We put up our Christmas tree this past Friday and Saturday. When our boys were young, we would go out on a tree-finding afternoon–often at my cousin’s farm on the River Road. We would march through the bush, usually with one of the boys being pulled on a sleigh while […]
Jim Cumming – From the Publisher Emeritus’ Pen
Jim is the former publisher of the Fort Frances Times Ltd. He writes a weekly column and can be contacted at jcumming@fortfrances.com
One of the more interesting issues facing young people today, whether they live in a large city or smaller rural community, is the cost of housing. Everyone is looking for affordable housing, but that means different things to different people and has different pricing whether in an urban or rural […]
Busy family life is bringing about huge changes in the food industry. Where once sitting down with the family for an evening meal was commonplace, today mothers and fathers and grandparents are running in multiple directions taking children to hockey, basketball, dance, Guides, Cubs, and all types of youth activities […]
As any young person will tell you, Christmas takes a long time to arrive. Parents, on the other hand, will tell you that even with all the planning and work, Christmas arrives too quickly. Those preparations take a long time. For the past two weeks, I’ve been putting up our […]
Last week’s Times had 59 job vacancies being advertised. The newspaper averages more than 40 openings every week. At one time, there was a surplus of people and any job opening had 50 or 60 applicants. Not so now. Life has changed here in Rainy River District. Almost every restaurant […]
November 11, 11 a.m., 1918 marked the silencing of guns in France as an armistice was reached. The war to end all wars was over. This Sunday, our community will meet at the cenotaph to mark the 100th anniversary of that moment. From Canada, a nation of seven million people, […]
All the leaves have almost fallen. Nothing but the black skeleton of the branches remain in a lifeless pose. It is a bleak season where all the colours and shades of flowers and shrubbery have disappeared, leaving only blackness and the grey shadows of the coming winter season. The last […]
Has divisive politics entered into our municipal and school board elections? Until Monday morning, when I was confronted by a posting from a mother questioning the bullying on Facebook of a school board candidate, I would have said that it was impossible. The posting by the mother has shaken me. […]
The Northern Policy Institute recently released a paper entitled “Exploring the Need for a Northern Newcomer Strategy.” It may have come to many as a shock but having watched census databases over the past two decades of the numbers and the reduction of population in the Rainy River District, it […]
One of the candidates at last Tuesday night’s forum made a statement that what is good in the district is good for Fort Frances. All too often we forget the value that district businesses contribute not only to the economy of the host community but also to the economy of […]
Will we make the selling of cannabis (a.k.a. marijuana or pot) legal in Fort Frances? Beginning on Oct. 17, Ontario residents aged 19 and over will be able to purchase cannabis online across the province and then in retail outlets beginning in April. Municipalities have until Jan. 22, 2019 to […]
For three days, my wife and I are living in an assisted living complex as we visit my mother-in-law. It is a beautiful building with a huge dining room. An activities co-ordinator plans group activities daily and the residents are given lots of advance notice. Monday could begin with an […]
