The Stewardship Youth Rangers in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s summer program continue to have a busy and productive summer. Last week, we visited the ministry’s Aviation Forest Fire Emergency Services’ forward attack base at Vedette Lake, north of Fort Frances. We learned about the training and fitness […]
Columnists
(This column was first published 24 years ago. The second “This Side of 60” column ever written). I still remember, after all those years away, going back to Daddy’s grave in upstate New York. And how I dreaded it. How could the fun-loving kind Daddy of my childhood lie beneath […]
The 28th-annual Kenora Bass International will go down as one of the more memorable in tournament history thanks to some new records being set over the weekend. Tournament champions, Jon O’Connor and Byron Sharp, Winnipeg residents who grew up in Northwestern Ontario, absolutely smoked the rest of the field with […]
From the Stewardship Youth Rangers
Hello again from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry’s Stewardship Youth Rangers in Fort Frances. So far we’ve been learning a great deal—and acquiring essential skills—that will benefit us in our future work and personal lives! We learned how to identify invasive species that have impacted the local ecosystem […]
Old methods of gardening and caring for the soil are becoming new these days. In light of climate change, there are those individuals who are searching for methods to improve the soil and/or, at the very least, to protect the soil and to reduce its dependency on water. Hopefully, this […]
Like most couples, my husband and I had many differences and many similarities. We grew up in different countries and a continent apart. But, we both grew up on farms. Howard had a natural love of adventure and sometimes lived quite dangerously. He wanted to try everything—at least once! And […]
It’s vacation time and Rainy River is full of family members that haven’t been back for years. They clutter the tables at the Bakery and some even have the nerve to crowd their way into the debating table. No decorum whatsoever. But honestly it’s great to see so many coming […]
It is either the 115th or the 116th annual Rainy River Valley Agriculture Society fair. It is unclear if the fair began in 1900 or 1901. The fair continues to be a tradition in the Rainy River District. Back then, Emo boomed at fair time as it does today. When […]
We finally finished haying last week! Well, I don’t know if you can call it finished since we had to leave more in the field because of the wet spots and there was actually a small chunk that I couldn’t even access. I tested the path with the four-wheeler and […]
From the Stewardship Youth Rangers
We, the Stewardship Youth Ranger (SYR) teams in Fort Frances, had a rewarding third week in our Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry summer employment program! We started the week off at the Oak Grove near the mouth of Rainy River—the most northerly oak ecosystem in North America! We helped […]
Life is full of embarrassing experiences and if we didn’t have any such eye-rolling or wincing-worthy moments, I think we might be playing it far too safe. I’ve had my share of such but last week’s incident may have been the funniest, or what certainly ranks in the top 10 […]
The federal election campaign for the Oct. 19 vote officially is underway. Polls show the three major parties are in a neck-and-neck race, with 60 percent of eligible voter undecided and wavering between all three. The electorate is volatile. Historic “safe” seats for the political parties may be up for […]
