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Free Press Field Trips

The Free Press is hitting the road this summer — back roads, primarily — in search of little gems of stories from small-town Manitoba.

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Jennifer Ching-Faux (top left), Myra Amy-McElroy, Wilf Klippenstein, Harvey Kinsman, Brian McElroy, Shannon Holenski, Glen Holenski, Sienna Faux (two, bottom left), and Kip Faux (four, bottom right) pose for a photo in front of the war memorial in Darlingford, Manitoba on Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. For Jen story. Winnipeg Free Press 2023.

Small-town spirit deeply rooted

As the community of Darlingford celebrates its 125th anniversary, residents young and old come together to honour the past and build for the future

Jen Zoratti 14 minute read Friday, Jan. 19, 2024
RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Former Glenboro mayor Earl Malyon with the village's mascot, Sara the Camel, in 1978. Standing 17 feet tall and weighing more than 2,000 pounds, Sara was designed by sculptor George Barone.

Vital valley village

Glenboro residents embrace peaceful lifestyle in Westman crossroads and farming hub

AV Kitching 17 minute read Friday, Oct. 6, 2023
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Pelican Lake and the town of Ninette, MB. See Ben Waldman story 230815 - Tuesday, August 15, 2023. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Motorists travelling highways 23 and 18 are dropped into a picturesque lake valley, with Ninette tucked in along the shore.

Hub of healing finds new life

The lake — once a main draw for the sanatorium location committee — is still inarguably Ninette’s calling card

Ben Waldman 14 minute read Friday, Sep. 1, 2023
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS In the late 19th century, the Icelandic River was an economic hub for lumber, agriculture and fishing. Today, the low and slow flowing waterway is primarily used for recreational pursuits. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Icelandic River in Riverton, MB. 230731 - Monday, July 31, 2023.

The ghosts of New Iceland

Now a picturesque waterway popular for outdoor recreation, more than a century ago the Icelandic River was a hub of industry for waves of Nordic settlers in the Interlake

Ben Sigurdson 18 minute read Friday, Aug. 4, 2023

Eastern Manitoba village of Elma has had its ups and downs and enduring mysteries

Eva Wasney 17 minute read Preview

Eastern Manitoba village of Elma has had its ups and downs and enduring mysteries

Eva Wasney 17 minute read Friday, Jun. 30, 2023

ELMA — For some, this is the end of the road. For others, it’s just the beginning.

The small village of 100 or so people sits at the intersection of provincial highways 15 and 11, roughly 80 kilometres east of Winnipeg.

Elma’s main cluster of homes is surrounded by the rocky, meandering Whitemouth River to the north and the linear, man-made Canadian National Railway tracks to the south. Tidy yards and thick swaths of forest open onto expanses of farmland in every direction — livestock, grain, strawberries.

On the edge of Whiteshell cabin country, the place boasts natural beauty and strange landmarks made stranger by local lore.

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Friday, Jun. 30, 2023

Photos by MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Elma, a small village at the junction of highways 15 and 11 in eastern Manitoba, pays tribute to its most famous citizen.
Photos by MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Elma, a small village at the junction of highways 15 and 11 in eastern Manitoba, pays tribute to its most famous citizen.

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.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS In Snowflake, as in many small towns, the grain elevator is the tallest building.