Robyn Wiebe

Settling students back into regular school life following the pandemic, a new board priorities plan, and capital project success were highlights of 2023 for Western School Division (WSD) Superintendent Stephen Ross. 

"As we look ahead to next year, I think we're excited to continue to help our diverse and growing community and student body continue to thrive. We expect continued enrollment growth and probably a bit of a surge next fall with the new school opening and some other projects in the community happening that might create more opportunities for housing." 

2023 was full of activity in the City of Morden. Newly elected Mayor Nancy Penner said the building and rebuilding of the Alvey Street and Parkhill Drive bridges was a big accomplishment, even with the challenges the projects faced.The bridges were both damaged severely due to Spring overland flooding in 2022. 

A house fire destroyed a four-plex in Winkler on Christmas day on Royal Crescent. Brenda Fehr and Frank Ketler lived in one of the residences, and have lost almost everything. 

Brenda recalled the night of the fire. 

Shortly after midnight Friday approximately 3,200 Manitoba Hydro customers lost power.  

According to a statement from Manitoba Hydro, "The cause of the outage was a pole fire on a line that serves two substations, one in Winkler and the second in the Hochfeld area." 

Winkler Fire Department received the call at approximately 11:30 pm for a hydro pole fire on Hwy 201 and Rd 26W, according to Fire Chief Richard Paetzold. 

Paetzold said in a statement, "Crews blocked the road for safety reasons till hydro was on scene." 

Maria & the Mennos is a sitcom that was created by Winkler's Tina Fehr Kehler along with Paul Plett and Hazel Wallace. 

Local actor Chuck Fefchak gave an overview of the show. 

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."