Getting more golfers on the links. That was the major issue of discussion for the members as the Roblin Golf & Country Club held its annual general meeting, April 22.

Seven members and six members of the executive were on hand to take a look at the year that was and at plans for 2024 and beyond.

Read all about it in this week’s Review.

The governments of Canada and Manitoba are providing financial support to Manitoba’s Livestock Predation Prevention Program, which supports the adoption of proactive on-farm measures to deter predator attacks.

The latest funding was announced Thursday by federal ag minister Lawrence MacAulay and Manitoba ag minister Ron Kostyshyn.

Check out this week’s paper for more.

The Miss Indigenous Canada Pageant will have some representation from the tri-community in its competition this year. The Miss Indigenous Canada Pageant is a three-day event to showcase young Indigenous women to celebrate their abilities and achievements in a way that promotes the work they do to serve their communities and promote their culture.
Former Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival Fur Queen, Gloria Ballantyne-Packo is a contestant in the running for this year’s Miss Indigenous Canada Pageant and she is looking forward to the experience.
“I learned of the Miss Indigenous Canada Pageant through Facebook after, a friend shared the original call out,” said Ballantyne-Packo. “I decided to enter, because I love the communities that I am a part of and I love being Indigenous, so this was the perfect opportunity to celebrate that.

The Tim Hortons Smile Cookie Campaign is launching this week and another local charity is going to be benefitting from the fundraiser. Over the years, The Pas Tim Hortons has seen local support for the Smile Cookie Campaign grow.
“We are launching off our Tim Hortons Smile Cookie Campaign starting April 29 to May 5,” said The Pas Tim Hortons Franchise Owner Kathryn Sanderson. “Over the years this campaign has been growing and well received. The Pas, R.M. of Kelsey and Opaskwayak Cree Nation residents have been huge supporters of it.

Students from Margaret Barbour Collegiate Institute (MBCI) who excelled at the Northern Manitoba Skills Competition, advanced to the provincial level at the Manitoba Skills and Development Competition that took place at the end of April. Four students had advanced to compete provincially at Red River College Polytech in Winnipeg.
Zoey Wright entered in photography; Namirembe Afatsawo entered in public speaking; Tyler Atkins entered in small engines and Sandra Lucic competed in hairstyling. All four did an incredible job of representing northern Manitoba students in these skill areas and once excelled to winning gold.
Namirembe Afatsawo, a MBCI grade 12 student, won gold in the public speaking category. Afatsawo has been competing in this category for a few years now.

The Dolyna Dancers wrapped up their dance season this past weekend (April 20) with their year-end show at the SVRSS Gymnasium with a great performance of their dancers to end the season. 

SVRSS students Nolan Mangin, Arden Baskier and Sammy Jo Moshenko all returned home with bronze medals from their respective competitions at the Skills Manitoba Competition that took place in Winnipeg on April 11...

The start of the golfing season in Gilbert Plains will be delayed due to flooding.

According to Gilbert Plains Country Club general manager Scott McCallum, there was about 2-1/2 feet of water flooding the course.

“Water was coming in the back door of the clubhouse. We’ve got areas of the clubhouse that were flooded. Our whole maintenance shed, our new hall, that had water in it. And that’s just speaking of the buildings and the equipment, never mind the golf course that has to be repaired,” he said. “I’m not going to downplay the magnitude of this. It’s a daunting task. Sometimes it can get you down, because you work so hard on a small budget to make that golf course as beautiful as we can. And for events like this to happen, it’s definitely difficult.”

Working in the country club’s favour is the dedication of its board of directors, as well as the many volunteers and staff, to making the course look its best.

“The municipality has been absolutely unbelievable in supporting us. The provincial government, for that matter, has been out to see the damages and we’re really hoping they can get behind us and help us with it,” McCallum said. “We’re stepping in the right direction. We’ve just got to execute and get the golfers out on the golf course.”

Clean up will be an ongoing project, McCallum said. The focus right now, he added, is getting the facility open and golfers out on the course.

“But clean up is going to be an ongoing endeavour, for sure. There’s some things that might not affect the golfers that have to be done and those will be put in priority and we’ll deal with that as we go,” he said. “But as of right now, we’re just focusing on trying to get the fairways and the greens and everything cleaned up and ready for the golfers. And, obviously, we’ve got some pretty big icebergs that we’ve got to get rid of off the golf course, as well.”

McCallum said about seven or eight holes have been affected by the flooding. But the goal is still to open the course in early May.

To celebrate the upcoming golf season, a Tee Off to Summer, presented by the Battle For the Belts, will be held, May 4. The evening will feature the Duelling Keys, with prizes and food available.

Tickets are available by calling McCallum at 204-648-7834.

The Parkland Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual State of the District address, Apr. 16, at the Watson Arts Centre.

The meeting was a chance for local municipalities and sponsors a chance to share what was happening in their respective districts.

Speakers included Greg Crisanti of Tim Hortons, Alexander Lavoie of Rural Manitoba Economic Development and Mike Csversko of Fusion Credit Union, as well as Charlene Gulak on behalf of Dauphin MLA Ron Kostyshyn, Jim Manchur, Reeve of the RM of Gilbert Plains, Lyle Morran, Mayor of

Grandview Municipality, Rm of Dauphin Reeve, Ernie Sirski and Robert Brunel, Mayor of the Municipality of Ste. Rose.

Chamber executive director Stephen Chychota said the event went well.

“It was a very full agenda, but we were able to get through it and make sure everyone had time to get back to work or do the networking thing after,” he said. “But it was very good. Really great presentations by the sponsors that were wanting to partner up on this. And then our four municipalities that were able to share some updates today. It was great to hear from them on the developments that they’re having, where things are headed in their municipalities. It just paints a really good picture for what’s happening in the region, which is what this program is all about.”

Dauphin MLA and Manitoba Agriculture Minister Ron Kostyshyn rose to deliver a member’s statement in the Legislature, Apr. 16.

The statement was dedicated to recognizing the invaluable contributions to Michief language revitalization by Grace Ledoux Zoldy.

Check out the full statement and more in this week's Dauphin Herald!