Little Theatre Festival to premiere next month

A new independent theatre festival will premiere in Winnipeg early this year. The Little Theatre Festival, an initiative of the An Seanchaí Theatre Company, will run on weekends throughout February.

The event will consist of a number of one-act plays over several weekends, and its intended to give audiences a taste of what community theatre is all about in the city.

“It’s a huge part of who I am, and I live for community theatre,” said Siobhán Keely, an Osborne Village resident and a board member and co-creator of the Little Theatre Festival.

Keely, who is involved with An Seanchaí, noted that one-act plays sometimes get “left by the wayside” and she wanted to help promote the community theatre scene in the city.

GCWCC Above & Beyond honourees named

Forty-five community leaders were recognized with Above & Beyond awards from the General Council of Winnipeg Community Centres this past year.

This 2025 awards ceremony — the 14th — celebrated 11 former community centre presidents and 34 volunteers from 28 community centres across the city. It was held Nov. 20, 2025 at Deer Lodge Community Centre.

Past-president honourees included: Kathy O’Flaherty, Archwood; Harold Martinos, Burton Cummings; Christian Kennedy, Dakota; Bhagwant Muker, Maples; Susan Carson, Melrose Park; Jay Downs, Norwood; Joel Andrade, South Transcona; Masroor Khan, South Winnipeg; Bernita Mottola, Tuxedo Community Centre; Stuart Swanson, Westridge Community Centre; and Chirag Parnathia, Whyte Ridge Community Centre.

Above & Beyond award recipients included: Larry Caners, Bord-Aire; Josh Maxwell, Bord-Aire; Dan Reles, Bourkevale; Kevin Brown, Central Corydon; Scott Street, Central Corydon; Beatrice Patton, Dakota; Fred Nicholson, Dakota; Breanna Sawatzky, Deer Lodge; Dave Feniuk, Deer Lodge; Cathie Haworth, Garden City; Ted Oxenforth, Greendell Park; Keith Roy, Greendell Park; Angie Johnston, Lord Roberts; and Keith Guay, Norberry-Glenlee.

Let’s get skating

A frozen chill over the city doesn’t always need to mean doom and gloom. In the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day, The Forks was certainly not lacking in winter fun, as Winnipeggers big and small laced up skates — either their own or rentals from the booth in The Forks Market — and took to the ice under the canopy or along the groomed trails around the historic meeting spot.

Even more, the Nestaweya River Trail — which is created annually along both the Red and Assiniboine rivers — was opened for use Jan. 1. On Dec. 30, when these photos were taken, the river trails were still being prepared, so they were eerily quiet. A rare winter sight.

Cheer Board reflects on successful 2025

The 2025 season was an interesting one for the Christmas Cheer Board.

This year, the non-profit, volunteer operated Christmas hamper service — which delivers donated non-perishable food items, as well as toys for kids of varying ages, to families in need — received 19,568 hamper applications. That number signified a drop from 2024, when 20,993 applications were received.

“I can’t answer the question … about where those people have gone,” said Cheer Board executive director Shawna Bell. “It should have been more, and it’s surprising that it wasn’t.”

Hampers were delivered by the non-profit from Dec. 5 to Dec. 22, and the board began to accept applications in mid-November. At that time, the Cheer Board predicted it would need 21,000 hampers — matching what it saw last year.

50 years without Eaton’s catalogue

The Timothy Eaton Company pioneered mail-order shopping in Canada, but 50 years ago this month, it announced its iconic catalogue would disappear forever.

The introduction of Eaton’s first catalogue in 1884 coincided with the construction of a rail network in Western Canada that created hundreds of towns and villages which welcomed hundreds of thousands of newcomers to the region. Settlers could order everything from clothing to furniture to farm implements and, at one time, entire houses and barns from the pages of the catalogue.

Winnipeg was one of three mail-order hubs for Eaton’s, the others being Toronto and Moncton. A current monument to the city’s status in the catalogue empire are the two nine-storey towers built on Graham Avenue in 1916 and 1920, which together contained over 700,000 square feet of warehouse space.

The city benefited from the thousands of jobs within the buildings and at least that many who worked for the many independent companies that supplied retail goods, transportation services, printing, and packaging for the company.

Looking back and moving forward together

As 2025 drew to a close, I reflected with immense gratitude on the year that was. Never a dull moment, as they say. From wildfires to tariff threats, plus some personal health challenges, last year was a challenge. But it also came with great rewards. We made incredible progress together to help make life safer, healthier, and more affordable for all Manitoba families.

A major milestone was passing a bill that modernizes our response to addictions and public safety. This led to Manitoba’s first protective care centre in Winnipeg, operated by Main Street Project and staffed by paramedics and health-care professionals. Now, first responders can bring someone struggling with meth or severe intoxication to a safe place for up to 72 hours – enough time to detox, receive medical care, and connect with housing and treatment support. This compassionate, practical approach will save lives and strengthen our communities.

We also relaunched the successful security rebate program, helping families and businesses protect themselves. Homeowners can access a $300 rebate, and small businesses can receive up to $2,500 for security upgrades. With a 9.2 per cent increase in justice funding and more officers hired, we’re beginning to see crime rates decline.

Health care remains central to our work. Since 2023, over 3,500 new health-care workers have joined the frontlines, six new primary care clinics have opened, and three new personal care homes are under construction. We introduced MediNav.ca, an online tool connecting Manitobans to same-day and next-day appointments. Extended-hours clinics at Grace, Concordia, Victoria, and St. Boniface hospitals now offer care evenings, weekends, and holidays. We’re training more health-care professionals across the province – from Churchill to Altona and many places in between.

Titus is a great listener

Hi, I’m Titus.

I’m a shy and gentle boy who loves quiet spaces, soft beds, and the company of patient humans.

I am working on being house-trained and also working on crate-training. It’s very easy to put me into my crate but I don’t like staying there too long. I need a crate to help me feel safe as I build confidence. My foster mom teases me and calls me Houdini because I like to escape from my crate and pen.

I live with my foster brother, Tucker, and we play great together. I might be more suited to a home with another dog to teach me how to become more confident. I like to play rough, but I don’t like overly energetic or pushy dogs because they can be overwhelming for me.

Parents are the key career influencers

There is one more semester to go before high school students become the grads of 2026.

They will be readying themselves up to embark on new pathways in university, college, work, travel, or a combination of these. Perhaps a ‘gap year’ is in the offing, where more thinking and experiencing is needed to choose the right pathway.

Advice and guidance come from many sources – school guidance counsellors, teachers, career management tools such as www.myblueprint.ca, social media influencers, Tik Tok videos, even music or rock stars. Some Swifties hang on Taylor’s every word.

Surely a smart phone would be the ultimate go-to for students to learn anything about jobs, careers, or life paths.

Gifts in the digital age

The days of opening dollhouses and action figures from under the tree are long gone. Today, children and youth are receiving more and more toys that connect digitally to a phone or laptop. Gifts of online subscriptions are on the rise and tablets themselves have become popular presents. In today’s digital age, it’s becoming ever-important to ensure your child’s access to electronics and digital presence is safe and healthy.

If your child has received a gift you don’t know a lot about, take the time to research it through verified sources. It’s imperative to understand how that digital gift or a toy’s connected app may be using or storing their information. Review the company’s privacy policy and ensure it includes clear guidelines on who is collecting the data, how it is stored and used and what the parental rights are for removing that information.

Some toys require parental consent for children to use them. If this is the case, be sure to read the policy carefully rather than quickly clicking through. The app itself can ask your child for personal information that it may not securely store, or worse, actually sell to fraudsters and criminals.

Other apps appear safe and are quite well-known. But even they can cause headaches and unwanted surprises. Many parents have found themselves in deep water after not realizing the extent of in-app advertising or in-game purchases. One mother reported a $16,000 bill from her son playing a game on his iPad and, unbeknownst to her, agreeing to in-game offers.

Tackaberry ready for next chapter

One mover and shaker in the Park City community is calling it a career — but that doesn’t mean she’s going anywhere soon.

Colleen Tackaberry, a long-serving advocate for seniors in Transcona and beyond, retired from her position as senior resource co-ordinator with the Transcona Council for Seniors on Dec. 31, 2025, after working with the council for over 20 years.

“I moved back here from British Columbia in 2004 and my husband saw an ad in the newspaper for the meal program co-ordinator position, through the council,” Tackaberry recalled. “I love to cook and I enjoy working with people. It was a wonderful group of people. It continues to run out of Transcona Memorial United Church. That was how I got involved with the council.”

In 2007, Tackaberry stepped into the role of senior resource co-ordinator for the council, applying her energy and enthusiasm to the position, starting with reviving the volunteer driver program which provides rides to seniors in need across Transcona.

A tale of two pools

The two indoor pools of southeast Winnipeg lie along a stretch of Fermor Avenue between Archibald Street and Dunkirk Drive.

Bonivital Pool (1215 Archibald) underwent major renovations for the past two years. While it was closed, parents faced a tremendous challenge finding swimming lesson spots. Available classes could be found only at other indoor pools across the city, such as Pan-Am, Seven Oaks Sherbrook, and so on. Driving or bussing to these locations on school nights meant rush hour travel, often through downtown, to far0flung locations on tight schedules.

Further, the removal of such a significant facility from citywide inventory put still more pressure on the already busy pools.

I recently gave the pool at the YMCA-YWCA’s south community hub (5 Fermor Ave.) a try for the first time. I had recently switched my gym membership there, and decided to give a family membership a shot. It allowed me to get my youngest son into the Y’s “come-and-go” weekly registration swimming lessons, a convenient and quality option.

Remembering those we lost in 2025

As we begin a new year, let’s take time to remember the members of the sports community whom we lost in 2025. The logical place to start is with the individuals or team members who have been inducted into the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame for their exploits on the playing field and/or their contributions as a builder of sport.

In 2019, Harold Mauthe was inducted as a builder of both basketball and football teams inducted into the HOF. He coached the Winnipeg Light Infantry teams that won the Canadian junior men’s basketball championship in 1952 and 1953. In football, he was the head coach of the Canadian intermediate champion St. Vital Bulldogs in 1960 and 1962. The WLI teams were inducted in 2005 and the Bulldogs in 2012. Mauthe played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1951 and 1952.

Faye Finch was a multi-sport inductee in 2013, who competed at the national level in softball, athletics, volleyball, team handball and touch football. Softball was her best sport, where her versatility with the bat and glove, combined with blazing speed, earned her induction into the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame. She also spent nearly three decades working for the Manitoba Sports Federation and Sport Manitoba.

Don Sewell was inducted as an athlete for rifle shooting in 1993. He was capped 19 times by Canada as a member of the national team. Winning the St. George’s Cross at Bisley in England in 1991 with a perfect score was considered his crowning achievement. He is an inducted member of the Dominion of Canada Rifle Association Hall of Fame.

Catching up with… ft3

I reached out to ft3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design about doing a follow-up to a column I wrote in September 2023. As she did back then, marketing co-ordinator Rebecca Henderson asked what I wanted to hear about.

My reply was thus: “Recent projects… current projects… anything else new and exciting?”

1) I understand that earlier (in 2025) ft3 Architecture Landscape Interior Design celebrated a major milestone. Please expand on the 50th anniversary for me and our readers.

While ft3’s official anniversary date is July 1, we celebrated this milestone in May, within the atrium of the Brodie Centre, on the Health Sciences Centre campus of the University of Manitoba. Celebrating at this location was significant to us as the firm helped plan and design the atrium in the mid-1990s.

No rest for Elmwood voters

The last couple of years have brought quite a political whirlwind to residents of Elmwood. Multiple federal, provincial, and municipal elections have taken place, accompanied by the standard door-knocking and campaign literature drops.

In October 2023, after months of canvassing, the Manitoba provincial election was held. Jim Maloway was once again elected the member of the legislative assembly for Elmwood while Matt Wiebe was elected MLA for the adjacent Concordia district.

Then, at the end of February 2024, Elmwood-Transcona member of Parliament Daniel Blaikie resigned to take a position advising Manitoba premier Wab Kinew on intergovernmental affairs.

On Sept.16, 2024, after months of campaigning, New Democrat Leila Dance was elected to succeed Blaikie as Elmwood-Transcona MP. Dance served for several months but was defeated by Conservative Colin Reynolds in the general federal of April 28, 2025