Country trio has its eyes on the prize

Picking berries, sharing wonders in a muted woodland

This summer, Manitoba suffered prolonged periods of extreme weather. While eager to pick berries with my grandson, as is our habit, the temperatures were forbidding.

My grandson, 5, remained intrepid. As I am the one who charmed him into becoming a picker, I must be equally so.

When he is ready (and that depends on many factors, all of which are out of my control), he points to the blue bucket and the side porch door. It’s time. The time might be high noon (and often it is) when the sun is at its peak and my cellphone tells me the temperature is a 35 C that “feels like” 44.

There is always the line —“only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun” — I reference as we set out. To begin, of course, there is the snack, the hat, the water bottle, the bucket, the bug spray, sneakers, socks (ticks) and the cell.

Enrolment up at alternative schools

Independent schools are preparing to welcome a record number of students as more families pay for faith-based instruction and secular alternatives.

The overwhelming majority of Manitoba children — 200,000 — are starting in the public school system this fall. Since 2000, the percentage of students enrolled elsewhere — in homeschools, funded and non-funded independent schools — has nearly doubled, to 12 per cent from seven per cent.

“If money was no object, we could fill dozens and dozens more classrooms with the demand for independent education,” said Andrew Micklefield, executive director of the Manitoba Federation of Independent Schools, who is a former Tory government house leader.

The King’s School, Dasmesh School, Springs Christian Academy, Beautiful Saviour Lutheran School, Steinbach Christian School and IQRA Islamic School have all either upscaled at some point over the last five years or are actively in the process of expanding their footprint.

What’s open, what’s closed, what’s up in Winnipeg on Labour Day

Here's a roundup of hours of business for services and things to do on September 7.

Politicians who harp on Klein’s history with Nygard do so at their own peril

It was probably the easiest prediction to make in Winnipeg politics this week: the moment Kevin Klein officially entered the mayoral race, someone would bring up Peter Nygard.

Sure enough, they did.

And it was led by Klein’s chief political opponent in this race, Mayor Scott Gillingham, who called Klein a “fixer” for the convicted sex offender.

None of this is particularly surprising.

Slow and steady road to success for band fronted by local brothers

Over the course of a six-year career, Winnipeg country trio Petric has moved its way up from the stages of the Hi Neighbour Festival in Transcona, to playing bars all over the city, to logging a few performances at Dauphin’s Countryfest.

On Saturday, Feb. 29, Petric takes one more big step up the performance ladder — headlining a show at the Burton Cummings Theatre.

“This is going to be a fantastic night for us as a group and I think our whole support group, our family, friends and fans who have been following the band for years, this is going to be a big night for everybody,” says guitarist Jason Petric, 30, who started the band with his brother, singer Tom Petric, in 2014.

At that time, the then-duo caught the eye of Canadian country singer and Countryfest regular Dallas Smith, who signed Petric to his newly minted label and artist development firm, SteelHead Music.