Today the city of Portage la Prairie celebrates its 110th birthday and in honour of the occasion, Mayor Irvine Ferris says there will be a few special treats at city hall.

"First of all, anybody that drops into city hall during the day can have a cupcake to celebrate our birthday and then tonight, at council, we'll have a birthday cake and folks are invited to come and have some cake with us after council."

One of the interesting facts about our city is its name which is derived from French; 'portage' meaning to carry a canoe over dry land, in this case, over the prairie between Lake Winnipeg and the Assiniboine River. Ferris shares a few more notable facts about our city.

"From the 1870's to the 1880's the community increased in population by approximately 10 times, so it went from about 300 to 3,000 people. Freight and supplies were transported by ox cart and steamboat until the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1881, and that was the year that Portage was incorporated as a town. Tom Collins was our very first mayor and tonight we'll have a list of all the people who've served on council since then on display, in council as well. In 1907, of course, Portage was incorporated as a city and from that point on we've managed to keep a gradual rate of growth and development."

He adds many notable people have also come from Portage, including several NHL players such as Arron Asham and Troy Bodie.