Duane Hicks
Mayor and council got to hear why Grade 10 Civics class student Carly Pruys loves Fort Frances when the Local Government Week essay contest winner made a presentation at Monday night’s meeting.
“Fort Frances is a friendly place, that’s for sure. Even though some people leave and move to other places when they get old enough to move out, somehow I always see them back here,” she said.
“Friendliness is one of the many qualities that the lovely people of the Town of Fort Frances possess.
“Along with friendliness, Fort Frances has many resourceful businesses that are within walking distance, and we are within a reasonable distance from the border,” Pruys added.
“Whenever you walk into the majority of the stores here, you will always be greeted with a ‘How are you today? Can I help you with something?’ and a smile.
“It seems that many people would go out of their way to help you if you were in need. When my friend fell off he bike and hurt herself very badly, a very kind lady immediately pulled over to see if she was okay,” Pruys continued.
“She ended up giving her a ride home and made sure that she was all right.
“It’s things like this that people do to make Fort Frances such a great place to live,” Pruys enthused.
“The businesses and facilities are very resourceful,” she reiterated. “As the years progress, our services and stores have become better than they ever were before.
“Wal-Mart and Boston Pizza are just two examples,” she noted, adding any self-sufficient town has your basic grocery store, bank, and hospital but Fort Frances has these and much more, including recreation facilities.
“The people here are so friendly and helpful, we are so close to the Borderland, and the businesses are very resourceful. These are the reasons that I love Fort Frances, and the reasons why any citizen should,” Pruys concluded.
“As our community and town progresses forward, it leaves me wondering where we will be in the future.”
The other two winners of this year’s Local Government Week essay contest were Grade 5 students Maddison Krikke (Robert Moore) and Emma Noga (St. Francis), both of whom read their essays to council at its Nov. 23 meeting.
The winners received Chamber of Commerce gift certificates, as well as the honour of reading before town council.
Each student who wrote an essay will be given a certificate acknowledging their participation.
The essay contest, co-ordinated by Civic Centre staffer Dawn Lundy, was open to students in Grade 5 and the Grade 10 Civics classes at Fort Frances High School.
