Robyn Wiebe

Thanks to a grant the Morden Curling Club will experience more efficiency for the aging structure on the corner of 2nd and Wardrop Streets.  

President of the Morden Curling Club Scott Bissett explained. 

The City of Morden presented the $26 million Financial Plan last Tuesday night to a small crowd of people, compared to the larger crowds that have recently attended the byelection forum and strategic planning session. 

Mayor Nancy Penner elaborated on some of the details presented. 

Previous version of this article indicated this was the highest amount raised in Manitoba history it has now been corrected to indicate it was the second highest.

A small step towards before and after school programming in Morden took place at the United Way Pembina Valley granting day. 

Chair of Morden's School Age Programming Committee Grace Keeling is grateful for the injection of funds towards the project. The recently formed committee is composed of parents and community leaders dedicated to creating before and after school programming for school-age kids in the community.  

Those looking for Morden Agencies downtown on the corner of Stephen and 8th Streets, will now find the insurance company at Unit E - 886 Thornhill Street off Highway 3 across from McDonald's.

After 50 years at this location, co-owner Jeff Klippenstein explained the decision to move.

Often, additional learning support focuses on helping students who struggle; however, an opportunity was created to target those that excel in math in Western School Division (WSD). Eleven grade six École Morden Middle School students had the opportunity to learn math through a Math Enrichment Program.  

Numeracy Coach Korina Peters explained. 

Western School Division Numeracy Coach Korina Peters guides teachers in a reflective approach to teaching math through modelling lessons in the classroom, assessing student learning together. It's part of supporting teachers through the Manitoba Rural Learning Consortium (mRLC) Numeracy Achievement Program (NAP), aimed at encouraging teachers to try different teaching practices to find the most effective ways to improve student learning in math. 

Peters supports 30 teachers through NAP, providing a safe place to answer these three questions.  

Friday night, the annual Irish Ceili took place at Morden's Kenmor Theatre, with Irish dancers of all school ages showcasing reels, jigs and other dances they have learned throughout the year.  

Irish Dance Instructor Cathy Savage recapped the evening.  

“This was a fabulous night. These kids did amazing, and it was so nice to see so many people out supporting Danceworks and the Irish dancers and Tom is always the Irish Cowboy, he just rocks it. It's so much fun to have." 

With increasing enrolment, and a new school opening, Western School Division (WSD) Board of Trustees met with the education minister Nello Altomare about the financial pressures it's facing.     

Board Chair Brian Fransen said between the years 2020 and 2022, WSD's assessment base increased by 5.58%. Over that same time period, Western's enrolment grew by more than 14%. 

Early December, the City of Morden moved to the Moderate Drought Stage, due to low water levels at Lake Minnewasta, urging residents to conserve water.  

This week, Mayor Nancy Penner had some good news for residents.  

"We're happy to say we're back into Normal Drought Stage according to our drought plan. The last little bit of moisture we got put the lake up. We're only down 3 feet now. That is outlined in our drought plan. We're back to normal."