Playoffs in the Manitoba Female Hockey League U18 AAA are now underway. The Brandon Wheat Kings and Yellowhead Chiefs are deadlocked at one game a piece in their best of 5 series. Game 3 in the series takes place in Shoal Lake on February 20, with game 4 back in Brandon (J&G Arena) on February 27. The Brandon Marlins will be holding a 30th anniversary reunion on August 9, 2025. The day will include a golf tournament and a social. Stay tuned to bdnmb.ca for additional event information as it is released. Brandon's Reese Shutte recently committed to play NCAA D1 hockey at Union College starting in the 2027 season. Shutte presently plays for the Westman Wildcats in the Manitoba Female Hockey League U18 AAA. Westman Wildcats would like to congratulate Reese Schutte on her commitment to play hockey at Union College! pic.twitter.com/6enzadkoUz— Westman Wildcats (@westmanAAA) January 15, 2025   WAMMA Brandon - Academy of Mixed Martial Arts will be hosting a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu SUBMISSION ONLY no gi Super Fight event on April 26, 2025 at the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium. Brandon's Brad DeGraeve, a softball umpire, was recently elected to represent Manitoba at this year’s Canada Summer Games in St. John’s, NL in August!. Registration for 13U/15U/18U AAA Marlins Tryouts is now open at brandonminorbaseball.ca. Tryouts are scheduled for April 13-15.   The regular season in the MB U18 AAA Hockey League concluded today. The Brandon Wheat Kings finished atop the league standings with 83 points, one more than the Winnipeg Wild. Saturday, the league announced a number of award winners for the 2024/25 season including Brandon Wheat Kings Travis Mealy taking home honors as the "Coach of the Year". Aiden Lang was named the leagues top defenseman and was also named to the Second All Star Team. Wheat Kings teammate Jonah Lemoine found himself on the First All Star Team.

Manitoba based Country artist Jason Kirkness released his latest album, "What Got Me Here", late last year and has been gaining impressive traction across Canada ever since. We're excited to share that Jason will be performing in Brandon at Houston's Country Roadhouse on Saturday, March 15th 2025. Tickets are available at the door.  Watch: Jason Kirkness on CTV Morning Live Winnipeg Jason's remarkable career as a completely independent artist has included spending 18 weeks on the Canadian Billboard Top 50, and four on the Billboard Active Indicator Chart in the US with his recent single "Anywhere The Night Goes". His Fall 2024 single, "My Vegas", was written with JUNO Award winner, William Prince. Jason has recently unveiled his brand new music video for the lead track of the album, "What Got Me Here". Official Music Video: What Got Me Here 

Brandon's Cole Slobodian scored his first career goal Saturday night for the Portland Winterhawks. Slobodian suited up in 5-playoff games last season with the Winterhawks. what a beauty it was 🥶 pic.twitter.com/DKdBzRUxBD — Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) February 16, 2025 Playoffs are now underway in the Tiger Hills Hockey League. Winners in 3 of the 4 Quarter-Finals have already been determined as Minnedosa eliminated Carberry, Hartney dispatched Souris, and Melita upended Deloraine in their best of 3 series. The series between Neepawa and MacGregor is currently tied at one a piece with game 3 slated for Monday night in MacGregor. Former Brandon Wheat King Brenden Walker captured the regular season scoring title in the South Eastern Manitoba Hockey League. Walker amassed an impressive 61 points in 16 games with the Ste Anne Aces. Like the THHL, playoffs have already started in the SEMHL. Former Wheat Kings Jordan Depape and Darren Bestland are also members of the Aces team. Rivers will play host this upcoming weekend (Feb 20-23) to the Female U18 Rural A& B Provincials. Nine teams will compete, in the 2-different divisions, including the Female U18 Brandon Wheaties. Century 21 Brandon recently held their 14th Annual Easter Seals Bonspiel which raised $9,500 for the charity. The BIRT Cup announced  the 2025 charitable recipients for the IG Wealth Management Bobcat BIRT Cup set for July 4 at Wheat City Golf Course including: Bobcat student-athlete, Boissevain Golf Club, Carberry Splash Park, Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame relocation, Pilot Mound Golf Course, Treherne hockey rink upgrades, Westman Ski Club, and the Wheat City Tennis Club. Several members (Sydney Sass, Chloe Kachur, Danica Averill) of the Brandon Wheat Kings U18 Female hockey team were in Winnipeg over the long-weekend participating in the annual women’s under-18 Program of Excellence top-68 camp. Additional information on the camp can be found here. Brandon's EVO Golf (Austin Dobrescu) will be partnering with the Popular Ridge Golf Course for the 2025 golf season. EVO Golf will be managing the Pro Shop, as well as providing lessons, clinics, junior camps and more

The new Rotary Villas addition that will open to the public on March 1, 2025. The new units are all one-bedroom suites and have full kitchens, in suite laundry and balconies. The existing building opened March 1, 2015, and features 108 units, those units do not have kitchenettes or laundry and three meals a day are provided. Since the new space has kitchenettes only supper is included in the rent, breakfast and lunch can be added to the service if desired by the residents. The existing building has a wait list of approximately 30 people, so far there 10 deposits for the addition and lots of interested people that want to see the finished product in the addition. The new addition is connected to by a second-floor sky walk. There are a few renovations going on in the existing building (first floor flooring replacement – underway) as well as expanding the dining room and relocating the bar to accommodate the new guests for meals. These renovations are expected to be completed in early March. Rotary Villas is a privately owned assisted living facility that offers seniors a sense of community while enjoying a locally curated menu, a diverse recreation program as well as a shuttle to get residents to appointments and events outside the facility. Tours are available now of the facility and a show suite has been set up so potential residents can see what a unit might look like with their belonging moved in. To arrange for a tour, please contact Tanis Low at 204-725-1340. The most common suite features 542 square feet of living space and the monthly rent starts at $3,750, which includes supper each day as well as all utilities including Cable TV, phone, and Internet. “I am very excited to expand our options for seniors that are looking to downsize but didn’t want to completely give up cooking or the ability to have in-suite laundry. I think these new units compliment the existing suites at Rotary Villas and allow for a bit more variety for seniors in selecting what type of living situation is best for their preferences. I am excited for our team that have worked hard in getting ready to welcome the new residents to the community as well as the existing residents who will see construction come to an end with minimal interruptions to their daily routines.” Here is an example of the menu for this week, it reminds me more of an all-inclusive resort more than a senior’s community: https://rotaryvillas.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/RV-Menu-February-9-15-2025.pdf Here is the February recreation calendar: https://rotaryvillas.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/2025-February-Newsletter-and-Activity-Calendar.pdf

Bits n Bites were pounding the pavement and came up with some interesting local news. Brandon’s Josh McPhail is now the President and Owner of Rona in Portage congrats to Josh. Jimmy Johns Sandwiches are coming to Canada with an expected 200 locations and Brandon has been confirmed. Location has not been confirmed. https://retail-insider.com/retail-insider/2024/11/jimmy-johns-opens-in-canada-with-plans-for-200-locations/ Sweet Tooth on 18th was sold last week to new owners. Rotary Villas has some new changes coming soon we will wait for photos and changes next week. Brandon Source for Sports their team and embroidery division are moving next door to where Daughter on Call was located on Brandon Ave.