If you thought campaigning had already begun with all three major parties making all those election promises in recent weeks, just wait to see what’s coming down the road.

The official campaign period for Manitoba’s 43rd provincial election begins today (Sept. 3) with Premier Heather Stefanson requesting Lieutenant-Governor Anita Neville to dissolve the legislature and issue the writ of
election.

Find out more in this week’s Review.

A visit to Russell’s Cancer Care unit turns into an opportunity for locals to get involved in providing special gift bags.

The exercise group at the 50 & Over Club are the latest to get involved.

Check out the Review for more.

Manitoba Health is reporting the first confirmed human case of West Nile virus (WNV) in 2023, along with three other probable WNV cases currently under investigation.

The confirmed case is 40 to 49 years of age and lives in the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority.

Read this week’s issue to find out more.

The Skippy L has been a historical part of the community’s history since it was built in 1936. It was built as a riverboat to carry out freight and passengers along the Saskatchewan River. The Skippy L was the longest serving craft of its type and ceased operations in 1977. In 1989, it was designated as a Provincial Heritage Object and put on display in Devon Park.
Since then, the Skippy L has seen better days. Years of neglect have taken its toll and now the Provincial Heritage Object has become an eye sore that is chained up with a fence to keep people out for safety reasons. It’s been the talk of a few town councils, but no decisions have been made in terms of preserving, restoring or demolishing it. It’s a task that the current Town of The Pas Council now faces.

In the summer, many people look forward to different opportunities to dine out, whether it be eating at patio restaurants, drive-ins or food trucks. Now The Pas has another opportunity to get some homestyle cooking from a food truck vendor setting.
“I had been considering opening up a mobile concession booth for some time now and wanted to bring something different to The Pas and area,” said Taste of Home Owner and Operator Ken Johnston Jr. “There have only been a few operations like this in The Pas in the past ten years, and then an opportunity came my way and I was able to purchase this one in Saskatoon.

So far this year there has been a lot of talk about development in northern Manitoba that could creating more shipping and transport opportunities, to job creation and economic development. One of the more recent potential projects that could take place in the northern part of our province is the NeeStaNan Utility Corridor Project, which is Indigenous-led.
The Province of Manitoba has committed to providing $6.7 million over the next two years to study the feasibility of NeeStaNan.
A study by the University of Calgary School of Public Policy has done work on the feasibility and need for a utility corridor. Their work supports that a port and corridor for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG), potash and containers are feasible.

Owning a piece of Swan River’s history can be an amazing and rare find. This is the case for Valley-born Jason Beasley of J-Ride Customs.
Beasley acquired the old milk truck from Crescent Creamery that was used in the Valley to deliver milk and cream to people. It was a treasure he stumbled upon while taking a drive out in the country.
“I have family in the Valley and was actually born in Swan River,” said Beasley. “I was cruising around with my Aunt Nancy Thomas and Uncle Bob Thomas. They have land up in the Pretty Valley area and on the way, I spotted the old Crescent Creamery milk truck just off a gravel road, in a field. It caught my eye and we stopped, because any kind of old vehicle gets my attention right away.
“My uncle stopped and I went and had a look at it. It was in rough shape and there wasn’t even a frame underneath it. It’s a 1954 International Metro Milk Truck and it’s a rare find. My uncle knew who owned the land it was on, so I called them up and I made a deal with the owner. My brother was coming back up to Swan River in a couple of weeks because my grandmother was moving to Winnipeg, so we put all of her stuff in the Metro and put it on a trailer and brought it back.”
Beasley is an avid retro vehicle collector and has dedicated his time to restoring many classic cars, trucks and antique automobiles. Through his business J-Ride Customs, he does all the custom work himself and has a dedicated YouTube channel that has videos of him doing the restoration work for people to see.
Restoring the old 1954 International Metro Milk Truck was challenging for a few reasons. It was in really rough shape; the parts were impossible to find and basically no longer exist.
“I just love old vehicles with all the curve detail they have on the body itself,” said Beasley. “I had to do some research because it was missing so many parts. It looks like someone was just gutting it and using it for parts at one time. There was no frame or motor in it when I bought it.
I had to find out what would fit underneath it the best with the least amount of modifications to it.
“I ended up buying a 2009 Dodge Durango and used that frame for underneath it, including the motor and transmission. Now it’s an all-wheel drive vehicle. I wasn’t able to find any of the old parts for it, so I had to customize and make my own. I had to make my own body panels and everything for it. On my YouTube channel, I have videos of myself making parts for this.
“Sure, it would have been nice to go to somewhere like California to find potential parts for this old milk truck, but you just can’t do that with these types of vehicles because there’s just not a lot of them around,” said Beasley. “You have to make do with what you can.”
It took some time for Beasley to find the right parts that would work with the old Metro milk truck.
He spent a lot of time researching what would work best. Once he had the materials, he began working on it through the winter and on side, amongst other projects and work he had coming into his shop.
“I owned the old Crescent Creamery milk truck for three years before I even did anything with it,” said Beasley. “That’s how much time it took to research and make parts. I work on big projects like this in the winter months. I have a decent size shop and the tools to work on stuff like this. I actually started working on the milk truck last fall to get to where it is now. It’s not totally finished, but did a fair amount of work to it, plus I have three or four other vehicles I was working on at the same time. Plus, I have other vehicles coming in for servicing as well.
“I’m going to bring the milk truck back into the shop for the winter and hopefully finish it. It’s not going to be all pristine; I’m going to leave the original paint and the mural on the side of it. That is all going to stay and where I put the new parts, I’m going to blend the paint to make it look older as well, to match.
“I’m also going to put the seats from the Dodge Durango inside the Metro Milk Truck, so it will have three rows of seating inside,” said Beasley. “I’m also using the dash from the Durango as well, because it’s got this nice woodgrain look to it.”
Restoring the old 1954 Metro milk truck has been a topic of discussion for people of all ages and from everywhere, not just the Valley. Many people remember a time when milk and cream were delivered to their home using milk trucks just like this.
“It’s a real conversation starter that’s for sure,” said Beasley. “A lot of older people remember these types of milk trucks from back in the day. They tell me how they got their milk and cream delivered back then in these trucks. My mom recalls that as well.
“Then I have all these delivery people and Amazon drivers who come here and they are just drooling over this old milk truck. People always ask if they can take pictures and are just blown away by it.”
Beasley has always loved classic automobiles and that led him to learn how to restore them. Some of the restorations he sells, and others stay part of his permanent collection.
“I have certain ones I keep after I’m done restoring them,” said Beasley. “I have a Corvette that I bought when I was 19 years old and a few Novas, Chevelles, cab over pick-up trucks in my collection. I’ve always been car crazy my whole life and I blame it on the band ZZ Top. I’m all self-taught when it comes to the autobody and restoration work.”
Beasley has plans for the 1954 Metro milk truck once it’s finished. It will become part of his permanent collection.
“Once it’s finished, I will keep it because it’s nostalgic to me, and is a part of my history and Swan River’s as well,” said Beasley. “It pulls on my heartstrings a bit. I plan to keep it and potentially take it and put it in car shows. I put a trailer hitch on it so if I want to pull a trailer and my Harley on the back, I can do so. There are a lot of options of things I can do with it now.
“It’s in the plan for me someday to show these restorations in car shows and even down in Arizona. I’ve had lots of people wanting to put old Crescent Creamery milk truck in the parade in Swan River for the rodeo, but it won’t be done for then, but likely next year it will be.”
To see more of Beasley’s restoration work and projects, you can watch videos on his YouTube channel under J-Ride Customs.

The Swan Valley Historical Museum held their 2023 Harvest Festival this past Sunday (Aug. 27), with a great showing of support from visitors. Here, William Piwish (left) and Rae-lene Piwish toss sheaves of wheat into the old threshing machine...

With August drawing to a close, high school sports are beginning to ramp up for another season.

The Dauphin Clippers football team began practicing, Aug. 9, with an average of between 25 and 30 players.

Incoming manager Jeff Micasew, who is taking over from the retired Cam Bennet, said it is always tough when it comes to the number of players in practice in the summer, because of family vacations and other commitments.

“We’re not going to tell kids, don’t go on vacation because you’ve got practice. But the young kids we’ve got, some rookies, have made a bunch of practices. The coaches have done a really good job of focusing our practices to getting conditioning and learning plays and positional aspects of the game. So it’s worked out really well that way,” he said.

Those rookies, Micasew said, seem to be catching on to what the coaches are trying to teach them. But it’s not just the coaching staff doing the teaching.

“We’ve got some vets that are really showing some maturity and helping these young kids along. I know back in the day, the rookies were kind of just off on the side. Our vets have done a really good job of taking these young kids under their wing and saying, ‘look, this is what you need to do.’ Just being more of a hand up instead of being a nuisance and you’re trying to take my spot type of thing,” he said. “It’s really good to see. From a teacher, educator standpoint. It’s good to see that type of thing.”

The schedule has been reduced to six games per team with the additions of the Falcons Football Club and St. Vital Mustangs, both from Winnipeg.

The Clippers will kick off the season on the road against the Falcons, Sept. 10, at 2 p.m.

The first home game isn’t until, Sept. 22 when the Clippers host the Interlake Thunder at 5 p.m.

Micasew expects the Clippers to be competitive this season.

“Just from what I’ve seen in practice, we’ve got some dogs with some bite in them. So I think we’ll be competitive. And that’s all you can ask for,” he said. “You always go into a season gunning for a championship.”

As much fun as it is to watch the players at practice, Micasew is looking forward to getting the season underway.

“The real fun is standing on the sidelines and watching everyone play and seeing the excitement in the kids’ eyes when they make a good play. It’s always good to see,” he said, adding the coaching staff continues to step up and put the work in to get the team ready. “Hats off to the coaches. As anyone who coaches knows, they put in a ton of work that probably never gets recognized. In June we had conditioning camps and guys were talking about getting plays ready and slotting in who do we think we have here and who we have there. They’re thinking about this long before August. So it’s always a good thing. So hats off to those guys.”

A dedicated community advocate has been recognized for the effort he puts into improving the lives of others.

Jim Perchaluk received a Community Service Medallion for his work as president of the the Ukrainian Folk Arts Centre and Museum, the Selo Ukraina site, and other volunteer efforts such as the Parkland Ukrainian Family Fund.

Dauphin-Swan River-Neepawa MP Dan Mazier made the surprise presentation during a visit to Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival (CNUF).

“In reading and speaking with others on Jim’s contributions over the years, it is clear how selfless he was, and continues to be, in supporting his community and those around him,” Mazier said. “Jim’s contributions are genuinely bettering the lives of countless people and these contributions should not go unrecognized.”

The award truly was a surprise for Perchaluk.

“It came out of the blue,” Perchaluk said, adding you do not think about awards and recognition when you donate your time and talents. “When you volunteer you’re not looking to get anything in return. I guess I’ve been volunteering with Selo for more than 25 years and out of the blue somebody recognized that. It was quite an honour.”

The full story is in this week's Dauphin Herald!