parade has now turned into an annual tradition. Wally’s Place Boat Parade is hosting their third annual event this upcoming Sunday and there are some great prizes to be won.
“This is the third Wally's Place Boat Parade,” said Cheryl Antonio. “It started before COVID-19 and was an idea discussed amongst friends, including Mary Ann Greenwood, from Wally's Place, who in turn shared it with her son, Wes, who is Wally's Place owner. Wes helped organize and sponsor the event.
“The parade begins at Camper's Cove and follows the shoreline to Pioneer Bay. For parade entries, any kind of watercraft is acceptable, however kayaks and canoes may have a hard time keeping up to the pace of things.”
Participants who enter are encouraged to decorate to win a prize, but it’s not mandatory. The first place winner will receive $200/merchandise, the second place will get $100/merchandise and third will get $50/merchandise.

The family of Kendara Ballantyne is coming up on the third year of seeking answers and justice for what happened to her and it also marks their third year of not having her in their lives. The third Annual Remembering Kendara Memorial Walk is in the works and will be taking place on Saturday, August 6.
“For me personally, this walk brings out a lot of mixed emotions because it’s the third year and no arrests have been made,” said Lorraine Ballantyne-Packo. “One thing that I have learned to appreciate is the planning of this walk, and the efforts of the co-organizers and the community that comes out to support us on this journey.
“This is also hard, because the people who took Kendara from us are still out there. We don’t know if we’ve passed them on the street or been in their presence and that makes it really difficult at times.”
“The walk is mainly organized by family and we relying on donations and some fundraising to make this happen every year,” said Gloria Ballantyne-Packo. “We do reach out to different organizations and business for donations of time or items for the barbeque. Everyone has been extremely gracious and generous with what they give and how they help with the Annual Remembering Kendara Memorial Walk.

On Tuesday, July 19th members of the Hwy 10/60 gange were back at the junction and the truck turn off south of town.
This was our third trip this year. In June we collected 17 bags of garbage and 11 bags of recyclables. A month ago it was considerably less and this time only seven bags of garbage and two recycle bags were collected, so we are definitely noticing an improvement and urges everyonet to keep a container for garbage in your vehicle and dispose of it at home.
Let’s all do our part to preserve and protect Mother Earth. Our next scheduled clean up is September 1st. Mark it on your calendar and join us 9 am at the A&W parking lot.