The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
A great idea and some hard work from a couple of Snow Lakers has paid off big time for the children of the community. Brenda Cairns and Les Teneycke recently noted that the boards on the outdoor rink in the Brentwood subdivision were in desperate need of repair. Rather than sit back and complain about it, they rallied the troops and got the job done. Through donations and sponsorships, these two managed to raise enough cash to replace all the boards on this heavily used outdoor rink, and in return for their donations, businesses and families that contributed had their names and messages placed on the inside of the boards. A late September workbee insured the rink was put back together and readied for this winter's ice. Snow Lake's kids will benefit for years to come from the generosity of local businesses and families, not to mention the hard work and initiative shown by Cairns and Teneycke. In other news, Snow Lake's summer of 2003 involvement in the Communities in Bloom challenge has proved to be (slightly) more rewarding than the town's inaugural year of participation, 2002. Last year, out of a possible 1,000 points that were available to each participant, Snow Lake garnered 762, or four out of five blooms. In 2003, the result was still four out of five blooms; however, the community scored 790 out of 1,000 on the contest's evaluation grid. Just one percent below the qualification mark for a rating of the much coveted, five blooms. The 2.8% jump that Snow Lake achieved on the 2003 grid was due mostly to the efforts of the Snow Lake Communities in Bloom Committee (SLCIBC), which was formed after last year's competition. The committee worked extremely hard over the spring and summer, and a number of their initiatives were noted in the evaluation report that was presented to the town after judging took place. The memorial trees planted throughout the town and the immense amount of work done on Snow Lake's Brentwood Park were a few of the SLCIBC's projects mentioned specifically. Several others, taken on by other community groups were also spoken highly of; particularly the flagpoles and flags at the Legion's Cenotaph, and the skateboard park at the old 'A' Block apartment site (which was constructed by parent volunteers). In addition to the kudos that the evaluation team had for the new projects around town, they also heaped praise on the natural beauty of Snow Lake. "Snow Lake is a remote mining town that can surely lay claim to being the prettiest mining town in Manitoba and well beyond," the team noted. "The developers of Snow Lake had obvious respect and affection for the natural beauty of its site. The residents have taken their town several steps past that auspicious beginning and have worked diligently to enhance what God granted." As a group the evaluators were also quite surprised at the variety of flora encountered in the community, stating: "The most lasting floral memory we have of Snow Lake is the sheer exuberance of flowers in private yards. The variety of flowers tried, and success, was impressive." Additionally, the team advised SLCIBC personnel that: "Private lawns in Snow Lake were, beyond question, the greenest seen in Manitoba this year." The top entrant in the communities with a population of 1,001 to 3,000 category for Manitoba was Lac du Bonnet with a five-bloom rating. Additionally, Neepawa was voted the top town in its category not only for Manitoba, but or the nation.
