As we see the hours tick down on 2019, so do they on the second decade of this century and millennium. As a site that will soon celebrate its 15th anniversary, eBrandon has been uniquely positioned in seeing that decade come in and progress and is now in a great spot to look back on the past ten years of topics that garnered local interest in Brandon and Westman.
Over two posts beginning with this one today I'd like to look back on ten local topics that saw the most local interest on eBrandon over the past decade...
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10. Mosquito control (2013, 2014)
Few topics get on the nerves on local folks like the summer increase in population of the notorious resident pest. Local dialogue on mosquitos spilled over in 2013 alongside an increase in insect population as local discussion on mosquito control and buffer zones took centre stage. Discussions on the general topic ended up ranking #1 and #2 respectively on eBrandon in the years 2013 and 2014.
Thankfully each of 2018 and 2019 have seen lower than usual population of the pest alongside drier-than-normal summers, though it would be naive to think that the topic won’t rear its head again in future years.
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9. House explosion on Queens Ave (2019)
As pictures emerged from a home explosion in the city’s Green Acres neighbourhood on the evening of October 22, a significant amount of concern could be seen throughout the community over what may have taken place to lead to such an awful scene. It was learned in subsequent days that a 63-year-old woman had been found deceased in the aftermath and that a 63-year-old local man had been charged with second degree murder in the explosion. The case remains before the judicial system.
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8. Let's Make Wishes Come True! (2011)
In an online environment where the more serious topics often naturally see the most interest, eBrandon was the source of something a little different in the form of a pay-it-forward movement born out of the discussion forums. Over the course of 75 discussion pages and more than 2000 posts local people engaged in a heartwarming exchange of folks posting “wishes” for things or services that they were in need of, others stepping up and granting those wishes with the only currency being a spirit of paying forward one’s gratitude for having their wish granted by helping someone else.
A story on the chain of pay-it-forwards would run on CBC’s National news, putting Westman’s spirit of generosity in the national spotlight.
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7. Wheat Kings WHL championship (2016), Brandon hosts Memorial Cup (2010)
Led by future NHL players Ivan Provorov, Nolan Patrick and Jayce Hawryluk, the local Western Hockey League club scratched a 20-year itch in winning just its third Western Hockey League championship since the league’s formation in 1966. Though the club did not emerge successful from the ensuing Memorial Cup tournament, memories from the 2016 league championship run are sure to last many years for local hockey fans.
Speaking of memories for local hockey fans in this decade, who can forget Brandon taking centre stage and hosting the 2010 Memorial Cup. Though the home team couldn't quite pull it off in the final game, we have forever “the goal” that still gives yours truly chills by pasting this simple embed into this post:
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6. Shoppers Mall’s major ‘remerchandising’ (2016-2019)
Few topics generate regular local discussion like the ebb and flow of businesses occupying space in the city’s major shopping mall as part of offering their products and services to folks in the community. In 2016 Shoppers Mall operator Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust announced a major remerchandising strategy that would see the renovation of a major portion of the current mall’s space, the development of restaurant pad sites in existing parking lot space and the addition of a handful of new tenants. Beginning in 2016 and continuing over following years, countless discussions took place on updates relating to that remerchandising including the addition of Sobeys, Swiss Chalet/Harveys, Shoppers Drug Mart and others.
By summer of 2019 that re-development was celebrated as complete with the mall featuring a tenant mix that shoppers a decade previous may have been hard-pressed to imagine.
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Check back tomorrow for Part 2 where I'll share the Top Five topics of the decade...