Talk to each other

Each year, the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce holds its awards gala to salute the top businesses, entrepreneurs, and employees across the district, as well as those which excel at customer service, safety, and training.
It’s always a wonderful evening—complete with an Academy Awards-like atmosphere as all the deserving nominees anxiously wait for their category to come up.
The Riverside Foundation for Health Care, to mark its 10th anniversary, is hosting a party with a “Wild West” theme to acknowledge the incredible $6.2 million local residents have donated over the past decade in support of health care right across the district.
It will be more of a celebration than a fundraiser, with food, fun and games, prizes, and entertainment.
Both events promise to be fun times—and both are worthy of support. Just one problem, theyre both scheduled for this Saturday night.
True, each event only can hold so many people, so technically there’s enough district residents out there to make each one a success. The reality, however, is that both tend to attract the same people, which could split the crowd or, worse, benefit one at the expense of the other.
The scheduling faux pas hasn’t seemed to hurt the Chamber gala, having already sold more tickets than last year (175 compared to 150). On the other hand, it’s still two-and-a-half tables short of a sell-out.
As for the Riverside party, it remains to be seen how ticket sales will end up.
Hopefully, both events will be hits, especially given the amount of work that went into planning them. But even if they are, the onus is on organizers to avoid such scheduling conflicts because it could be a much different story next time.
It’s precisely the situation local resident Diane Maxey looked to prevent with her proposal back in May for a community calendar. At the very least, the various groups and causes need to communicate better amongst themselves.