Tiffany Fell lives life to its absolutely fullest and she has been rewarded as she occupies the office of mayor of Springfield.
Co-owners of Evolution Dance proving to be dynamic duo
Andrea Myers and Sonja Stepic-Boudrea are the co-owners of Evolution Dance Company in Selkirk.
Physiotherapy attracting women to exciting career
Corinne Thompson-Bobrowich has proven when you are passionate about a career the rewards quickly follow.
Thompson-Bobrowich is a co-owner of Steelcity Physiotherapy with her husband, Brad Bobrowich.
Smith challenges Canadian to fight human trafficking
Joy Smith of The Joy Smith Foundation is challenging Canadian to fight human trafficking in Canada.
According to Smith, the numbers of human trafficking cases in Canada is staggering.
Honour those special women in our lives
I have to admit that I have only been celebrating International Women’s Day for the past few years. I recently learned that international Women’s Day began in 1911, however, I don’t recall this particular day getting much attention when I was growing up, but it sure is now in the 21st century.
Women are our mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunts, cousins, classmates, teammates, neighbours and co-workers.
I would like to give a big shoutout to my mom and my sister, Leah, as they are amazing women, who are always there for me in life and always encouraging me. I also want to give another shoutout to my niece, Tatum, who will be turning 10-years-old this summer. It’s fun watching her grow up.
I often think about my late nana Smith and late nana Jones and how blessed I was to have them in my life.
Cheers to all the amazing women in your life.
Happy International Women’s Day
The Selkirk Settler Times would like to wish all women a very Happy International Women’s Day on March 8.
Memories of Canada’s hockey dad
It came as a shock when I learned Canada lost its hockey dad when Walter Gretzky died on March 4.
Every since I was a young kid, I have been a huge fan of Wayne Gretzky and that is why I am deeply saddened like many Canadians from coast to coast to coast about the recent death of Walter Gretzky, the father of Wayne Gretzky aka the Great One.
It hit really hit home as many of us in Canada had our own hockey dad’s growing up. I can recall as a youngster how my dad would tie up the laces on my hockey skates as well as my sister’s skates.
I think about how my mom and dad have always been there to cheer me and my sister on while we competed in sport. Walter Gretzky was there for his son, Wayne, whether that was a peewee hockey game or a Stanley Cup final. Wayne was and still is a remarkable ambassador for the game of hockey and so was his father.
I remember meeting Walter Gretzky after he spoke to students and staff at the University of Manitoba. After speaking, I went up to Walter to ask him his autograph. I can recall how pleasant and easy going he was. He was just a true gentleman.
It was a few years before meeting Walter Gretzky that my best friend and I had the chance to meet Wayne Gretzky. It was such a dream come true to meet the Great Gretzky.
The Selkirk Settler Times expresses its condolences to the Gretzky family.
Canada loses its hockey dad
A nation is mourning the loss of Walter Gretzky, who became more commonly known as Canada’s hockey dad.
Walter Gretzky, who is the father of Wayne Gretzky, died on March 4.
According to media reports, Walter was 82-years-old, and his funeral took place in Brantford, Ont., on March 6.
Province issuing third round of Manitoba Bridge Grant payments
The Manitoba government is increasing its budget for the Manitoba Bridge Grant and making a third round of payments to help protect businesses in the province from the impacts of COVID-19, Premier Brian Pallister announced today.
“As the pandemic and public health orders continue to impact businesses, we are increasing our budget by $15 million for the Manitoba Bridge Grant to help create a bridge for businesses through this challenging time,” said Pallister. “We are focused on creating an environment for a sustained reopening of our economy so that businesses can reopen safely and stay open. We continue to work side-by-side with all businesses to help them get back to doing what they do best – create jobs for Manitobans and offer the services Manitobans rely on.”
Through a third round of payments, the province will provide up to $67 million in immediate support to eligible small and medium-sized businesses, not-for-profits and charities impacted by the #RestartMB Pandemic Response System. This brings the total program investment to $215 million, which is $15 million above the province’s original commitment of $200 million. The province has also extended the Manitoba Bridge Grant application deadline until March 31.
Eligible businesses that received a first and second bridge grant payment, each worth up to $5,000, will automatically receive a third equal payment beginning as early as Friday, March 5 and will be notified of the deposit via email. New program applicants will be eligible for a one-time immediate payment to a maximum of $15,000.
“This additional payment will help cover the impact of public health orders on operating costs pending the careful reopening of our province, as well as help businesses with reopening costs as we safely loosen public health orders,” said Pallister. “We recognize and appreciate the sacrifices our business community has made to keep all Manitobans safe and the crucial role it plays in our safe reopening plans.”
The province created the Manitoba Bridge Grant in November 2020 to provide $5,000 upfront to businesses, not-for-profits and charities directly affected by public health restrictions and temporarily ordered to close their storefronts to the public. It expanded the program Dec. 8, 2020, to support home-based businesses indirectly impacted by public health orders, offering up to $5,000 based on 10 per cent of their most recent calendar year revenues. The province expanded program eligibility Jan. 8 to include hotels, resorts, lodges and outfitters, travel agencies, janitorial services companies and owner/operators of licensed passenger transportation businesses that saw demand for their services impacted by public health orders.
To date, the Manitoba Bridge Grant program has paid approximately $134 million to 14,775 eligible applicants. This includes approximately $117 million to more than 11,700 storefront businesses and organizations, and $17 million to more than 2,400 home-based businesses.
More information about the Manitoba Bridge Grant is available at:
www.gov.mb.ca/covid19/programs/bridge-grant.html.
Businesses that require assistance in completing the online form can contact Manitoba Government Inquiry at 204-945-3744 or 1-866-MANITOBA (1-866-626-4862).
Njegovan getting accustomed to curling bubble
For the love of curling, you do whatever you have to do to keep playing.
Selena Njegovan, third for East St. Paul’s Tracy Fleury, recently spent almost two weeks competing at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in the Calgary bubble, constantly following COVID-19 restrictions and spending most of her time off the ice alone in her hotel room.
Once returning to Manitoba, Njegovan immediately went into a two-week isolation. Almost as soon as that is over, Njegovan will go back to Calgary where she will be paired with Reid Carruthers, the third for Manitoba’s Mike McEwen, in the Canadian Mixed Doubles Championship. Njegovan will then isolate at home for another two weeks before returning yet again to Calgary to compete in a pair of Grand Slam events to be played in the bubble.
“I went to the Scotties, then home to isolate,” she said. “Then, I’m going back to the Mixed Doubles, then back home to isolate for two more weeks. Then going to back to two Slam events, then isolate for two more weeks.
“But at least we’re curling.”
After a delayed start to the current season, curling was shut down due to the pandemic and the curlers didn’t even know if they would be competing at all during a critical season leading up to the 2021 Canadian Curling Trials, with the Canadian Team Ranking System points crucial to qualifying for those trials.
“It’s a quick return, but some of us haven’t curled all year, so it’s exciting to get back there,” said Njegovan, who has no qualms with adhering to all of the restrictions everyone faced during the Scotties. “The protocols and restrictions were all handled very well.”
Fleury, of course, decided to stay at home in Sudbury, Ont., to look after her infant daughter, who had taken ill, and was replaced at skip by transplanted Manitoban Chelsea Carey at the Scotties. Carey skipped them into the championship round.
“Obviously, we didn’t know what to expect and we were happy to make the championship round, so it went very well,” said Njegovan, 29. “I was happy with my performance.”
Despite adjusting to a new skip, Njegovan earned second-team all-star honours.
“Chelsea’s a great skip and called the right ice and we’re all very proud of our performance,” said Njegovan, also referring to second Liz Fyfe and lead Kristin MacCuish. “We just got a few bad breaks along the way.”
Carey believes the foursome could have made the playoffs.
“We felt that we were playing better than the results we were getting, unfortunately,” she said during a Zoom press conference. “But, sometimes that happens. There’s luck and fate involved in events like this and unfortunately, it just wasn’t on our side this week.”
Carey, who had been without a team at the start of the season, accepted an offer to become the team’s fifth. Then, she moved up to skip.
“I was really grateful for the opportunity to play with these girls,” Carey said. “They’re a great team and they’re just a lot of fun. Obviously, this week, the results weren’t what we wanted, but it’s been the most fun I’ve had curling in a long time.”
It might not be her last time as the team does not know if Fleury will return to curl in the Slam events. She will likely decide this weekend.
BITERS: Tracy Fleury, by the way, already has a trials spot … Connor Njegovan, Selena’s husband, will compete in the Brier at lead for Manitoba’s Jason Gunnlaugson … Many are still scratching their heads over Curling Canada’s decision not to include Chelsea Carey and Colin Hodgson in the Mixed Doubles championship. “There was a new criteria and no one knew what it was,” Njegovan said incredulously.
Jim Bender writes on variety of sport topics for the Selkirk Settler Times. Bender has more than three decades of experience as a journalist.
