Robyn Wiebe

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. For Altona area farmers, Henry and Christy Abrams, it's personal. Last year, one of their three daughters, ten-year-old Rowen, wasn't feeling well and they took her to see a doctor where they ran blood tests to see what was causing her back pain and sore throat. 

Abrams said they took some blood to run tests and got the news they never expected. 

It was one last email check before bedtime for Morden's Yevgeniya Tatarenko when she saw what she first thought was spam.  The email was from Prime Minister Trudeau inviting her to Toronto to an exclusive event attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Association of Manitoba Municipalities (AMM) held its caucus meeting last week in Brandon where, leading up to the provincial election, Manitoba's Municipalities have four critical asks, according to the AMM website: Funding fairness & predictability, investing in core infrastructure, investing in people and finally, public safety.  

Morden Mayor Brandon Burley Shared some of the other issues discussed around the table. 

A girl with a dream. Kaitlyn Marie Reimer was diagnosed with childhood cancer at age 13. She passed away a few short years later at the age of 15. In that time, she started a charity to give back to her community, called Katie Cares. Part of her dream to support the work of the organization was to hold a fashion show for moms and daughters to have a fun night together, like her and her mom, Ruth Reimer.  

In October of 2012, at Emmanuel Church in Winkler 210 people gathered on a blustery night for the first Katie Cares Fashion Show. 

A crowd gathered in Confederation Park Sunday afternoon, following a colour guard march from Morden's Royal Canadian Legion Branch #11 to the park for a very special occasion. 

Second Vice President and Treasurer Jason Evert explained the significance of the day. 

Morden's Marilyn Skubovius and Pat Gibson are no strangers to thinking ahead in the area of healthcare in the region. Both visionaries were heavily involved in the work of building the regional hospital, Boundary Trails Health Centre, now undergoing a $100 million expansion project. With work on the expanded healthcare facility well underway, a new vision has been cast to help sustain staffing in the region. 

Committee Member Pat Gibson explained. 

The City of Morden has made an announcement on social media announcing the resignation Councilor Florian Lassnig, one year into his first term.

Lassnig said his dad was here visiting from Austria, a little while ago, and it became apparent he would benefit from family support closer to home.

"That brings a lot of feelings, and a lot of big decisions for us as a family, of course, who are fairly integrated in our community here, but on the other hand, I'm the only family he has. This is what we decided to do as a family, to support my dad in Austria."

With a provincial election less than two weeks away, voters in Morden-Winkler will see three names on the ballot. Winkler's Carrie Hiebert the Progressive Conservative Candidate, Morden's Ken Friesen for the New Democratic Party, and Winnipeg's Mattison Froese the Liberal Party Candidate.  

Winnipeg's Mattison Froese has been serving as a Regional Director for the Manitoba Liberal Party. 

Finally, after four years, Candlelighters Childhood Cancer Support Group (CCCSG) held their annual family camp for the first time since 2019. Usually held in Portage la Prairie, the annual family get together weekend was held in Winkler. 

CCCSG Volunteer Board Chair Naomi Fehr described a bit of the weekend. 

With a provincial election less than three weeks away, candidate nominations are finalized for the constituencies and Morden-Winkler will see three names on the ballot. Winnipeg's Mattison Froese the Liberal Party candidate, Morden's Ken Friesen for the New Democratic Party, and Winkler's Carrie Hiebert the Progressive Conservative Candidate.  

Hiebert's background gives her many reasons to want to serve.