Terry Klippenstein

For an organization like Winkler MCC Thrift Shop, success may look a little different than it does for a regular business.

"[Last year] was an all-around success," reported Dave Penner, board president, at the recent annual general meeting. "We were very successful financially; successful in the fact that we have lots of volunteers; and successful in the fact we continue to get good donations." 

Total revenue amounted to $946,000, which is about $150,000 higher than the previous year - and close to a record said Penner.

One year after its revival, the Morden Roaring Lions Club is celebrating a milestone in its role as a community organization. 

"We just became our own independent club, about a good four months ago," said Bruce Robert, Club Vice President. "We're just celebrating that now. We're an independent club from our sponsors at Crystal City Lions and now the Morden Roaring Lions are an official Morden club."  

With their ranks sitting at 30 and growing, membership surpassed the required criteria.  

The ribbon has been cut on Phase 1 of the Willow Park Project in Morris. 

"What an awesome addition to our community. It's just fantastic," gushed Pat Schmitke from Bigway Foods. 

Schmitke organizes a weekly car show on the food store's parking lot, an event that also creates awareness and raises money for community projects. 

The ribbon has been cut on Phase 1 of the Willow Park Project in Morris. 

"What an awesome addition to our community. It's just fantastic," gushed Pat Schmitke from Bigway Foods. 

Schmitke organizes a weekly car show on the food store's parking lot, an event that also creates awareness and raises money for community projects. 

Residents of Altona will soon see town police cruising the streets on a new electric bike.

"Every year we put in an application to the province of Manitoba under the Criminal Property Forfeiture Fund," explains Dan Defer, Chief of Altona Police Service (APS). "That's money the province gets back from seized assets from investigations. So, this year, one of the officers, Constable Dustin Giesbrecht, put in a proposal that we should look at possibly getting an electric bike for patrolling in the park and wherever there's a large group of people."

The Back Door Youth for Christ drop-in center in Carman has completed the 4000-square foot expansion to its current space.

"We are so excited to functioning, running programming out of our new facility," said Director Tyler Friesen. "We just got in there a week and a half ago and we've run several programs out of there already. The space has been amazing! It's functioning exactly as we would have dreamed it would. It just feels like a dream to be in there!" . 

The project included renovations to the interior and exterior of the building.

The Altona Angels Softball club saw a record number of players register to play ball in 2023.

The club saw 110 ten players register to play ball this season. 

To mark the strong season, executive members organized a Softball Night on the last Monday in June. They felt it was the perfect way to celebrate the hard 
work and accomplishments of these young athletes, the families that support them plus the volunteer coaches and managers that make it happen.    

The Altona and District Health Care Board has named Kaylee Franz as the recipient of the 2023 Dr. S.S. Toni Scholarship.

The graduate of W.C. Miller Collegiate says she learned about the scholarship through her grandmother.

"She'd seen it in the paper and I was like, oh, that seems like a really good opportunity. I read through the paper, went on the [Municipality of] Rhineland website, found it, and filled it out." 

The scholarship is awarded annually to a resident of Altona, Montcalm, or Rhineland who is pursuing a health-related career.

96 senior students from W.C. Miller Collegiate will dress up in cap and gown today as they get set to celebrate their graduation.

Valedictorian Coen Gagne admits that COVID put a wrench in their high school experience.

"It was really just fun to talk to people again. The sense you got right after COVID and you were with all your classmates, you were like, yeah, this is really fun and I miss this a lot."  

He believes that overcoming that experience made his class better than ever. 

Standing in the middle of Altona's Main Street, town mayor Harv Schroeder, and Borderland MLA Josh Guenter cut the ribbon to mark the completion of the much-anticipated re-surfacing project.

"I took the first ride out on my e-bike and what a wonderful street," said Schroeder. "Just want to thank the Manitoba Government for putting the funds in and getting this job done. It's been many years in the works. It's been many councillors and mayors [that have] advocated for this. We just seemed to be able to make it work this time around and we're just thankful for that."