Duane Hicks
The Fort Frances Voyageurs Lions Club’s “Bail or Jail” was a success once again this year, raising about $4,175 for the club.
The event took place at the curling club on Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. in conjunction with the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business & Community Expo.
“It was really good,” enthused Lion Bill Michl.
“I was really impressed by the business that had booths there [at the expo] and took the time to go in our ‘jail’ for a few minutes,” he said.
“Usually you go and ask people and they smile at you and say, ‘Ah, I’m too busy,'” Michl noted.
“But this year, we got just as many of those last-minute tags as we did before the event.”
While the amount raised was less than last year, the number of participants was up.
Subpoenaed convicts included Aya Sletmoen (Aya’s Reflexology), Pam MacKinnon (RBC), Samantha Clifford (Fort Frances Dental Centre), Donna Handberg, John Kotnik, Mia the Dog, Joanne Bliss (Causeway Insurance), Mark Eyre, Jackie McCormick (Fort Frances Enhanced Hearing Centre), Andre Venezuela and Dillon Ossachuk (Flint House), Shara LaGrange (Rainy River Cannabis Collective), David Ducasse (Special Olympics), and Michelle Kaun (Confederation College).
The others were Tim Zawacki, Tom Lockwood, and Greg Johnson (OPP), Fort Frances Fire Chief Tyler Moffitt, Malcolm Daley (Rainy River Association of Professional Paramedics), Angie Mose Cousineau (Service Ontario), and Corina Dexter (Wasaw Enterprises).
Just in case the “prisoners” got hungry or thirsty, they were given bread courtesy of Sabine Drackert of Karla’s Bakery and bottled water.
Looking ahead, Michl said it’s most likely “Bail or Jail” will be held at the same time and location next year.
But something new the Lions might try is having a contest for people to have someone else “arrested.”
If that person goes to jail, the person who nominated them will be eligible for a small prize.
This hopefully will provide an incentive to get people to offer organizers more names in advance of the event.
“It’s hard to go around and ‘pick on’ certain people,” Michl chuckled.
“But other than that, we’ll just keep on trying to involve the public and all of the businesses as much as we can,” he added.
Michl also noted the Lions try to promote participating businesses as much as they can.
