Winkler Mayor delivers on bet with Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk

You win some and you lose some, and a lost bet between Winkler Mayor Henry Siemens and Steinbach Mayor Earl Funk led to a rare sight in Winkler council chambers Tuesday night, a Steinbach Pistons jersey. 

Last week the Steinbach Pistons beat the Winkler Flyers in a thrilling seven-game quarter-final series.  

Ahead of the finale, Mayor Earl Funk made a playful wager with Winkler Mayor Henry Siemens. If the Pistons were to win, Siemens would wear Funk's Pistons jersey at his next council meeting, and if Winkler won, Funk would wear Siemens' Flyers jersey at the next Steinbach City Council meeting.  

"We were at the Association of Manitoba Municipalities Spring Convention, and I ran into Mayor Earl Funk, and we were both talking about how proud we were of our teams," explained Siemens before the council meeting began.  

"The fact it had gone to game seven, and one of us was going to win, I was poking at him, and he was poking back at me. One thing led to another and Earl said, 'If you win, I'll wear your jersey, and if we win, I'll wear your jersey?' And I thought maybe we could do that, it sounded fun." 

Both Siemens and Funk were at Game 7 at the T.G. Smith Centre in Steinbach last week, each wearing their respective team's jersey.  

On Tuesday April 11th, Siemens was wearing a jersey once again but this time it had a Steinbach Pistons logo on the front, and he was standing in the Winkler Council chambers. 

"I would very much like to watch a Council meeting in Steinbach, seeing the Orange and Black on their mayor," said Siemens with a chuckle. "That's not to say we might not revisit this next year, if we're back in the same place again." 

Ahead of debuting his new Pistons wardrobe, Siemens tried to make the best of it with some humour.

"The blue is my colour, so that's a good thing as well, but ultimately this is not the end," he said. "Our boys, and the Orange and Black, are going to come back, and they're going to exact some revenge in the future, and their mayor will get to wear our jersey. Yes, next year will be Orange and Black in Steinbach Chambers."

- With files from Pam Fedack -