The much-hyped Plan B replacement for the NorthWest Round-up and Exhibition dubbed Rally for the Valley was held on Saturday (Aug. 29), with fundraising food booths open Friday evening as well as most of the day Saturday. Pictured, the delayed Canada Day fireworks went off with a bang, dazzling those in attendance with a spectacular show. See more on A7, A10 & A11.

One of the casualties of the Swan Valley’s 2026 floods is the damage to agricultural land, with much of the usually bountiful cropland becoming non-arable for this year (and possibly future years) or having whatever crops were planted being severely stunted.
Farm operations all over the Valley will be having to choke down the hit on their bottom line, including the not-for-profits that use agricultural crops as fundraisers every year, like the Swan River Kinsmen Club.
“The Kinsmen field typically raises between $20-30,000 each year,” said Swan River Kinsmen Club President Lukas Atkinson. “The field usually accounts for about 25-35 percent of our annual fundraising, so it’s a significant source of funding for the projects and organizations we support.”
Because the spring was so frozen and wet late into the year, the window for seeding was very short before the first flood in June came, and seed for the Kinsmen field never made it into the ground.
“The seeding is normally done using donated equipment and volunteer time,” said Atkinson. “With the challenging spring we had, many of the farmers who generously help us were working hard just to get their own crops in on time.
“Fortunately, we don’t expect to lose money on the field. We should be able to break even, as the crop insurance available will help cover the expenses we’ve already put into it. While there won’t be any fundraising revenue from the field this year, we’re thankful we won’t be left with a financial loss.
“We’re very fortunate that the majority of our inputs are donated each year,” Atkinson continued. “Depending on the year, I’d say 80-90 percent of the costs are covered through donations. With the rising cost of fertilizer and other inputs, it’s become more difficult to have everything donated, so there are still some expenses that the club has to cover.”
Atkinson added that the Kinsmen Club has thankfully had some strong fundraising years in the past, and a successful Lobsterfest was held before the flooding occurred. However, with the NorthWest Round-up and Exhibition cancelled this year, the club did miss out on their other big fundraising event, when they run four busy days of food service in their on-site food booth. They have also decided to not open up during the event to be held at the Swan River Valley Agricultural Society Grounds on Aug. 29 and have donated the beef patties they would have used to the booths that will be open on that day.
“Even with those challenges, we’re still committed to supporting our community when there’s a need,” said Atkinson. “We do have to recognize that we won’t see any income for the rest of the year, which maybe means we’ll need to look at other fundraising opportunities to continue helping communities throughout the Valley as much as we can.”
The Swan Valley Stampeders Junior A Hockey Club also runs crop fundraiser, and while the volunteers did manage to get some seed in the ground, the waters of the Roaring River were running over it less than 48 hours later.
Project Coordinator Merv Beasley reported that crop insurance has approved that the field will be a complete write-off, meaning whatever crop that would have come up doesn’t need to be harvested before insurance dollars kick in.
Beasley added that the hope is for the field to be seeded to fall rye later this year and harvested next year.

The Swan Valley dealt with another historic flood last week – a flood that brought the Manitoba premier back for another visit, prompting a call for military support from the federal government, and an evacuation of multiple neighbourhoods in Swan River. Nearly all but one road into Saskatchewan down PR No. 275 to Preeceville was the only road access to the outside world that the Swan Valley had at one point, with all major highways suffering major collapses, including between Norquay and Pelly, south of Benito, near Mafeking, and at Pine River. Here is but a fraction of the devastation caused by the weather event.(TOP LEFT) A van sits helpless in its drowned parking spot at the edge of Legion Park.... 

The 2026 Swan Valley Invitational took place this past weekend (May 23 and 24), at the Rotary Soccer Fields. The weekend was dampened by rain but, the two day tournament pressed on with all teams in action from Parkland, Dauphin, Brandon, Phantom Lake and Swan River. Here, Swan River’s Jared Rosteski heads a ball down during Sunday afternoon game. See more on B2.