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Dauphin's indoor playground is growing, and it'll do so in a new space.
The current playground at Parkland Crossing is moving to the Dauphin Neighbourhood Renewal Corporation at 37 - 3rd Avenue NW in Dauphin. It'll be more than a playground; it will be a place for kids to play and belong.
Amanda Novak of the DNRC says the move ensures the playground's long-term sustainability and accessibility.
"Bringing the play place to the DNRC Community Centre allows us to connect it with current and future youth and family programming," said Novak. "It also allows us to expand and improve the play structure."
The current play structure will be moved by the end of May. The total project cost is just over $125,000. This includes the disassembly, reassembly, new pieces, and replacement parts. The goal is to open the Little Neighbours Play Space by October 1, 2026.
The space will include the original structure from Parkland Crossing. There will also be a new piece added from the original manufacturer.
"The new addition will increase the height and add about 30 per cent more play space," said Novak. "It'll give kids more room to climb, explore, and stay active indoors."
The new play space will be available for birthday parties and group rentals.
Novak says once complete, the Little Neighbours play space will be the perfect spot for families.
"We're really excited about it. It allows us to expand and strengthen the project," commented Novak. "Not many communities the size of Dauphin have an indoor playground. This is a big boost for family recreation in our community. It provides a safe, temperature-controlled space where kids can play, and families can connect year-round."
On Tuesday, Novak will be hosting an open house from 5:00 to 7:00 at the DNRC. Everyone in the community is invited.
"We'll be sharing the proposed layout and sponsorship and recognition opportunities," ended Novak. "It's a great chance for businesses, organizations, and families to get involved and help bring this project to life. We will be serving light refreshments."
A place to play. A place to belong. A place built by community. The Little Neighbours Play Space is coming to the DNRC.
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- Contributed by Darnell Duff
The recent spark in conflict in the Middle East has sent fuel prices skyrocketing around the globe. According to gasbuddy.com, prices in Dauphin are between $1.40 and $1.50 per litre, a significant spike compared to past weeks.
Don Tarrant, Owner and General Manager of Reit Syd Equipment, says farmers especially should be prepared for the increased input costs.
"If grain prices jump up here in response to the cost of growing the grain it won't be as much of a hit, but with current grain prices and now another spike in inputs, you're going to see very quickly the farm fuel and consumer fuel going up a lot...fuel is a big input into growing crops, second thing is nitrogen fertilizer which is made from natural gas, natural gas is also going to be pushed up maybe a fair bit and the transportation of that, and also the Middle East does supply a lot of nitrogen fertilizer. We make our own in Canada, but it does push the world price up, which will push the price up here in Canada as well," said Tarrant.
Fuel and fertilizer are major inputs to growing crops, but there are other smaller inputs that farmers will have to account for as well.
"Things like tires, anything with any petroleum content. Not a big thing on the farm, but tires are a part of that, but definitely the real quick ones that are going to hit the customers or growers is the fuel cost, fertilizer cost, and then the dollars they have to spend on top grade equipment are definitely going to take a hit if we don't see a spike in grain prices...so I think immediately we're going to see the effect and it's going to be a very significant one, but it's really going to start to change customers' ability to buy through the summer through fall if things don't rapidly de-escalate and do get back to normal," said Tarrant.
Tarrant has been in the agriculture industry for a long time. With his experience, he has some recommendations to hopefully help farmers save a bit on inputs.
"I think the best thing to do is phone their fuel supplier this morning and fill up for storage as much as they can take in, second thing is I would think they should phone their crop input supplier and book their nitrogen fertilizer today as well," said Tarrant.
United States and Israeli strikes on Iran started on February 28th. Since then, according to gasbuddy.com, the average gas price across Canada has jumped from $1.33 per litre to $1.55 per litre.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
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- Contributed by Jeff Henson
The Second Annual Dauphin Lake Walleye Dash is set to take place on Saturday, March 14th, if enough tickets are sold by Wednesday, March 11th.
Rod Carberry with Toba Outdoors said last year's derby went fairly well.
"It was a concept that we came up with to try to be able to operate a one day derby on Lake Dauphin...it went off pretty successful. We had a lot of good reviews from it, lots of good feedback. There wasn't a big fan of the online ticket pricing, we adjusted that this year and put them in stores which is what most people wanted. We feel like we've addressed any concerns that anybody has brought up with it," said Carberry.
The prizing is set as a 50/50 payout between the top 3 walleye caught and the Dauphin Kin Club, so you know your money is going to a good cause.
"This year the Kin Club has allocated that all of those proceeds that they generate from the derby are going to go to the Countryfest Community Cinema," said Carberry.
Carberry said they will make a decision on Wednesday, March 11th if they have sold enough tickets to continue with the derby. For details about where to get tickets, click here to view their Facebook page.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
The City of Dauphin's Public Works repaired a small water main break in the city's south end on Wednesday, and said it was a fairly routine operation.
"We excavated down and found the hole was on the bottom of the pipe. We tried various ways of repairing it with a clamp, but we ended up cutting out and putting a PVC piece of pipe in to make the repair," said Darrell Aitken, Acting Director of Public Works and Operations.
With the repair complete, the pipe should hopefully not see any issues in the same area.
"No more leaks there for a while on that pipe, but the pipe is about 75 years old, it was put in in 1950, and it was a cast iron pipe," said Aitken.
He also said though Public Works has discussed the possibility of re-lining the pipe, it would be a difficult procedure. Part of that pipe goes under Edwards Creek, so ensuring the pipe is dry enough for the lining adhesive to stay would be an issue.
As the temperature warms up this weekend, Aitken said the Public Works and Operations team will continue to monitor flow rates to ensure efficient drainage as snow starts to melt.
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Daylight Savings Time returns this weekend.
A reminder that before you go to bed on Saturday night to move your clock ahead by one hour.
The time change officially takes place at 2 am Sunday morning.
Fire departments say this weekend is also a good time to check your smoke and CO2 detectors to make sure they are working properly, and to change the batteries if needed.
The time change does not apply to Saskatchewan, as they recognize daylight savings time all year.
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Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous Meetings will be hosted at the Grandview Kinsmen Community Centre starting next Tuesday.
Chris, a member of AA for 17 years and a member of NA for 6 years, said in his experience with facilitating meetings, discussions cover a wide variety of topics.
"The discussions go from everything to do with family issues, life issues, homelessness, of course losing your license, any life issue you would have that you would hear about anywhere else, you would hear about in an AA meeting," said Chris.
He also said the discussions tend to take an approach that doesn't talk about the cause more than the issues.
"How we try to do it is to look at how the drugs or the alcohol have affected the way those situations have happened," said Chris.
Discussions often lead to different outcomes than counselling or therapy, because AA/NA is a peer-focused environment.
"It's pretty hard to talk to somebody that doesn't have a drug or alcohol problem about your problems. Whether they're a counsellor or a doctor, or anyone, even though they're concerned, they really don't have an understanding of what you're going through, because they haven't gone through it themselves...being able to talk about it and discuss it openly with people that fully understand what you're going through because they've gone through it themselves, really just lets a lot of pressure off," said Chris.
The AA meetings start at 7:00 PM, and the NA meetings start at 8:00. For more details about the meetings, contact Chris at 204-647-6099.
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- Contributed by Ian Gillingham
Residents in Carberry will go to the polls this month to elect a new member to town council.
The position came open after Mike Sudak resigned in December.
Two candidates have stepped forward - Lisa Dobbin-Waters and Micheal Hamilton.
Advance voting is tomorrow (Saturday) from 8 am to 8 pm at the Old Town Hall basement on Main St.
Byelection day itself is March 17th, with voting at the Carberry Drop-In Centre between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.
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The Dauphin RIDE Program has received a nomination for the Eric Irwin Community Appreciation Group Award at the upcoming Parkland Chamber of Commerce Chamber Celebration Night.
The RIDE Program operates each weekend in December, offering rides to those who can't drive after holiday celebrations. Sho-Sho Shuttleworth-Lafontaine, RIDE Program Coordinator, said their volunteers just want to keep their community safe.
"The Dauphin RIDE Program is made up of local volunteers who just simply want to make our community a little safer by offering rides home when people need them," said Shuttleworth-Lafontaine.
She recalled a meeting in which her father, then-program director, posed a solution to the problem in a community meeting.
"It's quite simple, if they're out celebrating, we drive them home. Most of them are going home because they don't want to leave their vehicle out in the winter months to freeze up out in a parking lot somewhere," said Shuttleworth-Lafontaine.
Shuttleworth-Lafontaine originally called herself a dispatcher with the program, and has since taken on a larger role as Program Coordinator. Why? She wants to keep her home safe.
"The community is home. I have spent most of my life here, and when you're at home you want everyone in your community safe, and I think that this is just one way to ensure more safety in the community," said Shuttleworth-Lafontaine.
The Parkland Chamber of Commerce Chamber Celebration Night takes place on March 18th at the Countryfest Community Cinema. Last year's winner of the Eric Irwin Community Appreciation Group Award was the Watson Art Centre.
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Manitoba Agricultural Services Corporation has launched a new satellite-based forage insurance pilot project,
Agriculture Minister and Dauphin MLA Ron Kostyshyn says it will decrease the reliance on weather-based stations for determing insurance.
"This will give more comprehensive, accurate data that you get from a satellite. And this is not unique in Manitoba . It has been used in other geographic areas , and has worked very well. So in fairness to the producers, the satellite imagery will give a quarter section by quarter section of the moisture, or the means of obtaining the appropriate data."
Kostyshyn says the benefits to farmers include a quicker opportunity to conduct claim investigations.
Producers wanting more information can contact their local MASC office.
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Ray McGregor has been playing music since 1979 and joined a band in Saskatoon in 1982.
He's recorded six CDs with his band, two solo CDs, and a couple of music videos. He and his band toured Scotland in 2005 and again in 2008.
Music is his first love. So when he moved to Swan River 16 years ago, he was thrilled to see how strong the local music scene was.
"It's a big part of the culture. You look at the local coffee house, the last one they had here at the Friendship Centre had 79 singers and dancers," McGregor said. "For a three-hour coffee house, that's a lot of people. Music is a big part of the culture around here, which is great."
Three years ago, Ray embarked on a new journey. He opened Rays Strings and Things on 123 5th Avenue North. It's the local instrument store, right where McGregor loves to be.
Recently, Ray and a band member of his were sitting in the store and noticed the bare walls. Many of the stores he has visited have posters of bands on tour and visiting their community.
While Swan River may not be a hotbed for touring bands, it is a hotbed with incredible local musicians.
The Memory Lane was created. It's a wall in the shop that now features nearly two-dozen posters of local musicians. It's starting to fill up quicker than he would have ever imagined.
"I'm actually amazed at the response. I figured I would have to dig a lot harder to find photographs of local musicians," said McGregor. "The family themselves are bringing in the posters, which is humbling."
So if you're in the Swan River area and have a photo of a musician that you want recognized, take it down to Rays Strings and Things.
Even if you only have one copy, Ray will get it copied and framed. From there, it'll be featured on the Memory Lane "Hall of Fame' Wall for everyone to see.
What's the end goal? Ray just wants the wall to fill up with amazing local artists whether they're current or passed on.
"If I can fill it right up, that would be great. It would be awesome to cover the whole wall," ended McGregor. "It's a great way to give recognition and a nod to the local artists current and past."
Leonard Constant donated the Memory Lane sign for the wall and the rest is history.
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