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  A century ago, did you know that James Armstrong Richardson formed Western Canada Airways in Winnipeg,
helping pioneer commercial and bush aviation across Northern Manitoba and the Canadian Shield.
In September of 1926, Winnipeg installed its very first traffic lights at the intersection of Main Street and Higgins
Avenue.
  In 1926, news across Virden and rural Manitoba was dominated by localized community reporting. Agricultural
developments, infrastructure expansion and some tragic headlines were the lead stories. During this era, local
information was recorded and shared primarily through small localized weekly papers like the Virden Empire
Advance.
  In June of 1926 a highly publicized tragedy occurred in Virden. A passenger vehicle returning from a Sunday School picnic stalled on a local railway track and was struck by an oncoming train. The crash killed several occupants including George Atkins, a fifteen-year-old British "Home Child" who had been sponsored by the Salvation Army to  work on a Virden farm. The news was widely covered by provincial papers like the Winnipeg Tribune.
  Rural areas were heavily invested in the development of major roadways to connect isolated rural economies.
In 1926, grocery and general stores in the hub of Virden served as the ultimate lifelines for surrounding rural
farming families. Farm households produced their own fresh meat, dairy and garden vegetables. Town grocers
provided critical goods and services that couldn't be manufactured on the farm. This is a far cry from that point in
time up to today. There are few dairy farms to speak of in and around Virden and area. People would just rather go to the store to pick up their supplies than growing and producing their own food. Hence, this is one reason prices at the stores are so high. People would rather pay for their groceries rather than producing their own.
BP Kent milled sugar, baking powder and flour in Virden. Groceries were stored in large wooden barrels, glass jars,or metal crates. The grocery stores bagged by hand into paper bags.
  Just a story I was told by a retired farmer. Years ago, when they had to take their wheat and or other grain to the
elevator in Griswold because there were no grain elevators to the north, they would have to wait until the
Assiniboine river froze up to take their grain to the elevator. The grain was hauled by a team of horses. Now there
is something to think about. Shovel grain onto a wagon, hitch up the horses and pray that the river is frozen. I
wonder if there was a life, supplies and horses that did not make it across without breaking through. Next time you think you have it hard, remember how the farmers back then must have had it.
  Our society it seems today would rather take the easy way than using some good old sweat and blood and produce their own food. Pretty easy just to go to the nearest store and buy their groceries. Physical work is way down the list these days!