Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 83

Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 83

Hosted Live/Produced/Recorded by: Andru Valpy, Natty Somers.

Air Date: 06/29/2011 6:00 PM on UMFM 101.5 FM
Free Podcast Download Location: iTunes.
Web: http://wakeupwinnipeg.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wakeupwinnipeg 

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Rebroadcast: 07/06/2011 on CJUM 101.5 UMFM - 6:30 AM

With the Winnipeg Folk Festival quickly approaching Andru and Natty put on their Folk Fest hats and prepared our listeners for what to expect at this years festival.

But not before reviewing local news and event listings.

Here's what made our headlines this week:

Town officials in Melata, Souris and Wawanesa are putting out the call for help this week just days after thousands in Minot North Dakota fled from rising flood waters along the Souris River.

On Monday, Melata Emergency Coordinator Grant Hume confirmed the town was racing against time to reinforce dikes that were built earlier this spring and said the town is in desperate need of sandbaggers, and other volunteers to help in their fight against the flood.

Town officials also stated that they were willing to pay $15.00 per hour for help during the flood fighting efforts.

In a report earlier this week published by the Winnipeg Free Press, Souris Mayor Daryl Jackson stated that the  town of Souris has formally requested Military help, but explained that all other resources must be exhausted before troops are sent to the town.

On Monday, some 30 homes were given mandatory evacuation notices and were told to be out by 4:00 pm that evening, leaving some struggling to take as many possessions from their homes on very short notice.

In Wawanesa Manitoba, Mayor Bruce Gullett said residents were put to work sandbagging feverishly, though evacuation notices weren't officially sent out as of press time on Monday.

The Souris River is expected to crest on July the 5th 2011.

Volunteers are being asked to call the Souris Town Office at 204-483-5200 or the emergency line at 204-483-5204 for more information on where to go and what help is needed.

Residents in St. Boniface awoke to clouds of black smoke billowing from a favorite diner earlier this week.

Winnipeg Fire & Police Services were sent to the 500 block of Des Murons Street at approximately 6:00 AM in response to a working fire at the Palidan Restaurant.

When fire fighters arrived they noticed the building fully engulfed in flames, it was at this time that the fire was deemed to dangerous to fight from the inside leaving the firefighters to use an aerial ladder to direct water and foam into the two story building.

The fire continued to burn until 7:00 pm Sunday evening.

There is no official word on the cause of the fire, but Kitchen Manager Don King was the only staff member in the restaurant on Sunday morning. While preparing breakfast, he noticed flames coming from the deep fryer.

King attempted to telephone to the fire department, but discovered that the phone lines to the restaurant were down leaving him to drive four blocks to a fire hall on Des Muerons to get help.

Sources confirmed that the restaurant's sprinkler system and fire-alarms did not automatically go on. Police officials estimate Damage to be around 1 Million Dollars.

The cause for the fire is still pending investigation.

NHL Fans let out a sigh of relief on Friday evening, as True North Sports & Entertainment Chairman Mark Chipman  announced that Winnipeg's hockey team would in fact be called The Winnipeg Jets.

Fans in the Xcel center in Minneapolis were heard cheering loudly as the 2011 NHL Draft started, leaving Commissioner Garry Bettman to pause and tell Winnipeg that they would have their moment.

Seconds before Chipman made the historic 7th overall pick, it was announced that he would would be selecting on behalf of The Winnipeg Jets, and chose Mark Sheifele as the teams first pick.

Having come from the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League Sheifele was chosen at just 18 years of age, and will be now be playing for the newly named Winnipeg Jets.

While most fans were happy to hear that the team would in fact be named The Winnipeg Jets, some were disappointed that the new logo's and color schemes were not immediately displayed on Friday evening, leaving Sheifele to wear a gray and black NHL jersey instead.

Representatives from True North Sports and Entertainment responded to an e-mail from Wake Up Winnipeg with the following statement:

" There is no announcement on any logo or jersey pending.."

Wake up Winnipeg will continue to keep our listeners posted on any future developments.

The 2011 Red River Ex ended on Sunday evening beating previous attendance records by 25%.

The expected total amount of visitors to this years exhibition was 220,000 visitors which was up from last years total of 175,904.

Rides that were popular among the midway was the Polar Express, and the brand new "Spin Out" ride which sat beside the ever popular farris wheel.

After the news, Natty and Andru talked about the 2011 Winnipeg Folk Festival and discussed the various changes and added amenities that campers and concertgoers could expect.

We highlighted an important change effects those who choose to drive out to Birds Hill Park on the Wednesday morning of the festival.

This year, the organization issued the following statement:

"Cars will not be allowed to line up on Hwy 59 before the gate opens at 7:00 am on Wednesday, July 6. 

The decision was made together with the RCMP and Birds Hill Provincial Park who we work with (all year round) to ensure every aspect of the festival is safe .

The RCMP will be putting up “no stopping“ signs along Hwy 59 and 206, and will be enforcing it overnight and early morning.  

Please don’t plan to arrive before 6:45 am.  The West Gate will open at 7:00 AM, and cars will forma line up inside the park then. From that point, it will take anywhere from 4 to 6 hours to get everyone in, parked and through our box office."

Those looking to reduce their carbon footprint at this years festival will also be happy to know that there are once again two alternative solutions to getting to Birds Hill Park.

For a second year in a row, the festival has announced that there will be another bike ride to the festival which leaves Winnipeg on Wednesday morning at 6:00 am, with another group departing at 5:00 pm that evening.

All rides will leave from Elmwood High School, 505 Chalmers Avenue, and will be staggered based on the preferred speed of the rider.

All participants will have the option to load their camping gear (one bag and one cooler) onto a truck. Riders will also get priority entrance to the Festival Campground on Wednesday morning.

The return trip back to Winnipeg will happen on Monday July the 11th at 10:00 AM.

For more information about the Winnipeg Folk Festival Bike Ride please visit the Winnipeg Folk Festival Website.

For those who do not want to make the trek, the Winnipeg Folk Festival will also be offering free bus services to and from Birds Hill Park. Details and routes can also be found at the Winnipeg Folk Festival website.

After discussing some other folk festival highlights, Natty and Andru re-introduced our listeners to a band called Trampled by Turtles who will be playing at various times throughout the five day festival.

We featured a track called "Leaves that are green turn brown" which was recorded live from the 2009 10,000 lakes festival in Detroit Lakes Minnesota.

Both Andru and Natty are looking forward to seeing them at this years folk festival.

Finally,  we made a very important announcement regarding our show on this weeks episode.

Starting Friday July 8th 2011 Wake Up Winnipeg will be moving to a new time slot on umfm. Our show will no longer be played on Wednesday evenings, but will instead be airing at 6:00 PM on Friday evenings on 101.5 UMFM in Winnipeg, and online at http://umfm.com.

We welcome you to join us for episode 84 in it's exciting new time slot next Friday evening.

-Av