Jeremy Bergen
Bengals kick off football season
The Swan Valley Bengals girls’ football team kicked off their season at the SVRSS field this past Sunday (Sept. 13), hosting the Melville Vipers. While they came out on the wrong end of the score, it was an excellent football experience and, for many, their first ever game action. (TOP) Maddie Buchanan gets her grip on a Melville ball carrier in hopes of bringing her down. See more on B2
Let’s stop suicide
Members of CMHA Swan Valley and the greater community walked around downtown Swan River at noonhour on Thursday (Sept. 10) as part of World Suicide Prevention Day. World Suicide Prevention Day is organized by the International Association for Suicide Prevention, co-sponsored by the World Health Organization, with the purpose of raising awareness around the globe so suicide can be prevented. In Canada, approximately 12 people die from suicide every day and is the leading cause of death among youth and young adults between ages of 15 and 34. The demographic with the highest rate of death by suicide is those between 50-64 years of age, with men being three times more likely to experience death by suicide than women.
Led beside still waters
When the waters of the Swan River aren’t being treacherous to our lives and properties, it can provide quite the lovely scenery, as seen here during a later summer sunset in Swan River Legion Park.
Rally for the Valley
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.
A Hall by another name
A name for the hall at the Swan Valley Historical Museum has been revealed at last. Matching the plaque honouring them inside the complex, the hall that gets used for many fuctions all year round will be known as the Filuk Hall, in honour of Peter and Alice Filuk, who were founding members of the Swan Valley Historical Society and the Swan Valley Historical Museum (SVHM). Pictured here, SVHM Board Member Gary Wowchuk (left) and SVHM President Lois Borland (centre) looks on as Peter and Alice Filuk’s son Terry (right) unveils the new signage for the complex during the Harvest Festival held on Sunday (Aug. 30). See more on A3.
Wouldn't it be ice
The Swan River Centennial Arena is back down to frozen temperatures and skates hitting the ice surface this week. Pictured here, pucks dot the tops of the freshly laid decals as they adhere in place. See more on A9
Flooded fields a big hit to fundraising efforts
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.
At Last
Just in time for the August long weekend, the Hwy. No. 10 East washout approximately 8 km east of Swan River has been filled in to the point where traffic can cross, for the first time since the first June flood that started the morning of June 6. Pictured here, a passenger vehicle heads west over the repair. (INSET) While the CN Rail and road junction at P.R No. 486 south of Swan River needs a lot of work for cars to cross yet, the rail line is almost ready to recommence hauling lumber and agriculture products out of the Swan Valley.
The rodeo that wasn’t
Things seemed relatively quiet around Swan River last weekend, considering the NorthWest Round-up and Exhibition didn’t take place. The annual event was called off this year by the Swan River Valley Agricultural Society due to the ongoing natural disaster recovery around the Swan Valley as a result of the historic flooding this spring and summer. It remains to be seen whether the grandstand and rodeo arena will see any use in the summer of 2026.
Cleaning up the mess
Now that much of the floodwaters have receded, the long, arduous process of cleaning up the damage to homes and properties continues. Pictured here, the contents of a home on River Park Drive in Swan River sits in a heap on the front lawn of the property.