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COLUMN: Tales from the Gravel Ridge – Finding means of keeping in touch
4 minute read 8:04 AM ESTMemories of my early childhood highlight the importance, and indeed the absolute necessity of finding ways of being in contact with others. Such communication might well be by means of conveying a message from one person to another individual by means of an intermediary, or a third party.
My husband and I recently attended a conference hosted by The Centre for Transnational Mennonite Studies at the University of Winnipeg, with the title of “Long-Distance Relationships Communication and the Mennonite Diaspora”. We decided to attend the conference by means of online streaming. It was a very practical arrangement for us at the time.
For me personally, the significance of the efforts my parents, Cornelius and Katarina Falk put into retaining contact with members of our own family, as well as with our parents’ extended families came to mind as we listened to the various presentations given during the conference. These presentations focused on both historical methods of long distance communication, as well as those of more recent times.
When our parents and their three eldest children arrived in Canada in 1929, the children, Katie, Ben and Margaret were ages 5, 3 and 1 years of age respectively. Our respective biological grandparents were no longer alive at the time. However, we have photographs of our biological extended families, and these serve, in their own right, as a means of connection. Some of our classmates at the Rosengard School seemed to have plenty of extended family members nearby. This was the case because their ancestors had arrived in Canada in the 1870s, some 50 years before my family and others of our Rosengard community had left their Mennonite villages in Ukraine during the 1920s and into the early 1930s. In our case, our family celebrated festive occasions in various ways by the eldest members of the family coming home, as they were able, from their respective places of work in Winnipeg, or at other nearby locations. It was only at a much later time that I began to realize the enormous degree of loneliness and anxiety our parents must have felt when they were new Canadians. Those feelings must surely have been intensified as news from those who had remained in the Mennonite villages in Ukraine were never uplifting, but often very disturbing. Hopes of ever seeing anyone of them again, became more and more faint.
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PHOTO GALLERY: Crowded house for Halloween Spooktacular at Clearspring Centre
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New Hall Gallery exhibit a love letter to Manitoba
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Trustees Friesen, Barkman head Hanover School Division board
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Saint Joachim Church closer to $1.4 million goal for renovations
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COLUMN: On Parliament Hill – Association with EU and what this means for Canadians
5 minute read Yesterday at 3:03 PM ESTLast week, we watched meetings surrounding Canada’s proposed association with the European Union (EU) unfold in Montreal. As the weekend progressed, journalists were left discussing the vague proposals, the apparent contradictions and uncertainty of competing interpretations of what this arrangement might actually involve.
The truth is Canadians still do not have a clear understanding of what is being proposed or what it will be called.
Is it an “alliance for the future?” An “associate membership?” An “associate membership and alliance for the future?” A “deeper and more integrated partnership?” Or some combination of any of these?
The fact is that we just don’t know.
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Providence striker takes back-to-back player of the year honours
2 minute read Preview Thursday, Nov. 5, 2026Local
Providence Pilots return to MCAC soccer mountaintop
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Man pleads guilty to assault and breaching release orders
3 minute read Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026A man received a 12-month suspended sentence with supervised probation after pleading guilty to assault and four breaches of his release conditions in Steinbach provincial court on Oct. 9.
According to the Crown, he was charged with assault on Jan. 23 for punching his partner in the face after getting into an argument over their children, leaving her right eye swollen. He also tried to prevent her from calling 911 by grabbing her from behind.
Court heard that Steinbach RCMP received multiple 911 calls on Jan. 23 reporting a domestic assault. The Crown said the victim had escaped with her children to a neighbour’s home to call 911.
The accused was arrested later that evening and released on an undertaking with conditions prohibiting him from contacting his partner. However, police found him sitting in a vehicle outside her residence Jan. 29, violating those conditions.
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Tobacco charges against Klassen stayed; seized cash dispute unresolved
2 minute read Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026The Crown stayed tobacco-related charges and a charge of possessing property obtained by crime against Stefan Klassen in Steinbach provincial court on Oct. 23, and a judge ordered the seized unstamped tobacco forfeited. A dispute over seized cash was left unresolved.
Judge David Mann said a stay means the charges are dropped.
Klassen, who represented himself, faced charges including selling, transporting or possessing tobacco for sale, and possessing property obtained by crime, all alleged to have happened Jan. 21.
Crown attorney Dan Manning said most of the tobacco was found in a carport and said it was possible that someone else had the bulk of it because Klassen’s residence was a rooming house, which would undermine the charge of possessing property obtained by crime.
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COLUMN: Grey Matters – A hospital chaplain reflects on Psalm 23 – Part 1
4 minute read Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026“Sheep are notorious creatures of habit. If left to themselves, they will follow the same trails until they become ruts; graze the same hills until they turn to desert wastes; pollute their own ground until it is corrupt with disease and parasites. … No other class of livestock requires more careful handling, more detail direction, than do sheep.” -W Phillip Keller, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23.
As a hospital chaplain, I never tire of reading Psalm 23 aloud. The words are familiar, yet each time I speak them at a bedside, another jewel catches the light. The next two weeks, I will share a few of those gems.
1 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” Sometimes when I introduce Psalm 23 to patients in the hospital I start with a story. A Sunday School class was learning Psalm 23 to recite before the church. One little boy was especially excited because he had never memorized anything before. Week after week, he diligently learned each verse. Finally, the day arrived. Standing before the microphone, he confidently began: “The Lord is my shepherd…” Then he stopped. More hesitation. Finally, he blurted, ‘that’s all I need to know’ and ran off the stage. When it comes to our final days this is so true. Our intellect, or cognition slows down and sometimes all we can do is remember that ‘the Lord is my shepherd’. Too much of our life we live as if we don’t have a shepherd, not realizing that we are just vulnerable sheep in a world of wolves.
2 “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters.” We often think of God as a taskmaster, but have you considered that He may be the one insisting that we rest? As the years pass, we spend less time doing and more time being. We lie in beds where we once stood at workbenches, desks, and kitchen counters. We may feel useless or forgotten. Yet perhaps God is not punishing us with rest. Perhaps He is inviting us into it. Perhaps He is drawing near and saying, “Be still. Let us spend some time together.” Still waters are also important because sheep don’t like to drink from moving water. In the hospital many patients are surrounded by rushing waters. There are people constantly coming into the room, machines beeping, diagnoses, treatments, unanswered questions, and fears about the future. God does not remove all the turbulence around us. Instead, like a shepherd, He creates a place of stillness away from it. God knows that weary souls need more than this frenetic pacing. We need places of peace. Sometimes the still waters are not merely a destination, they are an invitation.
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