Dog walkers at John Reilly Field watch high school rugby players during a recent sunny day. (Jules Xavier/The Brandon Sun)

German experts advise on Manitoba’s wild pig problem

Two experts from Germany joined the first ever Canadian Wild Pig Summit in Brandon last month to help Manitoba with its growing wild pig problem.

On April 23, Animal Health Canada (AHC), Assiniboine Community College (ACC), and Squeal on Pigs Manitoba, a program facilitated by Manitoba Pork, held the inaugural summit, bringing together experts from across the country, the United States and Europe to discuss the best ways to control Canada’s burgeoning wild pig population.

Considered an invasive species in Canada, wild pigs were first established in Manitoba in the 1980s, after they were brought over from Europe for an agricultural livestock diversification initiative, the Manitoba government’s website states.

Besides damaging crops by uprooting and trampling them, and creating human safety concerns — wild pigs are nocturnal and often attempt to cross highways at night — the animals pose an economic risk. Manitoba Pork says they can contaminate water sources with E. coli and other bacteria, they displace wildlife and they can carry up to 89 diseases that pose a threat to livestock. They also reproduce quickly, with sows giving birth to four to 12 piglets up to two times in one year.

Hamiota-born entrepreneur to receive award

Born and raised in Hamiota, entrepreneur Kim McConnell is set to be the 32nd recipient of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and Haskayne School of Business Inspiring Business Leader Award.

The June 20 awards gala will honour McConnell’s business legacy, which began in 1984 when, working from a basement office with a degree in agriculture from the University of Manitoba, he turned $5,000 into what would come to be known as Fieldstone Marketing.

Though he now lives in Calgary, McConnell told the Sun that Hamiota, 83 kilometres northwest of Bradon, will always be his home.

“I was born and raised there, and that’s where my heart is,” he said. “I grew up on the farm.”

Mental wellness walk next week in Souris

The Westman Wellness and Suicide Prevention Association, also known as Westman Mental Wellness, is hosting a walk in Souris this month to spread awareness around mental wellness and suicide prevention.

The event will take place at the Souris Curling Club, 47 kilometres southwest of Brandon, at 32 3rd Ave. W., on May 11 at 9:30 a.m., regardless of the weather, said event organizer and co-founder of Westman Mental Wellness Cathy Williams.

The event marks the sixth walk Westman Mental Wellness has held, having started in 2015.

“Of course, we had a few drought years with COVID, but we’re on our sixth, and we’re excited to be going ahead with it,” Williams said.

There have been some tremendously talented family combinations over the years in the National Hockey League — the Richards, the Sutters, the Tkachuks, the Hulls — but the current trio of Hughes brothers might be the best family act yet.

Only one of the three — likely Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks — will be skating in the playoffs this year, while the younger two, Jack and Luke, both ply their trade with New Jersey Devils, who finished a disappointing seventh in the Metropolitan Division and didn’t come close to a post-season berth.

American-born and all products of the U.S. college system, the Hughes’ boys come by their hockey talent honestly. Their father, Jim, played college hockey, later becoming an assistant coach for the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League. He went on to play a key role in the Maple Leafs’ player development program, retiring 10 years ago, so the boys spent most of their formative youth learning the game in Toronto. Their mother Ellen played for the U.S. national women’s team in the world championships of 1992. As player ‘developers’, Jim and Ellen Hughes just might be the best ever.

“Whenever we got the chance to watch a game with my dad, it was like watching video with an NHL coach,” Jack said in an ESPN.com story in 2018. He said the Hughes’ boys were getting hockey tutoring at the age of 10-14 that many others didn’t get until turning professional at 19 or 20.

Rural Roundup for Thursday, May 2, 2024

It was a full house for the Parkland Chamber of Commerce’s State of the District event.

Several municipal leaders spoke at the event on various items throughout their rural municipalities. Reeve James Manchur of Gilbert Plains shared news about new housing in the area, a doubling of their waste disposal capacity, a new cannabis shop and a new fire rescue vehicle expected for 2025.

Lyle Morran of Grandview spoke about programs run there for hiring new physicians and a sizeable water and wastewater management project that could cost nearly $1.8 million.

Mayor Robert Brunel of Ste. Rose described developments at the Turtle River Trails, the campgrounds, and the Ste. Rose Court Project, which already has kids playing pickup games after the snow melted.

Randy Bachman plans to auction off 200 of his guitars

TORONTO — Randy Bachman is bidding farewell to some of the instruments that shaped his legendary rock career, including the guitar used to compose the Guess Who classic “American Woman.”

The Winnipeg-born musician says 200 of his signature guitars will be auctioned at New York’s Hard Rock Cafe and online on May 29 and 30.

The instruments include the 1959 Les Paul Standard guitar, which Bachman acquired in 1968 when a performance in a Nanaimo, B.C., church basement took an unexpected turn. His own guitar suffered a cracked neck, so a fan offered him the Les Paul as a replacement.

The guitar later inspired the famous “American Woman” riff that came to him during a performance at a curling rink.

Southwest Manitoba is living up to the province’s “Friendly Manitoba” slogan, having provided four of the winners of the second annual Tourism Awards.

“This is a celebration of the excellent work of the tourism operators, professionals and attractions that drive the $1.8 billion tourism economy in this province,” said Colin Ferguson, president and CEO of Travel Manitoba. “The incredible work of our award finalists and all the hard-earned success they’ve achieved is truly remarkable. Congratulations to all nominees and winners.”

Travel Manitoba and Tourism Winnipeg honoured a total fo 17 winners at the Club Regent Event Centre in the provincial capital last Wednesday during National Tourism Week. Other events included a conference hosted by the new Tourism Industry Association of Manitoba.

For the awards, a Winnipeg winner and a Manitoba at large winner were named in several categories: Business of the Year — Large, Business of the Year — Small, Marketing Campaign of the Year, Indigenous Tourism, Sustainable Tourism, Event of the Year, Employee of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

VIRDEN

Fundraising for an accessible playground in Virden will get a boost from Tim Horton’s Smile Cookie campaign.

The Mary Montgomery Accessible School Playground has been selected as the Smile Cookie fundraiser recipients for the campaign this spring, said Andrea Gray, a member of a parent advisory council that is spearheading the playground project.

Accessible playground equipment for children with mobility challenges will be a feature of the new playground.

One word for Caitlin Clark: Dominating

She was born on the 22nd day of January, 2002, wears No. 22 for the Iowa Hawkeyes and her team finished No. 2 in the NCAA women’s basketball championship, but Caitlin Clark has No. 1 written all over her.

There was perhaps no more famous athlete in North America during the month of March than Clark, whose dominance on the basketball court turned her from a prodigy to a legend. She was the obvious No. 1 selection in last week’s Women’s National Basketball Association draft, going to the Indiana Fever, and most sports analysts in the U.S. predict that, thanks to Clark, the women’s pro game will get the same attention boost she gave the college game the past couple of seasons.

Not especially tall at 6-foot-0, Clark nonetheless dominated her sport for the past two years and her team’s games became must-see TV across most of the basketball-crazed U.S.A.

With a deadly eye for the three-point shot, Clark averaged 31.6 points per game as Iowa posted a 34-5 record en route to the national final against South Carolina, which completed its undefeated season with an 87-75 win over Clark’s Hawkeyes. The Clark legend grew and grew and grew all year, to the point where her team’s championship game against South Carolina drew a TV audience of 18.7 million, more viewers than any basketball game in 2024 of any level — men’s or women’s college games, NBA and WNBA included. ESPN has already announced that 36 of Indiana’s 40 WNBA games next season will be nationally televised.

A moose walks along the edge of a pond along Highway 10 in Riding Mountain National Park on a mild and sunny afternoon. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)

Run for Stanley Cup is wide open

Now that the 1,312-game preliminaries are almost over, the 16 National Hockey League playoff teams get down to serious business. Last year’s Vegas-vs.-Florida final didn’t appear on many experts’ radars and the likelihood of more upsets is always real.

So who can win the Stanley Cup this year? All 16 qualifiers, of course, but realistically, some of the playoff teams would need a truckload of four-leaf clovers, a few rabbits’ feet or Mafia-style bribery to win it all.

There are three levels of contenders: Those who can; those who might; those who can’t.

THOSE WHO CAN (IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

Less snow, but winter still fun in Parkland

Despite warmer than normal winter weather with some locations in Westman receiving much less snow than in other years, people in southwestern Manitoba still found time to enjoy winter outdoor activities this year.

Asessippi Ski Resort, located near Inglis, Man., 206 kilometres northwest of Brandon, opened its doors for its 25th season this past winter, celebrating with activities such as their Slush Cup event on March 30.

The season at the resort was met with unpredictable weather patterns, a press release sent out on April 1 said. Despite that, guests and staff created many memories.

“The 25th season started with anticipation, as mild temperatures in December challenged the resort’s snowmaking capabilities,” the release sent out by marketing specialist Bailey Naheriak said.

KILLARNEY

Dan and Hertha Penner of Killarney, longtime volunteers with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank (CFB), recently embarked on a Learning Tour to Malawi, eager to witness the impact of their nearly two decades of dedication. Their journey took them through four projects in southern Malawi, where they saw firsthand how funds raised through local initiatives were used to address hunger.

Their tour began in Lilongwe, where they witnessed CFB’s nutrition program supporting special needs children in local clinics. Moving to the Mangochi area, heavily affected by drought, the Penners observed how CFB works with the Salvation Army to improve farming and help it adapt to climate change.

Next, in the flood-ravaged Mulanje district, CFB’s partnership with Churches Action in Relief provided food to fend off starvation and support residents until they could resume farming.