Local artist Frances Cooper is connecting with art lovers with her latest exhibition, Convey, at the Sam Waller Museum. Cooper’s vision of land comes to life through a series of handcrafted, environmentally friendly pieces.
“My work experience does lead into my art practice in the sense that a lot of stuff that I have seen was a result of things I stumbled upon through work,” said Cooper. “It was a gift and I didn’t know all of it at that time. Nature repeats all of these patterns and you can see these patterns in visuals such as rocks, water, sky tree rings and under microscopes. Depending on your viewpoint, you can see them on a broader scale when you get on the landscapes. This influences my work quite a bit.

The Pas Guest List unveiled another mural just before the National MMIWG2S+ Day, and this one reflects Indigenous women who were taken from the community, their families and friends.
“The theme of this mural is to commemorate the MMIWG2S+ within our community and at large,” said The Pas Guest List Director Gabrielle Swan. “When I first moved to The Pas two years ago, it quickly became clear that this something that touches every Indigenous family and the fact that I didn't really understand that until relocating here troubled me.
“I became good friends with Gloria Ballantyne-Packo after we collaborated on a Vintage Store and Coffee Shop pop-up two years ago. That pop-up event was a fundraiser for KB Memorial, an organization dedicated to raising awareness for MMIWG2+. Seeing the work that Gloria and her family put into keeping Kendara's memory alive, advocating for her after her death to ensure the RCMP handled things properly, working tirelessly to find anyone with information that would bring her killer to justice, and supporting other families in our community who are suffering from the same types of loss was inspiring. The Pas Guest List knew that we wanted to find a way to honour all of those who are impacted by MMIWG2+, and when we had the opportunity to bring Jackie Traverse to the community, we knew she was the person to take on a project of this magnitude.”

An organization to help people with disabilities that was formed by some volunteers in the mid 1980s has made the difficult decision to close its doors in the community. The Pas Association for Human Development has been struggling for some time with operating expenses without any solutions in sight.
“There has been an accumulating deficit that has been snowballing since the pandemic,” said TPAHD Executive Director Cathy Lipscomb. “This wasn’t an easy or haste decision to make and this decision didn’t happen overnight.
“TPAHD board of directors have explored every possible option to alleviate the deficit but to little or no avail. They reached out to all levels of government for assistance, numerous service clubs, our financial institution, citizens of The Pas and the surrounding area.

Voters in three Mountain View School Division wards will head to the polls, Oct. 30, to fill four vacant seats on the board of trustees after the nomination process identified nine candidates.

Voters in Ward 1 (Roblin) will select two trustees from three candidates.

Read all about it in this week’s Review.

Parkland Crop Diversification Foundation applied research specialist James Frey thinks Teff is offering local producers another option when it comes to crop management

The PCDF combined its first large scale plot of Teff, eight acres, on Oct. 3.

More in this week’s Review.

Dauphin fire chief Cam Abrey was honoured for his work done on behalf of the Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CACF).

At the association’s annual conference in Montreal last week, Abrey was presented a King Charles III’s Coronation Medal.

“There were 50 of us that received that medal through the CACF for their work that they did on the national level. Either through the national fire service or through their provincial fire services or a combination of both,” Abrey said, adding two other medals were presented to Manitobans including Steinbach fire chief Kelvin Toews and Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service deputy-chief Scott Wilkinson.

“We are all involved. I’m past president of the provincial association and Kelvin is our current president. We’ve both held a number of different committee seats on the national level. Scott Wilkinson has spoken at numerous conferences on the national level and he sits on a few different committees, as well.”

The coronation medal commemorates the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III as King of Canada. The medal is administered by the Chancellery of Honours at Rideau Hall. A total of 30,000 medals will be presented this year to those who have made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada, or have made an outstanding achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada.

Currently Abrey sits on the CACF’s Cancer Prevention Committee aimed at developing policies and practises to help reduce the risk of firefighters developing cancer throughout their careers. He also sits on the Answer the Call Committee, which gathers information on ways departments can attract new firefighters and retain existing members.

“That’s probably the biggest challenge in the fire service today, bolstering the numbers on departments,” Abrey said.

Abrey also serves on the Executive Chief Fire Officer Committee, which oversees the professional designation program, and the Mental Health Committee, which looks for ways to assist those in all branches of emergency services who are at risk of developing post traumatic stress disorder.

The work is important and, while Abrey does not get involved for medals and pats on the back, it is nice to be recognized.

“It’s great honour. You have 49 others from across the country that are your peers that were there for the award, as well. You don’t do it for the recognition. You do it to try and improve the fire service and make it safer for those that are coming through,” he said.

“In December I hit my 25th year in the fire service and I never thought that when I stepped in that there would be any kind of recognition like this. I never thought that it would be a full-time career for me and I always tell the tour groups that come through the fire station that I’m living every little kid’s dream. I get to drive big red trucks and fight fires.”

The Pas Guest List has been diligently working towards creating a culture-rich environment by having murals painted along the walking path in the community. This time, The Pas Guest List partnered up with Margaret Barbour Collegiate Institute to allow local artists to have their work represented in the community.
“We worked with Jill Perchulak, the MBCI art teacher, to select eight students for this project who she felt went above and beyond when it came to their art studies,” said The Pas Guest List Director Gabrielle Swan. “These students not only had the artistic talent but also the dedication and perseverance to see such a large-scale project through.

Cougar sightings are becoming more popular in the Duck and Porcupine Mountains in the last ten years. Thanks to technology and the use of trail cameras, the evidence is now more apparent. An avid hunter from The Pas recently caught footage of a cougar on his trail camera near the Porcupine Mountains.
“I have my cameras set up in the Porcupine Mountains, north of Bowsman,” said Jeremie Gregoire. “It’s a hunting spot that I have access to. This is the second cougar I have seen on my trail camera. The first one was from about five years ago, but I couldn’t make it out 100 percent to make sure, but this one is much clearer. The first spotting was about five miles from where this camera was set up.

Tyler Carr has found radio to be a medium in which he can connect with people in a powerful way. He attributes his inspiration to being a radio broadcaster to growing up in the Valley. He spent a lot of time listening to music on the radio and calling in requests, which led him to his passion for it. It allowed Carr to be himself and become an advocate by treating people with love and respect. He strives to see less bullying and more acceptance. Carr believes that people should be free to be themselves.
Carr felt like he was different, and that pushed him to venture off to Alberta alone and grow into himself. Unfortunately, at that time, his best friend, Matt Peters, was diagnosed with cancer for the second time.
“When I went to SAIT, I enrolled in a two-year program. It was a lot like high school but without the bullying because the class sizes were very small,” said Carr. “The radio program allowed students after their second year who got a job in the industry to be able to do things in the industry and submit them back for marks, and that’s how I did it. It was a positive experience, even though it was during the time when Matt passed away from cancer. All the teachers in the program and everyone really stepped up.
“It was scary for me to leave Swan River because that is where my family is. I lived with my aunt and uncle for the first year while all my friends stayed in Manitoba, so there were times when it felt a bit daunting. I was also beating myself up for leaving Manitoba at the time because Matt was fighting cancer, and I could have attended the University of Manitoba, been near him and visited him more. Even Matt was telling me he wanted to see me where I was and doing exactly what I was doing. A couple of my instructors made sure I was taken care of and kind of gave me that feeling of being home away from home.
“They even gave me some time to fly back and go and see him,” said Carr. “I’m sure glad they did because that was the last time I ever saw him.”
The loss of Matt made Carr question everything, and he contemplated giving up on what he had started until he attended a Lada Gaga concert. During the show, Carr had thrown a letter on stage and she read it out loud to the audience. The letter was about Matt passing and how hard it had been for Carr. This sparked a genuine interest for Lady Gaga to meet Carr after the show. This helped Carr to reconnect with his passion.
“When I got back into my second year, it was after Matt had passed, I had told everyone around me that I wasn’t going to continue with the program because I was in the heightened stage of my grief,” said Carr. “It didn’t seem like something I had wanted anymore and I felt like I lost my passion for it.
“I just spent the whole summer pouring my grief into this insane, creative way, and when I came back a second year, it was a completely different story for me. All my instructors helped me and walked me through it. They allowed me to have my emotions and found different outlets for me. They gave me everything I needed to redirect my emotions instead of just closing the world out.
“It went from a real struggle to something that I could actually feel like I was celebrating myself for,” said Carr. “Going to the concert, having that letter read, going back to SAIT and finishing the program has incredibly impacted me and continues to every day. It gave me the message I needed and the power of knowing what a person can do for someone. That is how I live every day of my life.”
Carr attended the SAIT alumni awards on September 26, with all of his family in attendance to celebrate his accomplishment.
“When SAIT had reached out to me about this, I was a little hesitant at first,” said Carr. “There was some hesitancy in me because I was thinking, what did I do that was so great; it was some imposter syndrome feeling. The closer we got to the day of the award, the more I felt that my message was that with any hardship in life, including grief, a person can still chase their dreams, and it can be in memory of a person who wasn’t able to chase theirs. I wanted Matt to chase his dreams more than anything in the world, but unfortunately, he can’t, so what better way for me to celebrate his life than for me to live what I am supposed to do. That is how I felt about it as it got closer and closer to me accepting this award.
“When it comes to this award in particular, it allows me to reflect on where I started and the people who taught me the things I needed to learn in this industry, then to be invited back with all your family, friends, and colleagues, is on a different calibre of celebration that I haven’t received yet. I’m humbled, grateful and honoured by it and hope to inspire others through it.”

The Elbert Chartrand Friendship Centre held their National Day for Truth and Reconciliation Walk on Monday, September 30, to remember the Indigenous children who did not come home from residential schools and to acknowledge the intergenerational trauma and the long lasting impact it has had on residential school survivors and their families.