The Wheat City Family Expo, a FREE family event, showcasing entertainment, local vendors, crafters, businesses and more, will be held in the Keystone Centre's Manitoba Room on Saturday, April 28.  The event scheduled to take place from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm features a wide variety of vendors (more than 50) ready to introduce their products to you including Sunset Gourmet, Prairie Kids Co., Baby & Beyond, Soak Soap Company & Tiber River Naturals. In addition to the vendors organizers have lined up a series of different activities to entertain children making the event something for the whole family to enjoy.  Sprinkles the Clown, face painting, bouncy castles, and Karl Heinz-The Bubble Man are among the featured entertainment scheduled. As an added bonus 300 goodie bags will be made available to the first 300 families through the door. The bags  will be filled with samples, coupons, special offers and goodies from some of their wonderful vendors. For more information on the event, and a list of confirmed vendors, please follow this link.

Neelin High School will be celebrating their 60-year anniversary this summer (May 18 & 19) with a number of events planned for the reunion.  Among the events on the agenda is a Reunion Social to held at The 40 featuring live music from The 204, The Middle Coast, and LANIKAI.  Each of the bands feature at least one alumni graduate from Neelin.  Brandon's favorite party DJ, DJ Red will also be making an appearance. Other activities planned over the two day celebration include an Alumni Girls volleyball game and a Men's Alumni basketball game.  Volunteer students, staff and alumni will be hosting short tours of the school and the Choir Alumni will be holding a 50th Anniversary Reunion Concert at the First Presbyterian Church on Saturday the 19th. Neelin High School first opened it's doors in 1957.  For more information on the reunion, and the events planned, please visit their web site at this link.

In my last article, I explored the possibility of micro-apartments in the Brandon market and if current renters or potential renters were keen and ready for this type of living arrangement. From the feedback that we received (which was very much appreciated), readers suggested that smaller apartments would indeed be welcome, however, most suggested that they should have one private bathroom and some commented that they would only be interested if the units had private laundry facilities. Based on this criteria, a design could be drafted to keep the units under 500 square feet, which is quite a bit smaller than most apartments. With building and land costs at the current level, we could potentially add these units to the market for a monthly rental rate of just under $900 per month. We want to be cognizant of the fact, however, that Manitoba Housing has set affordable housing rates in Brandon at $640 per month, plus hydro for a one-bedroom apartment (https://www.gov.mb.ca/housing/progs/pil.html).   So, the question now becomes: is there value to having a newer and smaller place for $900 per month compared to living in an older place that might have shared laundry that offers more space?   In the end, the main issue that is identified after exploring all these options is that there are very few options to add affordable housing units, as defined by the Province of Manitoba, to the market that features all the amenities and basic requirements that people look for in an apartment.   We will, however, continue to keep a finger on the pulse of the market and try to offer variations in what is currently available in the area for rental accommodations.   In addition, we are also interested in what potential customers would like to see for multi-family accommodations. Our goal would be to meet and exceed expectations in terms of what people would like to see in our community to meet the needs of their living accommodations when larger families are involved.   With this in mind, we are very excited about adding more three-bedroom units at The Groves, Brandon’s newest townhouse community in the south end, which has already been very well received. We are also looking forward to the completion of The Summit, a new Life Lease Community on the North Hill, that has been popular in the pre-lease phase. Units at The Summit will be available later this fall.   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 annual Westman Dreams for Kids Children's Country Fair will be held this year on Sunday, June 3.  The one day festival takes place at the Kirkcaldy Heights School from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.  Children's Country Fair is a free event for families in Westman.   This year's Children's Country fair is sure to be an amazing time with something to do for everyone of all ages.  Organizers have a pile of activities planned, with some wonderful new supporters joining them.   Ty Worthington, from Tag-Em Entertainment, will be there this summer with some exciting new bouncers including Bumper Cars, Hungry Hippo, Leaps and Bounds, Laser Tag and more!! Other things to see and do include: - Live entertainment all day long - Face Painting - Ricklyn Farms Petting Zoo - Gentrice Farms Hay Rides - Fun Time Pottery Painting - Hair By KG be-dazzling all the little princesses - Just for Kidz Scavenger Hunt - Crossfit Rocked Obstacle Course - Brandon Boxing Club Boxing Ring demonstration and get in the ring - Brandon Fire & Emergency Services - Brandon City Police - Mini U Archery Tag   Toddler Town, a special section for the smallest supporters will be also be featured on this day.   Along with these events, organizers say that there is more in the works as well.   If you would like to join Westman Dreams for Kids with an activity, or as a stage performer, give them a call at 729-8898 or e-mail wdfk@mymts.net.

The Foundation sends a drum roll of thanks to the Khartum Shriners Brandon Pipes and Drums for their donation of $5,000, targeted for the Maternal/Child Department at the Brandon Regional Health Centre. This group has been sharing the beautiful music of the pipes and drums since 1978 and are now unfortunately disbanding and disposing of their funds. Although this marks an end, this gift will benefit sick children in Brandon for many years to come.