
Ex-treme adventures
The 20-year-old from Cross Lake spent a thrilling evening with her sister and friend at the Red River Exhibition in Winnipeg after a nomadic few weeks caused by wildfires near her hometown.
'It's been very stressful because we've wanted to go home for a while. We came out here for a break, and it's been a lot of fun,' Papineau told the Free Press on Tuesday. 'It feels a lot better getting out of the Airbnb after being stuck there and not really doing much.'
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Hailey Papineau, Angenia Papineau and Kayleigh Ross enjoy the Crazy Mouse ride at the Red River Ex Tuesday.
More than three weeks ago, Papineau was preparing to return home to surprise her family after wrapping up her university studies this spring. She said her plans got derailed once her community was ordered to evacuate.
'It totally sucked. People left and had to find places to sleep. They were either going to community centres or arenas,' said Papineau.
She and her parents, three brothers, sister, and dog are staying at an Airbnb since nobody in their family lives in Winnipeg. She said they are expected to return to Cross Lake, 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg, on Friday after the province lifted the evacuation order June 16.
Thanks to the Canadian Red Cross, Papineau said she got free tickets to the Red River Ex this week. She rode the Ex's popular 'crazy mouse' and 'mega drop' roller-coasters and rode in the classic bumper cars.
'It's gotten our minds off what has been happening with the evacuation and being away from home and things like that. It's been nice,' she said.
Shane Farberman, better known as 'Doo Doo the International Clown,' helped to bring ear-to-ear smiles to fair-goers, including evacuees.
'Everywhere I go, when I'm driving from a hotel and I see a busload of people walking in the park or having lunch, I've been jumping out, doing videos, taking pictures, and doing magic, and just getting families out,' said Farberman. 'I just feel it's good for my heart, and it's good for their heart.'
The clown from Ontario, who appeared in Adam Sandler's Billy Madison and has performed at the Ex for more than 30 years, also entertains people across North America and Europe. Whether it's walk-around parties, pop-up shows, or being on stage, Farberman said Winnipeggers are an unmatched audience.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Doo Doo The Clown, who has been clowning for 30 years, entertains at the Red River Ex Tuesday.
'The love that I get in Winnipeg is just amazing. Everybody is so warm and loving, and the people I've met have actually become lifetime friends of mine,' he said. 'I always have hundreds of families that come up to me, and the parents tell their kids, 'This is the clown when I was little at the fair.''
It's no surprise, during Doo Doo's 31st year at the Ex, he was seen drawing in a crowd of younger folks with his comedic magic tricks and balloon animals. He said being a clown will never get old for him.
'What other job in the world do you get paid to make people smile and laugh? To have this longevity, you need to love it,' he said.
Although Doo Doo has been a longtime staple at the largest travelling carnival in North America, Garth Rogerson, CEO of the Red River Exhibition Association, said there are new features this year.
Some of the latest concepts include a pro wrestling show, a chainsaw-carving demo area, the 'haunted carnival'— a 6,000-square-foot walk-through haunted house attraction — and a lumberjack show, which includes an axe-throwing and log-rolling competition.
There's a theme each day, including Indigenous Peoples Day on Saturday and Filipino Day and Kids Day on Sunday.
Winnipeg Jets Game Days
On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.
Rogerson said more than 4,000 people entered the park within the first hour on Sunday. The Ex's revenues are trending up at around 12 per cent to start this year's tour in Winnipeg.
JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS
Imrose Dhaliwal, front left, Sirat Sran, front right, Sahipbep Dhaliwal, back left, and Simrandeep Dhaliwal, back right, enjoy the Outlaw ride at the Red River Ex Tuesday.
Safety measures have been beefed up this year, including a mile of new fencing, more lit-up areas to prohibit outsiders from throwing objects over the fence, additional cameras, and enough security officers to ensure there is at least one guard for every 250 guests.
'We want to make sure that everybody feels safe at all times and doesn't have to worry,' Rogerson said. 'Let us worry about those bad guys, and we'll take care of that.'
The Ex concludes on Sunday.
massimo.deluca-taronno@freepress.mb.ca
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
When it comes to Winnipeg stylophiles' caches, only the write stuff will do
In 2010 a fountain pen manufactured by Italian company Tibaldi set a record amount paid for a writing instrument, fetching an astounding $8 million at an auction in Shanghai. Renz Adame laughingly admits the so-named Fulgor Nocturnus pen, which is adorned with 945 diamonds and features a solid-gold nib, is a tad out of his price range. Nevertheless, the professional musician and dedicated stylophile — the term assigned to one who collects fountain pens, a style that relies on an internal reservoir or cartridge to hold ink — still plans to reward himself with something special when he toasts a milestone event later this month. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Professional musician Renz Adame has been collecting fountain pens — writing implements with an internal ink reservoir or cartridge — since he purchased his first in Ottawa in 2017. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Professional musician Renz Adame has been collecting fountain pens — writing implements with an internal ink reservoir or cartridge — since he purchased his first in Ottawa in 2017. Adame turns 30 on July 25. Lately he has been tossing around the idea of marking the occasion with a Pilot Custom Urushi, a Japanese-made fountain pen that is vermillion-red in colour and, according to online reviews, is 'beautifully resilient' and 'an absolute joy to write with.' While a new model goes for close to US$2,000, the West End resident is hoping to scoop one up for significantly less than that via second-hand sources. 'People might wonder who would ever spend a couple grand on a pen but I compare it to fine wine,' says Adame, an English horn player/oboist who performs with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra on a freelance basis, and who has also guested with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Ottawa's National Arts Centre Orchestra. 'As your taste develops, you start liking better and better wine. It's the same thing with pens.' RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Adame says he really went down the fountain-pen 'rabbit hole' during the pandemic lockdowns. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Adame says he really went down the fountain-pen 'rabbit hole' during the pandemic lockdowns. Adame, the eldest of four siblings, was born in the Philippines. He was 11 when his family immigrated to Winnipeg. He recalls his initial impression of his new home, as if it was yesterday. It was mid-April when he stepped out of the airport. Given the glowing sun and bright-blue sky, he expected to be greeted by a warm breeze, except he was immediately halted in his tracks. 'It was absolutely freezing out. The second the cold hit me, I was like, 'nope, I'm getting back on the plane.'' He toughed it out, and as he got older he developed a fascination with stationery, journaling and calligraphy thanks to his mom, an expert at cursive writing who never failed to create elaborate signs for family celebrations. Adame was studying music at the University of Ottawa in 2017 when he happened upon a store called Paper Papier in that city's ByWard Market. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS INTERSECTION Renz, collector of fountain pens, Close up photo of one of Renz's favourite fountain pens created with hand-poured resin. Story: Intersection piece on Renz Adame, an avid collector of fountain pens, both modern & vintage. He has close to 300 that he sorts according to colour, brand, age, etc. He is also a calligrapher and classical musician. Reporter: Dave Sanderson July 2nd, 2025 RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS INTERSECTION Renz, collector of fountain pens, Close up photo of one of Renz's favourite fountain pens created with hand-poured resin. Story: Intersection piece on Renz Adame, an avid collector of fountain pens, both modern & vintage. He has close to 300 that he sorts according to colour, brand, age, etc. He is also a calligrapher and classical musician. Reporter: Dave Sanderson July 2nd, 2025 He poked his head inside and thought 'my goodness' when he spotted a $50 price tag attached to a Faber-Castell Loom fountain pen that caught his eye. He left the shop empty-handed. After mulling it over for a few hours, he retraced his steps and splurged on the aluminum model. 'Because I didn't know very much at the time, what I failed to realize was that the pen, which has a smaller nib, was more for map-making than calligraphy, so it wasn't overly practical,' he says, adding he would bring it along to class from time to time, but for the most part it was kept in a drawer in his apartment. Adame moved to Vancouver in the fall of 2019 to pursue a doctorate in music at the University of British Columbia. His pen predilection might never have moved past that first specimen, he feels, if COVID-19 hadn't come along in the spring of 2020, throwing the world into lockdown mode. Practically overnight, he went from rehearsing and performing '24-7' to being stuck at home, unable to do much of anything. One afternoon, he was scrolling through YouTube, only to come across video after video of individuals showing off their penmanship by writing with fountain pens. There was a chat function and after posing a few queries about what he was witnessing, 'the rabbit hole opened up,' he says with a wink. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Adame was initially intrigued by stationary, journaling and calligraphy thanks to his mother, who is a skilled cursive writer. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press Adame was initially intrigued by stationary, journaling and calligraphy thanks to his mother, who is a skilled cursive writer. Unable to shop in person, he began perusing online stores. Within a month, he was up to 15 pens, a number that continued to increase as soon as pandemic-related restrictions were relaxed. 'I lived on West Hastings (Street), a couple of blocks from the Vancouver Pen Shop. Probably once a day when I would start to lose my mind from boredom, I'd walk over to the shop and hang out for a few hours — so much so that they eventually offered me a job on weekends, since I already knew where everything was,' he says, listing ultra-fine craftsmanship along with the wide range of what's available as reasons he was drawn to the hobby. Since moving back to Winnipeg, Adame has maintained an Instagram account dubbed There he regularly shows off models from what is currently a 300-strong collection, along with examples of his highly skilful handwriting. And while a lot of his fellow collectors specialize by focusing their attention on a specific category of pen — choosing between modern or vintage, or concentrating on a certain make or shade — his cache is 'all over the map.' 'I have a bunch that are probably 100 years old at least, but I also love the look and feel of new pens,' he says, citing 26 Market on Princess Street, Seduta Art on Arthur Street and the Pen Counter, inside U.N. Luggage on McDermot Avenue, as local suppliers he frequents on a regular basis. 'I get the question all the time — 'what's your favourite pen?' — and I tell them they can't ask me that. It's like asking me what my favourite food is. It changes depending on the day.' Maja Furlong is the president of the Vancouver Pen Club, a 19-year-old organization Adame joined when he was living in B.C. Furlong grew up in Thompson. She remembers picking up a $15 Sheaffer fountain pen from Woolworth's in 1976 to assist her with a Grade 6 essay. 'My thinking was if I used a good pen I would get a good mark, and even though I still have it, I never used that pen again,' says Furlong, seated on an outdoor patio at the Vancouver Public Library's Kitsilano branch, where the club is holding its monthly meeting. (Forget Stanley Park or the Capilano Suspension Bridge; during a recent trip to the West Coast, we made a point of attending the Vancouver Pen Club's June get-together.) Furlong bought her second fountain pen in 1992, during a trip to Vienna. No. 3 — the one that got her 'hooked' — came along nine years later, by which time she was living in B.C. 'I was working at a pharmacy and one of my co-workers would use a fountain pen to write in the pharmacy's communications book, which everyone was required to read. I asked him about it and he mentioned an online store, which in turn led me to all these other stores in Vancouver that sold fountain pens.' There were only five people, Furlong among them, when the Vancouver Pen Club held its inaugural meeting in December 2006. At last count, there were 353 members, she says, ranging in age from 10 to 80. 'There's a small handful like Renz who have moved away, but the majority live in the metro Vancouver area,' explains Furlong, who now lives in Tsawwassen, B.C. 'We usually average between 20 and 25 at the meetings, which are a great opportunity to be in a room for two hours with people who all speak the same language — fountain pens.' Furlong has attended pen conventions in Los Angeles and Portland, Ore. She currently owns a shade over 1,000 fountain pens, which she stores in zippered pen cases, glass shelving units, even coffee mugs — anything to have one close at hand, she says. 'The problem is my husband and I don't have any kids, and we're not getting any younger,' she continues, noting she especially loves chancing upon pens — 'the thrill of the hunt,' she terms it — that carry a personal inscription such as a name or date on the casing. 'We do have twin nieces, but they've both told me they have zero interest in fountain pens. So like a lot of people who collect pens or whatever, you start to wonder, hmm, what's going to happen to all this down the line?' Back in Winnipeg, Adame allows that he may not be the easiest person to go for a bite with. Reach into your pocket for a pen to jot something down and right away he's curious, be it a fountain pen in your hand or not. 'I honestly always glance at what people write with. I've run into a few people in coffee shops who write with fountain pens, which is always super fun,' he says. Additionally, he'll study still frames from movies and TV shows that other pen aficionados have posted online in an effort to determine the precise sort of pen a character is employing. 'Even when I'm at the grocery store, I always have a fountain pen in my pocket. I'll be walking through an aisle and go 'oh yeah, don't forget to buy lettuce,' and I'll pull it out to make a note to myself.' Monthly What you need to know now about gardening in Winnipeg. An email with advice, ideas and tips to keep your outdoor and indoor plants growing. David Sanderson Dave Sanderson was born in Regina but please, don't hold that against him. Read full biography Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.


Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Where there's wool there's a way for inventive fibre artist
Christie Peters works swiftly, stretching and folding colourful pieces of wet wool. Christie pulls some marino wool roving from a basket. (Mike Deal / Free Press) Akin to sculpting, but with fibre instead of clay, her fingers pinch and pull and press and crimp and pluck and ruffle to create the poppy-petal shape of her felt flowers. She's just finished making a batch of 30 elegant paper-wrapped wire stems topped with blooms in neon shades of pink, yellow and red, bright peach, emerald green, royal blue and chartreuse. On a table, approximately two dozen circles of merino wool fibres with the texture of cotton candy are neatly laid out. Also known as roving, the puffy shapes await their transformation from fluff to felt to flower. 'The medium I work in is called wet felting. It is one of the oldest forms of making fabric,' Peters explains. 'I take fluffy wool or roving and compress it with soap and water. I roll and rub the roving, fusing the fibres so it loses its fluffy appearance as it flattens.' Christie squeezes a sponge full of water onto some wool while making Wall Flowers. (Mike Deal / Free Press) Christie does do a little bit of needle felting to add details to some of her pieces. (Mike Deal / Free Press) She makes it sound simple but this is no easy task. The felt for each of her flowers is made one at a time. Peters could buy ready-made sheets of wool felt to wet and shape — it would certainly make her job a whole lot easier and faster — but that's not a path she wants to go down. 'I like doing it this way. I like being able to control the shape. Often I am using two layers. I lay it out in one direction and then in the opposite direction so it creates many different ways for the overlapping scales (found on the surface of the fibre) to interact. It makes the felt stronger, more reinforced, which then helps with holding the shape,' she says. Fibre artist Christie Peters does some needle felting with wool recently to add details to several of her pieces. (Mike Deal / Free Press) 'I think it gives it a more human touch; you can see parts where it is thicker and thinner. It's not homogeneous. It is something a machine cannot do. It ends up really beautiful.' One of Peters' wall-hanging creations (Mike Deal / Free Press) Peters has been felting since she was a teenager. She established her studio, Margaret Jane Design (named after her grandmother and mother), nine years ago but only began pursuing it seriously in 2022. She started off making scarves, then neckerchiefs, fusing wool fibres to triangles of silk and cotton fabric in a process called Nuno-felting. Her first flower, created in January 2024, was a two-toned yellow creation with a saffron petal and a honey-coloured centre that 'looked more like a Dr. Seuss bloom,' she laughs. 'The first ones all looked really alien.' Last September she decided to experiment, moulding wet felt on wine bottles and peanut butter jars as well as vintage vases sourced from thrift stores to create felt vases. Similar to tea cosies but for bottles and jars, she's come up with a clever way put empties to good use. Christie adjusts one of several Wool Stems in a vase. (Mike Deal / Free Press) Some of Christie's Cirque vases (Mike Deal / Free Press) She has just finished a new collection of vessels — 18 striped Cirque vases to slip over small jars of varying sizes, and five larger vases called Shape Shift that fit over Adams-brand peanut butter jars — which are off to Montreal at the end of the month as part of pop-up market Petit Magasin's showcase of vase and floral-inspired treasures. Peters' light caps are designed to fit over small Ikea lamps. (Mike Deal / Free Press) Peters feels a compulsion to create with wool. She is excited at what else she can make from the natural fibre and has just embarked on fabricating small lampshades which she calls light caps. 'Wool is such a versatile medium, I just see so much potential in it. I love playing, I love how something soft can hold a shape. Seeing these two contradictory states at once, there is a tension there. 'I love the idea of housewares and lighting (made) out of wool because I think it highlights the beauty of nature. I have lot of fun coming up with something new, I love designing new things… it just scratches an itch for me,' she laughs. AV KitchingReporter AV Kitching is an arts and life writer at the Free Press. She has been a journalist for more than two decades and has worked across three continents writing about people, travel, food, and fashion. Read more about AV. Every piece of reporting AV produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.


Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Eat & drink your way through Prague
True to his word, Zach drags us through the city and feeds us. You see, it's a full-circle experience with Zach McMahon, our guide for Eating Europe's Prague Food & Beer Tour. At the start of the afternoon, as we quaff light beer paired with marinated hermelin cheese at a floating brewery called Lod Pivovar, Zach boldly declared: 'I'm going to drag you through Prague and introduce you to Czech cuisine.' STEVE MACNAULL / FREE PRESS Lod Pivovar, a floating brewery and pub, is tethered on the right bank of the Vltava River. STEVE MACNAULL / FREE PRESS Lod Pivovar, a floating brewery and pub, is tethered on the right bank of the Vltava River. Sated and satisfied at our final stop — No. 5, at Café Louvre — Zach again piped up and smugly concluded: 'See, I told you so.' Not that there was a lot of dragging involved. Our group of 12 tourists were willing participants, led from stop to stop in Old Town and New Town alike, eating and drinking whatever was put in front of us as Zach kept up a running commentary. Now, let's fill in the blanks between the floating brewery and the elegant Café Louvre. The meeting point on the Vltava River was inspired — a novel way to launch our foodie frenzy. Lod Pivovar translated from Czech is literally 'boat brewery,' describing exactly what this beermaker-pub-restaurant-patio-events venue serves up while tethered to the right bank of the river. It's also where Zach told us 'cheers' in Czech is 'na zdravi,' which sounds like 'nice driveway' if you say it quickly with conviction and a slight mumble. A short walk took us to Pernickuv Sen, a gingerbread bakery decorated exactly how you'd imagine an Old World gingerbread house to be. The Czechs love gingerbread year-round, not just the frosting-coated man associated with Christmas, but other cookies, squares, treats and candy. Zach told us there's no actual ginger in gingerbread, but a proprietary blend of other spices. The revelation doesn't shock us. We devour our treats and move on. STEVE MACNAULL / FREE PRESS Pernickuv Sen is a charming bakery that makes traditional gingerbread in Prague. STEVE MACNAULL / FREE PRESS Pernickuv Sen is a charming bakery that makes traditional gingerbread in Prague. Stop No. 3 is modern quick-service eatery, Tauris in New Town, where some of us ordered Pilsner Urquell (Czechia's best selling beer and top export) and others tried the Kofola. Kofola was communist Czechoslovakia's answer to free-market Coca-Cola — a strange replica that tastes like medicinal Dr. Pepper-meets-anise. It's still wildly popular in Czechia and is on tap in most bars and restaurants — usually side-by-side with Pilsner Urquell. Both drinks pair nicely with the 'chlebicek' — open-faced sandwiches — we are served. Culinary tip: Chlebicek forgoes butter and tasks potato salad with the job of sandwich spread. STEVE MACNAULL / FREE PRESS Delectable open-faced sandwiches — chlebicek — at Tauris bistro. STEVE MACNAULL / FREE PRESS Delectable open-faced sandwiches — chlebicek — at Tauris bistro. It's Kolacherie back in Old Town, specializing in 'kolace' — the traditional, round Czech pastry generally full of poppy seeds. However, we get a contemporary version with strawberry and rhubarb, scarfing them down as we stand on the busy sidewalk, crumbles tumbling down our chins. Before we officially arrive at the fifth and final stop, Zach runs us into the square in front of the Quadrio shopping centre to be awed by the 30-ton head of Czech writer and hero Franz Kafka. It's massive, and the layered metal components of the sculpture by David Cerny spin in a play of movement and light. We thought Zack took us there simply for visual delight, but alas, there's a tie-in to Café Louvre just around the corner. As we tuck into 'svickova' — bacon fat-injected beef tenderloin in a cream sauce — paired with Czech Merlot, Zach explains Kafka was a regular at Café Louvre in the early 1900s, the height of café society. Albert Einstein also frequented Café Louvre. Maybe they also ordered the apple strudel we had for dessert. STEVE MACNAULL / FREE PRESS Waiter Jan Pacak brings serves svickova and Czech merlot at Café Louvre in Prague. STEVE MACNAULL / FREE PRESS Waiter Jan Pacak brings serves svickova and Czech merlot at Café Louvre in Prague. smacnaull@