Fort Frances Times Online Edition - October 16, 2019

Good grief!

Charlie Brown and the rest of the Peanuts gang are coming to Fort Frances, just in time for Christmas.

Local actor, musician and songwriter Trevor Barker will be directing a stage version of “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” based on the 1965 CBS holiday special.

Students at Fort Frances High School are teaming up with Sunset Country Ford to help those in need.

During the month of October, the students and Ford staff will be collecting non-perishable food items for the “WE Scare Hunger” campaign.

A local union leader is trying to revive the labour council that last operated here close to 20 years ago.

The council would draw from several unions in the region to create an organized effort when dealing with issues affecting its workers.

Canada's future prime minister will be elected next Monday and polls show a minority government is the most probable outcome.

Local candidates have been working hard to campaign across the 40,000 square kilometers of the Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding to educate constituents about their respective party's policies and platforms.

Some town residents are concerned about a portion of walking trails along Hopkins Bay Road being designated for cuts through the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forests (MNRF) 2020-2030 Forest Management Plan.

Fort Frances High School (FFHS) administration is pleased that students there are once again able to purchase healthy lunches from the cafeteria, which is now operating as The Caf Co.—a not-for-profit enterprise headed by NCDS.

While the upcoming federal election has been an area of focus for many Canadians, a local First Nation has been busy preparing for an election of their own.

Ontario's government is making it easier for people and businesses to check the status of an Ontario driver's licence by eliminating the $2 fee and modernizing the online Driver's Licence Check service.

Amateur radio operators across Northwestern Ontario geared up this week to test their emergency preparedness.

Disasters like forest fires or ice storms often disable conventional communications. This is where amateur radio comes in.

The youth crime prevention and skill-building program Project Sunset is in its final year of government funding, but there's hope it will continue on in the future.

“I'm pretty excited about some of the prospects that we have for carrying the project forward,” enthused Project Sunset senior youth engagement co-ordinator Lincoln Dunn.

Borealis Bards, the inter-generational community theatre program of Backus Community Center, will produce The Little Prince as the second event of the Backus Performing Arts Series at the end of October.

The Little Prince is a drama by Rick Cummins and John Scoullar, based on the widely-read book by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Alicia Gunter, Daniel Domres, and Josh Leatherdale of Fort Frances were among the $30 winners in the Rainy River District Mutual Aid Association's cash calendar draw for the week of Oct. 6-12.

Others $30 winners for that week included William Cain (Devlin), Lawrence Armstrong (Pinewood), Dan Neilson (Stratton), and Naman Budhdeo (Toronto).

Revenge is a dish best served at home.

A day after arriving back to Fort Frances late after dispatching the host Sioux Lookout Warriors 52-13, the Muskies followed that up with a gritty 45-36 win over the Dryden Eagles last Tuesday afternoon at Fort High.

The streak had to end sometime—even if it came against a league rival.

The Muskie junior girls' basketball team saw their five-game winning streak to start the NorWOSSA season come to a halt with a 26-18 loss to the visiting Dryden Eagles last Tuesday afternoon here.

The Rainy River Owl junior and senior girls' basketball teams have started the NorWOSSA 'A' season on a positive note.

The senior squad split its opening games against the host Ignace Falcons and Pelican Falls Timberwolves back on Oct. 1-2.

Ignace dumped the Owls (1-1) in the season-opener but the squad rebounded the following day with a win over the Timberwolves.

Wayne Strachan has liked how his team plays in the final 40 minutes of games.

It's the first 20 that could use some improvement.

Continued slow starts were the theme last week as the Fort Frances Lakers dropped a trio of games in which they had to play catchup in all of them.

The Owl senior boys' volleyball team got off to decent start to the NorWOSSA 'A' season by splitting its road matches.

After sweeping the Ignace Falcons 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, and 25-17) back on Oct. 1, the Owls (1-1) were dispatched 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 19-25, and 22-25) by the Pelican Falls Timberwolves the following day.

It's been some tough sledding of late for the Muskie senior boys' volleyball team.

After picking up their lone win of the NorWOSSA season back on Sept. 24 against the visiting Sioux Lookout Warriors, the Muskies have now dropped four straight matches to sit with a disappointing 1-5 record in league play.

It was a tough week last week for former Muskies Hailee Barnard and Alex Spuzak and the rest of the Rainy River Community College Voyageurs women's volleyball team.

The Voyageurs lost all three of their matches, to see their record fall to 3-17 and to 1-10 within the Northern division of the MCAC.

With the rate it's going, the only true threat the Muskie cross-country team has is itself.

The black-and-gold put in an abundance of great performances at the Hial Pike meet in International Falls last Tuesday and followed that up with another stellar showing at the “Turkey Trot” races in Dryden on Thursday.

Members of the Riverside Health Care team sported their own message about breast health at CMHA Fort Frances'“Steps Against Stigma” 5k glow run last Wednesday evening. The Riverside team had more than 30 members to show up to support the event, along with teams from several other health care providers in Fort Frances, including Dr.

Singer Ken Lavigne, front, shared the stage with a standee of Beatles legend Sir Paul McCartney during his performance at the Townshend Theatre on Thursday. The classically-trained tenor was touring his “Three Knights with a Tenor” show as part of the Tour de Fort season, which saw him performing songs from McCartney's catalogue of hits as well as Sir Elton John and Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Students at Fort Frances High School lines up for the offerings from the cafeteria on Friday. The cafeteria is being run by The Caf Co, and Friday's menu offered chicken caesar wraps, meat and cheese bowls, yogurt parfaits and two different kinds of smoothie.

Brynna Strain went the whole nine yards when it came to dressing for the occasion at CMHA Fort Frances'“Steps Against Stigma” 5k glow run last Wednesday. Nearly 240 walkers and runners took part in this year's event.

Sunset Country Ford staff Brittany Strachan, left, Nicole Katona and Terry Mueller showed off the non-perishable food items that have been donated so far for their “WE Scare Hunger" campaign. Donations can be dropped off at Sunset Country Ford, or at the high school's "Trunk-or-Treat” location. Students will also be going door-to-door on Oct. 31.

Crossroad School students spent this past summer sharpening up on their canoe skills on Rainy Lake by Naicatchewnin First Nation. They received weekly canoe training and practice with Project Sunset facilitators, including James Woods from the Gizhewaadiziwin Health Access Centre who is an ORCKA-certified instructor.

Alexia Gate cruised her way to a silver-medal finish at the annual Hial Pike races held in International Falls last Tuesday. The Muskie runner wound up clocking in with a time of 14:45.40 in the junior varsity girls' division as part of an impressive showing by Fort High's cross-country team.

Fort Frances Lakers' centre Ben Hoefler looked on as Joel Matthews of the Wisconsin Lumberjacks won a faceoff early in the first period of the hosts' 6-5 overtime loss on Friday night at the Ice For Kids Arena. Hoefler scored twice and added an assist in a losing cause for the Lakers.

The Muskie girls' hockey team braved the elements on Saturday afternoon as they hosted a fundraising barbecue and tag day in front of Safeway here. Members of the black-and-gold were serving up hotdogs to hungry patrons and were taking donations from anyone interested in supporting the team. The Muskies are slated to open the NorWOSSA season on Nov. 12 against the host Kenora Broncos.

Chandler Borger, left, and Caleb Allan (15) got up in a hurry to try to block the oncoming kill attempt from a Dryden Eagles' opponent during the first set of the Muskie senior boys' volleyball team's 2-1 loss in NorWOSSA action last Tuesday afternoon at Fort High. See story B3.

Andros Bruyere (6) set the ball up for his Muskie teammates to attempt to record a kill during the first set of Fort High's 2-1 loss to the Dryden Eagles in NorWOSSA junior boys' volleyball action last Tuesday afternoon here. The black-and-gold saw its league record fall to 3-3 with the setback.

Just in time for Thanksgiving, Bargain Shop staff member Patrick Gallow, left, and Charlene Smith, second from right, joined Jill Pernsky and Dan Smith from the Salvation Army in rounding up the generous donations which came in during the Bargain Shop's annual food drive. The campaign ran from Sept. 29-Oct. 10.

Muskie Grace Petsnick faced some stiff defence from the Dryden Eagles as she got prepared to make a layup during the second half of Fort High's 45-36 win in NorWOSSA senior girls' basketball action last Tuesday afternoon here. Petsnick led the Muskies with a 17-point performance in the win.