Sometimes, random thoughts and questions stick in my head and percolate for a while. Recently, I was driving around and was passed by a car being driven erratically. When I looked over, I saw a German shepherd in the driver’s seat, sitting on the lap of what I have to assume was a driver. Either that, or the guy didn’t have license and figured the dog was better qualified. I have no idea how the driver could see where they were going, but I hope the dog at least could find its way home.  Later, I encountered another car, this time packed to the point where all the windows were blocked as someone was on the move to a new residence. It cut me off as it was changing lanes. I looked over, and wouldn’t you know it. Another dog in the driver’s seat, happy as can be. All I can say is I’m glad it was a dog driving, because a cat would deliberately have written-off my vehicle in a hit and run.  Other thoughts:  ·      I want the company that built the Kemnay railway bridge to construct my next house. That bridge takes a beating and still handles a full slate of money trains every day. ·      The Winnipeg Jets are clear winners in trading a second rounder in 2024 for Nashville’s Nino Niederreiter. Winnipeg adds depth scoring with term, without giving up a lot. However, there is a real need to bring in a defenceman nobody wants to play against. The last time the Jets were relevant in the playoffs, they had both Dustin Byfuglien and Jacob Trouba. Logan Stanley may cast a long shadow on a sunny day, but I’m not sure he helps make the Jets a tough team to play against.   ·      To answer that need, would Vancouver’s Luke Schenn be a fit in Winnipeg? ·      Another reason for the Jets to go all-in this year? Connor Hellebuyck is going to get paid big time on his next contract. He’d be worth at least $11 million per season. Can the Jets afford to keep him and the rest of the lineup needed to win? The West is open this year, and the Eastern Conference winner will have navigated an absolute meat grinder list of opponents to get to the Final. ·      Watching the modern-day NHLers play, with repeated breakouts which often result in passing back to defencemen once the rush hits the centre line, I have to wonder if the 1972 Summit Series taught Canadian hockey to play more like the Anatoli Tarasov-coached Soviets. ·      Renovations at the Rogers Centre may be intended to create more of a baseball feel to the building once known as Skydome, but will the renovations actually pay for themselves if Vladimir Guerrero Jr., hits 80 home runs? It’s going to take a lot of hot dogs to pay that salary. Mind you, if beer reaches $20 per cup, you’ll know where those profits are going. ·      Nobody asked me, but if the Wheat Kings are looking for a new head coach, they might want to look at Steinbach Pistons assistant coach Calvin Bugyik. Aside from a 93-28-11 head coaching record in Manitoba AAA U-18 games, and two provincial AAA U-18 titles as an assistant coach, he’s done pretty well with the Pistons, a perennial contender in the MJHL. ·      If you needed any more examples of how ineptly run the Arizona Coyotes are run, look at the Jacob Chychrun situation. I realize the franchise knows it has a valuable defenceman and wants to maximize value coming back to the team in a trade. But this player has noted durability issues. At some point, Arizona should take the best, reasonable offer it can, and look to five years from now, when the Houston Aeros will be ready to contend in the NHL. ·      This year’s Scotties has offered some new faces a chance to shine. It will be interesting to see how the Nova Scotia team led by Christina Black are a one-hit wonder, or incoming contenders. The fact they are based on the east coast makes travel to the elite tournaments in central and western Canada a lot harder. Black made elite-level shots this past week, put a lot of crooked numbers on the board, and didn’t wilt under the TV lights. ·      Last, but certainly not least, Manitoba RCMP recently reported a woman called 911 to report an emergency. Apparently, the drive thru at a new restaurant had a rather long lineup and she really needed a burger and fries. There are some seriously good burgers to be had out there, but is ordering and receiving one through a drive thru window a life-threatening emergency?

At the annual awards and UDC appreciation lunch that took place in Portage La Prairie recently, Brandon’s Brad Degraeve was named the Home Run Sports Wayne Deschouwer Umpire of the Year for 2022. He has been a softball umpire since 2012 and estimated that he umpired approximately 60-65 games this season including league play, tournaments and Championships. "I coached in the Manitoba Ladies Super League with the Winnipeg Lightning from 2000 to 2008, but found that when I relocated to Brandon for work in 2007 that it was too much to commute back and forth to Winnipeg for games and practices. I have always loved the game and wanted a way to get involved again, so in 2012 a few of my buddies, local legends in the Brandon Umpire group, Earl Cheasley & Bruce Luebke asked if I wanted to umpire" said Degraeve when asked how he first got started as an umpire. "Never in my wildest thoughts would I ever imagined being able to get to the point I am in my umpiring career when I first started" added Degraeve. Some his 2022 achievements on the diamond include: - Umpired at the Women’s/Junior Women’s Canadian Championship in Regina - Deputy Umpire in Chief at the U15 Western Canadian Championship in Stonewall - Umpire in Chief at the U19A Provincials in Winnipeg - Deputy Umpire in Chief of the Westman Zone - Member of the Provincial Umpire Development Committee (UDC) - Selected as the Provincial Umpire of the Year For the 2023 season, Degraeve already has a busy season ahead. He plans to continue to be leader in the Westman Zone and Provincially with respect to mentoring fellow umpires and also help grow the softball game. He will be helping with the upcoming Canadian Championship in Brandon as the umpire liaison. He will continue to be a member of the Provincial UDC, as the Softball Canada Blue Convention is being hosted by their group in Winnipeg coming up in April 2023.  At this point, he is undecided if he will apply to travel to a National in 2023, or if he will take a year off travelling to prepare for 2024. "Umpiring has been a great experience, it allows you to develop confidence, leadership, and allows you to meet a great group of officials, Team Blue from across the Country.  I would recommend that if you wanted to start umpiring as an adult or a young person, it is a great community and the mentoring and confidence that you will have through your journey will help you grow as an ump and a person" ended Degraeve.

Ace Burpee Winnipeg radio jock has compiled his listing of the Top 100 Fascinating People in Manitoba ..... somehow Brandon and Western Manitoba was not included.  Leah Hextall a former CKX TV announcer was named in this listing. Similar to every year I’ve done this list, the hardest part is keeping it to 100 names. We have so many truly amazing people in this province. People doing life-changing research. Advocating. Entertaining. Leading. Innovating. Saving lives. Offering hope. Every year it’s all new people who have never been on the list before, yet I end up with dozens of possibilities that carry forward. All the best to you, and Happy New Year. Sadaf Saberi & Graydon Kirkness: The two Gordon Bell High School students were both recipients of the prestigious Leaders of Tomorrow scholarship from the University of Manitoba. Saberi will study civil engineering and pursue an interest in improving water access to communities in need. Growing up in Afghanistan, her family found refuge in Pakistan before coming to Canada in 2018. She had previously opened a tutoring centre in her home in Afghanistan and was a volunteer English teacher at 14 years old. Kirkness plans to indulge a passion for physics and math by studying mechanical engineering. He founded an Indigenous student committee at Gordon Bell, offering a safe space and tutoring. Emily Butcher: Huge year. After six years crushing it at Deer + Almond, she competed on Top Chef Canada and has now opened her own spot — NOLA. This follows the year prior which saw her take bronze at the Canadian Culinary Championships. Bucky Anderson: Just an absolute legend in Selkirk. About 20 hours a week, Bucky will drive the streets of the city blasting a playlist of his favourite Métis songs from his unmistakable Métis music van. Antoni Klonowski: He won the 2021 Canadian Institutes of Health Research National Brain Bee. The Brain Bee tests high school students’ knowledge of neuroscience and brain function. Antoni placed first in Canada despite only being in Grade 9, while the majority of the field was made up of Grade 11 and 12 students. Jocelyn Gould: The Winnipeg born and raised artist took home the Juno award for Jazz Album of the Year: Solo, for her debut solo record Elegant Traveler. James Van Niekerk: He’s a board game creator whose second major fantasy game project, Valor and Villainy, took off in 2021. Originally looking for $60,000 on Kickstarter (these are essentially just pre-orders of the game), fans overwhelmingly responded by buying literally thousands of copies of the new game. Awesome. Angela Farkas and Alana Fiks: Local, local, local. The co-owners of Black Market Provisions have been an incredible addition to an increasingly awesome South Osborne strip. Locally made great food to go, and more. Jill Fast: Fast made history this year as the first-ever female varsity football head coach in the Winnipeg High School Football League, taking the reins of the Portage Collegiate Institute Trojans. Olivia Meier: Competing at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Olivia became the first-ever Canadian to represent our country in badminton. Anna Stokke: Stokke was recognized with a 3M National Teaching Fellowship, one of the most prestigious awards of excellence and educational leadership at the post-secondary level. Professor Stokke has brought passion, innovation, accessibility and leadership to countless mathematics students and future teachers at the University of Winnipeg. Sacha Paul: A lawyer with Thompson Dorfman Sweatman, Paul will take over as vice-president of the Law Society of Manitoba. In doing so, he will be the first Indigenous lawyer to assume the position. Kaili Juliak: Upon hearing of questions about COVID-19 vaccines in her North Point Douglas neighbourhood, Juliak took it upon herself to distribute correct information and help address concerns. Partnerships with the North Point Douglas Women’s Centre and the Bear Clan Patrol saw thousands of pamphlets distributed and helped keep her community safe. Nolan De Leon: De Leon set a new Guinness world record for heaviest weight lifted by Turkish get-up. In one hour he completed 184 reps with a 70-pound kettlebell. That’s over 13,000 pounds lifted, destroying the previous record of 10,000. Turkish get-ups are hard to describe in writing, but just know they’re an amazingly brutal exercise. In addition to the world record (and just as important), he raised over $3,000 for the Mood Disorders Association of Manitoba. Gololcha Boru: When new immigrant families arrive in Manitoba, often one of the first new faces they meet is Boru. A political refugee from Ethiopia, he has grown into an incredible leader in Winnipeg, removing barriers for countless families through his work at the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba. His specific work in the soccer community was brought to the attention of the Canadian Premier League, who awarded him the 2021 Community Change Maker honour. Tristan Peters: After batting .355 with 55 RBI in 60 games as a sophomore at Southern Illinois University, Peters was selected in the seventh round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. Rylee Nepinak: Motivated by a state of emergency In Tataskewayak Cree Nation, Nepinak cycled across Canada raising money and promoting awareness about Indigenous youth suicide. A member of Sagkeeng First Nation, Nepinak, who had no previous experience as a cyclist, raised tens of thousands of dollars that were dedicated to youth programming in Tataskewayak. Paisley Cadorath: In her first-ever film audition, nine-year-old Paisley landed a starring role in Nobody, featuring Bob Odenkirk. The film — largely shot in Winnipeg — did incredibly well and Paisley was really, really good. Mirjana Roksandic: Earlier this year, researchers announced the name of a newly discovered species of human ancestor: Homo bodoenis. It’s a remarkable discovery, and University of Winnipeg anthropology professor Roksandic was the study’s lead author. Steffan Reimer: Running a marathon in under three hours is really, really good. Reimer ran the Manitoba Marathon in two hours and 50 minutes while dribbling a basketball the entire time. His time smashed the existing Guinness World Record. Naomi Finkelstein & Alba Lopez Gomez: The pair met about 15 years ago in a support group for parents and friends of members of the LGBTTQ+ community. Each had a child who had recently come out as transgender. Concerned over the dearth of information regarding being transgender, the pair started a support group at Rainbow Resource Centre called Parents, Family and Friends of Trans Individuals. They have co-facilitated the group for over a decade, and this year received one of the highest honours for service from Volunteer Manitoba. Ryan Steel & Christina Hajjar: Both made exceptional short films that were accepted into the Gimli Film Festival. Steel’s Portage Place Mall (With Love) and Hajjar’s Don’t Forget the Water were co-recipients of the audience choice award for Best Manitoba Short Film, sponsored by Eagle Vision. Tara Woodbury: She’s the executive producer of CTV’s highly successful Transplant, and was the producer of the dystopian drama film Night Raiders. This year she was named the first-ever Canadian content executive for Netflix. She will be developing and commissioning scripted series for the streaming giant in Canada. Super cool. Dr. Marcia Anderson: An absolute force at the forefront of the Manitoba First Nations Pandemic Response Team. Just an incredible leader. Prior to the pandemic, Anderson’s achievements already included serving as president of the Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada, being named one of Women’s Executive Network’s 100 Most Powerful Women, leading the creation of the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences’ Reconciliation Action Plan… and much, much more. An absolutely amazing person. Blake Morden, Cynthia & Jason Cherewayko: I would need an entire page to describe the dramatic scene that played itself out at Grand Beach in late May. Just know that these three absolute heroes rescued two little children from drowning through sheer determination and absolute selflessness. The entire story is here: wfp.to/rescue. Liz Choi: People, community, change, diversity, inclusion, equity… all things Choi will continue to champion in her new role as board chair of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. A tremendous asset to the business community. Tasha Spillett-Sumner: Her graphic novel series, Surviving the City, has received enormous acclaim. Awards for the series have come from the American Library Association and the Indigenous Voices Awards. Her latest book, I Sang You Down from the Stars, impressively debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times Best Sellers List. Massive talent. Isaiah Binns: While in high school, he was a recipient of a personal achievement award at the Manitoba Indigenous Youth Achievement Awards. This year, Binns saw a bold idea become reality via a partnership with Richlu Manufacturing, makers of the Tough Duck workwear brand. A logo he designed in advance of the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (it’s incredible) now adorns a special Tough Duck line. Great job, man. Tessa Blaikie-Whitecloud: After doing an incredible job running various programs supporting Winnipeg’s most vulnerable with 1JustCity, Blaikie-Whitecloud stepped into a new role in 2021 as CEO of Siloam Mission. A tremendous asset and advocate to thousands. Taylor Gregory, Mackenzie Kolton, Katrina Lengsavath and Carly Rackal: Together they formed Meraki Theatre Productions. It’s theatre that is accessible and inclusive, with a mission to create change and nurture compassion. They did some incredible and vital programming around mental health in 2021. Tremendous job. Annika Kroeker: She wrote an essay about what “home” meant to her — how it transcends brick and mortar; how it’s more of a feeling than a place. It was incredible. Her essay won the national Meaning of Home contest for students in Grade 4, resulting in a $30,000 prize being donated to Habitat for Humanity Manitoba. Fantastic job Annika! Renata Bandel: For her incredibly brave effort in saving the lives of two teens swept away on Lake Manitoba, Bandel was one of a very small group of North Americans to receive a Carnegie Medal this year. The award is presented annually to civilians in Canada and the United States whose heroics have gone above and beyond. An absolute hero. Dr. Ken Hahlweg: He had no time to think, only react. Dr. Hahlweg acted out of pure instinct to tackle a man at Seven Oaks General Hospital who had just stabbed a woman. The incident — while horrendous — would have been even worse were it not for his actions. Unreal. Wilfred Sam-King Jr., Michelle Gazze, Abneet Sidhu, Yuna Le Berre, Alhaji Mansaray & Drew Nepia Gonsalves: Together, they make up the Rising Stars Foundation. They work with youth from underserved communities offering support, education, mentorship and hope. They do some incredible work and continue to produce future community leaders that make us all better. Levi Sobering: His day job is teaching at Glenlawn Collegiate, but his side hustle is duct tape. Sobering creates incredible custom pieces of art using only duct tape. Super cool stuff. Check him at ductape_dynasty on Instagram. Sheila Lotuaco: She fulfilled a lifelong dream of starring in a movie, and the movie turned out to be a massive indie hit. On almost a whim, Lotuaco put together an impromptu screen test in her basement and put her name forward for a film called Islands. Her acting debut drew rave reviews, and the film was fêted at South By Southwest in Austin, Texas, and screened at Toronto’s Reel Asian Film Festival. Incredible debut. Love it. Nihad Ademi: We lost an absolute legend in Nihad this year. A filmmaker, actor, photographer, deep-thinker and friend to all, Ademi made this a cooler and better town, and he will be sadly missed. Love this man. RIP, Nihad. Paul Rabliauskas: This is going to rule. Rabliauskas is starring in a new sitcom called Acting Good, loosely based on his life growing up and returning to his home on Poplar River First Nation. An incredibly gifted storyteller and a legend on the comedy scene in Manitoba, his show will air on CTV’s Comedy Channel next year. Chanel Higheagle: Upon the opening of an amazing new skatepark in Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation, Chanel started skating. Soon after, she helped start up learn-to-skate programs for youth, introduced girls to skateboarding and was involved with several other initiatives in her community. Skateboarding rules, and so does Chanel. Dr. Joss Reimer: Dr. Reimer is medical lead and one of the leading voices and faces of the largest immunization effort in the history of Manitoba. She did an incredible job communicating information and was empathetic to all concerns, questions and hesitations. A vaccination undertaking of this magnitude requires a very specific type of person in order for it to be successful. Dr. Reimer was that person. Bob Irving: After almost 50 years of calling Winnipeg Blue Bombers football games on the radio, Irving’s final play-by-play broadcast was the CFL’s Western Final. An absolute legend behind the mic, yes, but an even better person. Just an incredible run. Rosa Walker: Her remarkable career as an Indigenous leader has paved the way and empowered countless others to be the leaders of tomorrow. She doesn’t just prop up existing work, she creates new opportunities and shapes the future. She’s long advocated for the rights of Indigenous workers and has helped change the Canadian workforce. Walker started the World Indigenous Business Forum and is president and CEO of the Indigenous Leadership Development Institute. She continues to leave her mark on both our province and the world. Joan Van der Linde: When the pandemic first hit, Van der Linde immediately started thinking of ways she could spread kindness in her community of Morris. So, she started the Bread Basket. She would bake a loaf of bread, put it in a bag, hang it on a lamppost, then tell people on Facebook they’re free to come grab a free loaf. Word of her kindness spread, and building on the momentum of goodwill in her town, she’s now baked and given away well over 2,000 loaves of bread. Nice. Elmwood Giants: An undeniable dynasty. The Giants won their fourth consecutive Manitoba Junior Baseball League title in 2021. That also makes it six championships in eight years. An incredible run. Terry McKellep: One of the most dedicated and tireless volunteers In The Pas and Opaskwayak Cree Nation. From the Northern Manitoba Trappers’ Festival and Indigenous Days to the Rotary Club and the Legion, McKellep has given thousands of hours of her time. She helped make the Pride Crosswalk a reality in The Pas, and without question makes her community better. Andrea Macasaet: An enormous talent, she was set to make her Broadway debut in New York when the pandemic hit. The return of live shows in 2021 saw Macasaet not only crush it as Anne Boleyn in Six: The Musical, but also included a live performance on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Love to see it. Austin Taylor: The Kildonan-East Collegiate grad set a Canadian archery record with a perfect score of 150 on his way to winning the U.S. National Indoor Collegiate Championship. Taylor attends Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky and along with the college title holds numerous other Canadian records. Kyle Penner: Penner, an associate pastor at Grace Mennonite Church in Steinbach, went on the record early and often in support of COVID-19 vaccinations. There has been backlash along the way, but he’s put in a ton of time communicating facts while also trying to ease concerns and clear up misinformation. Bobbie-Jo Leclair, Corey Kapilik, Chickadee Richard, Diane Maytwayashing, Frank Deer, Vern Dano, Isaac Murdoch, Greg Kiesman, Ken Plaetinck, Mark Lesiuk & Christopher Heidebrecht: This is one of the coolest and most ambitious projects a school division has taken on in recent years. Louis Riel School Division launched the first Minecraft teaching resource in the world that honours and explores a Manitoba Anishinaabe community. It’s an incredible undertaking. It’s called Manito Ahbee Aki (the place where the Creator sits), and players are transported to a site in the Whiteshell before European contact in North America. The project was conceptualized after leadership in the LRSD engaged in conversations with Microsoft about adding Indigenous languages into products used in classrooms every day. Incredible job. Shout out to all the student beta testers from Marion, Highbury and Minnetonka schools. Anne & Scott Oake: A dream was realized in 2021 with the the official opening of the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre. Named in honour of their late son, it’s a non-profit residential treatment centre offering hope to individuals and families seeking recovery from substance abuse. It will be, without question, one of the most important endeavours in the history of Manitoba and will save lives. Sadly, Anne Oake passed away days before the official opening, but not before changing Winnipeg forever. There would be no facility were it not for Anne Oake, one of the strongest, most empathetic individuals ever. Condolences to Scott and Darcy. We lost a tremendous soul who will be sadly missed, but she leaves a legacy of healing for generations to come. Dr. Heather Watson: Dr. Watson is completing her residency in addiction, mental illness and reproductive health. She was celebrated this year by Doctors Manitoba for her commitment to improving health-care services and access for marginalized women. She’s created her own fellowship in psychosocial obstetrics and gynecology, and has brought incredible expertise to the pandemic response as well. Sean Rayland & Kale Bonham: Rayland is the founder and Bonham is the creative director of Red Rebel Armour, a stunning streetwear label representing Indigenous culture in fashion. The brand is about love, reconciliation, healing, pride and community. The venture provides a massive platform for Indigenous artists and voices, and as of this year can be found in The Bay at both Polo Park shopping centre and St. Vital Centre, and at redrebelarmour.ca. Tremendous job on multiple levels. Lorri Millan & Shawna Dempsey: Early this year I would drive past a bus shelter every day with a poster of someone holding up some fish on a stringer. Underneath the photo was the slogan “Winnipeg: One Gay City.” I was pretty sure there was a cool story behind the campaign, but I didn’t know the depth of it. These posters — framing Winnipeg as a safe haven for the LGBTTQ+ community — were actually created more than two decades ago, but were shut down by ad agencies and Advertising Standards Canada. It took 23 years, but the posters had their moment. Huge win. I love it. Colleen Omand & her Grade 1 students at Isaac Brock School: Omand began teaching the bilingual Cree-language program a few years ago and this past school year one particular unit took a twist. They were learning about animals of the North when a student mentioned a fascination with baby belugas. Omand ended up teaching her class the Cree version of Raffi’s iconic Baby Beluga song, and their take on the tune took first place in a contest put on by the Indigenous Languages Symposium. Love it. Annabella LaForte, Ethan Sahagun & Caleb DePiero: This is the coolest. This Manitoba trio was selected from thousands and thousands of applicants to join the Canadian Space Agency’s junior astronaut program. They joined astronauts, engineers and scientists for intense training along with 50 other Canadian students. Jeannie White Bird & Charlie Johnston: The artists are behind a stunning new mural on Winnipeg’s City Hall commissioned as part of a long-term commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion. The piece is called Gakina Gidinawemaaganidim, which translates to “We are all related.” Amelie Barreto-Labossière & Sebastian Nebre: The two had worked on an incredible music project that was yet to be released when Amelie sadly passed away this year. One of her dreams was to hear her music on the radio, something her incredible parents made a reality in her honour. It was both heartbreaking and incredibly touching to see a family unite in tragedy and begin the healing process. The songs she recorded with Nebre have been streamed hundreds of thousands of times, a testament and lasting legacy to an amazing talent. Sara Stasiuk: The new president and CEO of The Forks North Portage Partnership. Stasiuk takes over from Paul Jordan who held the job since 2014. Tremendous hire. Amber-Sekowan Daniels: A massively talented writer, comic, producer and director. Daniels will co-create the previously mentioned Acting Good series starring Paul Rabliauskas and debuting in 2022 on CTV’s Comedy Channel. Fei Wang: A researcher at the Centre for Earth Observation Science, his recent focus has been on high sea ice and the marine environment in the Arctic, and the interplay between chemical contamination and climate change. Wang is the 2021 recipient of the Environmental Division Research and Development Dima Award for distinguished contributions to environmental chemistry. Doug Darling: The CEO and executive creative director of video production studio Tripwire Media Group. At the 42nd annual international Telly Awards, the group took home four awards, including gold for Best Online Promotional Campaign. The Telly Awards honour video from around the world (over 12,000 videos were submitted, with most of the biggest brands on the planet competing). Kumiko Yamashita: Received one of Japan’s highest distinctions in international relations. The Consul General of Japan presented Yamashita with the Order of the Rising Sun for her work in building relations between Manitoba and Japan. Jackie and Dennis Snarr: Their sheer determination and tireless advocacy led Manitoba to officially approve a life changing treatment for those with Cystic Fibrosis. Jackie and Dennis were inspired by their grandson, and their efforts will benefit those with CF forever. Tremendous job. Ranveer Brar: Ranveer is a data scientist by day and is founder and artistic director of the Winnipeg Punjabi Arts Academy. He has taught hundreds the art of bhangra dance since the school was founded in 2016 and is an incredible ambassador for his Punjabi heritage. He is also wicked dhol player. Leah Hextall: Hextall made history this year as the first female ever to be named an NHL play-by-play announcer by ESPN. Dr. Brian Penner: A physician at the Health Sciences Centre, Dr. Penner was the first person in the province to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Dr. Melanie Morris: The first Indigenous pediatric surgeon in Canada, Dr. Morris was appointed to the Indigenous Lead role in pediatrics and child health at the University of Manitoba, the first leadership role of its kind in pediatrics in Canada. Her list of achievements is incredible. Dr. Morris created a minimally invasive program in pediatric urology that helps avoid having to send children out of province, pioneered awareness in collaboration with the Winnipeg Breastfeeding Centre on new treatments for ankyloglossia (tongue tie), created outreach clinics in Nunavut, is a mentor in the Gender Equity Initiative in Global Surgery… and so much more. This year she was named one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. Jillian & Dale Klassen: They are the owners of the North Star Drive-In on McGregor St. Yes, everything they make is absolutely amazing, but their support for the community is even more impressive. They’re always willing to help make life better for someone, often very quietly, but they’re always in. Continued success. Katherine Legrange: Sept. 30 marked the first ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Legrange beautifully organized a walk from the Canadian Museum for Human rights to St. John’s Park on Main Street. It was so incredibly well done. Thousands came, and we walked united. There was grief and sadness, but also hope and healing. Katherine made it all happen. Every Child Matters. Wa-Say Healing Centre & Wayne Mason Sr.: The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation walk ended at St. John’s Park, where there was a powwow, more healing and more hope. It was incredibly well done. Mason and his team at Wa-Say made it all happen. Wa-Say Healing Centre primarily assists former Indian Residential School students and their families to access emotional health and wellness support services.

BDNMB.CA recently had an opportunity to speak with former Wheat King Chris Low about the transition to becoming a successful real estate agent in Brandon.Low's teammates with the Wheat Kings included Temple, Elder, Murray, Robson, Smart, Ritchie, Dingman, Redden and Cloutier during the 93 - 94 and 94 - 95 seasons.  After junior hockey Chris grinded it around for 7 years in semi pro hockey before retiring.So Chris we have noticed, not only on a local level but a national level as well, that you are starting to see a lot of former athletes entering the real estate business, why do you think that is?Low - I can’t speak for all but, for myself it was an opportunity I was considering for a long time. A good friend Graham Garden told me he thought I could do well and to be honest I liked the way he carried himself and admired his work ethic. He transitioned into Real Estate from pro hockey and I wanted to prove him right.How often do you stay in touch with old team mates?Low - The hockey world is small and the connections you make along the way not only with teammates but, with people in the community are everlasting. We will reach out to one another for guidance or help with certain situations or assistance if needed for sure.Some local heavyweights in real estate have a large market share, how tough is it to compete and what makes you different?Low - To be honest we all have to work together and essentially need each other to complete deals. As much competition there is between the brokerages I’ve found that everyone seems to get along well. I hear the phrase “carve your own niche” often. The fun part of the job is being the go-to for people entering their next phase of life. I’m not happy until my clients are happy. So to answer the question, it is my hope that they can go to their friends/relatives and say “Chris did all he could and more so if you need an agent, you should call him.”You were still playing competitive hockey with the Boissevain Border Kings, how was that as being one of the “older” guys? Plus team GM Eddy Dyck is one of the most unique people I have met in hockey.Low - Haha Eddy was a treat to play for and definitely made it fun to come to the rink. I enjoyed being a part of the group they made me feel young again and forgot how old I was until the next morning getting out of bed.

PetSmart is opening its Brandon store in the coming weeks. In an email received earlier today it was learned that March 9th, 2020 is the store’s soft open. The official Grand Opening is set for March 14th The first 50 customers in store on March 14 will receive a $25 PetSmart gift card, plus they will have great 1 day only offers & giveaways. You can also enter in store to win a $250 gift card. In addition to a comprehensive line of pet products they also offer a variety of pet services like grooming, training, pet boarding, and more. The nearly 14,000 sq ft store is located at 1350-18th Street , Unit E.