The road to the big leagues is a long one. However, it may have gotten a little shorter for 15-year-old Evan Groening of Niverville. The teenager was drafted into the Western Hockey League (WHL) by the Brandon Wheat Kings on April 22, chosen as the first pick in the ninth round.

Imagine, for a moment, driving along your community’s main street and seeing storefront after storefront dark and empty. Imagine no Chinese or pizza takeout. Imagine struggling to find a new hairdresser who’s still accepting clients or switching your gym membership to the big franchise in the city.

Tyler and Heidi Wiebe moved with their two daughters to Australia in January 2020 for health reasons. After living in Niverville his whole life, Tyler was experiencing migraines so severe that the family decided they were willing to change continents, attracted by the stable weather pressure systems on the east coast near Brisbane.

What imagery pops into your mind’s eye when you think of a small town general store? If you imagine a mom and pop shop that carries a little of this and a little of that, you’d be exactly right.

Last week, Glen Zelinsky of Niverville received some great news: one of his photos was selected to be featured on a cycle of Jones Soda pop bottles. The winning picture was taken just outside of Niverville and Zelinksy says he took it last summer while out for an evening run.

Leave it to locals to answer the call in an emergency—in this case, for personal protection equipment (PPE) that’s in short supply among healthcare professionals and the general population.

For the last month, as social distancing ramped up and a wave of spring and summer events throughout the province were cancelled, the writing has been on the wall. On April 17, the news many people expected was made official: the 2020 edition of the Niverville Olde Tyme Country Fair has been called off.

According to modelling from the provincial government, the Red River south of Winnipeg is about one week away from its predicted flood crest.

In November 2019, local couple RJ and Ruth MacKenzie became grandparents for the first time when their daughter gave birth to a son, Noah. The parents live in Dauphin, which means it would take about four hours of driving for them to connect in person.

While self-isolation is no vacation, it certainly has given pause to the hectic schedules so many of us were accustomed to before COVID-19. As we slow down and take stock of our new reality, now is the perfect time to reintroduce ourselves to the simple pleasure of reading.