Four local Brandon businesses have been highlighted in Expedia's list of the “9 Best Saskatchewan and Manitoba Road Trip Stops” in a recent online article posted on the popular travel site. The series of articles from Expedia.ca covers the “Essential Road Trip Stops in Canada” this time focusing on the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The 5th stop listed on this tour was Brandon, MB where The Dock on Princess was mentioned as an ideal restaurant to stop for some hand-cut and battered onion rings after a morning spent on the highway getting to Brandon from Indian Head, Saskatchewan, the 4th stop on the list. Following lunch they suggest stopping by the Westman Reptile Gardens to see Canada's largest variety of reptiles under one roof before heading over to the  Assiniboine Riverbank Discovery Trial for some nature hiking. Prior to departing the Wheat City for the next stop on the tour the City of Possibilities, Portage la Prairie,  Expedia suggests heading down to Tastee's Ice Cream and Grill for some of their popular ice cream treats. Other cities featured on the list include Moose Jaw, Swift Current, Winnipeg and the Whiteshell Provincial Park. The full article form Expedia can be found here.

For people who own pets they realize that going to the vet for their dogs or cats can be stressful for them. This is where Brandon’s Petmobile and Dr. Liana Mawer comes to the rescue. BDNMB – Basically walk us through this. Do people call or Email to set up an appointment and you will come to their home with basically a Vet Clinic on wheels? Dr. Liana Mawer – Yes that is correct we can perform most routine tests and examinations. BDNMB – So would you look after or help anything other than cats or dogs? Dr. Liana Mawer – No just basically cats and dogs. BDNMB – How long has the Petmobile been in existence in Brandon? Dr. Liana Mawer – We have been in business now for over one year and many people do not know we exist. BDNMB – What makes you different? Dr. Liana Mawer – Low stress handling techniques using minimal restraint and trying to do things in a manner that will reduce pet stress. Plus we use Feliway sprays that are products that have a scent that smells like a lactating mom and has been shown to reduce stress. BDNMB – How can people reach you? Dr Liana Mawer – Cell 204 573 7266 or http://www.drlianamawer.ca/or https://www.facebook.com/Petmobile-Vet-Clinic-Inc-180692631987170

A new full service tailor shop, Sew Crazy Services, specializing in heavy duty repairs, military and police uniforms, as well as alterations to all types of fabrics and applications opened August 2nd in Brandon. The new business located at Unit B-920-6th Street is owned/operated by Sandra O'Neill who has over 15 years experience in the field, including the last 10 repairing military and police uniforms in Shilo. Sandra has a strong understanding of clothing repairs/alterations and will offer services from the basic hem, to perfecting the sides of your perfect suit, to making that dress fit just right. Looking for uniform services? Sew Crazy Services goes through extensive steps to to keep your employees' uniforms, work wear, and overalls in perfect order. Combined with industry leading equipment and skilled staff, customers will find their mending and repair services keeps their employees looking their best. At Sew Crazy Services they can help your business in SEW many ways! Services provided include but not limited to: *pant, jean, skirt, dress hems *badges or patches on uniforms *shortening or lengthening of sleeves *taking out/letting in waist *outerwear alterations and repairs *suit jacket/sport coat alterations *zipper & button repair/replacement *leather repair *heavy duty canvas and tarp repair/patch Contact: Sew Crazy Services B-920-6th Street Brandon, MB Phone: 727-2304 Hours: 9:30 am to 5:30 pm

Leaving the office for a quick weekday lunch...not sure where to go...tired of visiting those coupon driven fast food establishments, or being the 14th car at the drive thru line? Next time why not try one of the places below offering up some fantastic lunchtime specials in Brandon. Listed in no particular order. Smitty's Sportsline Lounge: Anyone who has lived in Brandon for any length of time is bound to know about Smitty's Sportsline Lounge famous steak sandwich special. The steak sandwich is topped with mushrooms and onions and served with fries and garlic toast. It's a steal of a deal at $9.95. For those looking for something a little lighter they also offer a daily Soup & Sandwich special with a choice of a home-style cream or broth soups. Pictured: Smittys Sportsline Lounge Steak Sandwich Special Fired: Pulling a Dine & Dash has never been this fun, fast or tasty! Everyday, all day, Fired offers you their Dine & Dash promotion where you start with a large fountain pop and then you can create your own three topping wood fired 9” pizza for only $10! You can also add a side salad for only $3.00. It's a wicked good deal. Not content with just one lunch time offering Fired also offers you the choice of their chicken Souvlaki or Gyro with a side salad for only $10.00 Add a 24 oz fountain drink for only $2.50 and you have one really good, inexpensive lunch option. Pictured:  Fired Pizza Brandon MB Dine & Dash Promotion Chicken Delight. They have a daily hot chicken sandwich comprised of fresh Chicken Delight chicken served between two slices of soft bread and smothered in a home-style chicken gravy. The hot chicken sandwich is served with crinkle cut fries or mashed potatoes, and coleslaw. It's a great deal at only $9.95. For those hungrier mouths looking for an alternative to the standard pizza or Chinese buffets they also offer a lunch buffet featuring hand-breaded chicken dusted with their famous Chicken Delight coating, a variety of cold salads, perogies, mashed potatoes, a vegetable medley, pizza and a variety of Chinese food options. A little pricier for a lunch special at $14.25 but a few things are certain: you have a wide variety of food to select from and you won't go back to work hungry. Tastee's Ice Cream & Grill: One of the best things about going to Tastee's for lunch is that the special changes daily. They do a great job of updating their Facebook page so you can quickly access what their special is for that day before exiting the parking lot. One day you can select from their bacon cheeseburger & fries for $11 and the next day their special might be chicken fingers with frings & bottle drink for $12. A personal favorite happens to be the cheeseburger & small onion rings which can usually be had for $10. Did I mention that they have Coke in a bottle? Pictured: Tastee's Ice Cream & Grill's Cheese Burger & Fries Komfort Kitchen: A few words of advice, get there early, as they are always super busy at lunch time. Monday to Friday from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm Komfort Kitchen offers a soup and salad bar for $11. Serve yourself endless biscuits, soup de jour and a wide variety of salads with this daily special. Komfort Kithen also offer a different luncheon feature each day ranging from a steak sandwich to lasagna. Pricing varies depending on the featured item that day. If your wanting to order from the main menu their super fast and friendly service gets you back to work on time. The Dock: The Dock offers a pick & pair combination from 11:30 am to 3:00 pm daily for only $10.50. First you get to select from one of the following: 1/2 chicken quesadilla, 1/2 black bean veggie wrap, 1 piece house battered fish or 2 chicken fingers. Then pair you selection with your choice of a Caesar or tossed salad, veggies and dip, a bowl of soup, or fries and you have the perfect lunch sized meal. The specials at the Dock just stop there. Like the Komfot Kitchen they also offer a different daily lunchtime feature ranging from a Chicken taco on a Tuesday to a Friday pulled pork sandwich. Each special comes with your choice of a side and a cup of soup for $12.50. Pictured: The Dock on Princess Chicken Tacos Honorable Mentions: Mondays Brown's Social House offers up any of the pizza's on their menu for only $11. Six great choices to select from ranging from a bbq chicken pizza with smoked bacon, roasted corn and bbq sauce to the Thee Meat Cowboy with charred pepperoni, mushrooms, bacon, sausage and roasted corn. Looking at starting the weekend early? On Fridays Houston's offers up an $8 lunch special where you get your choice of steak sandwich or chicken fingers. Pictured:  Browns Social House Charred Pepperoni Pizza Please note that these lunch features/specials, like any promotion, can end at any time so it's advised to head down today to take advantage of one of these great deals. Taxes not included in above pricing.

Traffic to our web site continues to increase by as much as 25%, or more, a month resulting in us having to already upgrade servers. Our top story on Crows General Store surpassed 22,000 unique views, in a matter of days, and was quickly picked up by other media outlets in Brandon and throughout the province of Manitoba. Business stories have proven extremely popular on the site as our coverage on the opening of Ace Kitchen Supply and Direct Liquidation remain two of our most read stories to date. It's no secret that Brandon and the Westman region enjoy sports stories as evidenced by the large numbers of viewers on our stories about the 11 year old who tossed a perfect game and the story we posted from Bruce Luebeke on The Case for Ivan Provorov as WHL Player of the Year. Other popular stories which struck a nerve with people include Day Drinking in Brandon, 100 Men Who Give a Damn Donate $7,300 and Resilient Ross Ready to Rock . Special thanks to all of our writers and contributors who have submitted articles for us to publish and ideas for us to pursue. We have several new writers and guest contributors scheduled to start publishing articles in the coming weeks. Last week we introduced a new feature to the site, Submit a Story. Submit a Story is designed to provide residents of Brandon and area the opportunity to submit stories, photos and videos. Maybe you’ve just witnessed a vehicle crash through a restaurant, your neighbor cutting grass in a speedo, or your daughter’s soccer team has just finished first in a big tournament. We accept submissions from readers, and will publish anything that interests us and matches our focus for the site. In the past several months we have hosted many promotions including giving away a $2,600 bed, oil changes, and everyone's favorite perogies. We also awarded one lucky fan the opportunity to have supper with Canadian TV icon Jeff Schwarz at Browns Social House. We have many new and exciting promotions scheduled for the coming months including giving away a house cleaning courtesy Amber's Reliable House Cleaning and a Dyson vacuum cleaner courtesy of Direct Liquidation. This is just one of three promotions we have planned for the next few months. Please keep checking our web site, our Twitter page, and our Facebook page. Speaking of Facebook we have amassed 3,020 likes in just over 5 months. Not bad. Thanks to our sponsors for supporting us through the launch of this web site. We had many advertisers/sponsors step-up and commit to advertising options long before we even launched live to the public. These sponsorship's and relationships have allowed us to focus and concentrate on the the development and growth of the site and we expect to launch a few new areas of interest to the site shortly.