Excerpts from some of the top stories from weeklies from around Western Manitoba.
Homecoming highlights
The Baldur-Glenboro Gazette went through some of Baldur's accomplishments over the past decade in preparation for its homecoming celebrations.
Some of its recent sports highlights include its Baldur Regals claiming the Senior AA Provincial Championship from 2008-10 and the Border West title from 2007-11, and a handful of that team's players receiving individual honours.
In the community, the paper noted the past 10 years has brought many facility upgrades, star appearances such as Will Arnett, the first hiring of an Economic Development Officer for the community and even the merger of its newspaper, the Baldur Gazette News, with the Glenboro Gazette.
Flag bearer
A Carberry resident held the honour of carrying Westman's flag at the closing ceremonies for the recent Manitoba Summer Games.
The Carberry News-Express reports Colin van Kommer, a Grade 10 student in that community, excelled in track and field activities at the Games, winning three medals before being chosen to carry the flag to conclude the event.
Van Kommer also won a bronze medal in the triple jump at the Western Canadian meet recently.
History opened
People in Virden got a taste of history recently.
The Virden Empire-Advance reports a 54-year-old time capsule that was in the cornerstone of the recently demolished Virden ice arena was opened recently.
Inside, there was history from as far back as 1892 where it was noted Virden grew from three tents in 1981 to a town of over 800 in 1892.
Other interesting items of history were old newspapers from the 1890's.
The time capsule had originally been buried in 1890's in an old school, but that school was demolished in the late 1950's and the time capsule was placed in the Virden ice arena during its construction shortly after.
Some items added in the 1950's include a wheat sample, Virden Fair lists and a story from the Virden newspaper.
The time capsule will be kept and possibly reburied at a later date.
Hours extended
The City of Dauphin has opted to extend its Sunday shopping hours.
The Dauphin Herald reports its new bylaw will allow businesses to be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays and during general holidays.
The vote saw six councillors support the extended hours while one voted in opposition of the bylaw. The Dauphin and District Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development also voiced support for the bylaw.
Some of its community's businesses planning to adopt the new hours Sunday include WalMart, Safeway and Extra Foods. The community's Canadian Tire said it plans to stick to its current hours.
Age don't matter
An article in The Baldur-Glenboro Gazette proves you're never too old to try something new.
It also proves it never hurts to be open-minded.
Chris Tanasichuk wrote into the paper to tell of how, while she was reluctant to try her luck figuring it out, Facebook proved to be an invaluable tool for her.
While it connected her to friends from the past it also recently helped her graduating class, which hit its 32nd anniversary this year, plan out a 'birthday celebration' as almost everyone from that class of 1980 was turning 50 years old in 2012.
Tanasichuk also noted most of the people making it out to the reunion had been in school together since Kindergarten.
Centennial celebration
Folks in Foxwarren have something to celebrate.
The Russell Banner reports over 500 people headed to Foxwarren to celebrate more then 100 years of history in that community.
Bonfires, wiener roasts, and a fireworks display were the highlights in the opening night of activities while the second day had a full slate of activities including a pancake breakfast, 53 entries in the parade .
The Homecoming weekend also featured a main street welcoming as yellow ribbons were strung across some of the community's busiest streets.