It's that time of year again! Summer has arrived and what better way to enjoy the sunshine and warm weather than a backyard gathering with friends and family? Whether you are having a casual barbecue or a posh party, there is always a lot of work to do before your guests arrive; the following 10 tips will help you prepare (to have fun!). Clean up the Yard Appearance is everything! Mow the lawn in advance to give it a nice clean look. Turn and aerate the soil and check that there are no visible weeds. If you have a pool or pond don't forget to clean them a few days ahead.  Front Yard and Entry Always remember that the first thing your friends and family see when they arrive is the front yard and entry way. To make sure that all of your guests have a good first impression, use a spare closet or room to hold shoes and coats to keep the entry from becoming disorganized. Seating Areas Have ample seating for your guests by making use of any patio furniture you have, whether it's a swing, bench, camping chairs or patio couch. If you don't have enough, you might want to look into renting chairs through your local party supply store. Also, don't forget that you can bring the party indoors as to increase seating space, accommodate guests who may prefer to stay cool, or set up a kids table. Select the Food When planning your menu, take your guests' food into account; are any of your guests' vegetarian, gluten free, lactose intolerant or diabetic? An excellent host will ensure that every guest has options available, whether it's the appetizer or main course.  Prep in Advance  Depending on the dishes you are planning to serve, you may be able to do most of the prep work in advance (think: salads, veggies and food that requires marinating, etc.). On the day of the party you want to have everything ready to go at least one hour before your guests arrive to ensure you can focus on hosting, not cooking!  Lighting & Heat  Keep your guests comfortable long after the sun goes down with help from lighting and heat. Clear light strands or bamboo torches set up around your patio will improve the ambience and increase visibility as the party winds down. If you have portable heaters, it's a good idea to bring them out in advance, just in case you need them. Based on how your heaters are operated, you'll also want to make sure that you have gas, propane or an extension cord. If you have a fire pit, ensure you have enough wood chopped and ready - and s'mores (lots of s'mores!).  Barbecue Prepping the barbecue for action should be a top priority. Double check to make sure you have enough propane, gas or charcoal to last the entire party, scrape and clean the grill before your guests arrive and place any required grilling tools such as a spatula, tongs or marinating brush by the barbecue.  Chilling the Beverages Knowing that you will have a full fridge of food, decide in advance where you will keep your guests' drinks cool, or where you'll keep pop and juices for kids. You can use coolers filled with ice or try out a Pinterest-inspired DIY project! Yard Games Games that you can set up and play in the yard will add fun and excitement to your party or simply work to keep the kids entertained. Have the games set up and ready for guests to use, whether its croquet, badminton or a bean bag toss. You can even create some friendly competition with a round robin tournament complete with prizes and party favours! Last but not least, don't forget to relax and have fun with your friends and family.

What happens if your only day off is a Tuesday? No car or no interest in driving to Clear Lake for the day? Well, what ARE you going to do in Brandon that feels like a vacation? May I suggest day drinking!  Finish your chores or that morning round of golf and head straight for your favourite patio. Like Jimmy Buffet used to sing, "it's 5 o'clock somewhere!" Use that as your excuse if you need one. Choose to hide away at the fenced patio at The Dock and you might soon forget you're drinking downtown across from the Court House or around the corner from the old bus depot. But in all seriousness, The Dock is a great choice for two reasons. 1) They always have  a bartender on duty.  2) You can get a peach margarita for about $6. They don't stock Patron tequila, but after your 2nd or 3rd Sauza Gold peach margarita, Brandon starts to feel like a tropical paradise and who really cares about brand names anyway.  If you're meeting the girls for a 'be seen on the scene' lunch date, you have to visit the patio at Prairie Firehouse on Princess! Their newly opened patio is gorgeous! It's also comfortable and offers high visibility. So whether you're watching for gym members lapping the block from nearby Crossfit Rocked, or you're hoping to see someone you know get a parking ticket on Princess Ave, this is the place to hang out.  One of the things I like best about the Prairie Firehouse is that they have a summer sipping drink menu. From sangrias to customized mojitos, you'll find something cool and trendy. My favourite on this list has to be the blackberry mojito, but I think this requires additional research just to be sure.  My third suggestion for day drinking in Brandon is good ol' BP. Boston Pizza on Richmond has an out of the way, cozy, fenced, discreet patio. Perfect for having a drink with your old high school buddies or your side chick. Maybe split a jug of draft or spice things up here with a caesar. But of course the franchise has many signature drinks on the menu and a daytime bartender on staff, so you really can't go wrong. Well, unless of course you wife sees your truck in the parking lot and you were supposed to be at work. But that's just a whole separate category of wrong.  To summarize... day drinking: It's a perfect way to forget that our city doesn't have a Red Lobster and probably isn't getting a Costco either.   (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});  

Planning a day trip, a scavenger hunt or road rally? Why not add "Selfie with Sara" to your list.  Who's Sara? Well, I'm talking about Sara the statue, the camel statue of Glenboro, Manitoba. She's their giant mascot, their roadside landmark and their signature art piece. You'll find her less than 45 minutes south east of Brandon on Highway 2. Roadside attractions are a town's key to getting on the map, it seems. They are everywhere!  Giant statutes or mascots began to pop up on American highways in the late 1930s. Typically built or placed by hotels and restaurants they existed to get a driver's attention with the expectation that they would stop and spend their money.  Over the years, statues got bigger and more eclectic. Anything to be the biggest or most talked about. By the 1960s they were such a common sight on the American landscape, they were as much a symbol of family road trips as the station wagon. Canada wasn't to be left out and signature art pieces were commissioned by forward thinking towns and municipalities.  In Gimli, Manitoba the Viking statue was a product of Centennial celebrations in 1967. Designed by Gissur Eliasson, and constructed at a cost of $15,000 it was meant to recognize and honour the Icelandic heritage and settlers of the region. It was constructed by George Barone (Barone Sculptures Inc) who also notably built the white horse at Headingly and Tommy the Turtle (1974) in Boissevain. I can't imagine all the thousands or even hundreds of thousands of photos taken with these statues every year. I know I have both Viking and Tommy the Turtle photos in my childhood album.  If you'd like to learn more or plan your own Manitoba statue road trip, start your planning at Roadsideattractions.ca

VALDY - JUNE 16 Valdy, born Valdemar Horsdal in Ottawa, Canada has been part of the fabric of Canadian pop and folk music for over 34 years. A man with a thousand friends, from Newfoundland to Vancouver Island to Texas to New Zealand, he's a singer, guitarist and songwriter who catches the small but telling moments that make up life. Remembered for Play Me a Rock and Roll Song, his bitter-sweet memory of finding himself, a relaxed and amiable story-teller, facing a rambunctious audience at the Aldergrove Rock Festival circa 1968, Valdy has sold almost half a million copies of his 13 albums, has two Juno Awards (Folk Singer of the Year and Folk Entertainer of the Year), seven Juno nominations, and four Gold albums to his credit. One of Canada's most influential songwriters, Valdy's composition A Good Song was recorded under the title Just a Man by the venerable Quincy Jones (he sang lead on the recording!). Play Me a Rock and Roll Song has been recorded by a few artists, including John Kay of Steppenwolf. Along the way, Valdy has taken his music to a dozen different countries, from Denmark to Australia and recently New Zealand. He has been an often-invited performer at the Kerrville Festival in Texas. His recent television appearances include Canada AM and Open Mike with Mike Bullard. Valdy has also been a panelist on Front Page Challenge, and played a lead role in an episode of The Beachcombers original series. Today, he is based on Salt Spring Island, where he lives with his wife Kathleen, three dogs. All three children are grown, flown and doing famously, living in or near Vancouver, or Colorado. Ridley Bent - July 14 Ridley Bent is back with his latest release Wildcard the anticipated follow up of Rabbit on My Wheel showcasing the Western Canada based Country artist's keen fascination for characters whose life on the straight and narrow rarely lasts past the nearest exit to a short, crooked road. Ridley Bent continues to weave tales of wisdom and intrigue with titles such as 'Fill Yer Boots' about a truck driving card player, and 'Crooked and Loaded' written about a shootout with a posse of outlaws. Produced by the John MacArthur Ellis and supported by an all-star band of country musics finest Wildcard will take your mind away and get your toes tapping as Ridley Bent does what he does best..! On Wildcard the 2009 CCMA nominee and 7-time BCCMA winner's storytelling and songwriting chops are sharper than ever. Although the tales are still as tall as they come, and the characters as large as life or larger, the cast of hard-drinking, fast-driving characters Ridley unleashes on Wildcard tend to be a shade less hell-bent on self-destruction than they are with keeping their lives between the lines and out of the ditch. Channeling the high-energy performance ethic of artists like Dwight Yoakum and Little Feat, Ridley and his band tear a deep strip off the joint with tracks like 'Brooklyn Texas'. Of course these are love stories told the way only Ridley can; tracks that run the gamut from hard and bitter to hardly better, including a beautifully rendered, deliberately down-tempo take on the classic Tom Petty song , 'You Got Lucky' While much of Ridley's new material is drawn from real life experiences he's gathered up on the road, Wildcard still has its share of shady characters, jackknifing tractor-trailers and whiskey-fueled bar fights. And for those who identify strongly with Ridley's less reasonable characters - the ones who tend to prefer to stir things up with a pistol in one hand and a bottle in the other - there's 'The Blood Trilogy'. A companion EP recorded during the same sessions and co-written with Dunn - a highly satisfying three-song western epic of violence and vengeance informed by Ridley's ongoing fascination with the bleak worlds of writers like John Steinbeck and Cormac McCarthy. Donovan Woods - August 18 Donovan Woods’ work is guided by a mantra that only sounds simple: Good songs win. Woods was raised in the small city of Sarnia, Ontario, to the sounds of country music, with a healthy dose of folk and pop, a combination that instilled in him a strong belief in the power of a good melody, the importance of everyday language and the potential of a carefully-crafted song. While amassing a catalogue of rousing and acclaimed music of his own, he has worked with some of the top songwriters in North America to craft cuts for performers ranging from Alan Doyle to Billy Currington. It’s not that Woods makes music that is a product of both country and folk; it’s that he makes music that shows how distracting the line separating the two can be. Like with so many songwriters of note, what matters isn’t what you call it, or where it comes from, but the stories you tell, and the voice you use. And whether it’s Tim McGraw singing from atop a full-throttle stadium-show stage or a line whispered by Woods himself in a more intimate environment, one thing remains clear: Woods’ is a voice that demands attention. That attention has been quick in coming, bringing international accolades, a growing number of fans inside and outside the music industry, and proclamations like “Canada’s best-kept secret,” “piercingly honest” and “quietly anthemic.” Throughout his work, Woods has remained focused on his one deceptively unassuming intent: crafting good songs – with an emphasis on ‘craft’. It’s that mastery of the craft that places Woods squarely among the long line of great Canadian songwriters that have come before him: Artists whose work showcases the art of songwriting, and the painstaking effort to perfect everything from the title to the delivery. You can hear these forebears, and his contemporaries, in Woods’ music, but you can also hear the tradition being carried forward: Stripped down, but never simple; direct and poetic; new and timeless; all delivered with a confidence and in a voice that you wouldn’t expect from someone as young, approachable, or humorous as Woods. And so, the trials and tribulations of living in a rustbelt town, the legacy of a CFL champ, navigating Facebook – all, and more, are fair game. All are probed with Woods’ unique combination of sharp eye and singular voice, and all ring equally familiar, and true. They are songs that come from experience and observation; from the journey of the songwriter who has been there – and one that’s just as comfortable telling you about it onstage as he is offstage. What unites all of Woods’ material is the people he sings to and about. Rather than an idealized working-class-hero version of “The People,” it’s the people that we know – the people that we are. Donovan Woods knows how we speak, think and act, and has a way of saying exactly that – and so much more – in a voice that we’ve been hearing for as long as people have been singing, and the likes of which we’ve never heard before. Woods’ fourth studio album, Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled, follows his JUNO Award-nominated Don’t Get Too Grand, and sees the songwriter in top form. Whether big ideas or seemingly minor incidents, broken promises or the promise of romance, Woods’ stories affect listeners deeply. As he dissects the downward spiral of a small town (“They Don’t Make Anything in That Town”) you feel for the folks left behind, and a subtle string arrangement adds a delicate emotional layer that avoids overcomplicating or distracting from the song’s basic tone and language. The offbeat rhythm of “On the Nights You Stay Home” elicits the excitement of a hoped-for big-city quiet night in, while faced with the terrifying number of modern-day opportunities to be jealous. Rewriting history to confront a breakup (“We Never Met”) is a new twist on telling the story of a relationship – even if it might not be a reasonable coping strategy. Given Woods’ songwriting successes you can’t help but ascribe “Leaving Nashville”’s dark vision of Music City, USA to an active imagination, but the details contained in the lyrics make you wonder about his source material. Throughout Hard Settle, Ain’t Troubled, what is clear is that Donovan Woods possesses a voice made to tell stories – his stories, and ours – and one that can’t be ignored.

Brandon’s newest theatre group was designed to serve the entire Western Manitoba region, hence the name. The brainchild of Lisa Vasconselos and Katherine MacFarlane Sherris two long time teachers (MacFarlane Sherris at Riverheights, Vasconselos (Rolling River School division), Westman Theatre Group is an offshoot of Mecca Productions Theatre. Kate and Lisa are a dynamic-duo who have been long-time friends and veterans of the local theatre scene through their many years with Mecca. With Westman Theatre Group they get to spread their wings a bit more than usual. This is the case especially with the subject matter in their latest production Heathers which opens tonight (Wednesday, June 15th and also takes the stage at the Keystone Centre Amphitheatre this Friday, June 17th.  To shed some light on what theatre supporters can expect with this major production BDNMB.ca presents this brief Q & A with Westman Theatre Group Music Director Katherine MacFarlane Sherris. FM: What was the motive behind going with such an edgy storyline? KMS: Lisa Vasconcelos and I had the opportunity to see Heathers in New York, two summers ago, along with two other friends. We had all seen the 80’s cult classic movie and had ‘lived through’ high school in the 80’s so the musical really resonated with us. While the storyline is definitely edgy, there also very poignant moments in the show. I think it is a sign of strong writing when an audience can go from tears to laughter in seconds. Is it your intention to push the envelope a little bit with this particular production? I wouldn’t say that we ‘set out’ to push the envelope, but we knew that taking on a show with edgy content would challenge us in a variety of ways. We always want to be respectful of our cast members and our audience, while honouring the writers and composers in telling the story they have written. We have laughed a lot in rehearsal and have enjoyed working with these young, talented cast members to tell this story. Sometimes, edgy content makes us ‘cringe’ because it pushes us into uncomfortable territory. That being said, I think that that discomfort can cause us to reflect, think, defend our views and make connections to some of our dark or difficult experiences. The themes in this show are still very relevant and can hit close to home. Today’s young people face so many of the same struggles that their parents did as teenagers. It might just look more ‘high tech’ today. We are very excited that The Middle Coast is bringing this challenging rock score to life. I think that many people in Brandon are familiar with The Middle Coast (formerly Until Red). I definitely see them as ‘up and coming’ in the music scene and I am delighted to be working with them, along with our pianist Shirley Martin. Is the show open to all ages? This musical definitely has mature content and is not a ‘family show.’ Our cast members are young adults and, if they are still in high school, Lisa was very clear that parents needed to be aware and on board with the more risqué content. Most of our young actors had already listened to the soundtrack and watched YouTube clips prior to auditions so they had a good sense of the nature of the show. Picture Left to right Katherine MacFarlane Sherris and Lisa Vasconselos, co-creators of Westman Theatre Group (photo submitted) How many major productions are you planning to do with this new company? I think that will depend on what shows capture our interest in the future. Lisa and the Mecca team have worked hard to establish a reputation in our community for putting on ‘family-friendly’ shows and offering opportunities for children and families to participate in classes, choirs and musical theatre productions together. We will continue to keep that focus with Mecca because we believe so strongly in the positive impact of these programs. That being said, it is great to have a company that allows us to pursue other theatre opportunities – like Heathers – that have a mature theme and content, separately from Mecca. What ratio of productions will be open to “all ages” casts and audiences as opposed to adult casts and audiences? Again, I think it will depend on what shows come across our path. There are so many great shows out there! Some of them are available now and there are others that we are waiting for the rights to become available. Depending on the content, we would decide what would be most appropriate, in terms of producing it under the Mecca or Wheat City Theatre umbrella, as well as the appropriate ages for cast members. How do you foresee things improving for the local theatre scene over the next few years? We really are incredibly fortunate in Brandon and the Westman area to have such a thriving and active performing arts community. I have friends who live in much larger urban centers who struggle to find the kind of opportunities we have here. I have enjoyed so many memorable theatre moments: on the stage, in the pit, from the wings and in the seats; I am excited to see what the future holds. Show times 8pm tonight (Wednesday, June 15th & Friday, June 17th) in the Keystone Centre Amphitheatre. Tickets available at tickets.keystonecentre.com