June 13, 2018 marked the 27th anniversary of Weiming Zhao's move from China to Brandon. To help celebrate the date, he recently updated and shared his Facebook album of a collection of hundreds of plein air paintings and drawings that he has created over the last 15 years.  Plein air paintings refer to "leaving the four walls of your studio behind and experiencing painting and drawing in the landscape". Weiming has been painting almost daily for the last 15 years producing a portfolio of close to 6 thousand works of art. Most of his work is available for purchase and there are a few galleries and gift art craft stores selling his paintings in Manitoba today. Woodlands Gallery in Winnipeg is the gallery that represents his work. He mostly sells his work directly from his home studio which is 35 Balmoral Bay in Brandon. On average , Weiming spends about two hours on each painting.  His works are collected from all over Canada, United States, Russia, England and China. There are 14 pieces of his work in the Manitoba Provincial Art Collection. He has had 19 solo art shows over the past 15 years, and his paintings of Riding Mountain National Park are very popular among art collectors. Weiming tells bdnmb.ca that he started to paint daily in this way in the summer of 2003 trying to showcase the beauty of Brandon which he had called home for so many years. You can follow his work, and see more paintings of Brandon, on his Facebook page.  For more on Weiming, and his journey, please click here.

The City of Brandon's annual Canada Day Celebrations at the Riverbank Discovery Centre is quickly approaching and organizers have planned a fun-filled day for those attending.  This years the days festivities begin at 11:30 a.m. with the Canada Day Living Flag and ends with the popular fireworks show scheduled for 11:00 p.m. Throughout the day there are many activities/attractions planned including face painting, the Brandon Riverbank Duck Race, & Brandon Bouncy Castles inflatables.  Prairie Helicopters will be onsite offering scenic rides over the city.  The family stage includes shows from Sean Watson and a kids pedal tractor pull.    The 204, Full Flannel Jacket, Katie MacDoanld Duo and Jenerator are among the main stage entertainment.  A number of food vendors will also be on-site for those looking for a bite to eat.

The Westman Jamaican Community will be holding a fundraising event at the Park Community Centre with proceeds going towards the Jamaican Pavilion in the next Westman Multicultural Festival.    JamRock Summer Ed. Vol 1 will take place at Brandon's Park Community Centre on Saturday July 14, 2018.  The event aims to take you to the Caribbean with their reggae and dance-hall music featuring DJ SHORTBOSS and DJ DAGGA.  Premium tropical drinks will be for sale including Sex on the Beach, Dirty Banana and Bob Marley. Free appetizers (Jerked chicken) between 10 and 11pm. The event is 18+ and tickets are only $5. The Westman Jamaican Community is "a diverse group of individuals who are committed to creating a more unified and active Jamaican community in Western Manitoba."

A common misconception of some renters is that they don’t need to purchase their own insurance coverage. Erroneously, many believe that if something were to happen, their losses would be covered under their landlords’ policy. For others, they are not able to or just choose to not incur the additional cost. However, we’ve recently heard the downside of not having insurance coverage following the devastating fires in downtown Brandon last month. Educating yourself and investing in a policy that protects you and your property truly is well-worth the small monthly investment. Tenants’ insurance means more than just protecting the loss of your personal items; there are three key components that makeup tenant’s insurance as a whole. #1. Personal Property - This includes any personal property owned by the occupants that are listed on the policy. This could potentially cover everything from appliances and electronics to furniture, jewellery, and clothing, etc. An insurance policy would cover the loss of these items if they were damaged or stolen. #2. Temporary Living Expenses - There may be a situation where you need to vacate your apartment due to unforeseen damages as a result of a fire, water damage or something of that nature. An insurance policy will help to cover costs incurred of having to find alternative living accommodations. The third component of tenants’ insurance is likely the most interesting and the scariest! #3. Liability Coverage (including medical and legal) - Did you know that if your bathtub were to overflow causing damage to the unit (or units) below that you are liable for your neighbours’ losses? Many tenants assume they are only required to cover their own losses, medical bills, and alternate living accommodations which is why they tend to shrug off tenants’ insurance. However, should your neighbour suffer the loss of their personal items or need to vacate their unit and find alternative living accommodations, those expenses are your responsibility. This is just a minor example, in a more serious situation, what if a tenant suffers an injury because of your negligence? You would be responsible for all monetary losses and are legally required to pay (and let’s not forget about the legal fees that could arise as a result of a situation such as this). In another extreme example, you might want to consider the consequences if a fire were to start in a unit due to the negligence of a tenant (leaving food cooking unattended). If the result was a total loss of a property, did you know that the tenant who is found to be responsible for the fire is responsible for the entire loss of the building? Scary, right? So, while you may not think that your sofa or your television is worth the investment of a tenants’ insurance policy, you may want to consider the ramification of being liable for damage to your neighbour, their unit or any common area of the complex. The cost of a policy is surprisingly minimal and is sometimes as low as the price of a coffee at Starbucks. Yet, having the peace of mind that comes with proper insurance coverage is invaluable. Vionell Holdings Partnership (VHP) provides rental housing and property management for an array of residential and commercial customers, including Condominium Management. VHP currently has over 3,500 units under management in Manitoba. For more information please visit www.vhproperties.ca.

The four Brandon spray parks will start their 7-day operation on Friday, June 29th.  Additionally, there will be special weekend hours of operation at the spray parks in June (June 16th & 17th and June 23rd & 24th from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.).   The city's lone paddle pool will be open Monday, July 2nd. The Kiwanis YMCA Keystone Pool located at 13th Street and Southern Avenue, and the Kinsmen Centennial Pool located at 411 Park Street, will be open on June 18th with limited weekday hours for the month of June. The hours of operation and admission fees are listed on the document listed below.