Robyn Wiebe

As staff and students at Western School Division (WSD) take time with family and friends over the holiday season, WSD Superintendent Stephen Ross reflects on the past year. 

Morden Collegiate Institute staff and students have settled into three new classes on the Northwest corner of the building. The last addition to the high school was in 2010, when the grand opening of the Backstage Theatre took place.  

Board Chair Brian Fransen recalled the planning was already in place at that time for when the need would arise to expand.  

Kaleida's Elora Klassen loves to bake, to make crafts, to crochet and to ride her horse. She has overcome many challenges in her thirteen years of life.

"I was born with a complex clubfoot. When I was 10 years old, I started having stress fractures on the side of my foot because I couldn't walk on my heel. I had to walk on the middle of my foot and that caused a lot of pain. So, we talked to a few doctors, and they said, either I would need to do reconstruction surgery that would leave me with a very small foot or an amputation." 

Two years ago, the Resettlement Assistance Program (RAP) came to the Pembina Valley giving settlement services organization, Regional Connections (RC) the funding to help refugees find a new home in Canada away from conflict, refugee camps and danger in their home countries, according to RC Executive Director Steve Reynolds. 

Board Chair Carolyn Schellenberg has served in a variety of ways for 16 years and is excited about the team this year. 

"We have a great bunch of volunteers on our board, more so than we've had other years. A younger group, so we have more energy and they've really putting their all behind them in whatever they're doing. Our toy group has just got a huge bunch of toys and some kids are getting 2 toys this year, other than just one. And, we had enough games donated that we could put one in every hamper of over two people." 

The City of Morden has a new mayor. Nancy Penner came out on top, receiving 1,567 votes in Wednesday's by-election. 

Penner gave her reaction to being chosen to lead the city for the next three years.  

"I have to say I am so overwhelmed by the incredible support from the community with the election results tonight, and you know, I am so excited. I have to say it's truly an honour and a privilege to be elected Mayor of Morden."  

When Carman Collegiate Principal Mary Reimer found out a staff member had cancer, she wanted to show support for her and those with a cancer diagnosis and started making chocolate moustaches and selling them in the school cafeteria for $2 each. The first year they raised $1500 for Boundary Trails Health Centre Cancer Care.  

NDP Cabinet Leader for Southern Manitoba, Brandon Burley, is reaching out to communities and organizations in the region to communicate the details about this new role in an area with no elected MLAs represented by the NDP government.   

Burley represents 37 different municipalities across Southern Manitoba and is tasked with listening to and being a voice for those needing direction and representation. His goal is to build bridges from the government to the areas without NDP representation in the Manitoba Legislature.  

The Morden Area Foundation (MAF) was happy to invest in several projects in 2023, it's 30th year of giving back to Morden and the surrounding area. Several of the seven founding members of the organization were in attendance for the evening to celebrate. 

The AGM started the evening giving an overview of MAF's work and financial statements, indicating the grants are given based on the just over $4 million in its fund. 

MAF Board Chair Sue Nelson explained the breakdown of the funds given out this year.     

February 2nd, 2023, smoke started to come into Janzen's Paint and Decorating Ltd (JPDL) in Winkler, a business established by Doug Janzen in 1992. Customers and staff were quickly evacuated, and the city watched the anchor business burn to the ground. It was the second fire for the company, which grew from the original Winkler store to five locations across Manitoba, Brandon, Portage, Steinbach, and Winnipeg. The Steinbach location burned to the ground in July of 2022, less than a year before. A year before that, in 2021, Owner Doug Janzen died in a motorcycle accident.