St Malo Warriors christen new ice plant with convincing victory

It was fitting on a night where the community was celebrating a new piece of equipment in the St Malo Arena, the hometown junior hockey team came out with a workman-like performance to pick up a victory.

Dignitaries, politicians and stakeholders came together before the start of the St Malo Warriors game against the North Winnipeg Satelites Jan. 20 to celebrate the building’s new ice plant.

The new plant paid immediate dividends for spectators, as fans enjoyed a more comfortable atmosphere while watching the Warriors demolish their opponents in a 6-1 victory.

The plant and dehumidifier may be in place to help extend the building’s life, but as a bonus, the excess heat generated by the system is pumped into the arena to keep temperatures from falling too low.

Winter in the Village an opportunity for growth

by GREG VANDERMEULEN

The addition of Christmas lights, a snowshoe trail, kick-sled rentals, horse-drawn sleigh rides, a warming fire and more have helped the Mennonite Heritage Village reach for their goal of becoming a year-round destination.

Executive Director Gary Dyck said a pair of grants made the recent investment possible.

“There was always this desire to be a year round museum,” he said. “We have the galleries, but we wanted somehow to use the village more than just in the summer months.”

Steinbach Sabres basketball season tips off

While other sports enter the stretch run of a long regular season, the high school basketball schedule in Manitoba is a sprint to the finish.

The Steinbach Regional Secondary School (SRSS) Sabres tipped off their season in the first tier of the South Central Athletic Conference (SCAC) on Jan. 9, and will finish Feb. 22.

Even with the short runway to get prepared for any post-season, the Sabres boys varsity team has kept busy, playing in three tournaments before their league schedule began, and have scheduled two more for late-January/early-February.

Head coach Jeff Dykerman said while the Sabres haven’t gotten off to a great start, he was happy to see his team get back into the win column against the J.H. Bruns Broncos with a 63-48 win Jan. 18 in Steinbach.

RCMP renews call for tips in family’s fatal border crossing

Investigators are asking the public to help fill in a two-day gap in the known movements of a family of four from India who died of exposure in a field near Emerson while trying to walk into the United States.

The bodies of Jagdishkumar and Vaishaliben Patel, and their children Vihangi and Dharmik Patel, were discovered about 12 metres from the international border on Jan. 19, 2022.

Investigators believe the family was dropped off near the border and was attempting to cross into the U.S. on foot with a larger group of people when they became separated in temperatures that reached -35 C.

One year later, RCMP say they have pieced together the family’s travel timeline but still know little about the Patels’ movements between Jan. 14 and 16, when they travelled from southern Ontario to the Emerson area.

Searching for stolen trailer

RCMP don’t have much to go on when investigating a stolen trailer.

In a Friday press release police said they’re not even sure when the 2020 grey Apogee utility trailer with license plate 191FL was stolen.

Instead they say it was stolen from a Dufresne residence sometime in December.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Steinbach RCMP at 204-326-4452 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.manitobacrimestoppers.com.

Big tests ahead for Sabres as hockey season enters stretch run

With four games remaining on their schedule, the Steinbach Regional Secondary School (SRSS) Sabres were still alive for a first-round playoff bye.

The Sabres sit in fourth place as of Jan. 24, nine points behind third-place Westwood. The top three teams in the Winnipeg High School Hockey League’s (WHSHL) top division will get a bye, with the 10 remaining teams playing in a first-round three-game series.

John Laninga is the head coach of the Sabres, which have been snake-bitten against the three top teams in the division this season. Steinbach is winless against Garden City, St Pauls and Westwood.

“We’ve been in those games, one or two goal games for the most part,” Laninga said.

After-school program supports rec for students with disabilities

It’s 4 p.m. in the foods and nutrition room at Steinbach Regional Secondary School and the smell of bacon wafts through the room.

Today’s menu is Caesar salad, spaghetti and meatballs and vanilla ice cream for dessert.

Rachel Friesen, 13, doesn’t attend SRSS yet, but loves to cook. She’s no stranger to the kitchen, having known her way around a cutting board since she was only two-years-old.

“My favourite is mac and cheese,” she said while manning the spaghetti station. Soon, Friesen and nine other teens participating will sit down to eat the meals they’ve cooked, with a bit of socializing between bites.

Pistons goalie Wasik commits to Air Force Academy Eagles

by CASSIDY DANKOCHIK

Phone threats prompt middle school closure

RCMP and the U.S. department of homeland security are investigating a series of threatening phone calls made to Clearspring Middle School Wednesday and Thursday which prompted the closure of the campus Friday.

“Clearspring Middle School received a voice message today from an unknown caller issuing a direct threat to CMS for tomorrow,” Superintendent Shelley Amos wrote in a Jan. 19 notice posted to the Hanover School Division’s website.

RCMP Sgt. Paul Manaigre said the school received two threats, one on Jan. 18 and another the following day.

The first threat, made on Wednesday, advised a student would be bringing a gun to school the following day. HSD contacted Steinbach RCMP and their investigation “did not reveal any credibility to it”, Manaigre said in an emailed statement.

RCMP investigate church break-ins

Police are investigating break-ins to three Steinbach churches in three days as possibly related.

RCMP issued a press release Tuesday, asking the public to help solve the break-ins which took place from Jan. 15-17 at Steinbach Christian Mennonite Church, First Baptist Church and Covenant Reformed Church.

The first incident took place at 9 a.m. on Jan. 15. The thief stole a soundboard from the Steinbach Christian Mennonite Church.

The second report was filed at 1:30 p.m. Police say the First Baptist Church was broken into overnight. Stolen was the Sunday offerings and RCMP say damage was caused to the interior.

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Searching for historic photo

I wonder if your readers might be able to assist me. Currently I am finalising my selection of illustrations for my forthcoming book on Grunthal to be published by the University of Toronto Press later this year. I am searching for a good copy of this picture of the 1967 Centennial fair held in Grunthal in 1967. This enhanced picture copied from the book Grunthal History is of a float with a display of the new Canadian flag, the Queen of Grunthal, Melita Driedger with Ken Holme on the tractor. If any reader has a better copy of this picture or another of the float, I would be glad to hear from them. I can be contacted by email, james.urry@vuw.ac.nz or people can phone Ernie Braun, in Niverville at 204-388-6146.

Making way for future trash

A newly opened cell at the Steinbach landfill will extend the lifespan of the site for 12-13 years.

While the first phase of this plan began when former Steinbach Mayor Chris Goertzen tossed the first bag of trash into the cell in 2010, the second phase completes the southern half of the space allotted.

A third phase is planned for the space between the old hill and the new hill and will give the community another 25-28 years after the second phase is filled.

Eldon Wallman, solid waste manager for the City of Steinbach said estimates are based on tonnage, and growth projections, though he added the tonnage is not rising as fast as population in the area.

Morden man charged in rural bank heists

Police have charged a man from Morden in connection with five bank robberies committed across southern Manitoba over an eight-week span.

Brett Ashton Krashel, 30, faces four counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery. He remains in custody following a Monday court appearance.

Manitoba RCMP detailed the work that led to Krashel’s arrest during a press conference at “D” Division headquarters in Winnipeg Jan. 19.

“This was not an easy investigation,” RCMP Insp. Tim Arseneault said.

Pistons D-man makes NHL scouting mid-season rankings

It’s been a whirlwind start to 2023 for Steinbach Pistons defenseman Warren Clark.

The 2004-born defender was first named one of the the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s (MJHL) players of the week, and in the second week, he was the only MJHL player to make NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings for North American skaters.

Clark, born in Riverside, Ont., has already announced a commitment to play his college hockey at St Cloud State University in Minnesota.

A rookie defender, Clark has been an anchor on the Pistons blue-line, racking up big minutes and points for a squad which has top-end forward talent.

Christmas Day robbery investigated

RCMP are searching for a suspect who gave themselves a Christmas present of stolen cash.

In a Jan. 11 press release, police said they were called to the Great Canadian Dollar Store on Christmas Day and believe the break and enter occurred sometime that morning.

“It is believed that the front door was pried open,” they stated in the press release. “Cash was stolen from the business.”

Surveillance footage shows a suspect with long blonde hair, wearing jeans, yellow and black gloves, a black toque, and ski goggles. The suspect was viewed on surveillance footage between 6:50 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Dec. 25.

COLUMN: Carillon Flashback February 13, 1974 – Snow Festival kicks off Steinbach’s Centennial

Taking a page from Beausejour’s book on winter festivals hosted every March, Steinbach kicked off its 1974 centennial celebrations, with an event called “Fun in the Snow”, and like their neighbors to the north, a celebrity snowshoe race was a featured item during a full afternoon of activities at the community’s fair grounds.

The RM of La Broquerie reeve proved to be the outdoorsman in the group, stomping his way to victory over RM of Hanover Reeve John Harms, RM of De Salaberry Reeve Zeph Audet, and the rest of a field of seven area mayors and reeves.

“Voyageur” Lacoste, otherwise known as Reeve Rene Lacoste, loped over the finish line in an easy win to earn the title of ‘Snowshoe King of the Southeast’.

Reeve Lacoste denied accusations after the race that he’d been on a special diet of Habitant pea soup for the last week, and had vigorously trained at a wilderness camp in the Marchand Lake area in preparation for the event.