The RM of Ritchot’s council met in the evening of July 17. The regular meeting began at 5:30 p.m., during which the bulk of the agenda was covered, which was followed by a short break that led to a focused public hearing at 7:00 p.m. The later public hearing was comprised of two conditional use applications.

On July 16, ground was officially broken on Niverville’s new Community Resource and Recreation Centre (CRRC). In April, council was pleased to announce over $11 million in funding for the CRRC from the federal and provincial governments. Along with Niverville council’s earlier commitment of $5 million, that funding was more than enough to kick the project off, leaving only $3 million of the almost $20-million-dollar budget left for local fundraising.

Back on June 22, New Bothwell residents past and present converged for a full day of festivities to commemorate the community’s one hundredth year. A small event committee treated the crowd of about 400 to a memorable day which began with a pancake breakfast and concluded with one of the best fireworks displays ever to be seen over the town.

For most of us, doing laundry is a necessary evil. It’s the household chore that demands to be done but few care to spend the time and energy doing it.

On July 11, the St. Pierre-Jolys Frog Follies will be back for another four days of summertime fun, and with it comes a full line-up of family events to celebrate the festival’s fiftieth year. Best yet, all this entertainment can be enjoyed at no cost for entry.

Every July for the past 30 years, Ste. Agathe has lit up with two days of lively entertainment geared toward the whole family. This year on July 19–20, the Cheyenne Summer Fest will celebrate three decades since its inception in 1989.

At the U11A Provincial Baseball Championships, held in Niverville’s Hespeler Park from July 5–7, the home team came out on top. The Niverville Wildcats won an exciting 10–8 final against the Kleefeld Stingers on Sunday afternoon.

I’ve always appreciated Mark Twain’s advice of not allowing school to get in the way of your education. This isn’t to knock the benefits of our school curriculum but rather to acknowledge that the courses offered by our fine institutions provide only part of the skills and knowledge our students need to succeed in this world. Not only to succeed, actually, but to make impacts and advance our society beyond where we are today.

The Niverville Nighthawks lost a tough defensive struggle by a 1–0 score to the Selkirk Steelers on Friday night at the CRRC. With the loss, the Nighthawks stay in fourth place in the MJHL’s East Division with a record of 27–24–4.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s recent announcement of the federal government’s proposed ban on single-use plastic by the year 2021 came as a welcome surprise to some local leaders.