Christmas came early for the Roblin Fire & Rescue department with the arrival on Wednesday of the Municipality of Roblin’s new pumper from Seahawk Services of Carman and Acres Emergency Vehicles in Wawanesa.
Based on a 2025 Freightliner Cabin chassis, the new unit replaces the department’s old #3 pumper which was sold earlier in the year to the Municipality of Ethelbert.
Check out the pics and details in this week’s Review.

Thunderhill Courts in Benito celebrated 50 years with a Christmas gathering last Tuesday night (Dec. 9). Residents, family members, invited guests and volunteers came together to celebrate the milestone anniversary. The common room was overfilled as everyone enjoyed welcoming addresses from Municipality of Swan Valley West Reeve Bill Gade, Swan River MLA Rick Wowchuk and Terry Papp, representing the Benito Knights of Columbus, an organization that was instrumental in the building of the facilty a half century ago. After a welcome from host, Lorraine Goodman, everyone was treated to the sounds of the Swan River Mennonite Choir, and, of course, a visit from Santa himself. Atlee Papp  helps Santa fill out her wish list with some helpful hints.

The North-West Regional Library in Swan River once again hosted their Festival of Trees from Dec. 2-13, inviting individuals, businesses and community groups to put their own flair on a Christmas tree inside the library. Pictured here, one of many custom ornate decorations on the tree representing Valley Dental Studio...

A post-secondary student and now author has published a children’s book on Indigenous culture and teachings that is now available for purchase. Phoenix R. Thomas recently wrote, illustrated and published the book, The Adventures of Lily and Mini: Did You Know? Animal Edition!. Thomas resides in The Pas and attends UCN. The idea for the book came from Thomas’ desire to want to write one, which also then turned into a class project.
“My parents are Jack and Cynthia Thomas,” said Thomas. “We didn’t originate here in The Pas; we moved here when I was nine years old and have lived here ever since. I’m 28 years old, a mother of two children with my partner.
“This was my first time writing a book. I’m currently enrolled at UCN as a second-year business student. This was a project for one of the courses I’m taking called Entrepreneurial Development.”

The Manitoba First Nations Police Services Opaskwayak Cree Nation Detachment is looking to brighten up Christmas for some children in Opaskwayak Cree Nation (OCN). They are hosting a toy drive to collect as many new toys or gifts for children this holiday season.
“MFNP wants to make sure all the kids in OCN have a Merry Christmas, and so, we are collecting toys to give to families who need help this holiday season,” said MFNP Constable Randi Curry. “Once we have collected the toys, we will team up with local organizations and groups for distribution.
“If you are part of an OCN group, agency, or board, and would like to assist with providing a list of children or families to receive toys, please reach out to Irene Hucaluk at Manitoba First Nations Police – OCN.”
People can drop off new toys or gifts for children from now until just before Christmas. There are two locations to drop these items off at.
“The Toy Drive is on now until December 20,” said Constable Curry. “New toys can be dropped off for donation from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Manitoba First Nations Police Service, 235 Waller Road or at the Otineka Mall from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We will be collecting toys for all ages up to 18 years old. We are collecting new and unopened or unused items such as toys, books, games, blankets, activity sets, etc.”

The annual Mistletoe Magic kick-off event was in full effect this past weekend (Dec. 6) with hotdogs and hot chocolate available, a meeting with Santa, and checking out the beautiful lights at the Swan Valley Historical Museum...

The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra presented “Good Grief” A Charlie Brown Christmas performance at the SVRSS this last Friday (Dec. 5). The group was up at 3 a.m. on Friday morning to make their way to Swan River to perform for the many in the Christmas spirit.

In most really small towns, when the elevator closes its doors, the rest of the town begins to slowly slip away. In Inglis, like so much else in their community, they took that as an opportunity and turned it into something amazing - a national historic site.
In fact, that’s where Haylan Jackson and Del Barber - the owners of The Shop met. “I was a touring musician and song writer for 20 years (he’s actually been nominated for three Juno awards) and was playing a show in the elevators. Haylan was a tour guide there. I fell in love with her. She ignored me for a little while and now we’re living just north of town and are raising two kids,” Del Barber explained. For him, this is a dream come true. “I was raised just outside of Winnipeg in St. Norbert and this is where I’ve always dreamed, I would live,” Del said. “My grandpa had a summer place up in the Duck Mountains and I’ve always wanted to find a place in Parkland to set down roots.” With music now more on the back burner, Del and Haylan were looking
for a way to keep the creativity going. “And my other love is cooking,” Barber said. So, what better place than Haylan’s hometown of Inglis – she’s the daughter of Carman and Donna Jackson – where generations of her family have built businesses and the community that they all love. About a year and a half ago, Haylan and Del checked into acquiring the building on Inglis’ Main Street that a few years ago was the home of The Prairie Grill, and prior to that, the Rose Bowl a much-loved restaurant and meeting place for locals.
“I don’t know if we’ve always had the idea of opening a restaurant but we’re always looking for ways to contribute to the community that we love so much.” Barber explained that with the changes in the music industry, it’s become increasingly difficult to make a living. “I was lucky to have found a way to pay my mortgage through playing music for so long,” he said. “And the reality of the economy of music no longer makes that feasible – especially with two kids.” This next step into the culinary world is now a way to still create art – much like his music - in a very home- grown way. With the ideas now flowing and the extensive renovations to the space well on their way, it was time to think about what to call the place. “We were dancing around a lot of ideas.
When Del was working on the renovations, he’d say "I’m going to the shop,” Haylan said. “And growing up here, everyone has a shop. So, everyone can relate to that. People here would say, go to Myles’ shop and everyone knows where that is. So, for us,
who are working on creating a warm and inviting meeting place, the name The Shop was a perfect fit.”
Over the last couple of weeks, The Shop has hosted a few soft openings. And, looking at Facebook postings, there have been rave reviews about everything from the pizzas - which are cooked on a wood fired pizza oven imported from Italy - to the lemon Creme Brule , and the salads with home made dressings to the herb dumplings; apparently, they’re amazing. Judging by the posts, The Shop is very family friendly.
There’s the added bonus that everything in The Shop will be made from scratch – including the sourdough pizza crust, the sauces and the toppings. The pizzas, Del explained as a hybrid of pizzas from Italy and those found in New York. “Still, it’s all very
Manitoba based,” Barber said. “We’re using flour from Manitoba flour mills, Bothwell cheese from Manitoba and Canadian tomatoes and as many Canadian ingredients as we can.” And a lot of those ingredients will originate in what Del calls their giant gardens. “I’ve been an obsessive gardener for a long time, as has Haylan,” Barber said. “Just like most people on the prairies do, we have a large garden and we’re trying to grow and preserve as much as we can and make that part of the ethos of our restaurant.” “I just think there’s an opportunity here to show off how much people love gardening and cooking so there will be nothing that’s packaged and warmed up.” Knowing first hand how communities like Inglis thrive by people working together,
Haylan and Del are also sourcing their meat from the area as well. “I just finished roasting a brisket for our smoked brisket pizza. That, we got from Nerbas Bro’s as well a bunch of meat from High Bluff Stock Farms, which is, of course, Haylan’s parent’s farm.”
Del says that the fact that they’ve been active in the community for a decade - and Haylan’s deep family roots in Inglis and the surrounding area, is very comforting. “We’re really happy to be doing this in a community that we know, where people are friends and who we know will help us figure out how to make this exactly what they want it to be.
After three highly successful soft openings, Haylan and Del will open their doors of their licensed establishment on Inglis’ Main Street on Dec. 11th.

In most really small towns when the elevator closes its doors, the rest of the town begins to slowly slip away. In Inglis, like so much else in their community, the residents took that as an opportunity and turned it into something amazing – a national historic site.
In fact, that’s where Haylan Jackson and Del Barber – the owners of the town’s newest business venture, The Shop, met.
Read all about it in this week’s paper.

Local Swan River product Riley McKay has spent the last two seasons with the American Hockey League’s Laval Rocket, but now, after entering the free agency process, has opted to move on from the Rocket to head south. Joining the Henderson Silver Knights, AHL affiliate of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights.
“Henderson had shown interest in me and the General Manager of Henderson, Tim Speltz, was my GM in Spokane, said McKay.
He actually came to Swan River to meet my family when I signed with Spokane so there was a connection there.”
McKay spent parts of two seasons going up and down from AHL to the ECHL’s Trois-Rivieres Lions and Indy Fuel. Now he tests Henderson, who is the newest franchise to join the AHL, and a team that has hardly any experience in the playoffs, as the team has only made the playoffs twice in their four years of existence.
“Laval played a big part in helping me improve and give me the opportunity to play in the AHL. It was a great organization to play for and the rink and atmosphere are definitely one of the best in the league. I will cheirsh the memories and relationships I made there.”
McKay is headed into his fifth season as a pro, in his 168 games, he has scored 28 goals, 27 assists for 55 points, and he has totaled up to 563 penalty minutes.
“I will be sticking to the style of game that I’ve played my whole career. I hope to have a role on the penalty kill and provide some more offence this year. My goal this year is to help the team make playoffs anyway possible.”
McKay played some of his best hockey in Laval, being a part of their playoff push last season, to being one of the players that brought life to the game for the Rocket to get them back in it. A true momentum shifter who scored big goals, laid big hits, fought for the swing in momentum in this year’s playoff push only to come up just short of the ultimate goal.
“I think I will transition just fine. The Pacific Division suits my style of play and I can’t complain about living in a beautiful state like Nevada. It will definitely be different than I’m used to but it’s going to be a great experience and I’m excited to get down there.”
Henderson opens their season on Oct. 11 when they head down to Texas to face the Texas Stars before heading back to Henderson on Oct. 18 to face the Calgary Wranglers for their home opener.