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Cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada and one in four Canadians will die from it. The Eisner family knows all too well about how cancer can take a loved one. This past summer they lost their wife and mother, Robyn and her husband, Jason, still grapples with her loss and just how the whole scenario played out.
“Robyn was the kind of person that saw the good in everyone,” said Eisner. “I never heard her say a bad thing about anybody in the 29 years we were together. She focused on the positives, never the negatives. She loved her children, Rayna and Maddix, first and foremost as well as exotic vacations, family gatherings and spending quality time with friends playing games or just simply socializing.
“She loved the outdoors such as camping, water sports, bike rides for ice cream, her flower gardens, sipping wine on the neighbours' decks, or relaxing in our hot tub. One of her favourite activities was cross-country skiing with the Nordic Girls. She would always comment on how good it felt after getting some exercise and being out with the girls.
“Robyn had a magical smile and a genuine concern for people's feelings, which reflected throughout her daily life at work and at home,” said Eisner. “She was easy to talk to, never judged what was going on in a person’s life and was always there for anyone that needed free advice. I truly think that will be missed the most for she was a constant reliable friend to all.”
The discovery of Robyn’s cancer wasn’t as apparent as the normal warning signs. The symptoms she was experiencing at the time seemed to amount to feeling run down, but it wound up being so much more.
“To say it was an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement, for it's so tough to describe,” said Eisner. “I’m the kind of guy that can fix almost anything and having something like this attack the one you have been with for almost 30 years, and not being able to physically do anything to help, literally broke my heart.
“We were on vacation for spring break in Orlando and she seemed to be sleeping in a lot, which was not normal for her. Normally, she was up at 6:30 a.m. getting us a coffee and having a leisurely walk around to see the layout of the resorts. We chalked it up to her being a bit stressed from work and her body was unwinding, so sleep was a good thing.
“When we got home from our vacation, the tiredness for her got worse by the week,” said Eisner. “Within a few weeks, she was having naps through her lunch breaks, coffee breaks and having a nap after work for a few hours and then going to bed for the night at 9 p.m. Night sweats got worse and her appetite began to decrease, so she called a doctor to make an appointment. After the doctor's visit, he felt it was likely pre-menopause related, as she was almost 48 and it seemed most likely as otherwise, she seemed normal.
“He scheduled a blood test for precautionary purposes but two weeks went by with no call to go so, upon follow-up, it was determined the request didn’t get sent. We ended up going to the emergency department and met with Dr. Koetting. She quickly gave her blood tests and an X-ray. Based on the blood test results, she said she wanted Robyn to spend the night and go for a CT scan the next morning in Dauphin via ambulance. At this point, we still were just expecting some sort of bad flu bug.
“The next day, when she got back to Swan River, the doctor called me in and told us that the CT showed that her liver was full of what looked like cancer tumours,” continued Eisner. “She explained it wasn’t a good scenario and we needed to do a colonoscopy to search for the primary tumour, as the liver is a catch-all-filter and there’s likely something in her colon."
Shortly after it was confirmed she did, in fact, have a large tumour in her colon and a few days later it was removed by a surgeon in Dauphin. The battle against cancer was now on for Robyn. Little did they know just how limited their options would be in fighting the cancer that had already spread.
“The tumour was removed successfully, but we still had a fully infested liver to deal with and hoped chemo would take care of that,” said Eisner. “We had to wait six weeks for her surgery to heal but, at the end of the term, she was too weak and was denied a chemo option. We were given two and a half months at that time.
“I wanted so bad to fix her that I was prepared to buy new body parts or send her for specialized treatments in Tijuana or Michigan, for new state of the art trials; anything and everything was on the table if there was a chance to help her beat this. When we were told she was too weak to receive chemo, I went into overdrive to try and find something with any type of success story behind it.
“We tried Essiac Pills, and then I reached out to some First Nations friends I have that could refer a traditional medicine man and had some remedies made up,” said Eisner. “We tried Phoenix Tears (CBD/THC) and water purification solutions that were supposed to attack the cancer food within the body. I tried everything and, in the end, it was either too far advanced or I was living on hope for a miracle.”
Jason made the most compassionate decision to enable Robyn to live the remainder of her days in the comforts of their home, surrounded by loved ones. He took remarkable care of Robyn during her final days and was crushed when the pain became too much for her to take.
“We both knew that time was not in our favour,” said Eisner. “So we chose to live the way she would be most happy. I was able to sell three of my companies, so I could look after her myself, instead of working during the day and having homecare. She wanted to be home so bad instead of the hospital and I wasn’t about to deny her that request. She was able to spend her last few weeks in her happy place, looking out at the river and her gardens, and having her friends and family beside her meant the world.
“This allowed us to have some pretty deep conversations and make a special video for the kids on how she wanted them to conduct themselves after she passed on. That was super hard, but a cherished keepsake that can’t be replaced.
“As time went on, we had to take her back to the hospital a few times for fluid replacement and CT scans in Dauphin to monitor progression,” said Eisner. “We would have to stay there a few days then she would say ‘let’s get outta here’ and we’d head home to try it again. We borrowed a special tilting bed from friends of ours to set up in a spare room to keep her as comfy as possible. I was able to sleep with her, which allowed me to monitor her throughout the night.
“She would need to go to the bathroom frequently and spiked high fevers. Since she couldn’t walk due to weakness, I would lift her onto a walker that had wheels and a place to sit or the wheeled commode. As for the spiking temperatures, I would administer Advil, soak cold clothes, turn on a fan and get her to eat a freezie, which seemed to bring it back down within an hour. Sleep was difficult as I was always wondering what was going to happen and when.
“As she got weaker, I would sit her on a chair in the shower and wash her hair, shave her legs and brush her teeth,” said Eisner. “I found pleasure in being the one to do this for her. She told me how much she appreciated it all and it warmed my heart. I couldn't imagine it any other way. I told her I had made a commitment ‘in sickness and in health’ and wasn’t giving up my duties to anyone.
“Then came the day when the pain was too much to handle and something stronger was going to have to be given. I somehow knew that when the ambulance came this time, it was going to be the last time she would be there and that hit me like a ton of bricks.
“The nursing staff and doctors were amazing,” said Eisner. “They were all very understanding and accommodating. She told me many times how she felt so cared for by them and I was there to witness it. I would sleep at the hospital to help monitor her at night and advocate for her when she was too weak or a bit confused to do it herself.
Robyn passed away on July 27. Looking back, Jason can’t emphasize enough to people the importance of early detection when it comes to cancer and how it can save lives.
“With Robyn’s particular type of cancer, things weren’t known until it was too late,” said Eisner. “Robyn’s symptoms were fatigue and heavy night sweats and a slight pain under her right rib cage. There was no blood in the stool, which is a typical sign of colon cancer. So in all reality, the only thing that triggered everything was the blood test. Her counts were off showing her body was fighting something. The question of the day is would it have shown up if she did the test six months earlier, which would have allowed a better chance to fight it?
“Her sister, Tara, passed away four years prior from breast cancer at a young age. Even though there seems to be more proactive screening for that type of cancer with mammograms, not much is offered for other types of cancer.
“I guess the big takeaway from our experience has been that there are recommended screening ages for certain things and as a society, we don’t go get things done that may be uncomfortable if we aren’t feeling sick, such as pap smears, breast exams, colonoscopy, and a full physical. We will never know if a simple routine blood test would’ve helped her predict something was going on inside her body even though she felt fine.
“I want to encourage everyone to talk to their doctor about what proactively can be done to minimize the risk of cancer,” said Eisner. “We were told that the day we found out she had cancer, it was likely progressed too far already and there was nothing that would've helped.”
The Eisner family had tremendous support from people in the Valley. Many fundraisers were established and people came to provide support in any way they could.
“I can’t thank our community enough,” said Eisner. “The support given to us really amazed us. Robyn said many times ‘we must have done something right around here to get this level of support’.
“Special thanks to our neighbour, Tracey LaForce, who set up a schedule for people to deliver hot meals to us at the house, so we didn’t have to cook three days a week for a few months. Sean and Brandy Eggie of Eggies Green House donated all her flowers and soil. Ricki-Lea Keefe started selling t-shirts on behalf of our hockey family with close to 500 sold. Carmela Brading, from Shivers, held a ‘Support Mrs. E’ ice cream day with proceeds being donated to local cancer care and $5,600 was raised.
“I would also like to thank Dr. Koetting for the guidance and support through everything,” said Eisner. “Dr. Stan Riddell for the immunology guidance. Chris Staniland got the Swan Valley Regional Secondary School gym ready for the funeral during a huge renovation. Clint Weir from the golf course donated the proceeds from a Ladies' night to our kids’ education fund, which was $1,800 raised.
"Thank you to Marla Chernyk for the facial/spa treatment, Aspire Dental’s Heather King and Krista Smolinski for the teeth cleanings, and Kayla Hofford from Empire Esthetics for the manicure and pedicure. All of these incredible ladies came to our house to do these services. Jeff Schwarz from The Liquidator, died his hair blue for a Muay Thai event and to everyone who sported their blue t-shirts in support of her.
“Thank you to everyone that dropped off food and snacks, came for visits, donated to the children's education fund, cut our grass, watered/planted flowers, funeral assistance and prayed. We will never forget you all. A special shout out to my sisters, my parents, close friends and Robyn’s parents; we couldn’t have done this without your support.”
Eisner is hoping to play a bigger role in cancer screening advocacy and awareness.
“We wear our ‘Don’t Puck With Robyn’ t-shirts often to maintain awareness, hoping someone asks a question about what it means,” said Eisner. “I've shared her story often. I’d like to sit down with people who have also been affected by cancer and see if they want to brainstorm some ideas for creating awareness. Unfortunately, it seems to be a common thread amongst people and cancer seems to be affecting almost everyone in some way. Since it is still fairly fresh, I haven’t spent a lot of time putting that plan into action yet.
“I do explain to people who ask, that they should do research on their own, as to what all the options are available for treatment. We seem to be pushed towards chemotherapy, when there are alternative options that do work, under certain circumstances depending on the stage. In this journey, I found things offered in the U.S. that weren’t available in Canada, but had high success rates. I learnt a lot about immunotherapy - when it works, when it won’t and how changing your diet is a key ingredient to starving what cancer feeds on. I’d love to see more public education on how diet affects disease among people and will try to push the buttons to make that a reality.
“As I mentioned before, breast cancer seems to be the only one really out in front for pre-screening,” said Eisner. “I know there are some early warning tests available for men for prostate cancer, but you don’t hear the same amount of information about it, such as mobile screening units like they have for breast cancer. It could be because breast cancer is more prevalent? I’d like to see statistics posted for what types of cancer are most common in Manitoba and broken down further to what area per capita is most affected. That information should be published, so people can see clear as day if they should be more concerned.
“But, as far as colon cancer and liver cancer, I don’t know of anything being done proactively. I had a childhood friend that had the exact same cancer that Robyn did a few years ago. They caught it earlier as he had some symptoms such as blood in the stool. The doctors were able to resect a large portion of his liver as it regenerates itself, and remove the tumour in the colon. To this day, he is doing fine.
“With the amount of cancer happening around us and living in such a rural setting, we all need to advocate our politicians that more needs to be done in terms of availability to our health care system and prices for healthy products at the grocery store need to be brought into line,” said Eisner. “Water should not cost more than a soda pop.”
Robyn’s life will always be remembered and cherished. Her courageous battle with cancer will be a constant reminder for people to get screened for cancer and hopefully spark more advocacy and options for those going through a similar battle as Robyn did.

Last week the Lifesaving Society of Manitoba embarked on a Northern and Parkland tour to meet with their partners and stakeholders in the communities to talk about water safety and putting their message out about drowning prevention.
On average, the Lifesaving Society sees around 22 drowning incidents a year on a five-year average in Manitoba and their goal is to get people thinking about water safety and to bring that number down.
“We believe as an organization that one drowning death is one too many and 22 is far too high,” said Lifesaving Society of Manitoba Water Smart and Safety Management Co-ordinator Dr. Christopher Love.
“Drowning is the process of experiencing respiratory impairment due to submersion; it’s not like what is seen in the movies.
“People are generally under the water when drowning initially starts and they spend about 90 percent of the time below the surface when this occurs. They can’t yell for help or make noise and this can happen very fast. This is why we advocate that people need to be very attentive around the water.”
There are a number of ways to prevent drowning incidents from occurring and the biggest factor is supervision.
“We talk about layers of protection when it comes to this subject, so that’s things like learning how to swim and having active adult supervision at all times,” said Love. “This is how we will prevent drowning incidents from happening. The third one is to swim at a lifeguarded facility because statistics show that under 1 percent of drowning incidents happen at guarded facilities.
“The number one thing we see in both our Manitoba and national statistics is that drowning fatalities for children under 12, almost 90 to 100 percent of cases happen when children are alone. As soon as you add an adult to the equation to supervise, that percentage drops to close to zero.
“It may be annoying to some parents or adults, but it’s the one step that needs to happen in order to prevent a tragedy from taking place,” said Love. “Drowning prevention is our mission and we want to make sure people are taking part in a healthy and engaging manner when it comes to being in the water.”
Right now there is a massive lifeguarding shortage across the Province. Many aquatic facilities are struggling to find staff for lifeguarding and teaching swimming lessons in the community. This is a problem also for the Valley.
“Lifeguard shortage is not just a Manitoba issue, it’s across Canada and North America,” said Love. “We’ve had low-level staffing issues for years in the industry because it’s very often not seen as prestigious and the first choice for employment.
“Then with COVID-19, pools were shut down and the vast majority of staff were laid off. These people needed to pay their bills and went on to find other jobs. We’re seeing that these people aren’t coming back to work in this field and are staying in their new careers as a result of this.
“Combine that with the fact that we’ve had two years with very little to no training of new lifeguards, and this all contributes to the shortages we’re seeing,” said Love.
The Lifesaving Society of Manitoba is working hard to address the issue by helping to facilitate more training courses to be held within communities, to train staff to fill the vacancies.
“We’re working as hard as we can with our partners to get courses up and running to train new lifeguards,” said Love. “We’re helping to source people from our office or finding someone who can come to that particular community and offer the training needed.
“People have to realize that it took two years to put things into this situation and we’re not going to get out of it overnight. We don’t want to compromise quality for lifeguards and we want people to still be safe when they come to the pool.”

Many citizens in the Valley will remember when the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, Princess Anne and Prince Charles made a stop in Swan River back in 1970. Most of the members arrived by car after a tour in The Pas, but Prince Charles came by plane from Norway House. A group of local Valley residents had the privilege of accompanying the Royal Family during their stop in the community.
“Swan River was picked as one of the Queen’s tour spots by the provincial government because it was Manitoba’s centennial year in 1970,” said Reid Minish.
“There was a locally formed committee and they were directed to find people to act as escorts for when the Royal Family were visiting. There was the issue of needing escorts for Prince Charles and Princess Anne at that time. I was asked if I would be interested in escorting Princess Anne and was 17 years old at the time.
“I was a young individual at that time who was aware of the significance of the Royal Family and thought it was a neat idea. I ran it by my parents and they thought it was a good idea. It was quite the experience and the only advice I should have taken was from my mother when she told me to get a haircut before the event, which I didn’t.
“It was an experience of a lifetime as I reflect on her Majesty’s passing and Prince Phillip’s as well, and Prince Charles, whom I sat two shoulders from, is now the King of Commonwealth,” said Minish. “I thought about it over the years and just what a remarkable event and time it was.”
The Royal Family was accompanied by James H. Bilton, MLA and Mrs. Bilton; Norm Olfrey and Mrs. Olfrey; Mayor L.F. Matthews and Mrs. Matthews, along with Naomi Blake and Reid Minish greeted them upon their arrival. When the Royal Family was brought to the rodeo grounds for the Centennial Grandstand Show, they were escorted past a Legion Colour Guard. Murray Theunissen presented a bouquet of flowers to Queen Elizabeth and Bobbi Butterfield gave one to Princess Anne.
“The Royal Family came to the Valley and there were some dignitaries waiting to greet them,” said Minish. “Where my responsibility came in, was where they had some big chuckwagons on display at the rodeo grounds. I was asked to be there with the Royal Family and the escorts, and we sat in a special area set aside for us in the grandstands. The performance lasted about 45 minutes.
“I was formally introduced to Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the Royal Family that was in attendance. We were trained in the proper protocols of greeting and addressing the Royal Family; a kind of what to do and what not to do sort of thing. We were told to only speak when spoken to. They went through the receiving line of meeting their escorts and the people who would be with them. I shook all of their hands and properly addressed them.”
The Swan River School Band and mass choir did a performance for the Royal Family before the Centennial Grandstand Show. During the event, the Royal Family seemed particularly interested in the cutting horse exhibition that was demonstrated by Manitoba’s five top cutting horses.
“Looking back to that time, the Queen was just the same as they have been describing her on television and discussing her time in reign,” said Minish. “Her Majesty and the Royal Family were kind of normal and at times I think we wondered how they must have had to struggle to make conversation. Instead, they were very polite, inquisitive and there was no arrogance present with them at all.
“There were time constraints involved with the Royal Family’s visit to ensure they saw everything that had been planned for their trip. They watched the chuckwagon races with great enthusiasm and every second was very professional and polite. They were lovely people to meet.
“As part of the conversation, they talked about how intrigued they were by the pony chuckwagon races,” said Minish. “The Royal Family were horse kind of people, particularly the Queen and even Princess Anne both have horses back in England. They were very interested in how this all worked in Western Canada and there was positive feedback given by them for everything that they saw during their time here.”
The Royal Family was definitely smitten by the Centennial Grandstand Show and all the excitement it had to offer. The Duck of Edinburgh was a patron of the Canadian Cutting Horse Association and as such, he presented a large trophy to Al Cannon of Winnipeg, who was the owner and rider of the winning cutting horse.
Following the Centennial Grandstand Show, the Royal Family were escorted to the Swan Valley Lodge and visited by a large crowd of pioneers, senior citizens and their guests. Both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip shook hands with the people and asked questions and wished each person continued good health. All of the members of the Royal Family greeted the Valley’s two eldest pioneers at that time, Mrs. Elizabeth Metcalfe who was 99 years old and Mr. Frank Dennis who was 96.
The Royal Family then took an unscheduled walk from 4th Avenue South to the C.N.R. station and talked with some of the hundreds of people who were waiting patiently to see them. They then boarded the train to move on to their next destination for the tour. The entire experience was one that Minish will never forget.
“I was pretty young at that time and wasn’t too worldly at all when the Royal Family came to visit Swan River, but I just thought the simplicity in how they met with me back then was just impressive,” said Minish. “They found a common thread and were able to communicate and visit at a comfortable level with someone who is a very common person in society. I honestly feel that was one of the strengths they have, is to be able to associate on a level with the individuals they spoke with on tour. It made me feel special to have had that opportunity.
“The Royal Family dignified themselves, along with ourselves, by allowing us to have a basic conversation about something that wasn’t foreign to us, but rather our regular way of life. They showed interest in what we did, tried to understand how things worked and showed a level of appreciation for it.”
When Minish learned of the Queen’s turn in health, he began to reflect on his experience from 1970. Not only has Minish himself had the remarkable opportunity to meet members of the Royal Family, but he has extended family who has as well.
“Knowing the Queen was ill and I was out of town when she passed, one of the first things that came to mind was that the man I sat beside during that visit in 1970 is now the King,” said Minish. “Then I realized I shook hands with the Queen and now I have shaken both the hands of the former Queen and future King. That was an opportunity that very few people have had and I’m honoured by the experience and privilege.
“The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in Yellowknife in July of 2011. It was relative to the passing of my sister and there was a Garden of Hope that was established there. My three nieces met the Duke and Duchess as a result of that.
It’s very unique that a family like ours would have had such opportunities to meet members of the Royal Family.
“I have more of an appreciation for the entire experience now, than I did back then; it’s something special that I won’t forget,” said Minish.

Local Indigenous artist Patrick Paul is working his way to showcasing his Woodland art in Toronto and the end of the month.

Paul has been presented with the opportunity to display his work alongside other Woodland artists.

“The name of the art show is Tisiget and it means a person who changes the colour of it,” Paul said. “It opens on Sept. 30 in honour of National Truth and Reconciliation Day in the Canary District of Toronto. It’s going to be featuring artists Thomas Sinclair, Autumn Smith, Bree Island and myself. The show is featuring a collection of Woodland artists.

“This is a very exciting opportunity for all of us to get out there and display our art and stories. A lot of us like to keep our stories authentic to the Woodland and Ojibwa culture that we paint.”

Tisiget was created by two other Indigenous artists who felt that putting on an art show during National Truth and Reconciliation Day was an excellent opportunity to put emphasis on Indigenous art work. The trip to Toronto is one Paul hopes he is able to make before the show ends.

“Thomas Sinclair and Autumn Smith are the curators for this show and they are putting it together themselves,” Paul said. “They invited me to be a part of it, because they loved the authentic values I keep in my Woodland art. I’ve never been part of an art show before, so this is an incredible opportunity. I just hope I’m able to make it out to Toronto, because I don’t have the funds yet to get there. The show runs until Oct. 10, so I’m hoping to get out there before it wraps up.”

Paul is excited to have his artwork tell a story and to share that with people.

“I think the most important part about my art being out there is to spread awareness of Indigenous culture and art,” he said. “The telling of Anishinaabe stories is a big part of this and sharing our culture with others. I like to keep my art rooted to those stories and the ancient art pictographs. Just being able to share our art and stories is the most important part of all.”

Paul has been working on some new material for the show and just finished a painting that means a lot to him. He also will be incorporating some of his earlier works and hopes to create a few more before the end of the week.

“I just finished painting one that I called the Spiritual Balance of the Sacred Sturgeon Woman,” Paul said. “It’s a 36 x 60 acrylic painting on unstretched canvas. It has a snake with the woman travelling on a sacred sturgeon with some turtles in the background. It’s a very important piece to me and it’s one of the brightest ones I’ve finished. I’m hoping to do one of a dancer for the art show, as well. A couple more recent ones I’ve done, too, will be included. The art display at the show will be readily available for people to purchase.”

Check out this week's Dauphin Herald for more great local stories!

When a RCMP officer meets with tragedy on the job, they leave behind family, friends and colleagues who mourn their loss. A newly formed foundation has created an annual fundraiser called Move to Remember Challenge, to help provide support to those RCMP members’ families who have lost a loved one serving in the line of duty.
“The National Police Federation Benevolent Foundation (NPFBF) is an organization’s sole purpose is to support the families of fallen RCMP officers,” said NPFBF Chair Kevin Halwa. “It was recently designated by Royal Canadian Mounted Police Federation as the sole charitable foundation that collects donations for the families of fallen RCMP officers.
“When one of our members is tragically killed in the line of duty, it’s not just devastating to the community, their colleagues and the force, but it’s unbelievably overwhelming to the family. We’re there to provide immediate financial and other support for the member’s family as needed.
“We also provide some post-secondary funding for bursaries for students across the country,” said Halwa. “Those bursaries are open to all students that are going into any kind of public safety field for post-secondary learning.
“The Move to Remember Challenge is for the month of September. Members register and collect pledges for any kind of physical activity that allows them to reach a goal of 246 km. The reason for 246 plus km is to represent the number of fallen officers in the line of duty, as well as those members whose work-related injuries led to suicide. Those circumstances are incredibly tragic and this is a way we can keep those colleagues and their loved ones in our hearts and minds.”
Swan River RCMP Detachment Constable Briana Blencowe is more than taking the cause to heart; she’s stepping up to the challenge.
“I personally did the Move to Remember Challenge on my own last year, but because of my involvement with Ride for Refuge, I didn’t seek community support,” said Constable Blencowe. “The NPFBF raises money to help support those families in different ways. This challenge helps us as RCMP to also remember and honour those members who we have served with that are no longer with us as a result of a tragedy on the job.”
The cause is personal for Blencowe for she feels the potential that tragedy could befall any of her previous or current co-workers on the job. For Blencowe, those co-workers are a form of family.
“I’ve been in Swan River for four years and in that time, I’ve worked with so many amazing members and got to know the community,” said Constable Blencowe. “Most, if not all of us, have come from across Canada to serve in Swan River and to become members. We have left our extended families and close friends to become part of a new community.
“I don’t know if the general public realizes how much a member sacrifices personally when it comes to that. Because we leave our extended families, we develop a bond with our co-workers and their families and it means that much more if something were to happen to them. Just knowing that the Benevolent Fund is there to help take care of those families, should a tragedy befall their loved one on the line of duty, means a lot to me.”
Although Blencowe has participated in Move to Remember before, this time she’s enlisting a team consisting of members from the Swan River Detachment and has set a fundraising goal along with a personal physical activity goal to raise funds.
“I’m hoping to get our full detachment together to do the Move to Remember Challenge,” said Blencowe. “There’s going to be a couple of ways people can donate to our team’s involvement for the Move to Remember Challenge. Next week there will be donation sheets at some of the local businesses. We also have a QR code that will connect directly to our online donation page for our team. I’m hoping we can raise $3,000.
“The Move to Remember Challenge goes from Sept. 1 to 30, and the idea is to get as many kilometres as possible over the 30 days with a minimum being 247 km, which represents the 246 plus fallen members. Personally, the goal for myself is to swim 247 laps, bike for 247 minutes and aqua run 247 loops. My hope is as a team we can surpass my combined distance of 680 km from last year or at least get to 247 km as a total.”

This week features the follow-up to last week’s story on the former Swan River band called The Group.
As The Group kept playing more gigs, Hornbeck and his band members began earning some money, from what started out as just a hobby. Hornbeck recalls the first big ticket item he purchased with his money earned from playing in The Group.
“We had a strict policy that each band member was responsible for looking after replacing and maintaining their musical instrument,” said Hornbeck. “After each gig, we would pool the money together and divide it equally. We all bought our own stuff with the money we earned over the years and we were quite proud of ourselves. Each time we bought better and better equipment. As I look through the array of photographs over that time span, we had some pretty decent-looking equipment towards the end of it.
“I ordered myself a British set of Premier drums from Scalif’s, just like the ones Charlie Watts of The Rolling Stones had.
“I can also recall, one day I had accumulated $52 dollars in my bank account, so I went over to Emerson Barnard’s Jewelry store on Main Street, and I asked what they had for rings,” said Hornbeck. “I wanted to buy a ring and he showed me some. I picked one out, had it sized and paid $50. I’ve still got the ring and wear it. It’s gold with a red round ruby like stone in the center of it and is my Group ring forever.”
It wasn’t long before The Group decided to do some recording locally in the area. They caught the attention of a well-known DJ in the area, and he helped them to record some songs in studio at a radio station in Dauphin.
“There was a radio company in Dauphin that had a DJ named Ron Waddell, The Ugly Duckling,” said Hornbeck “He was quite popular with the music he played. Waddell invited us to do come down and do a recording at the studio. We travelled to Dauphin and recorded some songs. That was quite the experience for us.”
Hornbeck has quite the elaborate collection of The Group memorabilia to this date. He has the performances documented through a series of videos and photographs.
“I have the name of the band, The Group, on the bass drumhead, still today,” said Hornbeck. “It’s one of the main artifacts I’ve kept over the years. I printed it myself onto the drumhead. From then on we were The Group. I have hundreds of photographs from our time together and several framed in my home in chronological order. The entire story of the Group is documented within those photos.
“I still have my wooden block for the drum kit, the cowbell and a handful of drumsticks from our days together. I used to go through a lot of drumsticks back then from banging on the drums so hard. I would throw my broken drumstick into the crowd and people would be scrambling to pick it up as a souvenir, I guess. I always had an instant grab for replacement sticks at hand. Garry Pederson of the Guess Who, taught me that.
“I was so fortunate that I got all the band members to sign the drumhead before some of them passed on,” said Hornbeck.
Even fans of The Group hung on to some time-honoured memorabilia from the band’s glory days.
“Dennis and Maureen Bowles were always in the front of the stage during our performances,” said Hornbeck. “I even have them on the home movies. Dennis went on to buy my parents’ home. One day he told me to come by the house and he had something he wanted to show me. I hadn’t been back to the house after my parents had passed away. So I went over and there in the rumpus room, where The Group played and practiced, on the door, perfectly intact with black friction tape was our band name still glued to the door, along with the artifacts on the floor. Dennis said he couldn’t bare to take it off.”
Hornbeck recalls The Group getting together for a reunion and doing one last performance together.
“Our very last performance was in 2003, here in Swan River at the Legion Hall,” said Hornbeck. “The High School Reunion Committee asked us to get together for their program. At first, the guys weren’t interested in getting together, but eventually we did. We all met the night before at Glenn’s basement, where his band called Kind of Country, would practice. We only played about two or three songs and got caught up musing about the past. The guys were having a good time reminiscing.
“The night of the big concert where The Group was to entertain over 300 people, we played three songs and then Jimmy asked, out of the blue, if anyone remembered a certain song. Then all of a sudden it all came back and we were playing music we hadn’t played together for 45 years. The dinner became a dance floor again and it felt magical.
“We have all of that performance, the crowd and interviews with members from The Group all filmed and I have it on DVD thanks to Jim Makichuk,” said Hornbeck.
The Group band members all went their separate ways after 1967 and their band is listed as one on the Manitoba Music Museum’s webpage with photographs going back to that time.
“Jimmy Hooper became a solo performer,” said Hornbeck. “He would play his acoustic guitar and sing, despite not singing in The Group. He has since passed on and the funeral was held in Hudson Bay, SK. An old friend, Jim Webster and I made the trip out for his funeral. There were artifacts of his life all across the stage and wall-to-wall music tributes.
We were ushered in and seated amongst his family at the front.”
Aaron Burnett went on to become an elementary school teacher and then realized his musical calling was still prevalent. He started playing rhythm guitar and doing lead vocals for Salvek Hanzlik’s bluegrass band in Winnipeg. The band parted ways and Barnett formed another bluegrass band called Ain’t No Mountain Boys that toured around Manitoba and northwestern Ontario. From there he moved on to join the Keystone Bluegrass Quartet, which became a popular band.
Burnett decided to record an album in 2002 and received a Juno nomination. He released a second bluegrass album with the musical backing of the Dry River Boys. He now plays traditional bluegrass music in a band called Prairie Grass.
Glenn Kerestes went on to marry Marilyn Shaver of Swan River, raised a family and became a loans officer at the Swan Valley Credit Union. He kept his love of playing bass guitar by playing in the band Kind of Country. Kerestes passed away last year on Nov.18, 2021 at the age of 74.
Raymond Fulford entered the medical profession and went stateside for a while. He now resides in Winnipeg, designing amputee prosthetics.
Gord Hornbeck is 74 now and winding up business in the Valley. He and his companion, Dale, are happy with growing old together and keeping busy.

Back in the day, the Valley has its own array of musical talent that originated right within the area. This is part one about a group of talented local musicians, who fostered their love of music by developing a band, which led to them playing all over the Valley and eventually creating a record to put in local jukeboxes.
The Group started up about 1965 and originally consisted of Gordon Hornbeck on the drums; Jim Hooper on lead guitar; Aaron Burnett on rhythm guitar; Glen Kerestes on bass guitar and Raymond Fulford on keyboards. In 1966, the band underwent some band member changes with Hooper and Kerestes leaving and Doug Scales joining in.
“I recall being in Grade 10 and Mrs. Clara Stirling was my biology teacher at the time,” said Hornbeck. “One day we assembled at her class to find her sitting on the edge of the desk and she asked if any of us had seen the Ed Sullivan Show the previous evening. The whole class erupted because it was the Beatles who appeared on the show. Everyone got very talkative in class about the phenomena of popular music.
“After that discussion, I went home that night and talked to my parents about it. It was a short time after that, I found a friend in high school, Jimmy Hooper, who had an electric guitar and I told him I had an acoustic guitar. He invited me over to his house.
“I met Jimmy’s parents and while we were talking, his mom kept playing the piano,” said Hornbeck. “She was crazy on the piano and played everything you could think of. She kept asking if there was anything we wanted to hear. She played by ear and all these songs with such enthusiasm. Looking back, I kind of associated her with Jerry Lee Lewis, because she had that same enthusiasm for music.
“A few weeks later I had Jimmy over to my house to see what I had set up to play my guitar in the basement. I had a quiet section in the basement all to myself. Jimmy picked out the song with chords and flat-picking; it was Wildwood Flower. It’s a famous old song that talks about the effects of smoking cannabis. Jimmy played the song so perfectly; you’d think you were listening to a recording.
“I suggested we meet more often so he spent a lot of time at my house and we spun 45 records from Scalf’s Music Store,” said Hornbeck. “That was a source for studying music. Jimmy could listen to that song off the portable record player and identify each chord by listening to it. Without any formal music training or education, Jimmy had the same talent as his mother and could play by ear. He really had the inside track to listening and copying music. We were so drawn to his musical talent.
“Aaron Burnett was another friend from school who heard about our enthusiasm for listening and playing music. Aaron wanted to join us and bring his guitar. He came over and we plugged his guitar into Jimmy’s amp and started making some real noise. That was the beginning of the band.
“Another friend of mine from school, Glen Kerestes, was working as a furniture deliveryman,” said Hornbeck. “He got his older brother’s guitar, took the top two strings off and tuned down the bottom bass strings. Once he had it to where he wanted it, he said he would join in playing bass.”
The newly formed band began to experiment with their sound during rehearsals and soon found themselves upgrading musical instruments and equipment.
“By then this little amplifier of Jimmy’s that had a speaker the size of a butter plate was really overloaded,” said Hornbeck. “Jimmy set out to get an amplifier in the Sears catalogue. He found a Sears Silvertone amplifier that had two 12-inch speakers and a separate power head on top with about five or six inputs. For the first year, which would have been 1965-1966, we played everything through that one big amplifier.
“One day we went outside and set it up to play in the backyard. The next day at school, a couple of classmates told me that their parents heard us playing music in the backyard from about three miles away. We must have been playing pretty loud, but when you’re playing rock n’ roll music, you don’t always know how loud the volume really is.
“Eventually Glen purchased a Fender Mr. Bassman amplifier and a Fender Jazz bass guitar,” said Hornbeck. “Then Aaron went out and bought a Fender Mustang and his own large amp. Now we were really rocking.”
It wasn’t long after before the band was asked to do their first live stage performance in town. Luckily Hornbeck’s father captured all those early moments on stage by filming it.
“We were soon asked to play live music for the Canadian Girls In Training (CGIT) dance behind the United Church in Swan River,” said Hornbeck. “It was our first gig and my dad had this small 8 mm movie camera came out and started filming the band and the crowd. I still have those 8 mm movies and transferred them to DVD, which allows me to watch it anytime I want. It’s amazing to be able to watch that live stuff from the past.
“We all decided that if we were going to perform as a band, we were going to have to be presentable. So for that first performance, we wore white T-shirts with red cardigan sweaters, white pants and white tennis shoes. I have lots of photos of us dressed like that. There was no money involved and the greatest joy was to be asked to come and perform.”
After their first performance, they realized they needed a name for the band if they were going to continue on taking bookings and performing.
“Once the dance was over, we all sat down and realized we had a golden opportunity to form a band, but we had no name,” said Hornbeck. “We went through a brainstorming session in my parents basement and were throwing out names. We knew the names of all the popular bands at the time. Glenn was very quick and came up with some names. We couldn’t come up with a name that we could all agree on, so we decided on the name called The Group.”
Hornbeck has many classic memories of The Group and some of the adventures they had as a band. This was the beginning for many of the band members to develop a long-time love for music and the start of their musical careers.
“I have the original stamp we used for the dances at the Legion and community halls we would rent on a Friday or Saturday night to play a dance,” said Hornbeck. “We had a guy sitting with the stamp and a cash box at the door. The admission price was one dollar and he would stamp their hand to show they had paid.
“We travelled and played in community halls numerous times. At that time, it became popular to have a light show travelling with the band. Bands would perform and this different array of lights would come on. So I got some coloured lighting from my parents Christmas floodlights and I wired them all up through a board at my feet so my high hat foot could punch these switches on and off. It also allowed me to rotate the lights, which allowed me to put on a light show. Looking back it was pretty psychedelic for our time.
“There was this one time we were set up to play in Bowsman,” said Hornbeck. “We had the stage all set up and I wired up the lights.
We figured we were going to have a real good show that night. Well to my surprise, I had wired up the perfect short circuit, so about the third song into the first set, I start punching the lights and my foot goes down and there’s an explosion under my foot and fire going across the stage.
Bang! All the lights and cords were melted, the entire Bowman Hall breakers went at once and it was pitch black, so everyone turned on their cigarette lighters to see. The amplifiers have tubes and they don’t die instantly, they make a strange sound cooling off. I will never forget our amplifiers making that sound. It was definitely a night I will not forget.”
The story of The Group will continue in next week’s Star and Times.

The Northwest Métis Council Inc. (NWMC) held its annual regional meeting in Dauphin, Aug. 13. Local executive members from 24 Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) Locals in the region came in to hear about the NWMC’s year in review, projects for the future, and the launching of a new and substantial health care initiative.

“I’m proud at the amount of staff that the NWMC has employed in the region,” said NWMC vice-president Frances Chartrand. “We now have 42 staff members working out of the administration office, 55 summer students placed across the region, 20 staff working our Michif Children’s Place and another 20 staff to be hired in the Swan River Daycare. Our new governance office should be opening soon and we will host 125 staff there.

“Other highlights for our region have been the new builds that are taking place, from the Michif Children’s Place daycare that is up and running, to our new governance office here in the City of Dauphin and the new daycare being built in Swan River. We’ve also purchased a house next door to Métis Child and Family Services that is currently being renovated and will be fully furnished.

It will be used as a medical stay place for people who have to travel in to Dauphin for medical appointments or day surgeries and need overnight accommodations.

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

With some rural emergency rooms being temporarily closed for the summer, another threat has seemed to loom. Just last week, it was made public that the Winnipegosis Post Office was closed for several days due to staff shortages, which resulted in Winnipegosis residents having to travel to Dauphin to pick up their mail.

“There’s a public concern that this could be setting a precedent when it comes to the potential closing of post offices in rural Manitoba communities,” said Mossey River Reeve Ron Kostyshyn. “We’re hoping that’s not the case.”

There wasn’t a notice issued that the Winnipegosis Post Office would be temporarily closed, until the community became concerned as to why it wasn’t open the next day. There was a lack of communication starting back to when this initially happened and not everyone was properly informed.

“We learned of the situation when the Winnipegosis Post Office was closed on a Tuesday for the day,” said Kostyshyn.

Get the FULL STORY in this week's Dauphin Herald!