Since the first week of July, I’ve been a sidewalk superintendent. I began learning to be a sidewalk superintendent watching homes being built on Third Street when I was four. There were no sidewalks on that street back then. My wife likes to kid me that I have outgrown “Tonka” […]
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
Have you ever wondered, when you see the vapour trails left by a jet in the sky, where it is going? Or have heard the distant sound from a jet, without seeing it, and wondered where the sound was coming from and where the jet was headed? Our imaginations allow […]
Newspapers across North America are grappling with a decline in revenue and all major daily newspapers are suffering from a decline in the number of readers they reach. It is a troubling problem in the industry. At the same time, studies are showing that more North American people are following […]
Sometimes you don’t realize how fortunate you are until someone shows you. As I sat by our chimera on Sunday evening and the logs burned to red-hot coals, I had forgotten the pleasure a fire can bring in the waning daylight hours. For those gathered around the fire, our next […]
Our dock at the cabin sits high and water only has flowed over the top once in my lifetime. My father had eyeballed the high water mark to build the dock and reckoned he never would have to worry about putting barrels on it to keep it from floating away […]
Households across the district tune in almost nightly to watch the NHL in action. And when it comes to the Stanley Cup, everyone takes notice. It is no different with the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship. And the future of the tournament lies in developing new, young talent to fill […]
I have a lot of passwords for my computer to access various sites that we receive advertising and e-mail from. I’ve been able to memorize a great many of them, but for my memory’s sake, and for other people to use at some future time, I have them stored safely […]
It is amazing how much a week can change the look of a community. Two weeks prior to the opening of the Calgary Stampede, the city and the Stampede grounds were awash in water and mud. Yet through the perseverance of the city, its people and its friends, the community […]
It is a Friday morning, and the sun and the rain keep drifting across the sky. The forecast calls for a mixture of sun and rain all day. As I sit in the sunroom of our cabin, I can’t help but think of the tune “Circle of Life” from the […]
“You can’t wear those shorts! They’re filthy and we have guests coming for supper,” pronounced my wife. I had to agree with her that they were a bit dirty. After all, a huge northern had dripped some blood on them and I had rubbed my slimy hands on them after […]
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. It’s a high-pitched sound that immediately puts us on alert. Those darn female mosquitoes burned in my ear as I sat out on the deck watching the sunset Friday night. For almost an hour, I could hear them winding up, high above me, into a steady, growing hum. And […]
Three weekends ago, I was looking forward to the snow disappearing from my yard. And that weekend, I raked parts of my lawn. Two weekends ago, I was hoping I could put my boat in the water by the following weekend. My lawn and yard waste had been hauled to […]
