Submitted Healthy Brandon in motion, in partnership with BU Recreation, BU Bobcat Athletics and the Westman Physical Literacy Committee, is excited about the upcoming 2nd Annual FREE Community Family Fun Fest taking place on Saturday, September 8th from 10:00am – 12:00pm. Community members will have the opportunity to meet and learn a variety of sports and activities from the Bobcat athletes themselves, including basketball, soccer, pickle ball, and volleyball. There will also be a physical literacy motion zone put on by Fit Kids Healthy Kids and the opportunity to become a ‘Bobcat Ninja’ and try out a challenging obstacle course. The event will be a fun way to learn about physical literacy and physical activity, as well as try out some new sports and activities. There will be prizes for everyone that fills out the event ‘passport’!  The event is drop-in and stay as long or as little as you want.

It is mid-August, harvest has begun in Westman and before long we’ll be preparing for our kids first day of kindergarten or their first day of college/university. If the new or returning post-secondary student hasn’t already secured a place to live, they may find themselves scrambling to find an apartment for the upcoming school year. What potential renters will notice is that there is significantly less apartment availability in Brandon this fall compared to last fall. There are two main reasons contributing to this tight rental market in the city: There are three pipeline crews that have moved into the city, adding almost 1,500 people to the population until the end of December. While some of these workers are staying in campgrounds and hotels, many of them have secured apartment accommodations. Many of the military families that have been posted recently to CFB Shilo have chosen to rent rather than purchase a home. Vionell Holdings Properties has just over 1,000 rental units (excluding life lease and assisted living) in Brandon and there currently only 12 empty apartments. This represents a 1.2% vacancy rate in our portfolio, which I suspect is standard across the city at this time. With all of this rather discouraging information, what could you be doing do to find accommodations for the new school year? Here are my suggestions: Start looking RIGHT now, find the place that offers the best value. Consider location in proximity to your school and other amenities, but be flexible. Be prepared to sign a year lease, many rental companies are changing to year leases from a month-to-month system to ensure that the tenants they are selecting will commit to at least one year in the apartment. Keep in mind that you can assign your lease if you plan on leaving at the end of the school year. Be sure to have a co-signor arranged to ensure your application is approved by the rental agency expediently. Also be prepared with all other required documentation and information.   Vionell Holdings Partnership (VHP) provides rental housing and property management for an array of residential and commercial customers, including Condominium Management. VHP currently has nearly 4,000 units under management in Manitoba. For more information please visit www.vhproperties.ca. VHP has committed to constructing 128 multifamily residential units in Portage la Prairie that will be ready for occupancy in spring of 2019.

The Victoria Inn will be a very coulourful place on Sunday, September the 9th when Skate Brandon hosts their 2nd annual 5 km colour run/walk in the Wheat City. The run will start and finish at the Victoria Inn parking lot from 10-noon. Registration the day of the event starts at 8:30 am. Your registration includes entry into the run, colour packs, water throughout the run and an awesome experience! As this is a fun event, the 5 km walk/run will not be timed. Costumes are encouraged. Online registration for Colour Run opened on July the 23rd.  Early bird registration before August 24th is only $40.  After, August the 24th the fee increases to $50.  Children 7 and under are free however you still do need to register.   The event is a fundraiser for Skate Brandon and all profits will go to the Skate Brandon Club for future costs. Come ready to have a great day of fun and leave a little bit more colourfull. For additional information, or to resister click here.

The Brandon Cricket Club will be holding their first annual BMO Cricket Champions CUP 2018 on Saturday, August the 4th.  The soft ball cricket tournament will be held at the Queen Elizabeth Park and will feature 10-teams, with 8 players per team.  The tournament gets underway at 8 am. Also tomorrow, have fun looking at big rigs, check out the kids activities, enjoy some good food & music at the second annual Big Rig Show & Shine Fundraiser.  The event is hosted by Champion Towing Brandon.  A fundraising BBQ lunch, supper pig roast, silent auction, live band and more are among the planned activities.  The event runs from 8am-8pm at 30 Klondike RD which is East of the Brandon Air Port. Be on the lookout for signs, balloons and a tow truck making the location easy to find.

The second annual Wheat City 5km fun run, put on by Anytime Fitness Brandon, is slated to take place on Saturday, August 25.  The event hosted by Grand Valley Campground features hilled terrain, mud, a maze, inflatable obstacles, agility obstacles, a foam finish and much more.  The event is open to all fitness levels and participants and is a rain or shine event.  Prizes will be awarded for best dressed individual and best dressed team.  There will be food and concessions available as well as a 18+ beer garden with proceeds going to Westman Dreams For Kids. For more information, please visit their Facebook event page.