Canstar Community News Weekly Video Update for Dec. 29, 2021

Canstar managing editor John Kendle chats with Katlyn Streilein about the year-end issue of The Metro, and the coming dawn of a new era for Canstar, as its six papers will become the Free Press Community Review in 2022, with both East and West editions.

2021: A year in sports

While the first half of 2021 in the world of sports was chock full of turbulence — with cancelled games and abbreviated playoffs — many teams did what they could to compete, despite the challenges they faced, as quickly and as safely as possible.

Hockey goes virtualReece Cretton, coach of the St. James Canadians AA U13 White hockey team, found new ways to connect with burgeoning players and coaches.

“When we were no longer able to use indoor ice at the end of October, shutting down all practices and games, we as a coaching staff and team decided to move to Zoom team meetings, like so many others, as our form of communication and interaction,” Cretton said.

Cretton arranged four 45-minute Zoom calls per week for the team. Winnipeg’s own Cody Glass of the Vegas Golden Knights joined the team for a question-and-answer session.

From beehives to balayage

Abby Kayer took her first steps at Terry’s Hair Salon and Spa, shuffling from one end of the room to the other. Now 20, Kayer is working alongside her mother and grandmother in the same place where cutting and styling hair was once reserved for playtime (and was carried out on a mannequin’s locks).

Kayer graduated from The Salon Professional Academy in August, although she’s trained around the 3304 Portage Ave. shop for many years, she said.

Elaine Bagu, the matriarch of the family, saw her first customer as a professional, in-studio hairstylist in 1983 at Nancy Anne Hair Designs. The turn-of-the-century two-storey heritage house was nestled behind the Winnipeg Art Gallery at 316 Colony St. Bagu keeps a framed photo of the shop at her work station.

Bagu bought Nancy Anne from the proprietor and took over. Considering the building’s heritage status at the time, Bagu did what she could to make Nancy Anne her own. That was, until the home was demolished around the time of the 1999 Pan American Games, Bagu said.

A streetcar named 356

The rumble and reverberation of trains can still be heard and felt in the belly of the Winnipeg Railway Museum, which sits atop two iron tracks that end at the northernmost part of downtown’s Union Station. But, this month will likely be the end of the line for the museum, at least at its current home.

The Winnipeg Railway Museum is closing to the public on Dec. 31. City of Winnipeg inspectors reviewed the museum and found that the space does not meet current codes. As it stands, Via Rail Canada — the company that owns the station — has not agreed to foot the cash needed to bring the museum portion of the station up to current standards.

Via Rail Canada has afforded the museum roughly two years to find a new gallery for its collection.

The museum owns the majority of its engines, cars, and displays — gifts from donors over the years; a silver lining that will make the momentous task of moving decades worth of authentic and replica locomotives just a tad easier.

Nowhere to go but up

The Westwood Collegiate Warriors varsity girls hockey team is reaching new heights, following a string of off-kilter years.

The Warriors broke out into the 2021-22 season after a year of cancelled ice time, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic. During the 2019-20 season, the Warriors couldn’t secure a win. Before that year, the varsity girls hockey program was on again, off again.

Narrow wins and losses have marked the season this lap around the sun — putting an end to the Warriors’ rocky streak. At press time, the team stood in fifth place in the Winnipeg Women’s High School Hockey League’s Hire Marketing Division.

“We get down, but we don’t give up,” the Warriors’ team captain, Hannah Coukell, said. “Every team has been very beatable; it just comes down to which team plays better or shows up.”

Harnessing energy for healing

Author and wellness facilitator Erika Goodman has released a new book she hopes will help readers find a place of calm within their own body and mind.

The Energy Song book is Goodman’s 30-page guide to harnessing mindfulness through meditation.

“It’s for all ages, but it’s kind of geared towards kids,” the 46-year-old said. “I’m really excited about this book because I think it’s ground-breaking. I think it will open up the readers to the fact they are—first and foremost—an energetic being.”  

The Energy Song book invites readers to follow along with a set of motions, such as rubbing your palms together or breathing deeply. The physical prompts are accompanied by suggestions to get the reader in a relaxed head space.

A place to lace-up

The athletes who use one area outdoor rink will notice major upgrades to the facilities when coming out for the first skate of the year.

The Assiniboia West Recreation Association recently celebrated the opening of its new rink building at 861 Buchanan Blvd. A fire ripped through the AWRA’s former change building by night in August 2018. The main recreation centre was spared.

Following the blaze, the association’s board members secured the insurance payout and applied for grants to cover the added costs of constructing this new 2,765-square-foot facility.

The recently unveiled building was designed by Winnipeg-based 1x1 Architecture as a multi-use community space, whereas the previous building was limited to dressing rooms and a canteen.

Levelling the educational playing field

A pillar of all service clubs in our community is community service. That is loosely defined as the giving of one’s energy, time and commitment to those who have less resources than us.

The literacy committee of the Rotary Club of Winnipeg-Assiniboine is striving to meet some of the needs of families and children who, after a long hiatus caused by the pandemic, are returning to study full-time in their schools. For some, the time away set them back and, for others, just getting enough material to restart school is a challenge.

In early July, Rev. Margaret Mullin of the Place of Hope Indigenous Presbyterian Church in the North End was invited to be a guest speaker at our club. Margaret and her ministry team spend endless hours visiting with families associated with the church.

Many of the children from those families were not fortunate enough to have computers at home to do school online during the pandemic, nor the privacy to study at home. Margaret said they were slowly but surely slipping behind in their schoolwork, never to regain what they lost in their educational journey.

Chiropractor launches new practice

A professional modern dancer turned chiropractor with a long-standing career in west Winnipeg has opened a new practice.

Moran Chiropractic, run by Dr. Kim Moran, is located inside the Charleswood Chiropractic Office at 3404 Roblin Blvd. Moran worked out of Sun Chiropractic on Portage Avenue for nearly two decades.

Moran is accepting new clients, from newborns to nonagenarians. In addition, she’s using the launch of Moran Chiropractic as an opportunity to reacquaint herself with existing clients. All returning clients will get the chance to sit down with the doctor to re-evaluate their care.

Moran uses adjustment instruments — such as a drop table, chiro gun, or her hands — based on her patients’ needs. The client always has the final word on what tools and techniques are used, she said.

It’s winter and sidewalks are an issue

Winnipeg is well into winter, with snowfall and persistent below zero weather. For many pedestrians, this means icy and inaccessible sidewalks.

“They’re some of the worst I’ve ever seen”, said West Broadway resident Brian Pincott.

Pincott moved to West Broadway about three years ago and has previously lived in Calgary and Nova Scotia. He has also travelled to many Canadian cities in his past role as a member of the board of directors of the Canadian Federation of Municipalities.

Snowed-in sidewalks have profound impacts on quality of life, Pincott says.

Helping Winnipeggers find jobs

A new thrift store set to open this February aims to create an inclusive and supportive environment where folks from different walks of life can develop the skills they need to join or rejoin the workforce.  The Revive and Thrive Thrift Warehouse, located in a brick-red building at 1032 Logan Ave., will integrate its Ready, Set, Go! Work Program into day-to-day operations as an 1100-square-foot public-facing business.

The work program will be available to people living with mental and physical disabilities, those who have different learning requirements, or anyone who feels as though they aren’t currently job-ready.

“My big thing is inclusive for all — any marginalized group, or any person who needs that extra help,”

Janice Howard, the program’s founder and executive director, said. “It’s a program designed with people with different abilities in mind.”

New pharmacy puts people first

A pharmacist raised in Tyndall Park opened his second pharmacy kitty corner to the burger and sub shop where he worked as a teen. Now, at the age of 46, Ken Humeniuk has achieved a more recent dream to open a third pharmacy close to home in his new neighbourhood.

Customers first walked through the doors of Westwood Pharmacy at 100 Browning Blvd. in early November. Humeniuk moved to the area with his wife, Tina Humeniuk, in 2007. The pair has three school age children.

“To be able to serve your friends and your family and a place where you live is just incredible — it’s an incredible feeling,” Humeniuk said.

After working at a big chain pharmacy for 16 years, always under the strain of the bottom line, Ken felt as though he had become a human conveyor belt of prescriptions, he said. It was time for a change.

Wings crowned provincial volleyball champs

The last time the Westgate Mennonite Collegiate Wings AAAA varsity boys volleyball team was crowned the provincial champions was in 1978. Now, 43 years later, the nephew of one of those players has helped bring home that title once more.

Rowan Krahn is following in the steps of his uncle, Rob Krahn, as the Wings’ left side hitter. “It’s cool to carry that on,” Krahn said. “That was an extra special thing for me.”

The Wings recently defeated the Vincent Massey Trojans (25-22, 25-23, 25-21) to snag the Manitoba High Schools Athletic Association title.

The Wings outplayed the Steinbach Regional Sabres (21-25, 25-11, 25-15, 25-22) during the semifinals earlier in the day at Sturgeon Heights Collegiate.