Former Valley resident Teri Hofford has put her pen to paper again and is preparing for the release of her third book, Homecoming: Tales of Travel, Discovery, and Self-Acceptance. In this book, Hofford takes readers through a rollercoaster ride of her past and the evolution that led her to become who she is today. Much of the book talks about those young naïve experiences that many people have encountered, which later on become ones that bring a sense of shame or embarrassment.
“This one was a bit more challenging because it was me working my way through a lot of shame and trauma that I experienced in my twenties,” said Hofford. “As you know, being in your twenties is a time for exploration and figuring out who you are in the world. As such, we make some mistakes and put ourselves in a bunch of different situations, so I had to process a lot of it.
“I also had to process the grief of losing my dad in my twenties. There was a lot more emotional labour that went into this book.”
Hofford pens a candid narrative that is her story, which tends to draw connections from people who have found themselves in similar situations or circumstances in life. Homecoming is about drawing from those experiences, the reasons why they happened and are so uncomfortable to address.
“I always try to stay focused on the idea that I can’t be the only person in the world who has experienced or felt these things,” said Hofford. “While the details of my stories are mine, the overall experiences that I have are not uncommon. I hope that sharing my story, allows other people to feel less alone in their shame, trauma and things they are holding onto in their past. That’s the same approach I take to writing on social media and I just applied that to this book in the same way.
“Everybody has a story. Even if they don’t publish it or put it out, it’s important to learn the art of writing and process the heaviness of the feelings that we carry through in our lives. It gives it a different perspective when you can write about it and writing this book did that for me. Writing the general facts of the story based on my journals, as I was writing it, my brain was able to make connections and I was able to see those experiences from an outside perspective. I saw those experiences as more objective and it’s a lot harder to feel shame when being objective.
“I think a big part of it is everything I did in my past and continue to do now, is always done based on the information I have at the time and the identities that I carry or am trying to avoid based on how I was conditioned as I was growing up,” said Hofford. “That allows me to see it from a different perspective and see myself for what I was looking for. So, I was looking to be loved, accepted, belong and be part of something, and went about it in not such a great way to achieve those things.
“The actions themselves are not uncommon, a lot of people have done the things I talk about in my book, but the thing that brought the shame was the identities and labels I put on myself and the expectations that come with those. When I would do something in contrast to those labels, such as ‘the good one’ or ‘the smart one’, that’s when I would get shame. The shame didn’t actually come from the action, it came from the identity I was trying to uphold or avoid.
“It’s a visualization that I have on my YouTube channel and it’s something I walk people through,” said Hofford. “I tell people to give themselves what they didn’t have back then, such as what they needed but didn’t know how to ask for.”
Hofford is currently on the Homecoming Tour as she travels across Canada to share excerpts from all three of her books and connect with audiences on a personal level that helps them address those uncomfortable self-realizations.
“I just finished up in Calgary and am travelling all in the west, so I started in Winnipeg, then Calgary, Kelowna, Vancouver, Victoria and then Edmonton,” said Hofford. “Then I will take a couple of weeks off, then fly out east to London, Toronto, Prince Edward County and Halifax. At each stop, there is a two-hour event where I will be reading from my books and the common thread of shame.
“It doesn’t sound like an exciting night, but it is a good experience for people to be able to process their own experiences through using mine as a mirror to their own. It’s a book reading at the end with a little art exercise that releases the shame and calls in whatever they want to. The point is to have people feeling less alone and leaving better than when they came in.”

The Swan River Golf and Country Club held the Ladies Two-Person Scramble this past Wednesday (Aug. 13) with many women golfers enjoying a beautiful day of golf, morning coffee and muffins, a meal, and prizes. 

Every year, the Swan Valley Fire Department selects amongst their ranks a firefighter who they feel worthy of being awarded the Firefighter of the Year. This year’s recipient is one who has grown up watching the commitment and dedication it takes to be a local firefighter and found the calling for it at an early age.
“I joined the fire department in 2013,” said Swan Valley Firefighter Brendan Fedorchuk. “My dad was on the Swan River Fire Department as a firefighter during my youth and then later the Fire Chief. Growing up and seeing the passion he has for the department, being a firefighter, and helping people led me to begin to come to fire training.
“While attending the training, I enjoyed the comradery, learning new skills, and the physical aspect of the job, so I decided to apply.
Fedorchuk has found the position of firefighter to be a very rewarding one. He attributes a big portion of that to the relationship and bond between the members of the department.
“The most rewarding components of the job are helping people in their time of need as well as the comradery amongst the other firefighters, Lieutenants, Captains, and the Fire Chief,” said Fedorchuk. “It takes a great amount of trust and teamwork amongst fellow firefighters and leadership in order to perform the demanding tasks that the situations require.”
Fedorchuk feels that during his time as a firefighter, he has grown on a couple of different levels.
“I feel that during my time as a firefighter, I have grown both personally and professionally due to the incredible leadership core we have and had in the department,” said Fedorchuk. “Our Lieutenants, Captains, and Fire Chief are outstanding role models in our community both in their professional and personal lives. Over the years, I have learned a great deal from our leadership core and I would like to thank them for helping shape who I am today.”
The Swan Valley Fire Department has had another solid year and puts a lot of focus into the community it serves, whether it be through events or by developing its accreditations to enhance its service to the community.
“This year, our department has hosted several well-attended public education nights and participated in Emergency Services Day,” said Fedorchuk. “We have an average of 100 calls per year and our average response time from the time of the page until we leave the hall is six minutes. Also, we have hosted a Vehicle Extrication Course, a Traffic Control Course, and we currently have three firefighters training to obtain their Level 1 Firefighting Certification.”
Fedorchuk is honoured to be presented with this award but feels that he is among many top-notch community firefighters in the Valley who give their time and dedication to service. He also accredits the community for their support in the work that the local fire department does.
“It was an honour to receive the award,” said Fedorchuk. “Although my name is on the award this year, every one of our 27 members goes above and beyond in their own way, as well as working within the team as a cohesive unit to provide an exemplary service for the community. I would like to thank our families, workplaces, and the community for their continued support and for allowing us to attend calls at a moment’s notice, even when it creates an inconvenience. I am proud to be part of such a great group of firefighters and the department.”

The Thunderhill Ski Area held their Ski with Santa event this past weekend, Dec. 22. Santa and two of his elves brought plenty of Christmas cheer to skiers and families. Here, Santa and his elves pose for a photo with a young Santa fan.

The wait is over and change has finally come to Swan Valley West municipality.
Voters elected their new reeve and council to represent them and they’re already at work. Newly elected Swan Valley West Reeve Bill Gade says the feedback he has been hearing from ratepayers has been nothing but positive.
“I’ve never seen ratepayers so happy to see a change in leadership,” said newly elected Swan Valley West Reeve Bill Gade. “We’ve already held two meetings already, and at the end of those meetings, every member of Council was sitting around the table laughing, chatting and talking, not about municipal business, but about what was going on in our lives and in general. That, in my mind, was step one to get a Council of seven people to actually speak and listen to each other. Council members seem happy to see each other and that’s going to be the basis of making a difference.”
There has been some concern in the past with Swan Valley West ratepayers feeling like there was no transparency or open communication with the previous council.
The newly elected council for Swan Valley West is aware of that issue and trying to provide more information to the public about what is going on.
“We’re going to do a few things,” said Gade. “At our first meeting, we chose to discuss the fire department in the public meeting. I have heard from countless numbers of people who watched that discussion, that they appreciated that we told them a little bit more about what is going on, instead of going in camera and hiding. We can’t do that for every topic, every time, but we’re going to try to discuss it more in meetings so that people see what’s going on.
“Outside of the meetings, we’re going to do a much better job of telling people what is going on. We’ve already discussed as a council a few different topics that are a high priority to the public, of getting the information together and making sure it’s accurate, and then releasing it to the public, so they can form their own opinions.”
Gade knows there are several issues on the table, that need to be dealt with, but the new council can’t address them all at once. Swan Valley West is working on putting a plan in place to deal with both the roads and water situation in Benito.
“There’s a bunch of them,” said Gade. “We’re looking at roads right now and everything to do with them. Unfortunately, it’s so late in the year that we’re not going to make an impact on that right now, but we’re going to when it comes to snow plowing and do a better job of that. It will be springtime before we can address the issues with the roads in the municipality, but we’re already talking about what kind of gravel we need and where it needs to go. We’ve got some contractors ready to get more product available so when spring comes, we’re ready to go. This is one of the main things we want to get done.
“The water quality in Benito is an ongoing discussion. It’s just as important as the roads and is being dealt with. There will be more to publicly say on that in a couple of week's time. On Oct. 1, we saw an interim order from the Public Utilities Board that is seeing the water rates in Benito triple or quadruple. That’s on our radar and we’re looking into that. We’re hoping to have information for the public on that matter in a couple of weeks and what we’re going to do about the water quality and pricing. There’s likely some resolution other than saying pay more, pay more. There’s probably something more fairly that we can do for people in Benito because we want fairness. We want everyone to pay their fair share and no one to get a free ride.”
It’s been well known about the controversy of having someone working in media and being on a municipal council, and Gade has been no stranger to this ordeal. This time around, he is taking a more active stance to try and separate the two roles.
“There’s going to be some challenges and we can all see that there will be some in terms of this,” said Gade. “We’ve hired an additional person at the station, to work as a reporter, to try and address that challenge and get me out of the day-to-day news operations. I will always be here managing the stations; that’s what I do and I own them.
“I’m trying to get out of some of the roles to prevent any conflict so that we don’t have a matter where it’s the reeve saying something. We’re going to be working very hard that when things are broadcast, it’s the radio station, and if the Reeve has something to say, it’s the Reeve who says it. On Facebook, there’s now a reeve account and if I need to say something as reeve, it will be posted on that account, so it will be clear as to who is saying it, rather than a news story from the station.”
Recently Swan Valley West has accepted the resignation of former CAO, James Webb. Gade knows it’s been a challenge in the past to fill that role, but feels with the positive changes moving forward, that the municipality will find the right and properly educated person to take on the job.
“We’ve had some discussion about this and there’s some advertising out for the CAO,” said Gade. “We’re looking for someone who has municipal experience, that understands The Municipal Act, and the rules we have to operate by, so we don’t have any more expensive mistakes. It’s not a secret that we’ve had some challenges in the past filling that role, but we’ve had some interest in the position already.”

The Swan Valley Credit Union (SVCU) capped off last week with their annual Beef on a Bun fundraiser on Friday (July 8). Patrons could choose to drive through, walk up or sit down to enjoy their meal with a record setting 700 meals served - including 168 free meals to Prairie Mountain Health employees as thanks for their efforts toward our community’s health. Proceeds of $7,000 were split evenly between the Swan Valley Health Centre for a CT Scanner and the CMHA Enhanced Community Mobilization Program/Meet off Main.

Baseball Manitoba was in town last Thursday (July 7) to offer a Girls Baseball session at the Jack Brown Diamond with hopes of building the future of girls baseball in the community. The girls in attendance participated in various skill development stations, building their technique as the day went on.