Earlier this month, local band Low Budget Rock Star had to unfortunately, with heavy hearts, say good-bye to the ultimate band mate, co-pilot, captain, brainchild and mentor of the band, Richie Cudmore. Cudmore was fighting a battle against cancer and although he never gave up, his body just couldn’t keep battling it anymore.
Cudmore’s introduction to forming the band Low Budget Rock Star started out by connecting with Kennie Henderson. They built a lifelong friendship and musical connection.
“Over the years Richie had played in many bands and I was just an up and coming sort of musician,” said Henderson. “It was the summer of 2017, when I first met Richie, we had instant chemistry and it was if we were soul band mates. We were both playing with our old bands and ran into each other at the Alouette. We got talking about music and the tour my band was going on in Alberta, Saskatchewan and B.C. Richie told me if I ever needed a drummer to let him know. I told him I was going to hold him to that and that’s just what I did.
“Not even two weeks later, the day before we were to go on tour, our original drummer bailed. I was scrambling around and then it hit me that I needed to call Richie. At the time Richie was experiencing some health issues, but he wasn’t sure if he could go, because he had his first round with cancer. Sure enough and God willing it was meant to be, Richie was on board.

Editor’s note: This is the first of as two-part series that tells the story of one Sixties Scoop survivor from the Valley and the impacts this has had on her life.
The aftermath of the Sixties Scoop is still having a devastating impact on the families it tore apart. Even though there are settlement programs in place for survivors of the Sixties Scoop, there are very few resources and supports in place to assist them with counseling and legal matters surrounding their identity and family.
Former Valley resident, Susan Chief, was a child claimed by the Sixties Scoop, along with her siblings, and she has experienced the disconnect that resulted from it.
“I’m 68 years old now and I still can’t understand why they took these children to families in the United States, when there were homes all over Manitoba or Canada,” said Susan Chief. “It’s just unbelievable that they would take Metis and Indigenous children to be given to families outside of the country.
“There were 10 children in our family, but we had an older sister who passed away at the age of three. Our family moved from Duck Bay to Birch River, because my dad was a pulp cutter and he worked in the bush. We went almost everywhere, as a family, and my mom and dad never left us anywhere. They made sure we were with them.
“In 1969, we were in Birch River and I would have been about 13 or 14 years old, when we were all taken from my parents,” said Chief. “I still remember, to this day, exactly how we were taken. They pulled up in two cars and put all of us in, except for my oldest brother who ran into the bush when they came. They never bothered to find him. I didn’t know what was going on at the time, because both of my parents were home when they came and took us.
“My parents didn’t say anything, but I knew they were afraid of the authorities, because they had the control. I remember those days. I was very observant and listened to what was said. My parents looked at us with their heads down and had very sad faces as the workers put us into the cars. We didn’t know where we going or why. I remember being excited at first to be going somewhere in a car, but I didn’t know I wouldn’t be coming back or that it was permanent.”
The journey for the Chief children took them to an office in Swan River where they would be divided up into pairs and sent off to live with other people.
“They took us to Swan River and I remember going into this building that was by Merv’s,” said Chief. “It had stairs and an office. They had us lined up against the wall and they never explained anything to us about what was going on. My sister, Alice, and I were taken to my uncle on my dad’s side. I didn’t know where the other ones went.”
Eventually Chief found out where her siblings were placed. She was able to visit with them for a while, before the separation became too much to bare and the visits were ended.
“I later on found out that two of my brothers were in a foster home in Armstrong and the other two brothers were placed with a cop and his wife in a trailer court,” said Chief. “The other two sisters were placed in Swan River. I was able to go visit my siblings here and there. Then one day I wanted to go visit them, so I had to ask the social workers and was told no. When I asked why, they told me that when I went to see my siblings, they would cry and get upset when I had to leave. I never got to see my siblings again after that.
“I often asked the social workers if I could go see my siblings and the answer was always no. I didn’t even know when they were removed from Swan River.”
Chief was adjusting well to life with her aunt and uncle. She didn’t realize that both her sister and her would be removed from family yet again.
“I was happy when I was at my uncle’s because I knew I was with family,” said Chief. “We were there for about a year. During that time, a lady next door would invite me to go bake cookies with her and I would go. She would talk to me about things and invited me over without asking my aunt.
“She would tell me stuff about a lady in Benito that looks after girls. This lady had a girl staying with her that ran away and never came back. The girl was apparently from Camperville and I knew of her mom when I lived in Bowsman. The lady kept telling me how nice this other woman in Benito was. How she wanted more girls in the house and it would be great if my sister and I went to go live there.
“Next thing I knew, we were removed from my aunt and uncle’s place and taken to go live with that woman in Benito,” said Chief. “No one told me anything about this happening or even asked me if I wanted to go. I didn’t want to leave. We were placed with this woman and she made us work hard. We had to do all the garden work, do the laundry, iron out all of her clothes, bring them up to her, and clean the home. I missed my aunt, uncle, siblings and parents so much.
“I remember sitting in that garden and looking around, feeling so very lonely. I never felt loved or wanted. This woman would call me stupid all the time and for reasons I didn’t even know.”
Chief was bussed into Swan River to attend school. She made friends with other children who were foster children in the area and soon built up the courage to leave her foster home.
“We had to take a bus to the school in Swan River and a couple of times I wouldn’t go home,” said Chief. “I would take the bus to go with a friend, who was also a foster child, and go to Mafeking. I used to get into trouble for doing that, because I never asked permission, but I did it anyway. I did it a couple of times and eventually I wasn’t bothered at all.
“I wound up homeless in Swan River. I didn’t have any money, winter clothing or anything and no one came looking for me. No one wondered where I was, how I was doing and if I was safe. I hung out wherever I could and wound up staying with a friend and her mom. They were very nice to me and I was welcomed there.
“I was a lost person in Swan River,” said Chief. “I didn’t know where my parents were and at the time I thought Duck Bay was a great distance away from me, like thousands of miles away. I didn’t realize it was only an hour away.
“I eventually hitchhiked to The Pas with a lady I didn’t even know. I met random people and stayed with them. I was 17 then and eventually got a job at a hotel in The Pas and washed dishes. I was fortunate that I had some survival skills and was able to take care of myself.”
As time passed, Chief soon learned more about where her family was located. She never gave up looking for her siblings and eventually she was able to reconnect with some of them.
“I learned years later that two of my sisters were moved to Gary, Indiana,” said Chief. “Throughout my life, I always tried to find out what happened to my siblings and parents, and where they were. I would look in the phone books or I would call 411 and look for the last name Chief.
I didn’t know my siblings last names were changed, so I was looking under their original given names. I would call every one of them and did that for many years.
“My uncle was a social worker in The Pas and he told my dad he found one of my sisters. They told me this and we had to go get her. My sister Alice, who I was placed in the foster home with, was married and living in Kenora, ON. She, along with her husband and my mom, went to Gary, Indiana, to pick Mary up. She had a little 10-month-old boy and brought him to Winnipeg. Unfortunately, my other little sister who was with Mary in Indiana, had to stay behind because she was younger.
“Mary was apparently kicked out of her foster home when she was 14,” said Chief. “She was staying at some man’s place with her baby, when my family went to pick her up. It wasn’t long after that my other sister, Irene, who is the youngest out of all of us, came to Winnipeg by bus. We didn’t even know who we were looking for because we didn’t even know what she looked like. It was so strange because we stood at the bus depot and watched people get off the bus.
“We wondered when this young girl was going to come off the bus. Once almost everyone was off the bus, we saw this woman sitting there and she came out. It was Irene.”
This was just the beginning of Chief’s reconnection with her siblings. In next week’s edition, Chief’s story continues as she struggles to reconnect with her brothers and bring one of them home.

An onion plant goes to flower in the front yard of Devon and Donna Jorundson, as they wait to harvest the seed and start the lifecycle again next year. The front bed is just a small part of their larger garden that sustains the majority of the plants in their diet throughout the year.

The Dauphin Mavericks are back on the pitch, playing in Rugby Manitoba’s M League.

The league features seven teams, most based in Winnipeg.

On Saturday, Dauphin scored an impressive 55-10 win over the Winnipeg Assassins.

The win was Dauphin’s second straight victory, coming off the heels of a 20-0 win over the Winnipeg Wanderers, July 16 in Winnipeg.

The Mavericks started the season with four straight losses, but have improved with each game.

Mavericks president Codi Harrigan said the M League is a bit more flexible in that teams don’t have to commit to 15 players on the pitch.

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

The Battle of the Belts has new champions, while a Stonewall golfer went home $1,000 richer at the Gilbert Plains Country Club, Sunday.

The highlight of the tournament came when Shane Saunders of Stonewall sank his tee shot for a hole-in-one on no. 4.

Dale Murray and Boston Karlson combined to shoot a 63 to win the third annual tournament, finishing one shot ahead of runners-up Dave Campbell and Ted Rea, who were awarded second place on a countback over Jake Wiens and Jackson Delaurier, in third.

Countbacks were needed to determine the placing in each of the six flights.

First place in the first flight went to Shawn Pangman and Earl Thompson, with a 66. Mark Odut and Danny Scott were second on a countback over Regan Hedley and Jerron Kyle after both teams shot a 68.

Peyton Lepla and Nelson Lepla were the beneficiaries of a countback to win the second flight. Darnell Duff and Sam Brownell were second and Dave Sigvaldason and Sandy Hafenbrak were third, with all three teams shooting a 71.

Dean Murray Bob Murray won the third flight with a 74. In second place, one shot back was the team of Brad Sigurdson and Clayton Mychalchuk, while in third place was Neil Kichuk and Ryan Bettesworth, who were also one shot back of the winners.

Shawn Sarkonak and Errol Karlson won the fourth flight over Karl Messinbird and A.J. Zachenbiak after both teams scored a 77. Cash McCallum and Max Clemmenson were third with a 78.

In the fifth flight, Wayne Bazylo and Florence Burdeny took top honours after carding a 79. Troy Caruk and Jeff Zeiler were second and Jeff Campbell and Jordan Campbell were third, with each team scoring an 80.

Ron Paziuk and Sharon Paziuk topped the sixth flight over runners-up Dustin Dawson and Jodi Gancher, while Charlie McKay and Brennan Burns were third. They all finished with an 83.

Rea was the closest-to-the-hole on no. 9, while Ryan Rauliuk was closest on no. 14 and Brent Stykalo won the same contest in no. 17.

He’s been without a job since early May, but Dauphin’s Barry Trotz has had a busy summer.

After losing his job as head coach of the New York Islanders, May 9, Trotz talked with several National Hockey League teams about their coaching positions, but in the end, he made the difficult decision to take a year off for personal reasons.

The situation with the Islanders did come as a bit of a surprise, but Trotz also kind of expected it.

The season, he said, was a bizarre one, which saw the Isles miss the playoffs after reaching the conference finals each of the two previous seasons.

“Lou (Lamoriello, Islanders general manager) has a really good pulse for what he wants with the team,” Trotz said, adding he left on good terms with Lamoriello, who he still talks with once a week. “There’s nothing personal. I think there’s a number of reasons. I can’t give you exact reasons, but we didn’t make the playoffs. We weren’t good enough and he felt maybe just to jar it up."

“I also know this, that Lane Lambert (Trotz’s replacement and former assistant coach) is a hell of a coach and he was going to get some play. And if (Lamoriello) was going to make a play, I’m glad he put Lane there.”

Lamoriello, Trotz said, liked a lot of things he and his staff were doing and if not for the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Islanders may very well have won the Stanley Cup.

Get the full story in this week's Dauphin Herald, or watch the intimate interview on the Dauphin Herald's Facebook Page!

The Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund held a special get together, July 19, with its many volunteers and sponsored families to celebrate the success of the endeavour and express its appreciation for all of the efforts that were made to ensure that success.

The barbecue, held at Selo Ukraina that evening, honoured the many committee members, drivers, hosts and others who gave generously to ease the families’ transition into the community.

In a recap of the project Ukrainian Folk Arts Centre and Museum president Jim Perchaluk said the initiative raised more than $200,000 in cash along with immeasurable donations of materials and in-kind support, adding 100 per cent of donations were used to support the families which arrived in Dauphin from Ukraine.

The Manitoba government is investing more than $5.2 million in two programs that will help address the overall staffing shortages in the province’s health-care sector as well as increase the representation of Indigenous people in this field.

The programs were announced Thursday in Portage la Prairie by economic development, investment and trade minister Cliff Cullen and health minister Audrey Gordon.

For more check this week's Roblin Review!

Finding a career that is linked directly to something a person loves doing, will always result in success.

For the recently retired Dr. Marianne Hunter, her love of animals and being on the farm was the natural draw to her working in this field.

Get the full story in this week's Roblin Review!

A large gathering of farmers are expected to be out standing in the field tomorrow (July 27) as the Parkland Crop Diversification Foundation (PCDF) hosts its annual Field Day.

The day begins at 10:30 a.m. at the PCDF site south of town and this year’s presentations cover a wide spectrum of agriculture topics to suit producers’ needs in the area.

Check this week's Review for more!