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Year-round cultivation, co-ordination and creativity behind Assiniboine Park's summer splendour

AV Kitching 11 minute read Friday, Jun. 2, 2023

The grass in the park glistens an electric almost-impossible-to-believe-your-eyes green.

A cloud of blush petals sway against the luminous blue sky; in the English Garden the Rosybloom crabapple tree is in full splendour.

Flowerbeds are ablaze with colour: pink-kissed petals of dianthus; sunrise lantanas; white pentas, and lavender salvia flash brightly against the rich loam.

Weeks of warmer weather coupled with soft, spring rain have done their job: life is once again blossoming in the Assiniboine Park Conservancy.

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Late goal gives Valour FC a tie

Donald Stewart 3 minute read Preview

Late goal gives Valour FC a tie

Donald Stewart 3 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 1:23 PM CDT

Nothing like some late heroics.

With his team down a goal in the 72nd minute, Matteo de Brienne found some space and delivered a gorgeous strike with his weaker foot that found the back of the net to give Valour FC a point in a 1-1 draw against York United in front of 3,352 fans at IG field.

This draw is the sixth in eight games for Valour, who now sit at 1-6-1 on the season in fifth place in the Canadian Premier League standings.

Both teams had the pleasure of dealing with intense heat and humidity during the game, but Valour head coach and general manager Phillip Dos Santos said that the physical conditions had no impact on his players.

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Updated: Yesterday at 1:23 PM CDT

(John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press)

‘Walk loud, walk proud’: thousands turn out for huge Pride parade

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Preview

‘Walk loud, walk proud’: thousands turn out for huge Pride parade

Erik Pindera 4 minute read Sunday, Jun. 4, 2023

Thousands wearing rainbow colours flocked to the Manitoba Legislative Building grounds and Memorial Park in downtown Winnipeg for this year’s LBGTTQ+ Pride parade, happy to celebrate despite the sweltering heat.

About 10,000 individuals and over 160 groups registered to walk in the parade, while many thousands more celebrated while standing or sitting along the parade route, which snaked from Memorial Boulevard down Portage Avenue and Main Street to The Forks.

The parade was slated to be the largest ever in Winnipeg, Pride Winnipeg president Barry Karlenzig told the crowds on Sunday morning.

“Walk loud, walk proud,” said Karlenzig prior to the kickoff.

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Sunday, Jun. 4, 2023

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merricks speaks at a rally before the Pride Parade in Winnipeg on June 4. (John Woods / Winnipeg Free Press)

Immersive exhibit celebrates 60 years of Ukrainian dance troupe

Eva Wasney 5 minute read Preview

Immersive exhibit celebrates 60 years of Ukrainian dance troupe

Eva Wasney 5 minute read Saturday, Jun. 3, 2023

Through colourful costumes, archival videos, photographs and red leather boots, The Journey Through Ukrainian Dance celebrates the 60-year history of Winnipeg’s Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble.

Preparing the gallery show, which opens to the public Monday at the Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre., has also been a personal journey for first-time curator Markian Tarasiuk.

“My dad has been involved with this group for basically its entire history,” Tarasiuk says of his father and collaborator Myron Tarasiuk. “This project has been defining for me, in terms of my heritage, and it gets to connect me more to… my father because I get to work with him and learn from him.”

Tarasiuk, 30, started taking Ukrainian dance lessons at four years old and auditioned for Rusalka when he turned 16. Joining the group was a familial rite of passage.

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Saturday, Jun. 3, 2023

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS NT - Ukrainian dance exhibit Photos of artist Markian Tarasiuk and his Ukrainian dance exhibition at Oseredok Ukrainian Cultural and Educational Centre. Subject: Winnipeg-born artist Markian Tarasiuk has returned to the city from his current home in LA to curate an immersive art exhibit about Ukrainian dance at the Oseredok centre. Tarasiuk is an alum of Winnipegճ Rusalka Ukrainian Dance Ensemble, which he says helped him connect with both his father and his heritage over the years. The exhibit focuses on the dance ensembleճ 60-year history and Russiaճ ongoing attempts to stamp out Ukrainian arts and culture by force. Eva Wasney June 1st 2023

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Hot and sticky at The Forks; splash pad to stay shut

Malak Abas 3 minute read Preview

Hot and sticky at The Forks; splash pad to stay shut

Malak Abas 3 minute read Friday, Jun. 2, 2023

A sweltering heat wave and thousands of people expected at Pride festivities at The Forks this weekend will be met with no way to cool down as Parks Canada is sticking to a July 1 opening for the park’s splash pad.

Fort Parka, as the pad is called, will remain closed for another month, despite city-run splash pads having been open for weeks.

Markus Harwood-Jones, a former Winnipegger who lives in Ontario, is staying at Inn at The Forks to celebrate Pride with his family in his hometown. He can’t believe the splash pad will be closed.

“We’re going to be facing a lot of crowds, and you always hear stories about people overheating in those kinds of temperatures, not being able to access enough water or cooling down properly,” he said. “(I felt) that combination of concerned over public safety, disappointment as a tourist and as somebody who’s from Winnipeg.”

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Friday, Jun. 2, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Fort Parka, the Parks Canada-run splash pad at The Forks, will remain dry until July 1, despite sweltering temperatures in the forecast.

17 children, adult rushed to hospital after elevated platform collapses on school field trip

Chris Kitching and Maggie Macintosh 7 minute read Preview

17 children, adult rushed to hospital after elevated platform collapses on school field trip

Chris Kitching and Maggie Macintosh 7 minute read Thursday, Jun. 1, 2023

Students who were on a field trip to Fort Gibraltar heard a cracking noise moments before a platform collapsed and sent about 30 people, mostly children, falling four to six metres Wednesday morning.

Officials said 17 children and one adult from St. John’s-Ravenscourt School suffered varying degrees of injury and were taken to the Health Sciences Centre, which declared a code orange — a disaster occurring outside the hospital.

“It could have been so, so much worse. We were prepared for the worst,” Dr. Karen Gripp, medical director of Children’s Hospital’s emergency department, told a news conference outside the hospital.

She said she had never seen an incident of this magnitude in terms of patient numbers.

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Thursday, Jun. 1, 2023

DAVID LIPNOWSKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

The platform that collapsed at Fort Gibraltar.

More calls for newcomer swim lessons, water-safety training after 12-year-old boy drowns

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Preview

More calls for newcomer swim lessons, water-safety training after 12-year-old boy drowns

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Monday, May. 29, 2023

During a day trip to Patricia Beach Provincial Park one recent summer, a group of newcomer children watched in awe as Mathew Joseph swam through the water.

“They were so stunned to see a newcomer like them swimming,” said Joseph, a program manager with the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba.

He learned how to swim in his native South Sudan before arriving in Canada.

But many newcomers, including kids who take part in IRCOM’s beach trips, don’t know how to swim or don’t fully understand the dangers in lakes and rivers, he said.

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Monday, May. 29, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

“Part of the integration for newcomers is to give them the opportunities to enjoy Manitoba and not be scared,” said Mathew Joseph, a program manager with the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba

Sea Bears make dazzling debut

Mike Sawatzky 5 minute read Preview

Sea Bears make dazzling debut

Mike Sawatzky 5 minute read Monday, May. 29, 2023

The Canadian Elite Basketball League’s shiny new Winnipeg franchise made its on-court debut Saturday.

The game and the hoopla surrounding it had a little bit of everything.

A mascot named Churchill rappelled from the rafters in pregame, there were multiple lead changes, a public marriage proposal during a third-quarter timeout (yes, Louise Hemedes accepted Zach Unrau’s proposal) and a sell-out crowd of 7,303 — setting a league record — filled the lower bowl of Canada Life Centre.

The only thing missing was a victory by the hometown team, which the Sea Bears provided in the form of a 90-85 triumph over the Vancouver Bandits.

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Monday, May. 29, 2023

BROOK JONES / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Winnipeg Sea Bears forward Chad Posthumus goes in for a hook shot Saturday night at Canada Life Centre. The local product finished with 10 points and nine rebounds.

West Broadway eatery The Tallest Poppy transitions to takeout-only and catering business

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

West Broadway eatery The Tallest Poppy transitions to takeout-only and catering business

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Saturday, May. 27, 2023

The burger had vanished.

Fries remained on Ashley Gawne’s plate. She was sitting near a window in The Tallest Poppy Thursday, looking out at Sherbrook Street.

“I heard it was their last day, and I was like, ‘Well, I better eat this,’” she said, looking down at the half-consumed lunch. “The food is amazing.”

She was a day early. The West Broadway staple’s last dine-in hours were Friday.

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Saturday, May. 27, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Neighbouring businesses say the restaurant will be missed because it drew people to the area.

New Pride collective to unite groups across province

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Preview

New Pride collective to unite groups across province

Eva Wasney 4 minute read Friday, May. 26, 2023

Pride season kicked off in Winnipeg this week with a slate of community events, a flag raising at city hall and a funding announcement that supporters hope will help create a more cohesive platform for LGBTTQ+ advocacy across the province.

“There needs to be a stronger voice,” Pride Winnipeg president Barry Karlenzig says of the $250,000 provincial grant received by the organization to spearhead a new Manitoba Pride Collective. “We have the most Prides per capita than any other province in Canada — that’s something to be proud about.”

The collective will provide core funding and operational resources for the 20 Pride organizations that operate throughout Manitoba. It will also offer the groups a chance to address shared issues as a united front.

“When something like this happens, there’s a collective of twenty Prides that can come together and make a statement and show support and solidarity,” Karlenzig says, referring to a recently rejected call to ban books with LGBTTQ+ themes in Brandon schools.

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Friday, May. 26, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Pride Winnipeg president Barry Karlenzig (left), Kookum Gayle Pruden, and premier Heather Stefanson raise the Pride flag outside of the Manitoba Legislative Building (in Memorial Park) on Friday, May 26, 2023. For Danielle da Silva story.

Winnipeg Free Press 2023.

Made-in-Manitoba series examines painful history of flawed government program

Eva Wasney 5 minute read Preview

Made-in-Manitoba series examines painful history of flawed government program

Eva Wasney 5 minute read Thursday, May. 25, 2023

Little Bird is no small feat.

Not only because it took seven years to get from concept to release, or because filming for the six-part television series was plagued by floods, ice storms, insect infestations and pandemic delays.

Little Bird is a groundbreaking accomplishment for the story it tells.

The made-in-Manitoba miniseries — which debuts on Crave and APTN Lumi today — stars Winnipeg’s Darla Contois as Bezhig Little Bird, a young Indigenous woman searching for her birth parents after being adopted into a Jewish family in Montreal as a child during the ’60s Scoop.

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Thursday, May. 25, 2023

(APTN/Crave)

Little Bird stars Winnipeg’s Darla Contois as Bezhig Little Bird/Esther Rosenblum, alongside Lisa Edelstein as Golda Rosenblum.

New addition to bustling community is an Indigenous, woman-owned charcuterie café

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Preview

New addition to bustling community is an Indigenous, woman-owned charcuterie café

Gabrielle Piché 5 minute read Tuesday, May. 23, 2023

Cassandra Carreiro hustled to grab two bricks of cheese.

She’d just folded deli meat into roses inside a takeout box. The platter was void of baguette slices, blueberries, grapes, mustard, sprigs of rosemary — all things to be added before the SkipTheDishes driver arrived. But first, the cheese.

“I’m used to kind of, like, taking my time,” Carreiro said, slicing white cheddar and adding it to the takeout charcuterie tray. “I’m not used to (this).”

Since October 2020, Carreiro had operated Sharecuterie out of ghost kitchens, shipping elaborate platters of finger foods across the city.

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Tuesday, May. 23, 2023

RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Sharecuterie owner Cassandra Carreiro. This Saturday marks Sharecuterie’s grand opening. It’s Winnipeg’s first drop in, sit-down charcuterie café.

‘In the path of our ancestors’: Indian Horse Relay closes annual Manito Ahbee festival

Katie May 3 minute read Preview

‘In the path of our ancestors’: Indian Horse Relay closes annual Manito Ahbee festival

Katie May 3 minute read Monday, May. 22, 2023

With his one-year-old son on his shoulders, smiling, Toby Bear stands up against the fence at the front of the race track, taking in the action.

“There they go!” he exclaims, as a clatter of hooves batter the dirt track a few feet away. Riding bareback, without saddles, young racers coral horses painted with traditional designs. At each leg of the race, they swiftly and carefully dismount and hand off the horse to another rider to continue the relay, aiming for as seamless a transition as possible.

Bear raises his arms up to cheer, and his toddler does the same. Behind them, more than a hundred spectators are focused on the second annual Indian Horse Relay at Assiniboia Downs, the last event of the 18th Manito Ahbee Festival, which wrapped up Monday.

“This is my second time here, and I enjoy it. It’s really cool,” said Bear, a Winnipeg resident, as he gestured to his contented son, also named Toby. “This is his second time, too.”

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Monday, May. 22, 2023

MIKE SUDOMA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Joseph Jackson celebrates as he and his horse, In it 2 Win It, cross the finish line at the second annual Indian Horse Relay at Assiniboia Downs.

For custom cornhole game-board crafter, it’s becoming serious business

David Sanderson 7 minute read Preview

For custom cornhole game-board crafter, it’s becoming serious business

David Sanderson 7 minute read Friday, May. 19, 2023

STE. ANNE — The World Police & Fire Games are coming to Winnipeg this summer. Sixty sports are scheduled to be contested. Few will be more intriguing than cornhole, an activity that requires participants to toss weighted bags at a raised, angled board from a distance of roughly eight metres, in an attempt to land the bags on the rectangular board or, better still, inside a hole cut into the top of it.

The Games’ cornhole competition is set for the RBC Convention Centre, beginning Aug. 4. Among the interested observers will be Steve Olson, a resident of Ste. Anne who was tasked with constructing all of the cornhole boards that are going to be utilized during the two-day tournament.

Last summer, Olson, the founder of the Royal Canadian Cornhole Company, built a customized board for a Winnipeg police officer, the surface of which boasted an image of the Winnipeg Police Service logo. The board was a hit with everybody who spotted it, including the person who’d been put in charge of organizing cornhole at this summer’s Games.

“I’d heard of the Police & Fire Games, but had no idea (cornhole) was an official event until they told me,” Olson says, seated in the dining room of the Ste. Anne home he shares with his wife/business partner Alicia, and their two daughters, ages 15 and 12.

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Friday, May. 19, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Steve Olson’s venture grew out of pandemic lockdowns, when he began crafting oversized versions of tic-tac-toe and Connect Four for family use.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Steve Olson, owner of the Royal Canadian Cornhole Company, works in his shop (where he makes high-quality cornhole games) in Ste. Anne on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. For Dave Sanderson story. Winnipeg Free Press 2023.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Steve Olson, owner of the Royal Canadian Cornhole Company, works in his shop (where he makes high-quality cornhole games) in Ste. Anne on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. For Dave Sanderson story. Winnipeg Free Press 2023.

Snowflake preserves and celebrates its history, from homestead and rail hub to nostalgic vestige of the Prairies’ past

Alan Small 10 minute read Preview

Snowflake preserves and celebrates its history, from homestead and rail hub to nostalgic vestige of the Prairies’ past

Alan Small 10 minute read Friday, May. 19, 2023

SNOWFLAKE, Man. — This southern Manitoba community’s two grain elevators tower on the horizon while driving south along bumpy Highway 242.

It’s only when you arrive that you realize there’s far more to Snowflake than a couple of old buildings.

Some shutterbugs on the internet have called Snowflake a ghost town, but the tractor and air seeder parked beside the newer-looking elevator on a windy Friday in May weren’t apparitions nor were the two men who were setting up a spout to fill the seeder’s tank phantom farmers from a bygone era.

It’s a small place, for sure, one that’s proud of its past and one that’s valiantly fighting to preserve its future.

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Friday, May. 19, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

In Snowflake, as in many small towns, the grain elevator is the tallest building.

Makeup artist to represent Canada in world’s largest transgender beauty pageant

Eva Wasney 3 minute read Preview

Makeup artist to represent Canada in world’s largest transgender beauty pageant

Eva Wasney 3 minute read Thursday, May. 18, 2023

Glitz and glam comes naturally to Adrian Reyes.

“I’ve always been into pageantry,” she says. “I think that’s like the (LGBTTQ+) community’s version of watching sports.”

Next month, the 28-year-old Winnipeg makeup artist is packing up her most glamorous gowns and heading to Thailand to compete in Miss International Queen, the world’s largest beauty pageant for transgender women.

It’s a stage Reyes has been preparing for since she was a teenager.

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Thursday, May. 18, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Adrian Reyes will represent Canada at Miss International Queen, the world’s largest transgender beauty pageant.

Confronting her fear, reporter gets up close and personal with thousands of garter snakes

AV Kitching 5 minute read Preview

Confronting her fear, reporter gets up close and personal with thousands of garter snakes

AV Kitching 5 minute read Thursday, May. 18, 2023

The red-sided garter snake is not poisonous. The red-sided garter snake is not poisonous. The red-sided garter snake is not poisonous. Repeat ad infinitum.

My stomach is in knots. I feel nauseated. In an attempt to quell my fears, I read extensively about the snakes the night before my visit to the world-famous Narcisse Snake Dens, but it proves counterproductive. I dream of snakes sliding into my mouth like slippery noodles, swarming down my throat, suffocating me.

When I was young, I lived with my maternal grandmother in a rural town in the north of Malaysia. Beside my grandmother’s house was an empty plot of land where a fold of cattle would gather, herded by a lady holding a long staff topped with a jangly bell.

One afternoon she turned up at the chain-link fence, sticking her bare foot through the gaps.

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Thursday, May. 18, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

AV Kitching braves her fears and accepts Cara Lizotte’s invitation to touch a snake.

Homophobic vandal takes pride in trashing Pride at elementary school

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

Homophobic vandal takes pride in trashing Pride at elementary school

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 16, 2023

Winnipeg police are investigating after a Pride flag mounted outside a Winnipeg elementary school was torn down over the weekend and a “homophobic rant” letter left behind claimed responsibility and pride in the act.

“I think the staff were shaken up,” said Seven Oaks School Division Supt. Brian O’Leary. On Monday, Riverbend Community School noticed the wall-mounted rainbow banner representing the diversity of the LGBTTQ+ community had been wrenched from the school along with the brick to which it was mounted.

“It was very clear this was an intentional act,” O’Leary said Tuesday. “Someone left a letter stating they’d done it deliberately…. The individual wrote an anonymous letter claiming they were proud of their actions. It was a homophobic rant… ‘Schools have no business flying a pride flag, how could we be doing this?’ That sort of stuff.”

The Winnipeg Police Service confirmed the incident is under investigation but couldn’t say if it is being investigated as a hate crime.

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Tuesday, May. 16, 2023

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Riverbend Community School is photographed May 16, 2023. Over the weekend, a Pride flag hanging outside was torn down. School administration put up a new pride flag on the inside of the school as close as they could to the torn down flag. The new flag is displayed at the window.

Back Downtown Spirit Week launches

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Preview

Back Downtown Spirit Week launches

Gabrielle Piché 4 minute read Tuesday, May. 16, 2023

Puppies, coffee, alcohol, board games — all are being added to the work week in an attempt to draw Manitobans to Winnipeg’s core.

Back Downtown Spirit Week launched May 15 with “Monday Funday,” which included oversized games spread across Old Market Square.

“It’s a way to get people out and exploring again,” said David Pensato, executive director of the Exchange District BIZ.

Minutes earlier, he’d circled a giant Jenga set, looking for a piece to remove that was both “ambitious and doable.”

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Tuesday, May. 16, 2023

(Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press)

Fizz and flavour: drinks writer and his mom review boozy options to celebrate Mother’s Day

Ben Sigurdson 9 minute read Preview

Fizz and flavour: drinks writer and his mom review boozy options to celebrate Mother’s Day

Ben Sigurdson 9 minute read Friday, May. 12, 2023

There’s no holiday more closely associated with brunch than Mother’s Day, and there’s no drink more closely associated with brunch (other than coffee, maybe) than a mimosa.

And while a mimosa is a relatively simple drink to make — sparkling wine and orange juice, combined in whatever proportions Mom sees fit — maybe you don’t have time to be fiddling with cocktails, or the notion of serving up house-made cocktails in addition to Mother’s Day grub is just too overwhelming.

With that in mind, I figured I’d test drive a half dozen premade cocktails (or “refreshment beverages,” as they’re sometimes called) that would work best with brunch. But in order to really get a grasp on what would or wouldn’t work for Mother’s Day, I figured I’d recruit a guest taster whose opinion I value over anyone else’s — my mom.

Gail Cabana-Coldwell (that’s my mom, in case that wasn’t clear) is no novice when it comes to reviewing things for newspapers. In addition to being a current Free Press book reviewer (particularly on all things nautical and Royal Family-related), my mom has also written for both of Winnipeg’s daily papers on all matter of topics and, in her time, has reviewed albums, ballet, rock concerts and, perhaps most pertinently, was the anonymous restaurant reviewer dubbed the Phantom Gourmet for that other local daily rag back in the 1980s.

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Friday, May. 12, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

No time to set up a Mother’s Day mimosa bar? No worries. Ben Sigurdson and his mom, Gail Cabana-Coldwell, taste test some crack-open-and-pour premade options for your family enjoyment.

Métis Superstar Designs creates one-of-a-kind ribbon skirts to reflect Indigenous pride and resilience

David Sanderson 7 minute read Preview

Métis Superstar Designs creates one-of-a-kind ribbon skirts to reflect Indigenous pride and resilience

David Sanderson 7 minute read Friday, May. 12, 2023

SELKIRK — Marlena Muir knew it was customary for women to wear a ribbon skirt to sweat lodge ceremonies, when she attended her first sweat at age 18, but, lacking one of her own, she arrived sporting a grey tank top and black maxi-skirt, instead.

Ahead of entering the lodge, Muir was pulled aside by a friend who whispered, “here, put this on,” as she handed over a patterned garment adorned with strips of brightly coloured silk.

“Slipping into it, I felt so… included. I’d never worn a ribbon skirt before, and it made me feel like I was being seen as an Indigenous woman, in a way I’d never experienced before,” Muir says, noting she also received her spirit name, Osâwi-Pinêsiw Iskwew (Yellow Thunderbird Woman), that day.

Close to a decade later, Muir, 27, is the proud owner of Métis Superstar Designs, a home-based venture that turns out contemporary versions of ribbon skirts, an article of clothing oft-described as being a symbol of identity and survival for Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people. Online reviews for her handiwork are glowing; her funky, functional pieces have been called, “beautiful,” “gorgeous” and, in the case of one done with pumpkin-orange jacquard fabric, “dedli.” (We think they mean “deadly.”)

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Friday, May. 12, 2023

(Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

Surprisingly little drama and unexpected upsides when flying pets to their new forever homes

Eva Wasney 7 minute read Preview

Surprisingly little drama and unexpected upsides when flying pets to their new forever homes

Eva Wasney 7 minute read Thursday, May. 11, 2023

Looking for instant popularity? Craving adoration from strangers? Try walking through an airport with a puppy in tow.

Fellow travellers will pause their journeys to marvel, children will be mesmerized and security personnel will wave you through the metal detector while joking that said puppy definitely needs to be confiscated.

If you’re lucky, on-shift restaurant servers will sit down at your table to trade stories about their own pets and wager guesses on pedigree — “She’s gotta be part Labrador; she looks just like my so-and-so.”

I was indeed so lucky on a recent trip to Toronto.

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Thursday, May. 11, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Eva Wasney and her partner, Neal Leithead, hold kittens from K9 Advocates Manitoba as the crates are scanned before going on a plane to Toronto in Winnipeg on Wednesday, May 3, 2023. For Eva story.

Winnipeg Free Press 2023.

Decoding the clouds of childhood depression

Jen Zoratti 4 minute read Preview

Decoding the clouds of childhood depression

Jen Zoratti 4 minute read Thursday, May. 11, 2023

Abigail is a little girl who has a dark cloud. Sometimes it’s big. Sometimes it’s not a cloud at all, but a ball of worries, or a swirl of fog, or a long shadow. Sometimes, it takes away her appetite.

We meet Abigail in Dark Cloud, the latest picture book from Winnipeg children’s author Anna Lazowski. Published via Kids Can Press and illustrated by U.K.-based artist Penny Neville-Lee, Dark Cloud is a sensitive examination of depression in children.

The book was inspired by something that happened to Lazowski’s daughter a few years ago, when she was prescribed an allergy medication. The new prescription dovetailed with some other big life changes — including moving to a new school and starting French immersion — so Lazowski initially chalked up her daughter’s behavioural changes to the adjustment period. But then, things began to spiral. “We watched our normally very happy, outgoing kid kind of just disappear,” Lazowski says.

One of the side effects of the allergy medication was depression. Lazowski took her daughter off the medication and got her the support she needed — which included looking at books. Lazowski began thinking about what role picture books can play in facilitating age-appropriate discussions about a tough subject.

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Thursday, May. 11, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Anna Lazowski will release Dark Cloud at McNally Robinson today.

Weed and (fresh) feed in the east Exchange

Gabrielle Piché 6 minute read Preview

Weed and (fresh) feed in the east Exchange

Gabrielle Piché 6 minute read Wednesday, May. 10, 2023

A hidden grocery store has emerged in the Exchange District.

Produce, bread and toilet paper line the walls behind the door marked Ashdown Cannabis.

It’s likely the only grocery store to provide fresh produce in the east Exchange District, according to the local business improvement zone.

“This all happened so fast,” Marleen Mecas said from behind the counter at 171 Bannatyne Ave.

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Wednesday, May. 10, 2023

Mike Deal / Winnipeg Free Press

Ashdown Market is a new grocery store in the Exchange District. It’s also a cannabis shop (though cannabis material is hidden).

Shelly’s welcomes La Pizza Week with a hefty bannock-taco pie

David Sanderson 6 minute read Preview

Shelly’s welcomes La Pizza Week with a hefty bannock-taco pie

David Sanderson 6 minute read Monday, May. 8, 2023

Remember the big pizza pie that singer Dean Martin went on about in the 1950s hit That’s Amore?

Well, when it comes to magnitude, it’s a safe bet Martin’s ‘za had nothing on what they’ve been serving up at Shelly’s Indigenous Bistro during La Pizza Week, a cross-country celebration of all things doughy that kicked off last Monday, and runs until May 14.

Vince Bignell is the owner of Shelly’s, which opened in mid-April at 1364 Main St., the former home of Bulldog Pizza. Bignell is a member of Mathias Colomb First Nation, and is a firm believer in the saying “size matters.” That explains why his La Pizza Week entry, a 15-inch taco pizza on a bannock crust, measures close to four centimetres thick in the middle, and tips the scales at a shade under five pounds. It’s loaded with beef, tomato, green pepper, salsa, sour cream and — the pizza-de-résistance — crushed Doritos.

During his first week of operation, he was offering bannock tacos as a lunch special. Then Catherine Li, whom he describes as his friend, mentor and partner, asked him to make her the biggest bannock taco he could.

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Monday, May. 8, 2023

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Owner Vince Bignell’s taco (left) and North Ender pizzas will satisfy the mightiest appetites of gourmands who enter Shelly’s Indigenous Bistro on Main Street in Winnipeg.

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