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The Stone Angel

Details: Published on Monday, August 28, 2017

By Brenda Ferguson
Margaret Laurence Home

Margaret Laurence is most well known for her novel “The Stone Angel”. It’s a book about aging and the life of a fictional character, Hagar Shipley, a 90 year old woman who is struggling with her mortality and fighting against going into a nursing home. The book tells her story in present day narrative (the ‘60s) with reflections back to her past. Her past takes us back to Manawaka, a small prairie town in Manitoba, a community with which those of us who grew up in Neepawa will be able to relate. Hagar fights her mortality by planning an adventure, one where she runs away from home. I found the book to be very entertaining. It made me both laugh and cry. It brought back memories of my mother, who always firmly stated that she was not going to move to the nursing home. The book left me to wonder if she was struggling the same way as Hagar or if it was truly because she, in her words, “Did not want to live downwind from the chicken barns”!
The novel was made in to a movie in 2007. It was filmed in Winnipeg and Hartney and starred Ellen Burstyn. Copies of the book are available in the gift shop at the Margaret Laurence Home. We are open daily from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. Stop by for a visit.

Beautiful Plains Museum

Details: Published on Monday, August 28, 2017

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Photo by Jessica Morton

By Allison Trimble
Beautiful Plains Museum

Glenella throws big homecoming and Canada 150 bash

Details: Published on Monday, August 28, 2017

By Adrene Schmidt
Submitted

Months of planningseemed to be well worth it, as Glenella was abuzz with excitement for its Homecoming and Canada 150 celebration. The festivities, held Aug. 4-6, began Friday evening with registration and an open stage for those who wished to sing, tell jokes or share a story. There was popcorn, drinks and a movie for the children at the sports arena, coffee, muffins or something a bit stronger at the hall for the adults. Campers were arriving to get their spots in the grounds next to friends or maybe old neighbours.

Yellowhead Centre upgrades looking good

Details: Published on Sunday, August 27, 2017

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Photo by Eoin Devereux

Eoin Devereux
The Neepawa Banner
The summer upgrades to Neepawa’s Yellowhead Centre are nearly complete, as the new boards, glass and centre ice scoreclock are in place. The only remaining work to be done in connection to these improvements will be the reinstallation of the advertising. Additional pictures are on page 16.

Homebodies - Deadheading...

Details: Published on Saturday, August 26, 2017

I was taking a turn serving as a volunteer at our local museum. It was a beautiful morning, not hot, not cold, not windy, no insects buzzing around. A quick glance showed me that the flower beds could do with a bit of deadheading – removing the spent blossoms to encourage the plant to produce more flowers- for any non-gardeners.

For the first half hour, I worked bending over. The second half hour I spent on my knees. The rest of the time I alternated between sitting, stretching, bending and sitting. I have a whole new appreciation for the staff at the cemetery whose entire day can consist of working in the petunias.

The entire task took about an hour and a half, working at a “please, somebody interrupt me” speed. Steady as she goes. Time enough to wax reflective. It was easy to spot the large drooping blossom and pick it off, then the older ones became more visible. And then, when the major flaws were removed, the smaller ones became more obvious. And so it went, for all three containers and both plots.

I compared this process of refining and improving the flower patch to refining and improving my personal life. It doesn’t take a sharp eye to spot my strongest weak points. The type of undesirable characteristic that anyone one can see at a glance. My procrastination for example, or my love for sweets. Take them out of the mix, and some of my quirks become more evident. I still fight with my desire to use sarcasm. Back in my youth, I was the mistress of the biting quip and realised it was a poor man’s tool, I could handle frustration and annoyance better than that. And as I peeled away another layer of the onion – I am mixing metaphors, for I am deadheading petunias! As another set of dried and decaying blossoms are removed, what is now the blight are the little dried sticks protruding where once a flower waved.

These old scars are still an eyesore and are best removed from the bed to make the current flowers shine.

Those little things, words said in haste, a disservice in thought or deed, can still echo in the thought chamber. I am not alone when I cringe over the memory of things said or done way back in school. I have a long memory. Done and gone, these need to be plucked and discarded, once for all time. I picked and tossed a few of them that morning.

Strange how what was to be a time filler turned on me. Not in a bad way, but in an unexpected way. That time spent outdoors, working with creation to become its best, helped me. And if deadheading can do that for me! Well, a few days later, driving down Highway 10, I spotted the silhouette of stately pines, towering above the forest, visible for miles. A lesson for self, for a later time.

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