Music lessons, whether they be piano, violin, drums, or guitar, are great extracurricular activities for kids. Indeed, music has been shown to improve academic, physical, and social skills in children.

In addition to the five-kilometre run/walk at this year’s annual Imagine Run at Hespeler Park in Niverville, the Imagine team has organized a full day of entertainment geared for the whole family.

In 2013, 28-year-old Drew Cook passed away suddenly of a heart condition that he didn’t know he had. A year later, his widow, Ashley Humphrey, decided to host a fundraiser in his memory called Heaps of Dreeps.

“We wanted to do something in memory of him and thought, what better way to do it than to have a huge summer end party, all the while raising money for a great cause?” Humphrey says. “It also raises awareness of heart disease [to] maybe prevent this from happening to someone else.”

This year’s event will be the third Heaps of Dreeps fundraiser and will be held on September 10. The event runs from 1:00 p.m. until 3:00 a.m. Children are free and allowed until 6:00 p.m. There will be games, a bouncy castle, and face-painting for kids.

The next time you’re looking for a creative and fun night out, you may want to try a painting class at Ark Ceramics. The shop hosts Paint Your Own Pottery Parties and is located on Main Street in Landmark.

Every August, when the sights and sounds of Folklorama hit the streets of Winnipeg, we’re reminded of how diverse and multicultural our communities really are. And Folklorama isn’t just a big deal for Manitobans. It’s billed as the largest and longest-running multicultural festival of its kind in the world.

Christian recording artist and Niverville native Amanda (Falk) Cook is alive and well and living with husband Jacob Cook in Redding, California.