STEINBACH, MAN. THE CARILLON n C7
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THURSDAY, JUNE 18, 2026
Agriculture Now
Late spring downpour floods Southeast by WES KEATING
pumps to the Ste Anne Hospital at 10:30 p.m., Wednesday (June 10) and later organized a dozen volunteers with motor boats to stand by in case they were needed to evacuate res- idents. The Marchand forestry station record- ed nearly five inches of rain by 10:30 p.m.,Wednesday, when water began swirling down Main Street in Marchand, flooding sev- eral homes, forcing families to leave. The CNR tracks were washed out for over a mile, just east of La Broquerie, and all the roads and driveways along Highway 52 from La Broquerie to Steinbach were washed out, as culverts and bridges were too small to handle the rushing water. During the week following the flood, munic- ipal officials were out trying to assess the dam- age to roads caused by the two-day downpour. It was expected that damage to bridges and roads in southeastern Manitoba will run into hundreds of thousands of dollars. In Hanover alone, the cost of repairing roads and bridges will be well over $50,000, the reeve said. The RM of La Broquerie and Ste Anne lost every bridge across the Seine River, in addi- tion to numerous roads being washed out. Simon Rieger, chairman of Mennonite Di- saster Service at Steinbach, contacted RM of Ste Anne Reeve Camille Chaput, offering any help they could provide. After the waters had subsided, a dozen MDS volunteers were in Ste Anne helping to pump out basements and clean up debris.
J UNE 19, 1959—Over four inches of rain in two days drowned out much of the seed- ed acreage in the Southeast, caused thou- sands of dollars in damage to country roads and bridges, and at one point one-third of Steinbach streets were under water, in the worst flooding the community had ever seen. This is the second time this spring much of the area has been under water and there is a fear that it will be impossible to seed thou- sands of acres in the aftermath of the flood. The heavy rain created flash-flood condi- tions in Steinbach, when water in ditches and the Steinbach Creek started rising after the rain stopped, and the water rushed in from the east. The peak of the flood came at 3 a.m., Thurs- day morning (June 11), when a third of the town, south and west of Main Street, was flooded. Three families were forced to leave their homes for the night, but were able to re- turn later in the morning. For a time, excess water flowing into man- holes on the flooded streets threatened to cause a back-up in Steinbach’s relatively new sewer system. Emergency pumping units were set up and 70,000 gallons of water per hour were pumped into the lagoon to alleviate the problem. Emergency response to the flooding also happened in Ste Anne, where Peter Thies- sen, in charge of civil defence here, brought
CARILLON ARCHIVES Ben H.W. Reimer gets set to wade through a river at Reimer Avenue and Main Street, while a young country music fan also braves the flood waters to get a closer look at a poster on a hydro pole, advertising Wilf Carter’s upcoming annual appearance at the La Broquerie Arena. Town’s first mayor never needed an election
If there exists such a thing as “blue blood” in Steinbach, Klaas Reimer Barkman could lay claim to posses- sion of a good share of it. His grandfather on his mother’s side was Klaas Reimer of pioneer fame, and the first merchant the community ever had. On his father’s side, the “blue blood” comes from P.T. Barkman, who built the country’s first flour mill. During his life, K.R. has been both a mill operator and a merchant, in keeping with his heritage on both sides of the family. In his youth, he worked a year for his pioneer merchant grandfather and namesake, Klaas Reimer. Leav- ing there, he worked in the flour mill, which his father had taken over. He also worked on the farm, which his father owned in addition to the mill. He was, and still is, no stranger to hard work. K.R. Barkman and his wife, Mary, moved to Foam Lake, Sask. in 1923, where he opened his own flour mill. He was elected to the town council there by acclamation and remained in office for all the 18 years he spent in Foam Lake. When he returned to Steinbach in 1946, the town was in the process of evolving from a village to a town. Be- cause of his being a native of Stein- bach and for many years a resident, and because of his long political ex- perience, he was elected the town’s first mayor. He held that position right up until a year ago, at which time he stepped down, passing the gavel to L.A. Bark- man.
by WES KEATING S EPTEMBER 25, 1959—Being the first mayor of any town is quite a distinction. Being mayor of that town for its first 10 years is an even greater distinction. Although he passed the gavel to L.A. Barkman a year ago, K.R. Barkman is still regard- ed as the “Mayor Emeritus,” the em- bodiment of the spirit which welded the Village of Steinbach into a full- grown town. Reflecting on his time in office, the former mayor was quick to point out that not everyone was “for” him. “One day, when I was mayor, a man came into my office. He looked me in the eye and said he had been going around saying everything in the dic- tionary that was bad about me. What is more, he said he was going to keep right on saying it. The fellow turned and walked out. I guess when you live for 50 years in a place, there are bound to be some people that aren’t for you.” Taking everything together, it ap- pears that the people who “weren’t for” Klaas Reimer Barkman during the years he was mayor of Steinbach, were few and far between. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been put in by acclamation in the first place and returned unopposed every single time he ever ran for this office. Even there, Barkman had an an- swer. He said the way it works out is that people aren’t interested in politics and are only too glad to find somebody foolish enough to take the job. Barkman, 66, who has spent a to- tal of three decades in public office,
CARILLON ARCHIVES K.R. Barkman, Steinbach’s first mayor, was as popular with non-voters as voters. That was especially true when he dished out gallons of ice-cream to 150 youngsters who participated in a race, a week after they bought 49-cent roller skates on sale at the mayor’s Main Street business.
However, most citizens of Stein- bach are willing to testify that the town forged ahead in the greatest strides in its history during Mayor
Barkman’s tenure of office. Most peo- ple will agree that Steinbach’s streets are quite a distance ahead of those of most towns of comparable size.
said the most disappointing thing was there is never enough money to actually do what you would like to do for the people.
Auctioneer, mayor, farmer L.A. has done everything
Steinbach’s second mayor has been in busi- ness full-time since 1943, when he bought Southeast Transfer in partnership with Peter J. Reimer. He had previously worked for Penner’s Transfer for four years and knew the ins and outs of trucking. In 1948, he sold the transfer and bought a share in the present IHC agency, with Pete A. Toews. Five years later, in 1953, he bought his partner’s interests and has been sole owner ever since. Barkman says the business has seen some startling changes since he first came there. One of the big changes to the IHC line is that there is practically no horse machinery manu- factured by the company anymore. It’s all pow- er operated. At the same time, Barkman has gradually gone more and more into electrical applianc- es and now, in 1959, figures that as a big part of his business. Last year, for instance, he sold three carloads of freezers. The biggest step L.A. Barkman & Co. has taken in recent years occurred last fall when the mayor became the latest Steinbach auto- mobile dealer, taking over the Pontiac-Buick agency. When Barkman first bought a share in the business, there were only three men in the place, including the two partner-owners. Now the staff numbers 12, with his former partner, P.A. Toews, serving as the company’s accoun- tant. Heading the sales staff is John R. Unger
by WES KEATING S EPTEMBER 25, 1959 - A man born with as persuasive a tongue as L.A. Barkman was almost certain to wind up trying to convince people of things. That puts him in the category of a salesman, an auctioneer, or a politician, and Barkman is all three. Last year, when he ran as mayor, Barkman fulfilled the expectations of many election forecasters, and upset the hopes of others by getting himself elected as mayor of Steinbach by a handy majority of 683-391. At 38, he be- came one of the province’s youngest mayors. Barkman probably inherited some of his po- litical acumen, for his grandfather was once the “Oberschultze” or mayor of the village of Steinbach in its early years. In addition to his mayoralty post, he has been actively connect- ed with the Liberal party and has even been ru- mored as a candidate in past elections. None of those rumors materialized. Barkman has been vice-president of the Chamber of Com- merce, deputy governor of the Kinsmen Club and a member of the executive of the Manito- ba Urban Association. He has been an auctioneer for almost 15 years, having got his start in partnership with Tom Wiebe. Besides running the International Harvester implement dealership in Steinbach, Barkman farms 535 acres of land, that he calls a “hobby.”
CARILLON ARCHIVES Steinbach’s second mayor, L.A. Barkman, accepts the gavel from outgoing mayor K.R. Barkman after defeating A.D. Penner in the 1958 election.
Unger and Bill Martens, the latter two being known as “Mutt and Jeff”. In spite of the tremendous number of de- mands on his time, Barkman still finds time for his family and for the farm, in which he takes a great interest and where he spends a good many hours during the summer and harvest.
and working with him he has Edgar Plett, Alf Harder and John Giesbrecht. Floyd Hiebert handles the parts and service department with his trusty right hand man, Leander Friesen. John B. Friesen is the firm’s senior employ- ee and mechanic. Other employees include Corny Martens, Abe Driedger, and Harvey
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