Pam Fedack

In high school, Megan Franklin says she was the type of person that always saw herself leaving Winkler. In fact, Megan did leave her home city for a period of time after graduation but chose to come back.    
    

A farewell event was held at Winkler City hall Tuesday afternoon for outgoing Winkler Mayor, Martin Harder. 

For many of the community's younger generation, Harder is the only mayor they likely remember. Harder served the city as mayor for 16 years and led his last council meeting last night.

Funds through Canada Post's Community Grant program will allow the Winkler Daycare Centre to proceed with another project. The centre recently received a $2,600 grant.

“The money that has been presented to us will be going towards a water bottle fill station outside," said Winkler Daycare Director Ang Nickel.

Northlands Parkway Collegiate (NPC) in Winkler was the host site for an annual career symposium on Wednesday. The event switches off each year between Winkler's Garden Valley Collegiate and NPC. 

This year, students had the opportunity to explore about 35 exhibitors, ranging from local businesses to Apprenticeship MB, colleges, universities, and Bible schools that showcased training and career options available to students. The day also included information sessions with a number of the exhibitors. 

Four of the five candidates seeking a Ward 1 position on the RM of Stanley Council participated in a 'roundtable discussion' Tuesday evening. The event was co-hosted by the Winkler and District Chamber of Commerce and the Morden Chamber of Commerce.

Incumbent Peter H. Froese, who is also seeking a seat in Ward 1, was not able to attend Tuesday's event.

It's a year of growth for Garden Valley School Division (GVSD), with the student population again topping the 4,000 mark.
    
Superintendent Dan Ward says on September 30th, the enrollment count was 4,060 students, a gain of over 10 percent from the end of September last year. Ward says with the influx of students, and new students continuing to trickle into GVSD schools, they will continue to keep close watch on enrollment.

The City of Winkler will be tackling some necessary repairs to the floor of its potable water tank, and residents will need to participate in making the project a complete success. 

The repairs, which are getting underway today (Oct. 10), will mean that the tank will be emptied, completely, and the city will have to rely fully on the Pembina Valley Water Coop and its George Avenue Reservoir as water sources for the week. 

Winkler Mayor Martin Harder and CFAM Radio 950 Newscaster Pam Fedack found some time to catch up on Wednesday morning for a new edition of In the Mayor's Chair. The two discussed this week's City Caucus Meeting held in Morden and briefly touched on a couple of other items.

In case you missed the conversation, enjoy it right here!

Challenges over the past couple of years brought on by the pandemic forced the Boundary Trails Health Centre (BTHC) Foundation to create new initiatives and to reach out and connect with new people.

The Foundation held its annual meeting earlier this week at Boundary Trails Health Centre.

BTHC Foundation Executive Director, Shannon Samatte-Folkett, notes one highlight of this last year is how the staff has been a lot more involved, and a lot more supportive of the foundation.

Due to a large number of candidates gaining their positions by acclamation, many municipalities in the Pembina and Red River Valleys will not have elections next month for new reeves and mayors. That includes the Rural Municipality (RM) of Stanley, where current Deputy Reeve Ike Friesen will be the municipality's next reeve after the October 26th municipal election.