A much needed helping hand was provided by Portage la Prairie Army Cadets this past Louis Riel Day in the form of helping the local Manitoba Métis Federation chapter. Chairperson Kerri Vandenberg says the setting up flooring on the rink ice at Stride Place for the day's events was a daunting one, and someone told them the cadets can help.

"If you've been in there, you've seen the back tiles that go down on top of the ice for people to be able to use the arena without doing any harm to the ice," explains Vandenberg. "That's a big, big job. We usually look for volunteers to do it. And as you know, volunteers are hard. So, we struggle to get them. Someone gave us the idea that cadets will do it for a donation."

She says it takes about four or five hours to lay the tiles and then about six hours to remove them in stacks seven feet high. Vandenberg adds it's quite a laborious chore for older folks, noting it was just great to have youth part of the effort as well, seeing as you don't often see that happening. She says they represented a cheque for their help for $800 on Wednesday night, and stresses they did a fantastic job.