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Troyanda marks 40 years of Ukrainian dance in Selkirk

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The City of Selkirk is synonymous with many things, from the steel mill to world-class catfishing on the Red River, and alongside those iconic flag bearers of the city is the Troyanda Ukrainian dance ensemble, which celebrated 40 years together in 2019.

Born out of the Selkirk and District Ukrainian School of Dance, which was established in 1972 and operated out of the Holy Eucharist Hall, Troyanda members have entertained around the globe, and, have always kept Selkirk in their hearts.

The group presented a framed, commissioned, original print by Terry Pitts to the City of Selkirk in recognition of its hometown. A card to Mayor Larry Johannson and council read, in part:

“Troyanda Ukrainian Dance Ensemble has 40 years of home within the city. Most of our dancers, current and alumni, grew and learned within your city limits.”

Johannson said he and all members of council are proud of Troyanda and join its members in celebrating their success.

“The Troyanda dance group has reached an incredible milestone and they’ve done it with class, dignity and grace,” Johannson said.

“They are ambassadors for this city and they have represented us well all across the globe. We congratulate them on their success and wish more of the same in the years to come.”

Carina Romagnoli, a Troyanda dancer and board chair person, said the group is proud to have its roots in Selkirk and equally proud to represent Selkirk on dance tours throughout Europe, South America, the United States and across Canada. Most recently, they did a two-week tour of the Ukraine in 2017.

“We are very thankful to the City of Selkirk for allowing us the opportunity to have our home based in Selkirk for the last 40 years. There have been multiple families of dancers and generations of dancers that have resided in Selkirk and walked through the doors of Memorial Hall,” Romagnoli said.

“We’re continually appreciative of everything the city does and continues to afford to us.”

Romagnoli, a Winnipeg resident, said she and a friend joined Troyanda after high school. Dancers hail from Selkirk, but also from around the Interlake and north Winnipeg, she said, because the group is special.

“We tried out and I absolutely fell in love with the group. It’s a very unique group in the sense that everybody is family, everybody is very welcoming,” she said.

“You feel a sense of belonging and a sense of community…it’s a really nice place to be.”

Now in it’s 41st year, Troyanda, like all other organizations, has been impacted by the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Romagnoli said the group moved to rehearsing online in the spring and then in summer worked on rebuilding community within the group with some social distanced hiking. In the fall, they returned to in-person practices, but have now split into two cohorts – one will practice in person and the other online from home.

Paramedics providing palliative care at home

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Paramedics serving Manitobans in Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority to offer palliative approach to emergency care.

Shared Health paramedics who are trained in best practice principles of palliative care will complement Interlake-Eastern RHA’s palliative care program with a new, collaborative approach to emergency care. Beginning Oct. 19, paramedics responding to 911 calls from registered clients in Interlake-Eastern RHA’s palliative care program will provide emergency care at home using a palliative approach to care.

“By providing paramedics with enhanced skills in the delivery of care using a palliative approach, Manitobans in the Interlake-Eastern health region will now be able to receive palliative care and comfort closer to home in emergency situations,” said Minister of Health, Seniors, and Active Living Cameron Friesen. “This is a new model of care for palliative clients who choose to remain at home with assurance that support is available in the event of an emergency.”

This service is currently only available to clients registered with Interlake-Eastern RHA’s palliative care program. It is a result of collaboration with and funding from two federal partners: the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (the Partnership), through their Paramedics and Palliative Care: Bringing Vital Services to Canadians program.

Interlake-Eastern RHA, in conjunction with the Paramedic Association of Manitoba, was one of seven health-care service delivery organizations across Canada to be given the opportunity to spread this service outside of previous implementation areas of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Alberta. This service is part of the national organizations’ ongoing efforts to expand the accessibility of palliative and end of life care in clients’ homes and reduce unwanted transfers to hospitals in accordance with people’s preferences. These federal partners are investing more than $700,000 in Interlake-Eastern RHA and providing additional support to expand the region’s existing palliative care service.

The enhanced service strives to address gaps in care that clients of the RHA’s palliative care program have been experiencing when their regular care team is not available. Two hundred and thirty-five active, full-time Shared Health paramedics who deliver care in Interlake-Eastern RHA have been trained in Pallium Canada’s Learning Essential Approaches to Palliative Care (LEAP) course that is tailored to address the specific training needs of paramedics. Training focuses on a palliative approach to care that includes managing symptoms and pain, and how to engage clients and family members in conversations about care preferences.

This enhanced service sees clients of the palliative care program receive in home materials that guide them on how to identify to emergency medical service dispatchers that they are registered with the IERHA palliative care when they call 911. This ensures paramedics can quickly access people’s care plans that outline their wishes for care. 

Pilot project makes Main Street Selkirk a wilder place

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Submitted by City of Selkirk

Selkirk is going back to its roots with a pilot project that will test the success of native plants in the city’s medians.

Selkirk CAO Duane Nicol says the pilot project arose as an idea that helps the city address some important sustainability objectives.

“We have turf grass in our medians right now, which requires a lot of maintenance in the summer and because of the road salts, doesn’t always do so well. By replacing this with native grasses, plants and flower, we believe we can greatly reduce the costs of maintenance, increase carbon-sequestration, capture and retain more stormwater, promote biodiversity, and improve the look of our main street with a more naturalized aesthetic,” said Nicol. 

Travis Vandenbrand, Manager of Parks and Recreation says rewilding the medians is also a great way to provide more habitat for pollinators.

“The idea came about as the city is looking into different ways to support pollinators and by performing this pilot project on one of our medians, we will be able to determine if this is a sustainable initiative,” said Travis Vandenbrand, Manager of Parks and Recreation Facilities.

“We connected with Prairie Originals and they have provided their expertise on the type of wildflowers to consider based on the conditions on the medians.”

The move to native plants fits in with the city’s Strategic Plan that calls for Selkirk to be environmental stewards by improving city practices and services, encourage water conservation and protect natural features and resources.

Kelly Leask, the owner of Prairie Originals, said the native plants can provide many benefits to the city.

“It was really exciting for the city to come to me with this idea,” Leask said.

“It’s a really sensible thing to try to do. My understanding is it requires quite a lot of labour to mow the boulevards.”

Vandenbrand said the city typically spends about 30 hours a week maintaining grass on medians.

Nicol says that while it will take some time to maintain naturalized medians, it is expected to be far less than the current mowing program.

“During the summer – it’s almost a full-time job to mow our medians. If this pilot works, in a few years that time could be better spent maintaining our parks. It’s also a question of worker safety. Keeping workers away from traffic lanes is always a preference,” said Nicol.

Native plants will make mowing a thing of the past and will help out in many environmental ways.

The project is located on a portion of Main Street in the city’s north end. Leask planted about 350 plugs in the spring and planted another section this fall.

“There will be a nice little side by side comparison of two different methods of installation,” she said.

“The idea with the pilot project is it will give an opportunity for the city to compare which method requires more maintenance and which fits better into the way they’re able to operate and manage the site.”

There are some 27 different varieties of flowers and grasses and some different species in the seed mix, which will provide plenty of options for the city.

“It’ll be a good chance to trial a variety of different species just to see how they’re able to thrive and survive in a difficult situation, because boulevards are kind of a difficult growing space,” Leask said.

Grass tends to struggle on boulevards, Leask said, because they’re hot and dry and have the added struggle of road salt, which inevitably ends up on the boulevards.

“There can be some real challenges for plants to thrive there as well. We’re going to try a bunch of different species and see which do best,” Leask said.

The environmental benefits of native plants are many, and Leask said she hopes the boulevards will send a strong message to residents and visitors to Selkirk that the environment matters and is something we all should care about.

“There’s sensible ways to do things differently to improve the environment for everybody, and not just people, for other wildlife too,” she said.

“Even just by reducing the amount of mowing, that cuts back emissions, but native plants also provide a lot of different ecological goods and services. They sequester a lot of carbons, and they help with water filtration and slowing down surface water run off. They don’t need to be watered as much and at the same time they provide much better habitat resources for things like pollinators, and also they look more beautiful.”

Vandenbrand said the Public Works Department was consulted on the project to ensure the flowers selected won’t pose any risk to sightlines and pedestrians on Main Street.

Some of the potential good that may come out of suffering

By
Henry Ozirney
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Henry Ozirney, who is the interim pastor at New Life Church in Teulon, Man., writes about some of the lessons he has earned through the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo Submitted by Henry Ozirney)

The thorny issue of suffering in a world created by God has been the cause of a lot of disillusionment for many people. They wonder, “How a good and loving God could allow suffering to happen?”

Last week, I wrote in this column about how God has created humankind with a free will and the unfortunate but necessary consequence of that being the ability of humans to inflict suffering on each other. I said that the idea that God should intervene and stop suffering would ultimately mean He would have to eliminate all free will. The downside to God using His will to overrule our wills was the potential scenario of being forced to do things  you might now otherwise not want to do. Perhaps something such as going to church and even worse, having to donate to it.

So what should God have done? Before He allowed the world to get into the mess it’s now in, He could have stopped the entire program from unfolding. He could have exercised His option to wipe Adam and Eve off the planet after their sinful choice to disobey Him. That’s one option He had.

His other option was to let it keep on going and see what potential good could still come out it. Perhaps, He could still make something good happen out of what was beginning to look like a bad thing already.

I like the way CS Lewis puts it in his book, Mere Christianity: “Of course God knew what would happen if they (Adam and Eve) used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk. If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will -that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings- then we may take it it is worth paying.”

So what were some of the good, even redeeming, things that could possibly come out of such a bad start? The next couple of columns will give several answers, but here’s one for today:

God knew that wonderful things could happen if, in some cases, He chose to directly intervene and resolve the problem of suffering. One such illustration can be seen a story in the Bible where the disciples of Jesus see a man blind from birth. They ask Him, “Whose fault is it that this man was born blind from birth? This man’s or his parent’s?” Jesus replied,“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Jesus’ point was that God would receive glory from the man’s being healed by Him. And that’s what Jesus did: He healed him and the man left, seeing.

As pastor, I have seen that over and over again in my 50 years of ministry: in the midst of great suffering, God shows up, often in answer to prayer, and heals the person who has been suffering.

I recall a number of years ago, a teenaged girl in our church being diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, the flesh eating disease. The doctors had told her parents they might have to amputate her leg. Her anxious father called to tell me the bad news and I quickly arranged for a group of people to pray over her that same evening.

The next morning, the father called to say the doctors were stunned at the turn around. In a few days, her foot was back to normal. Today that girl is a mother of four lively boys, and very capably walking on both legs.

I had someone say, “But Henry, that was just a coincidence. You prayed and coincidentally, she got better.” My reply was, “Well, I find that when I pray, these coincidences happen. And when I don’t pray, they don’t.”

Ah, but someone may say, “What about all those cases God doesn’t show up in the suffering? What about all those cases when there isn’t an immediate deliverance?”

An answer to that next week.

On a Scary, Wary, Spooky-Wookie Night Before Halloween

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Grammy
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The moon lights up Grammy's garden by The Creek on the night before Halloween. (Brook Jones/River City Photography/Selkirk Settler Times)

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a scarecrow. This is how it came to be. 

Now there is a place called The Creek. Have you heard of it? It is where Human Grammy lives, by The Creek and with a very, big garden. Human Grammy’s house is very tiny and so she plays in her garden lots.  

It is in Human Grammy’s garden that I live. I am Spider.   

That is correct. I am a spider and my name is Spider. I have eight legs on which I crawl. I have two, bulging eyes by which I can see the smallest of specks. And, I have a very hairy body which tingles and shakes letting me know just where I am in the garden (or anywhere for that matter).   

Human Grammy prefers that my family lives in her garden rather than in her house. So, we do.

My Mommy and Daddy made me my very first spider home, a web, way up on the beautifullest of flowers, Sunflower. 

My bestest of friends also live in Human Grammy’s garden. I have lots of friends even though sometimes I feel all alone. My Human Grammy tells me that it is when I feel all alone that I learn best how to be a friend to myself. That sounds kind of weird to me, but Human Grammy would not say something like that if it was not true. Human Grammy is kind of smart that way. Even I know that. 

One of my friends is, Crow. Crow’s name is Crow because he is a crow. My Mommy is not too fond of Crow. She seems to think that he might eat me one day. 

I told her, “Mommy, Crow whispered to me that he would Never, Ever Eat me because I am his friend. He also told me that Friends help each other; not eat each other. That is just the way it is Mommy, among us bestest friends.”    

Well one night there was very bright moon high up in the sky. It was the biggest, brightest, orangest moon that I ever saw in my whole life. Someone told me later on that it was called a Harvest Moon but at the time, I did not know for certain what it was. I wanted to get the best view possible. 

You see, I am a very Brave spider and I want to learn all there is to learn. 

And so, it was that by the light of the Harvest Moon, I crawled out from my web and down the stalk of Sunflower. When I got to the bottom of Sunflower’s stalk, I could not believe my eyes. 

The moon was Bright and Orange like a Pumpkin in the Sky. It was amazing.

I gazed and gazed and gazed so much that I did not notice the clouds moving in.  Soon, moon’s light was gone and the sky was dark, dark.  It was the darkest sky that I ever did see, ever. Even the stars were dark. The sky was black. The air was chilly. Silence was all around. Silence prevailed.

Well, even though I am the bravest spider that ever was, it was so dark everywhere that I became scared. I no longer knew which way was up and which way was down. I did not know where Sunflower had gone. I could not find my web. 

My web is the special house that my very own mommy and daddy made for me. And, on this darkest of nights, I could not find it.

I did not know what to do. I did not know where to go.

So, I hided under a Rhubarb leaf and I cried. 

I cried and I cried and I cried. I cried so hard that I even made Spider Tears.  I have never made spider tears before. So, that scared me even more because I thought that my wee spider body was melting. Do you know how scared that made me feel? 

 I thought I was going to melt into oblivion. I am not sure where oblivion is but I have heard Crow say – “Yep, he’s gone. Probably into oblivion.”  Crow would say such a thing after he had cawed at other creatures scaring them away from Human Grammy’s garden.  In this way, Crow protected us. 

I trusted Crow. 

But then, a miracle happened. A Real-Life Miracle.

 Just when I was thinking about Crow and what he had said about oblivion, I heard crow caw, “what’s wrong wee spider? Where are you? Your Mommy and Daddy are looking for you.  Your sister and brother are looking for you. Your friends Tomato vine, Cucumber, Fern and Beet leaf are looking for you. Keep making noise. We will find you. We will show you the way home.”

Spider sobbed and sobbed. He was crying so hard. Between sobs he said, “I…feel…. soooooo …. alone. I can’t see in the dark….and…. I am scared…And this wet stuff keeps dripping from my eyes. I think I am melting, Crow… Help me. Please help me. Come quickly.”   

Crow cawed back to spider and this is what he said:

“Wee spider, I will help you. I am your friend and we share Human Grammy’s garden. We are a team. Follow my instructions. Count one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. While you are counting, I will call Fern. She will know what to do.”

Fern is an asparagus fern. Human Grammy loves to eat vegetables, especially asparagus. I think that is why she is so healthy. So, Fern has lots of asparagus buddies.

Crow cawed to Fern and told Fern all about wee spider not able to find his way home. Crow was right. Fern knew just what to do.

Fern said, “I know what to do. Call Tomato Vine.” And so, they called Tomato Vine. And Tomato Vine, upon hearing Spider’s story said, “I know just what to do. Call Cucumber.”   And so, they called Cucumber. And when they told Cucumber spider’s story, Cucumber and her fellow cucumbers shouted, “Count us in.  We will help Spider find his web but we will need Beet Leaf and Sunflower. Beet Leaf will cushion us all and Sun Flower knows best.  Sunflower points the way for all of us here in Human Grammy’s garden.”

And so, it was that Fern, Tomato Vine, Cucumber, Beet Leaf and Sunflower huddled together and decided how best to help Spider. 

Sunflower knew that the Moon was a Harvest Moon and that each vegetable would be strong and hardy enough to help Spider. They wasted no time. They knew that Wee Spider could count very fast. This is what they did. 

Sunflower stood tall. Cucumber came and draped around her stalk. Fern patterned herself at Sunflower’s back making it look, almost, like Sunflower was wearing a skirt. Tomato Vine wrapped around and hung like a necklace of rubies from Sunflower’s neck. Beet leaf gathered around the base to make it soft like a cushion just in case wee spider had trouble climbing. 

You see. Spider’s mommy and daddy had built spider’s web on Sunflower knowing Sunflower was the strongest and brightest flower that ever was in Human Grammy’s Garden. They knew that Spider always could find his way home once he could see Sunflower. Sunflower points the way home. 

Now, just as spider’s friends finished their task, Spider shouted out, “Ten”. 

Crow cawed:

“Dear Spider, Our dear, dear little friend. Open your eyes. We are here for you. We are your friends. We see you. We hear you. We love you. And we are here always even though sometimes the sky is dark and you can’t find your web. You did the right thing. You stayed still and you called out for help. Now come along dear friend. You will find your Web along the way as you climb Sunflower’s stalk. She is waiting for you. We know you know how to climb. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.…Keep putting one foot in front of the other and you will find your home. 

We love you. We are happy we could help you. Your mommy, daddy, sister and brother are waiting in their webs which you will find along the way.   

Cloud played its trick on the Night Before Halloween. Now it is Halloween Morn. Cloud has moved on. Harvest Moon is setting in the West and Sparkling Sun is Rising in the East. All is well. You can see your way. 

It is Halloween Day…. One of the Funnest Days of the Year. 

Remember your family, friends are there to hear you even when you cannot see them. Just call.”  

Remember whenever the sky is dark, the moon is still shining even though a cloud may be in the way.

Happy Halloween 

Steelers, Fishermen have deep roots in Selkirk

By
Brook Jones
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Selkirk mayor Larry Johannson expressed his appreciation for the Selkirk Steelers and the Selkirk Fishermen on Oct. 25.

Full story coming soon.

Royals represented at cross country championships

By
Brook Jones
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Lord Selkirk Royals athlete Nathan Vaughan competes in the men's 5 kilometre race at the 2020 Chris McCubbins / Athletics Manitoba Provincial Age Class Cross Country Championships at Kilcona Park in Winnipeg, Man., on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020. (Brook Jones/River City Photography/Selkirk Settler Times)

Three Lord Selkirk Royals athletes competed at the 2020 Chris McCubbins Provincial Cross Country Championships in Winnipeg on Oct. 24.

Full story and photos coming soon.

Gem of a building

By
Brook Jones
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The other day I had the privilege of being at the Manitoba Legislative Building to photograph the presentation of the first poppy for the 2020 poppy campaign.

I’ve been to the Manitoba Legislative Building too many times to count and each time I visit I am still captivated by its remarkable beauty.

Red River College COVID-19 Micro-Credential in high-demand

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Submitted
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Submitted by Government of Manitoba/Red River College

Red River College and the Manitoba government announced on Oct. 23 that three additional intakes to the COVID-19 micro-credential to further expand testing efforts in Winnipeg, with plans already underway to offer training opportunities to health-care professionals in specific areas of rural Manitoba.

“The health and safety of Manitobans remains our top priority as we continue to expand our efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 within our community,” said Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Cameron Friesen.“Increasing testing is key as we work to reduce wait times and improve access for all Manitobans, and this includes an adaptive and highly skilled workforce. Through this partnership with Red River College, we are training additional health-care workers to immediately redeploy to screening centres where their assistance is helping to reduce wait times and provide better service.”

The micro-credential, which trains health-care workers and students to safely perform a nasal swab on adults and children to collect samples to test for the virus,was announced earlier this month and is in high demand. In less than 24 hours,the college filled the first three sections, while maintaining a wait-list of nearly 120 students.

The three additional intakes announced today will be offered weekly, with the first beginning on Nov. 9 and will run until Nov.27. These new sections are already filling quickly and Red River College is on track to train over 180 health-care professionals and students to safely perform a COVID-19 nasopharyngeal sample collection at an authorized COVID-19 test site, further supporting testing efforts in the province.

The first group of students, who started the course on Monday, will complete their training today and will be ready to enter the workforce as early as next week.

“This is the RRC way. We respond to the needs of our partners, our community and our province by putting our strengths to work. This micro-credential builds on the many examples of how Red River College has stepped forward over the past several months to serve our community.” said Fred Meier, president and CEO, RRC. “As we continue to respond to the changes and challenges of COVID-19, I anticipate that Red River College will be called upon again to support our community in a number of ways. I am confident in our capacity to continue to make a difference.”

The course is a blended delivery model and is offered tuition free to students through Red River College’s School of Continuing Education. For more information about the program, including eligibility requirements and how to register, visit www.rrc.ca/covid.

Happy feet at Evolution

By
Brook Jones
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Alyssa Loewen participates in a ballet class at Evolution Dance Company in Selkirk; Man.; on Tuesday; Oct. 6; 2020. (Brook Jones/River City Photography/Selkirk Settler Times)

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Evolution Dance Company is keeping the feet of many dancers very happy during this time of the year.

Alyssa Loewen, who is a Grade 10 student at the Selkirk Comp, is no stranger to the local dance company in Selkirk as she has been dancing for nine years.

“I really enjoy dancing and I have lots of family and friends here,” Loewen said.

The 15-year-old hopes to improve upon her strength and flexibility during the 2020-21 dance season.

“I hope to strengthen friendships and relationships,” added Loewen.

Selkirk Comp Grade 12 student Shaylene Johnson, who has been dancing since she was four-years-old, told the Selkirk Settler Times that dance team at Evolution Dance Company is like a family for her. She continues to dance because of the team aspect that dancing involves.

“I’d like to be able to teach,” Johnson said when looking down the road.

Lockport Middle School student Dani Erwin was seen dancing during a practice on Oct. 6 with a face mask decorated with a floral patter.

“I don’t know, I’ve just been really into flowers and I really like daises and I’m not sure why,” Erwin said. “It’s definitely been different and it just goes show that we have to be more careful, but even with dance and school it’s been very tough, but we’re pushing through and we’re doing well,” she said.

The 12-year-old echoed the same sentiments expressed by Johnson that Evolution Dance provides a family atmosphere.

“They are so kind, caring and supportive and they’ve been family since day one pretty much,” Erwin said.

Erwin said dance inspires her and she hopes to one day become a dance instructor. She also added that dancing takes a lot of energy.

“You do sweat a lot,” Erwin said.

Andrea Myers and Sonja Stepic-Boudreau are the co-owners of Evolution Dance and have been in business since 2006.

“On many levels it’s very exciting and rewarding to see. Just the challenges that everyone faced during the pandemic and It was a scary time and we didn’t know if we’d be back in September. Just on that aspect it’s very exciting to be back,” Myers said as she was fighting back tears. “These kids have been through so much and it’s a scary time. The fact that we get to be a place that they come and it’s a safe place for them to dance, to be with friends and to do what they love. You can’t put that into words, how rewarding that is.”

The theme of family continued with both Myers and Stepic-Boudreau.

“I don’t think of them as staff (I think of them as family),” Stepic-Boudreau said, when asked about the instructors at Evolution. “We’re just blessed. We feel very blessed.”

Looking ahead to May 2021, Myers and Stepic-Boudreau are hoping to have some type of year-end celebration and rehearsal, but are unsure how that will look at this point in time due to the pandemic.

“Take it as it comes,” Stepic-Boudreau said. “Right now we are just enjoying having the children in the facility.”

Video feature coming soon.

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