Building on bass

Five Hundred Volunteers. That’s the number of registered volunteers at the 8th Annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship. The success of the tournament rests on the collective shoulders of that army of people who once again showed the hospitality and warmth of the Rainy River District.
From Friday preceding the tournament through to yesterday, the swarm of volunteers made everything fall into place and work seamlessly. The directors meeting monthly, then biweekly, weekly and then daily over the course of the year leading up to the tournament deserve the district’s appreciation.
It’s tough to maintain excellence but every year the tournament directors find ways to improve on the community celebration. This year was no different. The addition of the play land for young children was a huge success.
The tournament is drawing more people every year to Fort Frances from across North America. It has become a major tourism attraction. The development of tourism in Fort Frances must be closely aligned to the resources we possess and use. Rainy Lake is our resource to build on.
The reinventing Fort Frances Committee has talked about creating a “Monty the Mountie” statue in Fort Frances. Based on the success of the tournament and the recognition of Rainy Lake as being one of North America’s premiere small mouth bass fisheries, it would be more applicable to create a statue of a huge small mouth bass on the LaVerendrye Parkway.
Bass fishing is already attracting fishermen to the community because of the success of the tournament. Building on that recognition with a statue is a natural extension to marketing Fort Frances and surrounding communities.