Barry Lamb

The International Peace Garden (IPG), south of Boissevain, usually hosts tens of thousands of visitors each but the pandemic changed that until this past year when crowd numbers bounced back.

The IPG is known for its floral beauty and many other attractions such as the conservatory and the 911 memorial.

“2022 was pretty good,” said CEO Tim Chapman.

The fall cattle run is producing some high numbers of animals going through the sales ring and that includes Killarney Auction Mart.

This past week’s sale on Monday saw 1,405 head sold.

Owner Allan Munroe says he’s never seen a fall run like this one. “We’ve had one of our busiest fall runs ever. We started out in September with pretty good numbers and every sale has been sold out right from Thanksgiving on and it will continue that way right into December.”

The MLA for Turtle Mountain says there was a few commitments in Tuesday’s Throne Speech that will be of interest to residents in the Westman region.

Doyle Piwniuk notes the speech lists government priorities and through the course of the session more details will be released. “We won’t be making any announcements in the immediate future because of this week’s by-election call for a vacant seat in Winnipeg.”

Piwniuk says the government has a number of priorities and improving health care delivery is one of them.

Civic elections have taken place and for various reasons, the Association of Manitoba Municipalities needs to find a number of directors to sit around the board table.

President Kam Blight says it's nothing new to have vacancies following elections which take place every four years.

Manitoba’s premier livestock show is about more than what goes on in the ring and the barns it’s also about educating area youth.

Moon and Ewe mania are part of this year’s show.

On Wednesday close to 200 Grad 3-6 students from about a dozen Westman schools took part in the interactive information program at the Keystone Centree.

Assiniboine Community College is launching its first-ever Alumni Survey.

The survey will summarize alumni needs and interests and provide Assiniboine’s Alumni Association with direction on where to focus efforts for future communication and event planning.

The terrorist attacks that happened September 11th, 2001 haven’t been forgotten and officials at the International Peace Garden (IPG) continue to hold a memorial ceremony every year.

In 2001, 19 militants hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States.

Since 2002 the IPG has held an annual program at a memorial site which is located at the peace Garden south of Boissevain. That site has steel girders from the World Trade Centre.

High inflation is having an impact on many segments of the economy and Manitoba’s Economic Development Minister Cliff Cullen says that won’t stop the province from helping support growth in the future.

The MLA for Spruce Woods was at the International Peace Garden south of Boissevain in late July for a funding announcement.

“Inflation is taking a bite out of a lot of things. Obviously, when it comes to the infrastructure dollars more money gets eaten up and the dollars don’t go as far as they used to. We’re finding that on so many different projects.”

The International Peace Garden (IPG) south of Boissevain held its 90th-anniversary celebrations over the August long weekend and turnout for the milestone was steady.

The IPG along the Canada-United States border opened back in 1932 and continues to attract thousands of visitors every year.

CEO Tim Chapman called it a great weekend.

“There were more people on the grounds this past weekend than we’ve seen for any single event over the past five years. It was nice to see a number of familiar faces and a lot of new people visiting the garden.”

The International Peace Garden (IPG) turned 90 years old in 2022 and a special celebration will take place the weekend of July 29-31.

In 1928, Dr. Henry J. Moore of Islington, Ontario had a big idea. A horticulturist and a teacher, he envisioned a place of peace in the form of a beautiful garden on the border of the United States and Canada to celebrate friendship. This dreamer worked with the National Association of Gardeners and in 1932, his grand concept – a garden spanning the border of two countries and two governments — opened to the public.