Tour will highlight district’s museums

As part of the town’s centennial celebrations, the Fort Frances Museum has organized a district tour for Friday, June 27 so people can learn more about local history.
Museum curator Pam Hawley, who also chairs the town’s centennial committee, said it’s a chance for people “to be tourists in their own community.”
Hawley said she hopes the tour will attract both current residents who are curious about the district’s history as well as former ones who are coming back for the centennial celebrations.
The tour will begin at 10:45 a.m. at the old CN station on Fourth Street West and return at 5:30 p.m.
The bus first will proceed to the Rainy River District Women’s Institute Museum in Emo, which houses farm artifacts from the original settlers of the region.
From there, the tour goes to the Chapple Museum in Barwick and then to the Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung (Manitou Mounds). The latter sits on the centre of an ancient aboriginal trading network, but it is best known for its massive burial mounds.
“If you’ve never been there, you’ve got to go,” Hawley said. “It’s a jewel that nobody knows about.”
The $25 fee includes the bus tour, a brown bag lunch, and admission to all the sites. Those interested can sign up at the Fort Frances Museum.
The museum also is conducting the Home, Garden, and Studio tour on Sunday, June 29. People with interesting gardens or homes of historical significance who would be willing to participate should contact the museum.
In related news, the grand opening of the Fort Frances Volunteer Bureau, located in the old CN station, will be held at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 27.
While the bureau has been located at the station for three years now, “we’ve never officially done anything to open it up to the public,” executive director Vanessa Hebert said.
The ceremony will include a ribbon-cutting and the unveiling of the War Brides plaque commemorating the women who arrived in Fort Frances by train after World War II.
This event is open to the general public.