Council vows to work with car club

Duane Hicks

While the International Early Iron Car Club won’t be holding a “Scott Street Show ’n Shine” this summer, Fort Frances council said Monday night it would like to work more closely with the club to bring the event back in the future.
Last month, in a letter to the Times from member Jim Sheppard, the club indicated it would not be holding the event here this year, citing “ongoing resistance, lack of co-operation, increased regulations, and frustrations of dealing with the Fort Frances town hall.”
The letter took council and administration by surprise, and Sheppard was asked to appear before council to explain the stated difficulties.
Sheppard said Monday that one of the main issues was the Fort High student car club had problems last year accessing a lottery licence for a raffle.
Thanks to seed money from the International Early Iron Car Club, Fort High students had rebuilt an engine and were going to raffle it off to raise funds for the auto shop as well as attend a “Back to the ’50s” car show in Minneapolis.
He added the trip was an educational one, and no different than a music class attending a concert or art class going to a gallery.
But Sheppard said the licence application was turned down because the town said it had “no educational merit.”
While the licence eventually was approved, time to raise funds had nearly run out and not many tickets were sold.
Sheppard added he belongs to other groups and auxiliaries, and they also have reported problems with lottery licences.
Sheppard noted the club isn’t facing difficulties elsewhere, and has accepted invitations from Emo, Barwick, the “Fly-in, Drive-In” BBQ at the Fort Frances Airport, International Falls, and Rainy River to show their classic automobiles at various events.
“We’re welcome there. The town welcomes us,” he remarked. “They interpret the raffle regulations with common sense.
“There’s not a town around us that I know of that interprets them the way [Fort Frances] town council interprets them,” he charged.
Sheppard added other municipalities don’t mind if the club hold barbecues on the streets or puts up signs.
Town clerk Glenn Treftlin, who is responsible for issuing lottery licences, said the process is based on provincial law and not open to interpretation.
“The gaming commission provides all municipalities with a lottery licensing manual,” he explained. “We go pretty much by the letter on that document, and it’s a pretty sizable document.
“If we didn’t, then we would find ourselves in a position of being probably not consistent across the board with all the applications.
“We don’t really have any option other than to go by what they say in the manual,” stressed Treftlin, noting it’s clear on procedures, information required, and criteria for applications for lottery licences.
In this instance, Treftlin said the application was put forth by FFHS and there was no indication the International Early Iron Car Club had anything to do with it.
Treftlin noted the town has improved its lottery licence application recently by providing a checklist and questionnaire to applicants to use to ensure they can support their application with all the information required by the gaming commission and the town.
Sheppard and other members of the local car club also noted they would like to cook up hotdogs and burgers, or maybe have an event at Legion Park, but felt these required licences or permits.
The car club also had spoken to the BIA and was told if they wanted to hold an event on Scott Street, they would have to contact the town and wait for two council meetings to get an answer, which is too long when the club also has other events to plan for elsewhere.
Fort Frances CAO Mark McCaig noted there is an application process for closing Scott Street because it is a “Connecting Link” highway, but it has been granted numerous times and likely would be again.
As far as preparing food, McCaig added the car club should be in touch with the Northwestern Health Unit to check with regulations.
Coun. Andrew Hallikas said he would like to see the “Show ’n Shine
come back, but questioned why the club didn’t approach a member of council and tell them about their concerns prior to writing the letter.
“Now that we know you have some problems, we’d like to hear about them . . . We’ll try and deal with them. You want to get Scott Street closed, we’ll help you do that. We’ll take you through the process step-by-step,” he noted.
“We don’t want to put obstacles in your way. But we can’t help you unless you tell us that there’s a problem,” noted Coun. Hallikas.
Mayor Roy Avis said he is sure council and administration will work closer with the car club in future.
“It seems to me there’s been a bit of a misunderstanding along the way. I don’t think we’re here tonight to blame anybody,” the mayor noted.
“We’re going to find out how can we make it better in the future? How can we work with you and how can you work with us to make it better.”
The mayor added he was “flabbergasted” to see Sheppard’s letter in the newspaper, adding he and council weren’t aware there was a problem.
“This is bad PR for us. We don’t want it,” he stressed. “We want to be able to work as a team and try to come up with a better show every year.
“So, going forward, I’d like to see us work together.”
Sheppard said the club is committed to other events this year, but added, “I am sure everybody would be delighted if we could put on our own Scott Street ‘Show ’n Shine.’
“However, we need some direction,” he noted.