Buzz building for bass tourney

After a full year of planning and grunt work in preparation for the 14th-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, new chairman Tom Fry likes where things are headed with less than a week to go—for the most part, at least.
“It’s been quite an experience over the past 10 to 11 months, and now that it’s here, the excitement is certainly building more and more,” Fry noted.
“At this point we’re looking pretty good, [but] the one area we always have a concern about is volunteer help, especially when it comes to helping with set-up,” he stressed.
“We definitely need volunteers for [today] through Sunday.”
At last report, 130 teams were signed up to compete in this year’s FFCBC, eight shy of the maximum, but Fry said organizers continually will be looking to add teams right up until the last day.
“I’m positive that gas prices is the concern, as the cost of actually participating with gas costs continually going up isn’t helping us one bit,” he remarked.
Fry took over as chairman after Jim Cumming stepped aside following last year’s tournament, but he certainly is no stranger to the annual event.
“I’ve been involved with the tournament for all of 14 years, and was a director in the past, so when Jim resigned, there wasn’t an heir apparent at the time so I felt I was in a position to take it on.”
Despite the hard work that goes into organizing an event of this magnitude, Fry won’t be able to sit back and rest on his laurels once the event finally is underway, either.
“I’ve pretty well set my schedule to be there from [today] to every day right until the end of the tournament,” he noted. “I’ve got about 10 to 11 days of very intense activity.”
With escalating costs, some may wonder whether the FFCBC will be able to sustain itself in the years ahead, but Fry doesn’t think that will be the case.
“I think there is enough support there, the community has been great over the years, and sponsorship has been wonderful,” he insisted.
“But obviously our biggest concern we have now is the economy and what gas prices are going to do to us down the road.”