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.
When Carrie Stinton was a kid, Channing Beach was the place to be each summer. But over the last decade or so, the once-popular recreational destination fell out of favour as Channing's children grew up. Now a revival is underway as tens of thousands of dollars are pumped into the property and a new generation of families arrives to discover the allure. "We have a lot of smaller kids (in Channing) again, so it's being used a lot," says Stinton, still a resident of the subdivision and a member of the Channing Recreation Committee, the group behind the resurgence. Channing Beach improvements began last fall when weeds along the shore were plucked out and replaced with a thick layer of soft sand. Nearby playground equipment that had grown unsafe with age was also removed. This week, a decrepit wooden dock is being taken away in favour of a floating version that can be stored indoors each winter. Already in place is a separate floating platform anchored a short swim away from the shoreline. Next week, volunteers will install an extravagant $40,000 play station, complete with a quartet of slides, on the inviting green space adjacent to the beach. Roughly $80,000, mostly in grants from government and HudBay Minerals, has already been committed to the revitalization project. See 'Grants' on pg. Continued from pg. That includes the two most recent grants from the federal government's Recreational Infrastructure Canada Program (RINC) and HudBay's 80th Anniversary Fund. RINC provided $35,090 to the endeavor, while HudBay presented a $10,000 cheque that complements the $15,000 it donated last year. As she toured the site on Tuesday afternoon, Lynne Yelich, federal Minister of State for Western Economic Diversification, liked what she saw. "What a good investment," she told Stinton and other members of her committee. As giggling children ran around freely, Yelich stressed that the federal investments in the park are a concrete example of the work being accomplished under under the government's Economic Action Plan. Other sources of monetary support for the beach include the Neighbourhood Revitalization Fund with $5,000 and Hometown Manitoba, which supplied a grant worth about $4,500. On top of that, volunteers have fundraised more than $10,000. Additional funding appears on the way, with a $9,400 grant all but in the bag for next year. It will help pay for a swing, a teeter-totter and other smaller play equipment. Even the simple addition of sand to the beach, Stinton says, is proving hugely popular Ð and not only with Channing residents. "There's kids biking from Flin Flon to swim here," she says. But not everyone knows the full story behind the positive changes taking place. "People in Flin Flon don't even realize there's a beach here," says Stinton, "and the ones that do think it's polluted, and it's not. It's been tested." Beyond Channing Beach, Stinton and her committee have their sights set on refurbishing the nearby hockey rink to permit year-round use. Jones Square Park, at the other end of the subdivision, will also receive new playground equipment next year.
