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.

The Remembrance Day ceremonies at Binscarth school on Nov 10 had a special addition when, after the school event, students and adults walked west from the school toward the cenotaph carrying the absolutely beautiful shroud of 2,100 crocheted poppies.
Pat Orsak who had seen mention of crocheted poppy shrouds in Minnedosa and Niverville along with the grand mat of poppies showcased at the Manitoba Legislature, brought the idea to Toon Cozens this past January. Soon Angela Arran - whose son Darryl had served in the military, Joy Toole and Robin Robinson set about coming up with ways to accomplish the task.
In true Binscarth style, it didn’t take long for the community - including the students at Binscarth school to jump on board.
“People from here in town, and other communities, people from afar who have a connection to Binscarth and school age students from Binscarth School worked and made 2,100 poppies”, Robin Robinson said in the presentation made to the students of Binscarth during their Remembrance service.

Read the full story in this week's Russell Banner .

Innovation, inspiration, and hometown pride was on full display as Fusion Credit Union announced the winners of Community Infusion 2025. The annual event celebrates local entrepreneurs with bold ideas and the drive to make a difference in their communities.
Four finalists took the stage at this year’s final live event, each pitching their business idea to a panel of judges, for a chance to share in up to $30,000 in grant funding. The evening was filled with creativity, inspiration and community spirit – proof that ideas grow right here at home.
After the pitches were presented, Fusion Credit Union CEO, Darwin Johns, announced Silver Frame Photo and Video Memories from Dauphin as the grand prize winner of $20,000. The funding will help the business expand services, invest in equipment, and develop marketing initiatives. Grit and Glam Salon, also from Dauphin, received $5,000 as the 2nd place winner. Sumatu Intercontinental Trade Wears (Brandon) and Friendly’s Grocery Coop (Inglis) each took home $2,500 for their business ideas.
“Community Infusion is all about empowering local people with big ideas,” says Johns. “Each finalist showed incredible passion and dedication to building something that benefits their community. We’re proud to be a part of their journey.”

Be in the know and pick up this week's Russell Banner for the full story.