More muscle wanted for cross-border tug-of-war

    The Town of Fort Frances is looking to round up 50 brawny folks to help win the title of cross-border tug-of-war champions this Friday at 12:15 p.m. at the Sorting Gap Marina.
    Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft, who is organizing the event on this side of the border with the town’s physical education director Megan Ross, said yesterday he’s encouraging anyone who wants to join in on the competition to give either Ross (274-4561) or administrative assistant Lori Pattison (274-5323) a phone call and get on the list.
    “We want to make sure we’ve got 50,” he noted. “We don’t want to show up with only 25 pullers against the Yankees. Mind you, that would still be fair.”
    Coun. Wiedenhoeft said he and fellow Coun. Andrew Hallikas have been talking to a few Ministry of Natural Resources firefighters and some other weight-lifting buddies from the Memorial Sports Centre to come on out.
    “We’re trying to get some meat on the line,” he remarked.
    Just like last year, a team of pullers will take up a very large piece of rope spanning the width of the river to test their might against a team on the Falls’ side.
    Aside from a team of 50 pullers, Coun. Wiedenhoeft stressed that anyone and everyone is welcome to come out to the cross-border tug-of-war.
    “People can come out and cheer. Last year we broke out into a rendition of ‘O’ Canada,’ and it seemed to spur us on to victory,” he mentioned. “Those people that can sing can come on down and do that for us.”
    The tug-of-war will start at 12:15 p.m. Coun. Wiedenhoeft noted volunteers from the Fort Frances Public Library’s “Building for the Future” will be there cooking up burgers, which people can get for a donation.
    Coun. Wiedenhoeft said this is the only cross-border tug-of-war he knows of anywhere and so the event is good exposure for Borderland.
    In addition to local media, he’s aware Thunder Bay TV, as well as media from Minneapolis will be here to cover the event.
    As far as keeping the title of tug-of-war champs, Coun. Wiedenhoeft had previously said “the rope is on our side, and it’s going to stay on our side.”