The 42nd annual Calico Corners Craft Show and Bazaar took place at the Veterans Community Hall on Friday (Nov. 3), helping raise money for the Association of Community Living, Swan River Branch, and providing an early Christmas shopping opportunity for area people to buy from local small businesses.

The Swan Valley Legacy Committee (SVLC) pulled off their first fundraiser for a new arena in Swan River, with a packed house at the Veterans Community Hall on Saturday night (Nov. 4). Twenty-four teams were signed up to play Family Feud and compete for a $1,000 grand prize or a $500 second place prize, and a crowd of hundreds to cheer them on. First place went to the Harvesters team and second place went to the We Drink and Know Things team, with the second place team donating their prize money back to the SVLC. 

Riding a three-game winning streak entering a weekend doubleheader with the Winnipeg Wild in Dauphin, the Parkland Rangers were hoping for big things.

Instead, they learned a painful lesson about consistent hard work and intensity.

Winnipeg skated to a 7-1 win on Saturday, followed by a 10-0 victory on Sunday afternoon.

When asked about the difference between Parkland’s overtime win over the Wild earlier in the season compared to these two games, Rangers coach Tyler Carefoot cited Winnipeg’s compete level, work ethic and intensity.

“Those are things that come to mind. They’re a little more polished than when we saw them a few weeks ago. But in saying that, they’re also, I think, the youngest team in the league,” he said.

More in this week's Dauphin Herald!

A five-game winning streak has the Dauphin Kings back on top in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s MGEU West Division.

The latest victories came Friday, 5-3 over the Waywayseecappo Wolverines in Dauphin, and Saturday, a come-from-behind 3-2 shootout victory over the Virden Oil Capitals in Virden.

In Friday’s win, 901 spectators saw the teams trade first-period goals, with Aidan Brook and Trey Gnetz netting Dauphin’s goals, while Luke McCarthy and Garett Zasitko replied for the Wolverines.

Three goals in a span of 1:02 early in the third period broke the game open for Dauphin.

Logan Walker scored at 2:31 of the final frame, followed by Carter Zalischuk 16 seconds later and Alex Senf, 46 seconds after that.

Neo Kiemeney scored on a power play with 47 seconds left to round out the scoring.

Cole Sheffield made 23 saves to earn the win in goal, while Caleb Allen stopped 29 shots in taking the loss.

On Saturday, Josh Lehto staked Virden to an early lead on the power play, 3:58 into the first period.

Nolan Chastko made it 2-0 for Virden on another power play, 2:27 into the second period.

Dauphin pulled to within a goal when Havryil Simchuk scored with 2:25 left in the second and Gabriel Bugeaud tied it on a power play with six seconds left in the stanza.

After a scoreless third and overtime, the teams went to a shootout, where Jordan Bax and Alex Senf with the deciding goal in the fourth round scored for Dauphin.

Chastko had Virden’s lone goal in the shootout.

Sheffield made 39 saves to earn his 11th win of the season. Eric Reid took the loss after making 34 saves.

Dauphin improves to 12-2-0-0 on the season and sit two points ahead of Virden.

They will face the Neepawa Titans tonight, followed by a rematch, Saturday. Both games are in Neepawa.

Sunday, the Kings will host the Winkler Flyers at 4 p.m.

Kings court:

Friday’s win against Waywayseecappo and the 500th career win in the MJHL for Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley, joining Doug Stokes, Don MacGillivray, Blake Spiller and Ken Pearson in the 500-win club . . . The Kings moved up four spots in the Canadian Junior Hockey League Top 20 rankings. Dauphin now sits at no. 6, while Winkler moved up two spots to no. 3. Steinbach did not move at all, remaining at no. 8.

The longest running social in Dauphin was held, Saturday, as the Dauphin Fire Fighters Association hosted its 122nd Fire Fighters’ Ball.

The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the Jack Carey Memorial Fire Fighter of the Year Award to Jordon Steiner.

In his remarks introducing Steiner, Dauphin fire chief Cam Abrey said Steiner is a past member of the executive of the firefighters’ association and has been an integral part in the past successes of the firefighters’ ball in previous years.

Abrey added Steiner continues to volunteer for the various events that the department takes part in and takes on a leadership role in every aspect of the department’s operations.

“Earlier this year, Dauphin Fire Department responded to a tragic accident as mutual aid to the Gilbert Plains Fire Department. In the hours, days and weeks following that incident, Jordon called or messaged not only members of DFD to check in on how they were doing, but also the members of GPFD,” Abrey said. “In June, following the incident that our fellow firefighters responded to at Carberry, Jordon suggested that Dauphin Fire send a contingent to their annual Cowboy Breakfast to show our support for them and what they had recently experienced.”

Steiner played a major role in an incident at Dauphin’s Countryfest when he came across an incident involving a festival goer that had been injured. First aid volunteers were there, but recognizing the urgency of the situation, he stepped up and assisted, in a major role, in getting the injured person to the ambulance and awaiting paramedics.

“I have worked alongside of this individual at training events and emergency response scenes and the level of compassion that they demonstrate when it comes to patient care is top notch,” Abrey stated. “Considering that he has recently started a new career, built a side business that he is committed to after his regular employment and has also become a new father, it is astonishing that he has still attended approximately 60 per cent of the calls over the past 10 months and almost 90 per cent of the weekly training. Astonishing, but not surprising given the integrity that he displays on a daily basis.”

Nominations for this Jack Carey Memorial Award are forwarded to the fire chief a month prior to the ball, submitted by the firefighters. There were five nominations received this year, all five were for Steiner, which Abrey said goes to show what an impression he has made on his fellow fire fighters.

“It’s a huge honour,” Steiner said.

Get the full story in this week's Dauphin Herald!

A Shell Valley girl has been chosen as Canada’s SIlver Cross Mother. Gloria Hooper nee Holopina of St. Claudwill be laying the wreath on behalf of all Canadian mothers who have lost children in military service to their nation at the National Remembrance Day service in Ottawa.

Her son, Sapper Christopher Holopina, died while serving in a peace keeping mission, Operation Alliance, in Bosnia-Herzegovina on July 4, 1996 when his troop was rushed in to help a group of British soldiers trapped in a mine field.

Find out more in this week’s issue.

Ryan Keown’s dream of receiving an award on Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry stage has come true and it’s a moment in his life he will never forget.

Keown beat out seven other competitors in the Best Modern Country Song of the Year category at the ninth annual Josie Music Awards held Oct. 22.

Want to know more? See this week’s Review.

Staff recruitment and retention is the top priority for Prairie Mountain Health.

That was the main message from PMH CEO Brian Schoonbaert Wednesday as the regional health authority held its annual general meeting via Zoom.

Read all about the AGM in this week’s Review.

Did you know that it is now illegal to drive on the roads when they are closed?? Road conditions can be checked on 511 mobile app, by calling 511, by following MBGovRoads on Twitter or visiting the 511 website on line.

If you drive on a closed highway, you could face a charge of $298 for light vehicles (cars, trucks, SUVs, etc.) or $672 for heavy vehicles.

More in this week’s RCMP report.

No matter where they go in their lives, Swan River connections stay strong in the Ukrainian Dance world. Alexis Denischuk with Vohon (Edmonton), Olivia Chmelowski with Zabutnyy (Regina), Myley Brunel with Zirka (Dauphin) and McKayla Hnatiuk with Bratsva (Dauphin) were all on the big stage at Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin from Aug. 4-6.
McKayka Hnatiuk
McKayla has been dancing with Bratsva in Dauphin for eight years. She is the daughter of Jason Hnatiuk as well as Sylvia Hnatiuk’s grandaughter.
She received four gold medals for her solo dances at different competitions and this year her dancing group was chosen from the talent competitions to perform at the grandstand on the final night of the festival.
Myley Brunel
Myley attended her first Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival as a spectator with a family friend, the summer of 2014 and fell in love with the costumes, especially the red boots and floral Vinoks, so in that fall, her parents Robert and Erin Brunel (nee Immerkar), registered her with Zirka and she has loved Ukrainian dancing ever since. Myley is the grandaughter of Evelyn Immerkar of Swan River.
Myley started dancing in Grade 2 in 2014.
Myley competed in competitions in Brandon, Yorkton, Regina and Dauphin.
She received most outstanding effort award with Zirka in 2014-2015 dance year and the Dedication Award in 2022-23 in memory of Chris Perih.
Presently Myley and her group are preparing to perform in Disney World, both on stage at Epcot and during the Disney evening parades in 2024.
Myley loves the opportunity to meet with her dance group at practices and enjoys meeting other dancers.
She is now old enough to wear the red boots that she fell in love with all those years ago.
Sara Synk
Sara is the daughter of Niomi (nee Hrappstead) and Joe Synk (former RBC Bank manager in Swan River).
Sara started dancing at the age of three with the Dolyna Dancers in Swan River.
She continued dancing, joining Troyanda Ukrainian dance group when she moved to Brandon, where she attended high school and her first year at Brandon university.
Since then she has moved to Regina to join Zabutnyy Dance Company as she finishes her education at the University of Regina.
During the Ukrainian dance festival Sara joined Alexis Denischukdancing the hopak.
Sara’s father also taught Ukrainian dancing in Swan River.
Sara enjoyed travelling to places in Manitoba and Saskatchewan to dance and still continues to love the art of dance.
Alexis Denischuk
Alexis started dancing with the Swan River Dolyna Dancers and continued on until graduating from high school.
From there she went on to continue her education at the University of Regina and danced with the Zabutnyy Dance Company for 3.5 years. The highlight of these years was travelling to Ukraine to dance at numerous dance festivals and workshops. Dancing in the famous Opera house in Lviv, Ukraine, was an amazing experience for Alexis.
Upon graduation she moved to Edmonton where she successfully auditioned for the Vohon Ukrainian Dance Ensemble. She was honoured to dance at the 50th Vegreville Pysanka Festival. She also performed in Portugal’s International Dance Festival with the Vohon dancers where she shared the stage with multiple countries.
The National Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin was where she was reacquainted with Myley, Olivia and Sara.
It was an honour to Alexis to return to her home roots and experience dancing on stage in her home province alongside so many talented dancers. Alexis is very grateful for the lifelong friendships she has made during her Ukrainian dance career.
Olivia Chmelowski
Olivia started dancing at the age of three and never looked back as she absolutely loved it from the get-go.
Throughout her years as a Dolyna Dancer, she was privileged to have incredible and dedicated instructors: AnnaLee Fuhr-Parnetta, Joe Synk, Becca and Jen Guay and Maks Zabutnyy (the latter three drove out from Regina weekly to teach them), Kelsa Unruh, and finally Amanda Yaschyshyn were all instrumental in fostering her love of dance and in her eagerness to give back, she also helped out with the instruction of the younger students in her last few years with Dolyna.
As she made her way to Regina for university, the pandemic was still in full swing, so there was no dance to pursue. By the time it was over, Olivia had fallen into a comfortable school/work routine but missed dancing, so returned to the familiar world of Ukrainian dance when she joined Regina’s Zabutnyy Dance Company. They practice twice per week and she’s had the opportunity to perform at many events in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, most recently Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin. When asked what she enjoys the most about dance, Olivia says she obviously loves the actual dancing, but the best part is the friendships she’s formed along the way.