Welcome to another beautiful August long weekend in Manitoba.
If you are reading this online, outside of Manitoba and perhaps outside of Canada, I want you to know that stories you hear about the horrible weather endured here in my adopted hometown are half-truths.
If you’re interested in the whole truth and nothing but the truth, you need to know that here in the capital of Manitoba, Winnipeg, daytime highs in the last week of July were approaching 30 degrees Celsius every single day. That trend will continue for this entire long weekend and beyond.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS A classic Manitoba summer scene at Gimli Beach in June.
Many people reading this are in lake country which, in some cases, is less than an hour away. They are picnicking, boating, and having laughs with longtime friends and neighbours. They are not suffering the wrath of nature. The truth is nature is blessing them with all her charms.
Canada is a free country. Nobody outside of those who are incarcerated are forced to live in any part of this beautiful land.
That includes those living in Manitoba.
I could be convicted in the court of public opinion if I didn’t tell you that you’ve made the right choice if you live here, even if it hasn’t always felt that way during some days that can indeed the test our spirits during the season that I won’t be discussing today.
But even that season which will remain nameless in this column has not been nearly as rugged in recent years. Hello, climate change.
On Thursday night of this week, tens of thousands of football fans were in Winnipeg, watching their Blue Bombers devour the visiting B.C. Lions.
The Vancouver-based team is truly a beast on offence. They have a quarterback, Vernon Adams Jr. who routinely passes for more than 300 yards.
But on Thursday he barely got a quarter of the way there. Winnipeg shut down and shut out the ferocious Lions 25-0. Our brilliant quarterback Zach Collaros threw for nearly 300 yards. Our amazing place kicker, Sergio Castillo, registered six field goals, one of them for 60 yards. He had one earlier in the season that also sailed for more than 60.
How many kickers in CFL history had two field goals that long in the same season? Nobody. Repeat, nobody. The 31,589 fans at Princess Auto Stadium were watching history being made. They were delighted and delirious. And they drove home, happy to be living in Manitoba.
The largest and longest running multicultural festival in the world kicks off tomorrow in Winnipeg. It’s called Folklorama.
You can travel the world without a passport or long check-in lines. The only baggage issue you’ll experience is a full stomach after enjoying the delicious cuisine from countries on every continent of this planet, with the exception of Antarctica.
But Folklorama’s tremendous food and world-class entertainment are available for the next two weeks. And the many thousands who go will also feel happy to be alive in a part of the world that almost never gets the benefit of an accurate review.
And by the way, if you’re worried about being chewed up by mosquitoes at Folklorama or anywhere else in Winnipeg for the next couple of weeks, forget about it. It’s not happening. The people in charge of dealing with mosquitoes in Winnipeg have it figured out.
I can tell you that I haven’t received a single bite this summer and I can say the same about last summer. Whatever you may have read or heard about our mosquito nuisance, is like all other urban legends, exaggerated.
I was turning 29 when I first arrived for work in Winnipeg, 41 summers ago — hired to read the morning news.
That turned into a job as news director for 58 CKY, a radio station at Polo Park, owned by one of the world’s most generous philanthropists, Winnipeg’s own Randy Moffatt. I was expecting to be here for two years. But I stayed for seven. My career then took me to several destinations in both Western and Central Canada and the United States.
Then in the fall of 1998, 26 years ago, I felt like I had won the lottery, landing for a second time in Winnipeg to host the much coveted 9 a.m to noon show on the most listened to radio station in Manitoba — CJOB.
I can never thank you enough for welcoming me, again and again — giving me the chance to live my best life in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Charles Adler is a longtime political commenter and podcaster. [email protected]
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