The Souris and Area Chapter of Ducks Unlimited held their annual fundraiser banquet earlier this month at the Souris Complex community hall, this being the 37th year for the Souris event!

Organizing Committee member, Mia Toews and her hubby, Tristan, attended the event for the first-time last year, and enjoyed it so much they volunteered their time and energy into the 2023 gala.

Toews says the evening dinner and auction were amazing with lots of prizes donated from the entire community, including the Ducks Unlimited organization as well.

"The money that was raised will help with conservation of the wetlands and helps to bring the duck boxes in, which is going to help those birds come back to the area," explains Toews.

She adds the event also raises awareness to conservation efforts across Manitoba for our marshes and ponds, bogs and wetlands, and to educate children as to why the wetlands are here and why they're important to our province.

Next year will be the 38th annual Ducks Unlimited Banquet for the Souris Chapter, and Toews says they're always looking for more volunteers.  She adds this year's event included as many of the local area organizations and businesses as possible.

"Tristan and I volunteered for this year, and we will definitely continue to do this for years to come," she says.

"We had a caterer come out from Hartney so that was great to help another local caterer.  And then we had some of the gentlemen come out from the Fire Hall to help out.  So, there were a lot of volunteers and helping hands from all over that helped to put the night together."

"It was just a great evening!"

Please listen to more with Mia Toews below!

In response to Canada's Online News Act and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) removing access to local news from their platforms, Discover Westman encourages you to get your news directly from your trusted source by bookmarking this page and downloading the DiscoverWestman app.