Sarah Pruys
The Fort Frances Museum is doing an “Anniversaries” exhibit during July and August.
“There’s quite a few anniversaries for this year,” noted museum curator Sherry George.
“The Allan Cup is an important one for our community,” she said.“ It’s the 60th anniversary of the winning of the Allan Cup [by the Fort Frances Canadians].
“It was second only in importance to the Stanley Cup [back then], so it was a pretty important national cup,” George explained.
“It [the Allan Cup] was for senior hockey players, like the Fort Frances Canadians,” she added. “This was back in a time when people still played on the outdoor rinks.
“It was pretty amazing for this town because we didn’t have an actual league here, so every time the team played, it was an exhibition type of game, so they really weren’t getting the amount of practice they should have been getting.”
“There was a lot of hype at that time, too. It was a great event,” said George, noting the ‘52 Canadians Arena here was named after the team and they’re in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
“We’ve got the photo [of the team] and a few souvenirs,” she remarked. “We’ve got one of the medals, some skates, and some write-ups [for the exhibit].”
The museum also is touching on the 100th anniversary of a canoe journey north by Ernest Oberholtzer and Billy Magee.
“Oberholtzer was a gentleman from across the river,” said George. “He was a conservationist and so he was very interested in maintaining the natural levels of the water and protecting forests and trees.
“So he always had this dream to canoe in the north, in the barren lands which weren’t really charted at that time.”
Magee, meanwhile, was an Ojibway from this area.
“He had a lot of experience in the backwoods and he knew how to live in the bush and was able to advise on which type of canoe to take,” George explained.
“So they traveled about 2,400 miles by canoe,” up into the “unforgiving north,” she noted.
After leaving in the middle of July, they finally returned home at the beginning of November.
“They knew this was one of the last uncharted pieces of the world,” said George, which was why they wanted to go on the long journey.
“He [Oberholtzer] took some gorgeous photographs of the area, and of people they met along the way,” she added.
Some of the photos currently are on display at the museum.
“[But] the biggest thing, I think, for this area is the 100th anniversary of our international bridge and Canadian Customs,” George said.
“Of course that was a very big deal,” she stressed. “Before that, travel was by boat.
“There was a little footbridge that went right over the falls, and it hopscotched across the island there,” she noted. “But in the winter, you walked across and the river may or may not be frozen, so that wasn’t a good thing.”
She said the bridge was a great thing, “not only socially but culturally, and for economic reasons—trade across the border is huge.”
“It was a big deal, both towns were growing and expanding.”
George said they have some pretty nice pictures of the building of the bridge, the days before the bridge, the brand new bridge, and a picture of the opening celebrations, which included a 90-float parade that circulated through the neighbouring communities and over the bridge.
“That’s a lot more floats than we can get going today for anything, it was a big deal!” George laughed.
To celebrate this centennial, a free come-and-go wine-and-cheese reception will be held Aug. 1 from 4-7:30 p.m. at the museum, with the mayors of Fort Frances and International Falls, as well as Customs officials from both sides, slated to speak at 5 p.m.
Other displays at the museum touch on the Queen’s Jubilee (celebrating 60 years on the throne), the 100th anniversary of the Titanic sinking, and the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812.
“Three are very local events . . . it would be great for people to come and see them,” said George.
“The other three . . . we are always intrigued by royalty, the Titanic, the War of 1812. . . .
“There’s still interesting facts coming out about those and so I think they are still of interest to people.
“The tourists like to learn about the area they are visiting, so that’s why we touch on events that touched the town,” she added.
“We’ve covered a fairly wide range, so there’s something for everybody, and so far the exhibit has been quite popular.”
“I’m hoping we see locals, as well as tourists, come visit,” George concluded.
The museum is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., with the Hallett and lookout tower sites open from 9 a.m.-8 p.m.
