Jim Cumming – From the Publisher Emeritus’ Pen

I was a fishing guide on Rainy Lake this past weekend when my brother-in-law, Tom, and his two sons, Kyle and Ben, made their annual pilgrimage to our cabin. They hail from Waterloo and Tom also has a cottage on Healy Lake, just south of Parry Sound. There are fish […]

There was no Internet. There was no Sunday afternoon opening weekend NFL football. There was no lazy Sunday morning breakfast. There was no “Sunday Morning” television and CBC was absent from the airwaves. My cellphone became intermittent and our land lines at the lake were silent. We almost were pulled […]

From Wikipedia: “Although there are many forms of friendship, some of which may vary from place to place, certain characteristics are present in many types of friendship. “Such characteristics include affection, sympathy, empathy, honesty, altruism, mutual understanding and compassion, enjoyment of each other’s company, trust, and the ability to be […]

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” […]

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 […]