It's Beginning to Look A LOT like Christmas ...

A Marshmallow World in the Winter ...

One Big Ice Rink ...

With the bitter cold our lake has frozen over,

next stop will be fishing huts to the north,

and skating rinks for the Skate the Lake

tournament in February to the south.

Somewhere over the next hill ...

Stairs in the Snow ...

Iced with snow ...

A Snowy Sunday Morning ...

Success in a Dying Town ...

An anonymous comment has been left that I have opted to delete rather than post ... it takes exception to the emphasis here on the losses that Minnedosa has been experiencing and asks why we haven't heralded the successes.

It's a fair question that not only deserves a reply, but also necessitates an answer.

But first there are some questions that must be offered in response:

How many hair salons does a Main Street in a town of 2400 really need?

How many restaurants can that town support without other businesses to attract people to the town?

How long can Minnedosa expect to survive when you see MOST of Minnedosa in Brandon shopping on Friday and Saturdays??

When will people realize that EVERY dollar they spend outside of town is a dollar lost FOREVER to the local economy?

When will they actually look at the prices they are paying and STOP perpetuating the MYTH that everything is cheaper in Brandon?

And when will they OWN the fact that you don't save money when you factor in the gas, the time, the extras and the snacks you buy when you're out of town?

And MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL:

When will our Town Fathers OWN the simple undeniable fact that our town in a death spiral that MUST be stopped if we want to have more than hair salons, a gas station, a couple of restaurants, and a WHOLE LOT of "woulda, shoulda, coulda" dreams blowing down a deserted Main Street?

There are some wonderful success stories on Main Street. Chipperfield Coffee Company is one of the most notable. Ross and Bonnie Mackling identified a neglected niche and have, over the last two and a half years set out to not only fill it, but to fill many OTHER neglected niches as well.

Tonight a small venue concert provides an evening of non-Hockey entertainment here at home for those wanting to go out for a couple of hours without heading into Brandon. Ross saw a need and has offered something in response. (Next week the High School Jazz Band will be playing)

Additionally, their huge selection of gift items offers something for almost everyone. The gourmet coffee, tea and fresh baking continues to satiate appetites while offering a place to sit a spell with family and friends.

So, there are indeed a number of wonderful examples of success in Minnedosa. Chipperfields is but one. HOWEVER, the reality that MUST be owned - and so far it's not even being named - is that a town begins to die when it loses it's Main Street businesses. And you see it by just walking down the street.

The sucking sound we hear daily of people shopping (Personally, I have a problem when I see a town employee with a shopping cart laden with groceries in W---M-rt in Brandon, rather than shopping locally) outside of town trying to save a few pennies, while pulling real dollars out of our economy is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG !!!!

That needs to stop.

AND, the town fathers and their employees needs to take seriously the losses this town has been experiencing and open their eyes to the simple fact that if THEY themselves won't shop here, why should any of us???

Our Golf Course is beautiful, the Beach is exquisite, and the Ski Hill is sublime - but without good quality accommodations, and something for folks to do in between, the town WILL DIE!!!

These are harsh words. But the truth that is not being faced is harsher still. I for one love this town, but I marvel at the inability of folks around me to look over the verge of the valley and see the real world that exists beyond us. Until that changes, the success stories will be a mere flash in the pan.

If we're not vigilant and careful Minnedosa will, in a couple of years consist of a whole lot of vacant businesses punctuated by a couple of hair salons, a store or two and a handful of restaurants, and NOT MUCH ELSE!!! And I for one would like that NOT to happen.

So to the anonymous poster: I agree wholeheartedly that we need to herald the successes. But they are not yet enough to slow the decline of our beautiful community. AND that is the REAL ISSUE! We may well have passed the tipping point for our town.

Meanwhile, I will happily celebrate the beauty of this community one photo at a time.

I know this town is SOMETHING very much worth celebrating. But I honestly feel like I am a lone voice in the wilderness. I hope others will dare to join the chorus of "Save Minnedosa!" before it's too late.

Full Moon

Winter's Icy Grip ...

Book Fair ...

Tanner's Crossing School's Parent Advisory Council

is holding their annual Book Fair this week.

Their majory annual fundraiser, it places books

and resources in the hands of the students,

while promoting the gift of reading and literacy.

Best Wishes to all !!

And HAPPY READING!!

The Dominoes fall ...

For the first time since 1883, Minnedosa will be without a Jewellery Store when Zeke's closes in the new year. It will be a significant loss to the community on many levels. And unfortunately for the economic health of Minneodsa, this closure is just the latest of many that has left several glaring vacancies on Main St.

Winter Part Two ...

It was just a whiff of snow, but it left its mark!

For Now.

Winter's Arrival:

And SO it begins ...

A Mobile Wall ...

Lately the grain and tanker trains have been supplemented

with mobile walls as long rows of train cars carrying

stacks of shipping containers wend their way through town.

These monolithic monstrosities are

nothing short of impressive to behold.

Stretching along the tracks for hundreds of metres,

they pass through town in long ribbons moving

east and west, carrying unknown cargo to distant markets.

Friday Afternoon ...

The Fleet is arriving to ferry the children home for the weekend.

The first of seven buses pull into the parking lot at Tanners Crossing School.

Soon the air will be rent with the cacophany of children

charging headlong to the buses and cars for the ride home.

Then a few minutes from now, silence will reign until

the fleet returns on Monday morning to disgorge its cargo

and passengers for another week of learning.

Past and Present ...

Tucked at the end of the street where the Cenotaph and the Memorial to the 12th Manitoba Dragoons sits, stands the cairn to the homesteaders of Minnedosa and District.

Topped with an old plough, the river rocks and the assorted pounding stones connect our past and our present as a reminder that the only way to ensure the future is through co-operation, vision and hard work.

Maybe we'll have the courage to heed these lessons before cairns, memorials and momuments are the only things left to see in town.

Sign of things to Come??

This week's local paper carries the story that YET another local business is closing its doors and shutting down - for the first time since 1883, Minnedosa will be without a Jewellery store!

No big deal say those from outside; jewellery is a luxury item. But one of the MAIN reasons that there was a Jewellery store on Main St for all the years there has been a town called Minnedosa is because of the Railway line that runs through our town. Until the digitial age broke upon us, the need for acccurate watches in the hands of the conductors and managers who kept the trains running on schedule was a necessity. So, generations of Railroad men took their watches in regularly to the local Jeweller, and he in turn kept them (if you'll pardon the pun) running on time.

But now, like so much of what once was, the local Jewellery store slips into the sands of time and becomes nothing more than a memory.

In January on Main St we will have two vacant lots, two vacant restaurants, one vacant hardware & Building supply store and adjacent lot, one and no less than two vacant store fronts! It's getting harder and harder to be optimistic about the future of our little town.

The new Economic Development Officer wants to bring people down to Main Street, but the only thing drawing people today seems to be the bright lights of stores in Brandon. If this doesn't turn around soon we will have only cafes, hair stylists, a couple of grocery stores, a gas station and a WHOLE lot of space on Main St. And if we're lucky and committed to our town, we'll still have a few of the businesses that linger in out midst. But if things don't turn around the empty Lee's Chinese Restaurant will be simply a sign of what is to come:

Closed signs and For Sale sign.

The Iron Ribbon ...

Minnedosa and The Canadian Pacific Railway

are inexorably linked both past, present and into the future.

Minnedosa is and remains a town defined by the railroad.

A stunning view ...

Minnedosa is a valley town, hence the name: Manitoba's Valley Paradise.

It's easy to forget how scenic our valley home can be, until we venture up the sides of the bowl and catch a glimpse, not only of what lies beyond our valley, but a glimpse of what lies withing it as well.

Each corner of Minnedosa has a different view. From the south west you can see the whole vista of the town stretch across your field of view. From the north east you can look across the down town and see the grain storage elevators towering on the western edge of town. In the north west, you can see the gentle slope carrying the houses up to the southern edge of town. And from the south west you can look towards the Lake as it lies beneath a prairie sky.

It's good to take stock of what is around us once in awhile - to glance up and look beyond the horizon. And occasionally it is even better to climb a hill and look for the world that lies outside of our comfortable little valley.

It helps one gain a fresh perspective!!

The Eleventh Hour, The Eleventh Day, The Eleventh Month.

In Canada most communities have somewhere a memorial to the dead of the Great War, known now as World War One. In the 1920's a rush to remember the war to end all wars lead town fathers of every community to erect stone momuments to mark the sacrifices of the Great War. As the stones were lifted skyward, it is doubtful that those watching expected, or anticipated another, greater, more devestating war within their life times.

Yet now, momuments all across our nation - Cenotaphs as they've been called, mark the Two World Wars, the Korean war and the involvement in United Nations Peace Keeping Operations around the world, and in time the Afghanistan Conflict will take its place, along with the names of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in that desert conflict.

Today has been a day of Remembrance across our land, but thankfully in Manitoba, life actually pauses to allow those of us who want to remember to take the time to say our "thank you"s to the Veterans, and to those who lie far from home in foreign lands.

Under a Prairie Sky ...

You could dedicate an ENTIRE blog to nothing but

pictures of the Prairie Sky -

- and everyone of them would be unique and different.

By the moment, the hour, the day;

seasonally, during storms, or on a sunny summer day;

the prairie sky is changable, unpredictable

and more often than not,

completely awe-inspiring.

This afternoon, the colours, the clouds,

and the reclusive sun, combined to offer a

startling vista to behold.

A Day of Remembrance ...

A chunk of cold stone,

a hunk of icy steel,

two flapping flags,

and the Remembrance of the Fallen.

Today in town, the comrades and ladies of the

Royal Canadian Legion

have shared in Services of Remembrance

with the students at both schools.

Poppies have been worn,

memories ahve been shared,

and lost comrades have been recalled.

Today, and in the coming days,

we pause to remember the

true cost of our FREEDOM.

Lest We Forget.

Where Cultures Meet ...

Down the street, around the corner, just over there stands a cairn topped by an antique hand plough that remembers the pioneers who came and opened the area around Minnedosa to settlement by the Europeans. The cairn is tucked not far from the Library, and is generally overlooked by most residents and vistors to Minnedosa.

But those who take the time to glance at the cairn for more than a passing moment, will notice that the piled stones assembled to remember the newcomers who arrived around the turn of the 20th Century, also contains reminders that those folks were NOT the first people on the land they would call home.

Look closely at the picture above and find the three modified stones that were used as mallets by some of the "pre-historic" people who once inhabited this place.

Bridge over non-troubled waters ...

Like silent sentinels, the pilings for the train bridge

over the Little Saskatchewan River

wait the next freight train to pass over head ...

One Last Glimpse BEFORE It's gone ...

Though my title is referring to the image, taken last week of a house badly damaged by fire and left vacant and derelict for the last few months, the words could also be referring to the entirety of our town too.

Empty lots are forming all over town as old abandoned homes are knocked down and not replaced. They become like teeth falling out of the mouth of an aging person. The failure to fill the spaces that remain signals a slow inexorable decline. In this case it is the decline and death of a town unless something proactive is done to counter it. And done soon.

One would hope the Economic Development Officer would step up to the plate and prioritize such things, but without training or background in either Economic Development or Community Development, such hopes will simply flounder and the spiral will simply continue. Meanwhile, the talented visionaries are driven away or just ignored! The status quo remains.

Last week the backhoes moved in on the old fire damaged house and left a vacant lot in its place. There is now another vacant lot in a town that has too many already.

Better take a long lingering look around before it's ALL gone ... because our beautiful little town has seemingly lost its will to live ... sooner or later the backhoes will go to work on Main St too.

It's too bad. This town has huge potential if it would only learn to embrace the possibilities and start letting REAL change happen. Instead the sound you hear is grumbling and doing NOTHING.

Maybe one day it will change. I hope it happens before it is too late.

A Lazy Day on the Slough ...

An Autumn Sunset ...

From one side of the river to the other ...

Fall Shadows ...

The nights like the shadows are getting longer ...

... winter is coming, slowly and inexorably.

On a Fall Afternoon ...

Three o'clock in the afternoon ...

... the playground waits for the end of the school day,

for a few fleeting minutes laughter will fill the space,

then running feet will head for home,

homework, supper, time to play, then bed ...

in the morning the swings will still be there ...

waiting as they always have,

for the laughter and play of children.

Still Blowing in the Wind ...

When the soldiers from CFB Shilo headed overseas,

yellow ribbons were tied up all over West Man.

Some still linger, a reminder of a conflict half a world away

that has claimed lives of Canadians and Afghanis alike.