In September 2015, a team of hometown-proud individuals broke ground with a rather out-there venture: the Niverville Citizen. This new publication, at first available in print with only a minimal online presence, was a direct response to a distinct lack of local news, save for the very occasional reference to Niverville or Ritchot from outlets based in Steinbach and Winnipeg.
It was a gamble. All evidence suggested that print newspapers would soon be extinct. And despite significant local growth, there were questions as to whether the region would generate enough local news to fill a monthly paper.
Ten years later, it seems very clear that the gamble was worth it. The Citizen has been broadly embraced, and the reason for its success is due, in large part, to its strong commitment to local relevance.
“Our little corner of southeastern Manitoba has always been great at bucking trends and all the local communities have been supportive from the beginning,” says Evan Braun, Citizen shareholder and managing editor. “What I’ve since realized is that we were living in a news desert. Despite being a bustling, growing region, we didn’t have a dedicated news source. Who was telling stories of local importance? Literally nobody.”
The original four included Braun and three others: Ray and Cara Dowse and Dustin Krahn. Together, they brought to the table business savvy and writing and publishing expertise.
Since that time, two more have joined the ownership team. Dylan Zacharias is The Citizen’s marketing manager and Brenda Sawatzky is the paper’s lead journalist.
Even now, the operation remains 100 percent locally owned.
In the past year, The Citizen rolled out a new and improved website with a range of features. Its articles are published online as events happen, on average once per day, with a print edition following at the start of each month and delivered straight to residents’ mailboxes.
Is there enough local news to write about? You bet! Since 2015, the region has grown by thousands. And with continued growth reasonably assured, the need for dedicated local news coverage will only grow with it.
Another key component to The Citizen’s success, of course, is its advertisers. Because of their support, the paper is available at no cost. So shop local. And when you do, thank these great business owners for all they do to make our larger community an exceptional place to live.
The Stories that Mattered Ten Years Ago
At its inception, The Citizen focused on Niverville, although its intention was always to expand. In just a few short months, it began covering Ritchot and its many vibrant communities as well.
That very first edition was 24 pages in length and printed in full colour. It looked just like it does today, with a few exceptions. The early editions included crossword puzzles, local recipes, and a kids colouring page, features which were dropped as story content grew.
Residents were encouraged, from the start, to offer their feedback through a monthly opinion poll. This feature is still around ten years later.
The first edition arrived with some very big announcements. Its front cover boasted an artist’s rendering of the newly proposed Niverville recreation multiplex, the facility that would eventually become the CRRC. It looked nothing like the actual building does today and isn’t attached to the old arena as originally planned. But it did introduce a dream that residents could latch onto.
Also in the pages of that first edition were early renderings of Niverville’s proposed splash pad, coming in 2016. The paper carried the story, too, of the Heritage Life Lease project.
Another big article: some reassurance that the promise of a golf course in Niverville wasn’t dead, despite delays. Under new ownership, the nine-hole course was set to begin construction within the year.
In coming issues, other important announcements were made, including the imminent arrival of traffic lights for the intersection of Highways 311 and 59.
A new $2.5-million wildlife hospital and education centre was about to undergo construction in Île-des-Chênes and an expansion to the Niverville Elementary School would add 6,500 square feet of space.
St. Adolphe soon made the news with the promise of Tourond Creek, a 300-acre commercial and residential development southeast of town.
Open just about any issue of the paper over the last ten years and you’re likely to read of commercial growth somewhere in the region. In the early years, Hemp Oil Canada in Ste. Agathe underwent a massive merger and Adventure Power Products in Île-des-Chênes built a sprawling retail outlet.
Niverville would soon get a second gas station and a bona fide fast food chain: Tim Hortons. It would be the first of many.
Within the first year, The Citizen set out to help answer some big questions. It explored the issue of overcrowded schools, dug into challenges related to water infrastructure, and chased the provincial government for answers on whether Highway 59 would ever see more twinning. The last one is still up in the air a decade later.
In its third issue, The Citizen covered news of Justin Trudeau’s first big federal win, as did the provincial Progressive Conservatives’ sweep to victory under Brian Pallister in 2016.
Locally, residents came to expect timely and unbiased updates on all the details coming out of Ritchot’s and Niverville’s council chambers, relaying the good, the bad, and the (sometimes) ugly ways in which municipal politics affects us all. A perennial concern has been crime rates and law enforcement issues that can make our communities feel a little less safe than they once did.
There have also been a few natural disasters, with flood vigilance constantly required along the banks of the Red River. There was also the freak occurrence of seven inches of rain falling in 20 minutes, as happened in the fall of 2015.
An issue of provincial importance cropped up that first year when a local parent, Michelle McHale, confronted the Hanover School Division over its curriculum and policies. Accusations of discrimination in the division have recurred in the intervening years.
In the summer of 2016, perhaps as a result of McHale’s allegations, Steinbach had its first Pride parade roll through town. Hundreds of supporters showed up to promote inclusion.
Hometown Heroes
In the past decade, many local heroes have been celebrated in The Citizen’s columns. In the first year, quite a number stand out.
David Richert of Niverville was already an accomplished race car driver in 2015. The paper covered his rise to fame from small-town roots to drive circuits around Europe. An early development captured by The Citizen was his signing by Cram Motorsports and later a partnership with Casamigos Tequilla, owned in part by George Clooney.
For other local heroes, age was irrelevant. In 2015, at 12 years old, Brynne Abgrall prepared to compete at the World Dance Championship in Poland. She returned to Niverville with four gold medals and a bronze.
At the same time, Abgrall’s friend Maddie Thompson was making waves of her own. At 13, Thompson created her own clothing line that was picked up in Triple Flip stores across the country.
Both of those girls have since expanded their dreams into businesses. Abgrall recently founded the Form Dance Convention and Thompson created MAD Social Agency, a digital marketer with clients across North America.
While teens like Isaiah Klassen scored high in gymnastics at the esteemed Western Canada Cup, local hockey players like Tyler Anderson and Jessie Stott were recruited by teams in Kelowna and Austria.
Women like Danica Cuddeford were nominated for the Women of Distinction award and Colleen Dyck, maker of GORP clean energy bars, received the prestigious Mompreneur of the Year award.
The region is also home to more than a few notable musicians. In 2015, Amanda (Falk) Cook released her fourth solo album after a series of Juno and Covenant wins. Plain as Ghosts debuted their first solo album in 2016. Since then, that band’s lead singer, Trevor Lux, has ventured out on his own, creating locally shot and produced music videos to accompany his work.
Few artists have garnered as much interest, though, as Niverville’s Jordan St. Cyr. The Citizen has followed St. Cyr throughout his climb. He now resides in Nashville and has won a long series of prominent awards.
What’s in Store?
The Citizen intends to keep covering local news and hometown heroes long into the future, although no one can predict exactly what the future of this bustling corner of Manitoba will look like. One thing we can promise is that we’ll always strive to be the first to share local news, responsibly, and to share it in exhaustive, meaningful detail.
In the meantime, we tip our collective hat to every one of our dedicated readers. Your support has resulted in our current success and we never take it for granted.
Reach out to The Citizen whenever you have an inside scoop on local people making waves in the world. And if a subject requires investigation, we’ll be there.
To get the daily news story that most matter to you, be sure to check our website often: www.nivervillecitizen.com