The Dauphin and District Community Foundation was the recipient of a significant donation from a Dauphin resident who passed away two years ago.

Peter Sklepowich, who died May 14, 2020, bequeathed $507,088 to the foundation.

Jason Beyette of Johnston and Company Law Office is in charge of the estate. He knew Sklepowich, meeting him through the agriculture industry.

“When I was in my summer jobs, I worked at Cargill in Dauphin and Peter was farming. So that’s how I initially met Peter, through the farming industry,” he said, adding Sklepowich used to farm in the Keld area, before moving to Dauphin in 2006. He worked at various jobs, including Dauphin Recreation Services when he passed away.

Sklepowich’s entire estate was bequeathed to charity, with half going to DDCF and the other half split between the Heart and Stroke Foundation and Canadian Cancer Society.

“When Peter came in to talk to me about preparing his will, he indicated he wanted to leave it to charity. And we had discussed some of the different possibilities,” Beyette said. “And he was impressed with the Dauphin and District Community Foundation, because he liked the fact that his principle was never spent and the interest would be earned and put into projects in the community. That’s what really sold him on the charity.”

Beyette said anytime money is granted to a local group through DDCF, it will trigger memories of Sklepowich for him.

“That’s something I think is a neat way to leave your legacy in life,” he said. “There are also some wonderful tax benefits to giving to a charity. His estate was more significant because of his charitable bequests relieving some of his tax obligations. So we were actually able to leave more money in the hands of his charities because he left his estate to the charities.”

There are still a few assets in the estate to be disposed of, Beyette said, adding the final distribution will likely take place sometime next year.

“To my knowledge, I think this is probably the biggest donation that the foundation has received in one single bequest. So it’s fairly significant. And I think the foundation is looking forward to more milestones where they can do more things in the community,” he added. “There are many projects that probably wouldn’t have had the success they have had because of the foundation.”

DDCF executive director Kit Daley said the bequeath will have a significant and long-lasting effect on the community.

“With Mr. Sklepowich’s gift, we will be granting out an additional $20,000 to the community next year and that will continue to grow every year. Gifts to the foundation are gifts to the community and we are so grateful for his support,” she said.

(From left, DDCF board member Justin Tokarchuk, Jason Beyette presenting a cheque to DDCF board member Darren Eddie, DDCF executive director Kit Daley and DDCF board member Martijn van Luijn.)

The Parkland Chamber of Commerce held its annual Celebration Night complete with awards at Countryfest Community Cinema, Mar. 10, and Gabe Mercier could not be more excited.

“I really get excited about awards because awards come because of hard work, because of dedication,” the chamber president said to get the evening started. “People succeed and people are nominated for awards because they’re dedicated. They believe in what they’re doing. So everyone tonight who’s nominated, no doubt believed in what they were doing. They have a passion for what they’re doing, they have a cause.”

That does not mean you have to be a crusader for world peace, an environmentalist or a human rights activist.

“Having a cause could be because of your business. You want your business to succeed, you want to provide a service, you want to provide a product for your clients. And so you’re passionate about it,” he said. “So everyone tonight, no doubt you’re successful. You are here tonight because deep down you believed in your business, you believed in the work that you’re doing."

“And it’s good to recognize them and to celebrate the achievement.”

Awards were handed out in several categories.

Winning the Community Appreciation Individual award was Charlene Gulak of Community Futures Parkland, while Under One Roof received the Community Appreciation Group award.

Kyle Zurba of Fire Line Welding was named the Young Entrepreneur of the Year, while Embroidery by Design and Promotions took home the Outstanding Business award.

Carissa Caruk-Ganczar from The Hub Dauphin received the Business Person of the Year award.

The final award of the evening, the Legacy Business Award is a special recognition decided on in private and it caught winner Jim Steiner, the founder of Steiner Plumbing and Heating, by surprise.

Steiner became a plumber after learning the trade from his father in Grandview and as Manitoba’s top apprentice, was invited to compete in an international trade skills competition at Purdue University in 1973.

Steiner and his wife Trudy started the business in 1979 with one van and a shop on the acreage where they lived.

The business grew to point where it employed more than 100 people full-time over the course of four decades.

As one of rural Manitoba’s largest plumbing and heating businesses, there are few commercial buildings in the community the company hasn’t been involved with, either in construction or maintenance.

The Steiner’s success is a testament to Steiner’s people skills and his dedication to being fair and honest, Mercier said in announcing the award. The Steiners retired in 2017, but work was not the entire scope of their community involvement.

“Jim and Trudy believe in community and support countless events and organizations of special significance,” Mercier said, citing the Dauphin Kings, Dauphin and Grandview/Gilbert Plains agricultural societies and several museums around the Parkland as examples. “Personally Jim has volunteered thousands of hours in this community including coaching and refereeing five kids in ringette, hockey and softball teams over two decades.”

Steiner has also served on the boards of several organizations including the Dauphin Snowmobile Club, Dauphin ringette, Manitoba ringette, Parkland Sports Council and Manitoba Games Council. He served as co-chair of the Dauphin CN Station restoration project and the 2004 Manitoba Summer Games in Dauphin. He is currently a member of the Dauphin Agricultural Heritage Club and spends his free time restoring antique John Deere tractors and vehicles, golfing and playing hockey as a member of the Noon Hour Hockey League since the early 1970s.

“This is overwhelming. It means a lot, because we have done a lot and Dauphin means a lot to us,” Steiner said in accepting the award. “We love Dauphin, we love the Parkland. It’s got everything anyone would ever want when you live in the Parkland. You have fishing at the parks all around us. There’s nothing more to ask for in life and it’s been very good to our business.”

Steiner expressed his gratitude that their daughter Carla and her husband Chris Wolfenden took over the business when he and Trudy retired in 2017.

“Because they’re doing an excellent job, taking it over and building upon what we started,” Steiner said, adding everything they did throughout the years was for the betterment of the community.

“It was really a labour of love, everything we ever did. In the business we just kept on plugging along and you don’t expect recognition like this, but it happens, I guess. It’s really overwhelming. Thank you, thanks very much.”

For the first time since the 2005-06 season, the Parkland Rangers are moving on in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League playoffs.

The Rangers beat the Yellowhead Chiefs, three-games-to-one in their best-of-five quarterfinal series and will now face the league-leading Brandon Wheat Kings in the semifinals.

Parkland took a one-game advantage in the series with a 5-2 win in Shoal Lake, Friday.

Will Munro led the way with three goals, with Jayce Legaarden and Kyan Grouette adding singles.

Ben Roulette and Owen Riffel scored for Yellowhead.

Brenden Birch-Hayden stopped 28 shots in the win, while Nathan Braun had 26 saves for Yellowhead.

The Rangers clinched the series with a 3-1 win in game four, Sunday in Dauphin.

Rylan Gibbs opened the scoring with 1:03 left in the first period and Grouette made it 2-0 just over four minutes into the second.

Foxx McColl pulled the Chiefs to within a goal when he scored on a power play at 12:28, but Legaarden sealed the win with an empty-net marker with 16 seconds remaining.

Rangers head coach Tyler Carefoot said it was a team effort that led to the series victory.

“All credit to the fellas. We dug down deep and I thought the last two games to go into their barn and steal one there kind of set the tone,” he said. “At the end of the day, we thought we were a little deeper than them. But it came down to just as simple as we had to out work them. And I thought the last two games we did that. I’m so proud of the boys.”

The last time the Rangers won a playoff series was in 2005-06 when they beat the Chiefs two-game-to-none in a best-of-three preliminary series, before losing to the Pembina Valley Hawks in the quarterfinals.

For a program which has struggled for success, winning a playoff series will give a boost.

In a moment of reflection, Carefoot looked back at the time, commitment and dedication put in by every single one of the players.

“It’s just a grind and to be able to win a round is very special for the program. And it just proves that there’s some hockey players in our region that want to play hockey at the highest level possible and want to get better. Right now, we’re just getting better every day. So it’s just sweet and I’m very proud,” he said.

The series with Brandon is set to begin, Mar. 20, in Brandon at 4:30 p.m. Game two will be back in Dauphin, Mar. 25, at 7:30 p.m., with game three back in Brandon, Mar. 27, at 1:30 p.m.

Game four, if necessary, will be Apr. 1 in Swan River, with game five, if needed, back in Brandon, Apr. 3.

The Rangers will prepare for the series with a ‘why not us?’ attitude.

“We went into their barn and shocked, really, the entire league,” Carefoot said. “Obviously, they’ve got next-level firepower, for sure. But we’re going to enjoy tonight and maybe tomorrow and we’ll re-evaluate for next week and beyond.”

The team appreciates the support it is getting from fans across the region.

“You can go anywhere uptown and it’s exciting. People are talking Kings and they’re talking Rangers. You just look up into the stands and there’s support for both teams. It’s exciting and we’re feeling the energy,” he said. “At the end of the day, it’s the fellas and they deserve everything they’re getting right now.”

The Rangers, Carefoot said, will have to be more physical than the Wheat Kings.

“We can have more work ethic than them and manage the puck a little bit better, slow their guys down, stay away from penalties, because those guys are lethal on the power play,” he said. “Time will tell, but will beats skill when skill has no will, so we’ll see.”

After years of struggling financially, the Dauphin Kings are finally debt free.

Prior to Friday’s game against the Swan Valley Stampeders, Kings president Ashley Shaw presented a cheque for $42,031.27 to Dauphin Recreation Services general manager Ryan Vanderheyden, as the team’s final payment for the ice rental.

The biggest contributors to eliminating the debt, Shaw said, were the tractor lotto and the team’s growing project.

“Our ag project this year was huge for us. But we also can’t forget the other fund-raisers like the golf tournament, 50 for 50, our bingos, all the fund-raisers,” she said.

The cheque presented to Vanderheyden represented the last of the team’s debt.

“That cheque covers everything and we are now officially debt free,” Shaw said.

With the team now free of debt, the Kings can start planning for its financial future.

“It’s huge because we’re not having to put money into debt now and pay off loans and things like that,” Shaw said. “But it also means that we’re able to take some of the money and put it into reserves and plan for the future. We’re really excited.”

Shaw added the team will continue to hold fund-raisers in the future.

“But it definitely means that we can plan more for the future now,” she said.

Online fraud is increasing as more people rely on the Internet and social media as a way of doing business and transactions. The more information that gets put online by people, the easier it is for scammers to commit fraud.

Fusion Credit Union is focusing on financial fraud this month as part of Fraud Prevention Month activities.

Find out more in this week’s issue.

Getting old is something no one looks forward to in life. The loss of being able to do certain things that one used to be able to when they were younger can be a difficult thing to accept. Then there are those who seem to age gracefully and maintain overall good shape.

Butch Fleury recently put his athletic abilities and physical condition to the test when he laced up his skates and took to the ice alongside his nephew, Theo Fleury, and other former NHL hockey players a couple weeks ago.

Read all about it in this week’s Review.

Members of the Expanding Community Cancer Care (ECCC) committee met recently for a celebratory meeting. 

It was the first gathering for the group since receiving word that the expansion to the Manitoba Cancer Care chemo unit in Russell had been approved, thanks to the efforts and tenacity of everyone who worked diligently over the last seven years to bring the project to fruition. 

Find out more in this week’s issue.

People who have been protesting mask mandates and other Covid restrictions don’t have anything to complain about as of 12:01 this morning.

While some health experts have warned against it, the province’s requirement to mask up in all public spaces came to an end today, March 15.

Read more in this week’s Review.

If you’re searching for a picture of Madison Haliuk, it’s probably safe to say that what you’ll find will have something to do with hockey.

That’s because, hockey has been a huge part of Madison’s life for just about as far back as she can remember.

She first donned hockey gear at the age of five - taking on a love of the game after watching her older brother Carson on ice.

Recently, her years of hard work have paid off in a big way as Madison has committed to the Assiniboine Community College Cougar women’s hockey team for the 2022-23 season. Not that it was her first offer.

Despite having numerous other universities and colleges from down south reach out to her, Haliuk who is daughter of Brian Haliuk and Estha Baseley, chose to stay a little closer to her hometown of Binscarth.

Read more about this story in this week's paper!

The Swan Valley Snowmobile Association (SVSA) picked the perfect day for their annual Vintage Ride, taking off from the Westwood Inn Saturday morning (Feb. 26), heading to the Wellman Lake Trail Shelter on their club trails, before heading back in the afternoon.

A total of 57 vintage snowmobiles participated in the day, with sleds as old as 1974.

A rider heads down the trail on their vintage sleds up to the Duck Mountains. Snowmobiles from decades past were parked at the Westwood Inn before departing. A record number of riders and their sleds gathered at the Wellman Lake Trail Shelter for refreshments while visiting with their fellow snowmobile enthusiasts.

Check this week's paper for lots more!