The wait is over for the grand re-opening of Huggy's Neighborhood Sports Bar, a long time Brandon lounge mainstay. After closing for several weeks for a total interior make over, the highly anticipated re-launch of Huggy's is now complete and open to the public. Boosting a new look, the new design is more suited to hosting larger groupings with sleek, comfortable banquet seating and more TVs tuned to sports events. Huggy's Sports Bar now combines the comfort of a friendly, traditional sports bar setting with cutting-edge upgrades to ensure you don’t miss a second of the live action. This 2nd floor lounge was given a full face lift with new seating and tables, updated bar, lighting fixtures, new flooring, and additional HD television screens distributed throughout the establishment.  The renovations were skillfully and meticulously completed by the crew over at Contractors Corner. Located upstairs inside Thunderbird Bowl at 2140 Currie Blvd Huggy's will appeal to a variety of customers, with comfortable surroundings, HD sporting action and an extensive food and drink menu to suit all tastes. See all of you sports fans there!

A trail run in, support of a great cause, will be held at the Brandon Hills on Sunday, October the 2nd starting at 11:00 am. Registration can be completed via the A&L Get Active web site and all money and food items raised during the event will going to the local Brandon Food Bank. The event is sponsored by A&L Get Active and C&C Rentals Details: Sunday, October 2, 2016, 11am Brandon Hills Distances: 5 and 10km… ish $5 Bucks or a non-perishable item to run! Registration: A&L Get Active

Are you looking to find the gender of your baby? Or would love to see your baby in 3D imaging? Then First Look Ultrasound in Brandon has a treat for you!! Celebrating their one-year Anniversary under new ownership, they will be offering up a month long promotion with some amazing deals, the opportunity to win 4 different weekly prizes, and a terrific grand prize. From September 15-October 15 they will be featuring their “wee picks bundle” for the discounted price of just $100, a savings of 33% off the regularly priced package of $150. Included in the “wee picks bundle” : 20 minute session during which you can watch your baby’s activities 3D/4D viewing Gender determination available (optional, starts at 17-18 weeks) Listen to your baby’s heartbeat Includes 2 3D pictures. Recorded CD of the session. As an added bonus you will also receive a recording of your baby's heartbeat and your choice of a small heartthrob animal for FREE. Additional anniversary festivities include 4 weekly draws happening throughout the month to help celebrate. Your chance to win happens when your name is entered into the draw at the time of your appointment. Some of the prizes up for grabs include gift cards from Browns Social House, a pedicure from Vivid Beauty Boutique, and a gift card from Keywest Photo. Everyone who enters the weekly draw will also have their name entered into the grand prize draw, a $700 value, consisting of a Dyson vacuum from Direct Liquidation and a 3-hour house cleaning courtesy of Pristine Clean. First Look is the first of its kind in Brandon and Rural Manitoba offering 3D/4D ultrasounds to expecting families using State of the Art Technology. Staffed with Ultrasound Technologists they offer new parents dimensional breathtaking ultrasound images and DVDs of their soon-to-be. For additional information please visit their web site: http://www.firstlook3dultrasound.com/ First Look 3d/4d Ultrasound Inc. Brandon Brandon Medical Art Clinic 339 Princess Avenue Brandon, Manitoba. R7A 0N7 Phone: 204.727.3D4D (3343)

Southwestern Manitoba is getting a lot more colorful as home grown artistic talent is being discovered on a weekly basis. This swell of interest in the arts can be attributed to the growing trend of hosted paint night events which are sweeping North America with broad strokes and making art accessible to a wider group of participants. The idea was developed in Boston in 2012, when two socially active men accepted an invite to a private wine tasting and art event. They enjoyed the evening so much that they were sure that this was an activity that would appeal to a larger audience. In four years, they have developed and grown their franchise Paint Nite into a $55 Million per year business worldwide. The duo recognizes that their largest customer demographic is women and they have no plans to expand their scope. While men might also be interested to explore their artistic side, Paint Nite has aggressively marketed to become the new preferred activity for girls’ night out. Paint Nite Brandon at Prairie Firehouse.  Photo:  Paint Nite Brandon Brandon has hosted some events through this franchise at the Prairie Firehouse and the Victoria Inn which inspires local entrepreneurship as hosts handle the local marketing and hosting, retaining 70% of the proceeds from the evening. However, local artists and galleries are also seeing increased interest in their communities and are also getting in on the action. “People are inherently creative and they are inspired to get their ideas out,” says Marlies Soltys, the curator of the Inspire Studio of Fine Arts in Minnedosa. “When you give a child a blank piece of paper and a pen, you can be sure they’ll fill up the page. When you give an adult that blank paper, they want to be given some direction.” Inspire Studio-Minnedosa MB Soltys, who opened her gallery last December has been regularly hosting social evenings with an opportunity for patrons to explore art – but not just painting. The sessions to date have also included working with ceramic mosaics, water colors and oil on canvas. One popular session, entitled “Get Your Creative Juices Flowing” includes wine and refreshments over a six week orientation, with introductions to various art disciplines. In Souris, the community is experiencing an art revolution which began two years ago when painter Kathleen Lagasse started offering classes in the basement of her home. Over the course of the first year, the enrollment had grown so significantly with students travelling from Hartney, Elgin, Brandon and Killarney to take part in the class. She had to migrate to a commercial store front space which allowed for a gallery as well as instruction space. After only a year, she needed to find even more room and has just moved into a larger, hopefully permanent, location. Lagasse Studio Souris MB Outside of her gallery, she has seen great success by hosting paint nights at Murphy’s Irish Pub, creating a social outing and breaking down the inhibitions of people that might be too intimidated to sign up for a gallery class. “What we’ve seen is that the social paint nights has been a great party night for girls or as a date night activity. The focus isn’t just on the painting, but the good time with friends in a social setting,” says Kathleen Lagasse. “It’s a great outlet for beginners and after a good first experience, many may want to try it again.” The event is also inspiring new ideas for the host venues as well as restaurants and bars look for attractions and promotions to get people through the doors. For Murphy’s Irish Pub, introducing art evenings has been a great success. Paint Nite Murphys-An Irsh Legacy “Everyone has a great time and all pieces turn out unique with every individual’s own twist,” says Barb Murphy, co-owner of Murphy’s Irish Pub. “It has been very popular. We have hosted two nights with canvas painting as well as two nights with pottery through Milly McKenna at Fun Time Pottery. We have another paint night planned for October and pottery returning in November.” As the public seeks out activities that offer an experience as opposed to just participating as an observer, art is finding a new home on the social calendars of many in the area. The appeal hasn’t escaped the offices of rural recreation directors and community organizations as well who have also sought out instructors to host community-driven creative events in a number of towns. If you’ve seen the advertisements for a paint night in your area and have been curious to check it out, round up your girlfriends and make an evening of it.  You may just discover your inner artist that you never knew existed.  

What do you do if you have a buying problem?  If you're Darcy Willey, owner of the local Direct Liquidation, you sign a lease for a ton of additional storage space to move your excess inventory over to.  You also plan a HUGE clothing liquidation sale in the form of a popup store at that very location. Anyone who follows their Facebook page is fully aware that Direct Liquidation is constantly receiving new and exciting merchandise by the truckload. The new warehouse located at 34th & Victoria will open up more room for them to display merchandise at their main location. The second location will be used primarily for storage and customer pickups. Darcy also plans on doing several different pop-up stores/sales along the way inside the additional warehouse space, which once housed Zellers. The first pop up store will be a massive clothing discount sale. They have secured over 25,000 pieces of name brand men's, women's, and children's clothing as well an entire Italian women's clothing deal he recently purchased. Brand names expected to be on sale include Adidas, Puma and Tommy Hilfiger among others. As an added bonus they are initially going to be sharing floor space with Halloween Alley so clients will be able to buy their Halloween costumes and clothing at the same place. Keep posted to their Facebook page for updates and dates as to when they will open. Future pop-up sales may also include a freezer sale and possibly a huge furniture sale just in time for Christmas. Stay tuned to www.bdnmb.ca for additional information including photos, pricing and more information on the clothing sale in the coming days.