A Mennonite satire news site, The Daily Bonnet, has found a growing audience in the Pembina Valley.

Stories have ranged from news a Schekjbenjel from Altona is retiring after 40 years of service, the City of Winkler is abandoning the Metric system for the "Ice Cream Pail Method" or the NHL expanding to Neubergthal. While the topics range from mildly ridiculous to outrageous writer and founder Andrew Bergman of Steinbach maintains a professional writing voice, either adding to the humour, or confusing a reader who may not realize they've stumbled upon a satire website.

Bergman explains he's blogged for a number of years on theology, the arts and ethics before trying satire, and says the public's response has been overwhelming. In less than one month the site has garnered 280,000 views.

"People seem to be responding, so I must've caught on to something," he says. "It's satisfying and gratifying that people are enjoying it and reading it."

Though headlines often poke fun at Mennonite foibles, Bergman himself says it's not meant to offend. In fact, he notes he feels at home among a history of Mennonite humourists including Armin Wiebe and Miriam Toews.

"There's a lot of things about Mennonite culture and faith that I agree with, and other things that I politely mock, but I think that's probably the case for a lot of people," he says. "It's like a playful reverence."

While many of his articles are to make others laugh, he has delved into more serious topics at times, including the recent pride parades in Steinbach.

"You can critique things, or examine serious topics people feel uncomfortable discussing but with satire you can explore those things, and people are more responsive to it."

And he says the ideas for more articles aren't going away; he writes two a day.

"Once you start thinking of people around you, and your town in this way, the ideas are everywhere," Bergman says.