Jim Cumming – From the Publisher Emeritus’ Pen

I can’t imagine what it’s like to live in the city of Houston these days. Following Hurricane Harvey, the citizens of that U.S. city and the 50 surrounding counties are facing torrential rain that was more than double the annual rainfall there. Some places already had exceeded more than 30 […]

There are now windrows of golden oats ready to be combined in fields west of Fort Frances while fields of golden barley are ready to harvested. I’ve driven by these fields almost every week for a year now and watched how the earth has turned to vibrant green, canola has […]

My mother moved from her home and has told her children to deal with her belongings. I don’t think we realized how much stuff my father and she had accumulated in their lifetime. For instance, we discovered she had kept every report card for every year the three of us […]

A mother’s job is never finished. Nor do parents ever stop worrying about their children. Marnie and I have a tradition of calling our sons every Sunday night to hear their voices and those of their spouses. Both live more than 1,000 miles in opposite directions from Fort Frances. One […]

There is an interesting court case involving 454 bottles of beer that could very much open up free trade across provincial boundaries. The Supreme Court of Canada will hear an appeal of the New Brunswick Provincial Court’s decision. Gerald Comeau had bought several cases of beer and some liquor in […]

I was just as surprised as most people were in Fort Frances when the community learned that the trees on the 200 block of Scott Street were going to be removed. I sat on town council back in the early 1980s when the decision to plant trees along the street […]

Our bay on Turtle Island of Rainy Lake traditionally has had some thick aquatic plant growth. It harboured northern pike and bass, and was a great growing ground for the schools of young bass that were hatched on beds in early summer. Most of those weeds have disappeared this summer–much […]

Have you ever been asked the question: “Do you have a hobby?” It is an easy question as most of us probably do have such a hobby. I know that I do. So do my wife, my brother and my sister, and many of the employees here at the Times. […]

We don’t have a television at the cabin. The radio, which is tuned to CBC, seldom is on. Yes, we do have the Internet. iPads and cellphones are logged in, but the search of news seldom is happening. Instead, in our quiet way, time often is spent reading hardcover and […]

Should we be ashamed of our colonial past? I would hope not. On my mother’s side of the family, her grandfather immigrated to Sprague, Man. from Norway and started to farm, clearing land and planting crops. On my father’s side, both my grandmother and grandfather were immigrants from Scotland who […]

With your newspaper this week is a special “Canada 150” edition produced by the Fort Frances Times. It is remarkable in the stories that unfold on each page. Our staff has been working on this edition for months and with the support of advertisers, the paper has gathered pictures of […]

There is an old saying, “What goes around, comes around.” Almost 60 years ago, when I was much younger, there were neighbourhood grocery stores on almost every corner in town. They served the neighbourhood and the families that owned the stores knew all of their customers by their first name. […]