Countryfest struggles to recover from COVID

Dauphin’s Countryfest is pushing to get ticket sales back to pre-COVID levels because the future of the event is at stake, its vice-president said.

Countryfest vice-president Bob Gilroy told the Sun in March that the non-profit is encouraging support for the festival. Organizers are calling on locals to consider the festival this year as ticket sales pose a threat to the festival as a result of the COVID pandemic.

“We need to get back to the days prior to COVID,” said Gilroy. “Each year, the ticket sales have gone up but they are still not at a point for long-term viability of the festival.”

Southern Manitoba, such as areas like Brandon and Winnipeg, are some areas that have not been coming out as much in recent years, Gilroy said.

Cattle show legend draws a crowd

Anyone who has participated in the show cattle industry will likely know the name of Kirk Stierwalt. His reputation is legend in both Canada and the United States.

An article from The Show Times Magazine in 2010 described the Oklahoma native in great detail — cattle fitter, educator, judge.

“Kirk has many years of experience in the show cattle industry,” reads an excerpt. “He has won numerous awards at some of the most prestigious national and international shows.”

And while it’s been a few years since he brought his Steirwalt Cattle & Clinics demonstration to Brandon for the winter fair, he tours constantly.

Rural Roundup — April 10, 2025

DAUPHIN

The City of Dauphin is pushing to clean up graffiti, with partnerships around town and use of its bylaw officer.

Mayor David Bosiak said graffiti affects the look and feel of the community. He said the city has been working with a couple of agencies and organizations to clean up parts of the town, and prevent the situation from getting worse.

“I know from my life in the recreation world, one of the key strategies to minimizing vandalism and/or graffitis is to repair it immediately,” he said. “The longer it lingers, the more it produces. So we’d like to get out there right away.”

» Neighbours happy to see transformation

WAWANESA — Neil Friesen is covered in dust. He stands inside a construction site on First Street, dressed in a dirty ballcap, blue overalls and a frayed T-shirt.

Friesen, 74, with a white mustache and a friendly smile, walks to the back of the garage site. He leans behind a broken piano, connects two cords, and stands up. A light switch beckons.

Flick.

Bulbs glow again at the abandoned home on 137 First Street in Wawanesa for the first time in years. Friesen has crossed a milestone in his project to remodel the 120-year-old brick structure and put it up for sale.

Performers take part in a show by Huqiu Bridal City during China Fashion Week in Beijing, Friday, March 21, 2025. (The Associated Press)

A spruce grouse is seen wandering in the Brandon Hills on a recent day in March. (Connor McDowell/Brandon Sun)

By Connor McDowell

Underdog Jays show spring potential

The Toronto Blue Jays have gone eight full seasons without winning a playoff series and every baseball expert posting pre-season prognostications says that number will likely be nine when the 162-season comes to a close Sept. 28.

In fact, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas predict the Blue Jays will finish fifth in the five-team American League East, perhaps the toughest division in baseball. All this despite an outstanding spring training season, in which they led the AL in wins.

But you never know. Maybe outfielder Addison Barger will carry his impressive spring training stats into the regular season or maybe he’ll be sent down to Buffalo. Maybe 41-year-old Max Scherzer will find his 2013-18 magic and post a 20-7 record, or something similar. His colleagues in the starting pitcher rotation include veterans with talented arms — Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios and last year’s breakout star, Bowden Francis, who posted an 8-5 record with a 3.30 ERA. Potentially, that group could thrive, especially if the offence packs a bit more punch than it did last year.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has reportedly cut off negotiations on a contract extension and could become a free agent, or a trading chip, could have a monster year, especially if he’s intent on impressing potential suitors for his free-agent talents. Guerrero Jr., batted .323 last year with 30 home runs, and with free-agent slugger Anthony Santander batting either before him in the lineup, or following him, pitchers will have to think twice about pitching around the Jays’ two big bangers.

President’s Trophy not worth the risk for Jets

Canadian hockey fans, particularly those on the Prairies, can only hope the Winnipeg Jets fade slightly down the stretch of the long, 82-game grind that is the National Hockey League’s regular season.

Why? Because the President’s Trophy Curse awaits.

Not since 2012-13 — a dozen years ago — has the team finishing first overall in the NHL regular-season standings gone on to win the Stanley Cup, the shiny bauble that Jets’ fans are hoping captain Adam Lowry carries around the ice in celebration on some warm night in June.

So, say Jets’ fans, take it away, Washington. It’s all yours. Please.

Rural Roundup — Mar. 27, 2025

NEEPAWA

A developer plans to renovate a downtown Neepawa building to create apartments and businesses.

Westgate Developments told the Neepawa Banner and Press that a number of three-bedroom suites with laundry units are planned for the Kerr Block, as well as units for businesses.

Four business units are planned for the ground level, two being larger and two being smaller, according to Justin Beaulieu from the development company.

Kissing tells of constant work behind scenes of theatre

Lisa Vasconcelos blushes. She covers her neck with a few tosses of her cardigan. She pulls the sleeves down past her hands.

The artistic director in March hadn’t yet overcome a source of discomfort about her upcoming performance. Her character is scripted for a kiss — and with a fellow actor, formulating that kiss for how it looks, how long it lasts and every other detail is tricky.

“Theres a million ways you could do it,” says Vasconcelos. “It’s hard. It’s probably the hardest thing to be intimate with someone who isn’t your partner in front of a whole bunch of people. Like how do you do that?”

Vasconcelos’ company, Mecca Productions, is showing “Mamma Mia!” in Brandon in April. She told the Sun in March the cast members spent huge amounts of time and energy behind the scenes hashing out details of what the show would look like. A few kisses in the script set a perfect example of the job left for actors: interpreting and telling the story.

Brandon museum has big plans this summer

The Brandon General Museum and Archives is planning a number of events this year as staff aim to raise attendance levels by 50 per cent.

Museum administrator Keith Waterfield told the Sun that a focus for the museum this year is increased traffic. Waterfield is planning a paranormal investigation, pub crawls, walking tours, show-and-tells and a new cell phone app to help that goal.

“We want to be doing more events, getting more people through the door,” said Waterfield. “(Getting) more people to know we are downtown.”

Starting in March, the museum brought back its Show and Tell event.

The Problem with Pigs, Part II: Smart and destructive

Welcome to part two of The Problem with Pigs. In the previous article, I wrote that wild pigs shouldn’t really be able to persist in Manitoba, due almost exclusively to our long and cold winters.

Perhaps a good start to this article is to explore why wild pigs are such a big deal. Around the world, wild pigs are known to transfer disease to domestic pigs while acting as ecological bulldozers.

On the disease front, wild pigs can carry over 30 bacteria and viruses and more than 40 parasites, including trichinosis. In terms of their feeding habits, they damage field crops, including digging up newly planted fields of grain and potatoes. In natural areas, pigs are particularly destructive to wetlands where they root and wallow in shoreline vegetation, impacting water quality and creating erosion.

In the previous article, I asked the question on how, despite our winters, these pigs could maintain their populations here in Manitoba. The answer to their success can be summed up by three factors: their ability to find high quality food, the bolstering of the resident population through immigration, and finally, the direct and indirect impacts of climate change.

Canadian pro athletes showing dominance

With our geographical parents, Canada and the United States, seemingly on the verge of divorce, now is a great time to review what might be the best thing to keep these trade-warring countries together.

Sports.

While the two countries are bitter rivals in hockey, a sport in which they both do well, there is no such heated rivalry in other major sports. However, Canadian athletes are fully embedded into the fabric of professional basketball, football and baseball.

The most dominant Canadian in a U.S-based pro sports league is the runaway favourite to be this season’s most valuable player in the National Basketball Association, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The No. 1 winter sport south of the 49th parallel (it’s a distant No. 2 in Canada) gets more attention from the sports networks than any other, and the guy known as SGA, from Hamilton, Ont., is the league’s best, most dominant player. He is the league’s leading scorer, with more than 32 points per game, and is averaging nearly two points more per game than his nearest competitor, Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee. SGA is second in steals among all NBA players.

Virden actor recalls role as ‘body double’

Dean Munchinsky recalls being a “body double” for Hollywood star Dennis Quaid when the star filmed a movie in Manitoba.

Because they look alike, Munchinsky pretended to be Quaid when the cameras weren’t looking closely. In one scene of the 2017 film “A Dog’s Purpose,” it was up to Munchinsky to shoot a retake, he told the Sun, because Quaid had already flown back to California.

The Virden local wasn’t promised any face time on screen — editors planned to cut him out using special effects. The purpose of Munchinsky in the film was to create the appearance that Quaid was in a shot when it truly was not the case.

It could sound like a bummer for an actor, to be edited out and play the back of someone’s head, or their feet, but Munchinsky recalled that experience with a smile in February. He used it as an example to say that acting is about many things other than being a star, and that’s why he continues to pursue it as an adult.

Family farm set to auction off equipment next week

A few hundred pieces of farm equipment are up for sale next week as several members of a Virden family farm retire.

Grain carts, livestock trailers, flatbed trailers, truck tractors, fertilizer spreaders, combines and more will go on auction on March 26. The equipment comes up for sale as three local farmers at the Chapman Bros. Farms step back.

Darren Chapman, his cousin Rob Chapman and Rob’s brother-in-law Jeff Elliott will retire this year from their farm south of Virden.

“We’ve been farming all our lives,” Darren said in a phone call with the Sun. “We are all looking for a bit more time, before we get too old.”