Rural Roundup — Oct. 29, 2026

NEEPAWA

Neepawa Middle School students raised $17,192 for the Terry Fox Foundation, with its annual fundraising campaign, showing that a little friendly competition and the right incentive can go a long way for a good cause.

It was a massive increase over last year’s amount of $7,752.

This year’s endeavour got underway during the second full week of classes and challenged students to raise money. A large contingent answered the call, as 75 students fundraised in the community and another 105 contributed by buying Terry Fox inspired T-shirts.

Anyone who raised more than $100 earned the opportunity to pie a teacher in the face, while those raising $200 or more had the added privilege of choosing which teacher would take the pie.

The big payoff came Sept. 29, when Pie Day saw 41 of the middle school’s 63 staff members take a pie to the face.

» Neepawa Banner & Press

BRANDON

A Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School teacher has won one of the country’s highest honours for educators.

Christopher Sarkonak earned the Prime Minister’s Award for Teaching Excellence in STEM. The award recognizes his outstanding contributions to science, technology, engineering and mathematics education and his dedication to helping students succeed, both inside and outside the classroom.

The Brandon physics and science educator started his teaching career in Killarney School for two years before joining the staff at Crocus Plains for the next 15 years, inspiring students to embrace the STEM subjects.

The announcement was made in October that Sarkonak is one of 60 award recipients to receive the Prime Minister’s Award for teaching excellence in the country.

» Discover Westman

GLENBORO

A signed jersey from Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor will soon be up for grabs, with proceeds from the fundraiser going to the Glenboro Children’s Learning Centre’s playground expansion project.

Tickets go on sale this week, with only 450 available. They are priced at three for $20 and can be purchased at the Glenboro daycare, online through the fundraiser’s social media post or through Shelby.

The Winnipeg Jets supplied the signed jersey as a thank you for a corn maze project planted in the shape of the team’s logo, which caught the team’s attention earlier this summer.

The jersey was then donated by Jefferies Farms, Riley and Shelby Jefferies and family, to support the local fundraiser.

The winning ticket will be drawn Nov. 7 at a dance hosted by the Glenboro Children’s Learning Centre at the community hall. The event is open to all ages.

Shelby estimated that if all 450 tickets are sold, the fundraiser could contribute $3,000 toward the daycare’s playground expansion. The project still needs $50,000 to reach completion.

» Baldur-Glenboro Gazette

DAUPHIN

A Sandy Bay First Nation man is in custody in connection with a recent kidnapping on Ebb and Flow First Nation.

In the late morning of Oct. 1, Ste. Rose du Lac RCMP received a report of an assault at the Ebb and Flow First Nation.

Officers and paramedics located a 28-year-old man, who had been assaulted and had several cuts to his body. The victim was taken to hospital for treatment of his injuries.

Officers subsequently learned the victim had been at a residence when a second man entered and began assaulting him with multiple weapons.

The victim was then restrained and thrown in the back of a truck. He was assaulted again before eventually escaping when he jumped out of the moving truck.

At approximately 1:30 p.m., RCMP located the truck driving on Lake Road Southeast and pulled it over. The driver was arrested without incident.

While searching the vehicle, officers found weapons that matched those used in the assault.

A 44-year-old man is charged with assault causing bodily harm, kidnapping without firearm, unauthorized possession of a prohibited weapon, assault with weapon, forcible confinement, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, and failing to comply with an undertaking condition.

The investigation continues.

» The Dauphin Herald

BOISSEVAIN

Although it came later than planned, the harvest for the Boissevain-Morton-Whitewater Growing Project will once again help those in need around the world.

On Oct. 9, seven combines and eight trucks hit the field at Fairfax. According to Mitch Bohrn of the BMW board, they found a day of opportunity amid questionable weather, and were able to take advantage of it.

“The harvest was great,” Bohrn stated. “It was a little later than we had hoped, but this has been a tough fall for everyone. We had a good day, and people were able to get out and get it in.”

The crop this year was canola, and Bohrn said it looked good. Some canola in the area had been tamped down due to rain, but theirs looked better than most. The field also was dry enough to do the work.

The project grows an annual crop for sale, with the proceeds going to the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. That organization sends money and food around the world wherever it is most needed. Bohrn said the Foodgrains Bank would decide where the money they raised would go in 2026.

For about the last two decades, the Growing Project has used a field owned by Del and Heather Fraser just outside of Fairfax.

Bohrn said he wasn’t sure how many bushels to the acre they were able to collect this year, as some of the trucks were late and only getting the canola to the elevator at the time.

» The Boissevain Recorder

OAK LAKE

Former Oak Lake resident Ernest Elder has been named the winner of the Larry Nicholls Umpire Award of Merit.

The Brandon resident, who began umpiring baseball in 2005, received the award at a Baseball Manitoba event on Oct. 17.

Peter Perreault of the Baseball Manitoba Umpire Committee said Elder is known for his consistency in making calls “both on and off the plate and is rarely challenged.”

He praised Elder’s even temperament and sense of fair play. Perreault said it is a pleasure to work with Elder “as he treats his partners with the utmost respect and he is truly a partner with anyone he works with.”

While Elder excels at calling balls and strikes, he said what he enjoys about umpiring is the camaraderie with the players and his fellow umpires.

“I am one of many umpires in the area that give up a lot of our time and weekends so that people can play baseball,” Elder said. “It’s a nice honour that someone would take the time to nominate me. I guess it shows that I am pretty well respected by my peers and, I think, the participants in the game.”

» Virden Empire Advance

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