8/6/2019 Folk Fest Ready to Fly

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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2010$1.19 plus 6 HST, $1.25 U.S. Printed in Canada Volume 117 Number 16

INSIDE

Hailed as a facility fit forthe 21st century, the newFort Frances Public LibraryTechnology Centre has muchmore to offer the public thanbooks and DVDs.

Understanding the technol-ogy-based services the library provides has become easiernow that the facility has hiredRaj Sritharan.

Tech co-ordinatorhere to help

The Rainy River Valley Ag-ricultural Societys annual fall

fair in Emo is the largest cel-ebration in the areadrawing people from all over North-western Ontario and beyond.

Busy schedulefor fall fair

Its probably not too hard tofigure out who Fort Francesstrongest man is.

Theres a new sheriff ofstrong in town after LukeSkaarup, originally from nearNolalu. moved here last monthfrom Cambridge, Ont. to be-come a regional manager forUnion Gas.

Strongman haseyes on nationals

See story on C1

See story on A5

See story on B2

Howarth very excited about switch to LeonsBy Duane HicksStaff writer

Leons Furniture will be on anew sign above the doors at 288Scott St. in about a month or so.

As first reported in yesterdaysDaily Bulletin, Mark Howarth ofHowarths Home Centre said hes become a franchisee of the na-tional furniture store chain.

We basically wanted to expandour furniture, he noted. Wevealways been real big in the elec-tronics and appliances, but our

furniture department was not quitecompetitive with everybody else.

That was our main purpose, toexpand that.

Howarth explained the timingwas right because the stores con-tract with The Source was due thisspring. But they opted not to renewit and instead go with Leons.

Howarths Home Centre wasclosed yesterday and today to geteverything ready to re-open tomor-row at 10 a.m. for a close-out sale,which probably will run for aboutthe next two weeks.

The store then will be closed fora couple of weeks for renovations.

Were re-doing everything,Howarth said. A whole new shop-ping experience.

Its been about 10 years sincewe had a change last time and kindof re-did everything, he noted.

Time for another big change.Also during this time, store staff

will receive training on a newLeons Furniture computer system.

Were going to have a soft open-ing about the middle of Septem- ber, tentatively, and then a grand

opening in the middle of October,likely, Howarth said.

Loyal Howarths customers will be happy to know not everythingabout the store will be changing.For example, the current staff willstay on board after the transition toLeons.

But Howarth said Leons Furni-ture definitely will bring customersa greater selection of furniture,appliances, and TVs than his storehas right now.

There will be more brandnames because they deal with all

of them, he remarked.Being as big as they are . . . they

have quite a few lines that are ex-clusive to Leons, which is kind ofunique.

Their buying power is the big-gest advantage; when they go to avendor and want a deal, they getreal good deals, added Howarth.

Theyre incredible.Howarth said Leons Furniture

also has an excellent website,which customers can use to findthe availability and prices of items

Folkfestreadyto flyBy Peggy RevellStaff writer

Grab your guitar, lawn chair, andsunscreen as the Fort Frances FolkFestival is set to take off for its sec-ond year this Sunday at the LittleBeaver Cultural Centre.

Im sure that the folk festival isgoing to be pretty incredible once it happens, said Jen Krag, who tookover the reins for organizing theevent in its sophomore year.

Its come up really fastI stillremember our first meeting in No-vember and it didnt really feel likeit was that long ago, she admitted.

Its been a lot of work [but] Ivehad some really dedicated commit-tee members that have really beenpulling more than their weight, andIm really, really grateful for every- bodys help thats been involved,Krag stressed.

Kicking off at 1 p.m., the head-liner for this years festival is SeanAshby, former guitarist for SarahMcLachlan.

Hes a really cool guy, Krag saidof Ashby, who visited Fort Frances

earlier this year to play at a folkfestival fundraiser.Ashby is having a guitar work-

shopat 4 p.m.and we actuallystill need a few more people to signup for that, she noted.

Those interested in this work-shop can register by phoning Kragat 274-9320 or e-mailing her atjennifer@barnswallowphotography.com

The Mud Lake City Boys will be performing [at the festival], whichI know will be a big local drawfor the 50-year-old crowd, Kragremarked, referring to one of theother big acts for the day.

The guys who are in that bandreally draw a lot of people in.

Krag said Angus Jourdain also isgoing to be playing on Sunday.

A lot of people are excited aboutthat, she noted. And were alsohaving the Auditor General returnfrom last year, which was a reallybig draw for the younger crowd.

While there will be a main out-door stage for the numerous per-formers, a Stage B will be setup inside the Little Beaver lodge,where bands and individuals canplay in an open mic format.

Alex Marusyk, who was one ofthe founders of last years inauguralfolk festival, also will be returningfor a cameo appearance to emceethe festivalas well as perform,Krag said.

Were all very excited aboutplaying the Fort Frances Folk

Tanner Williamson (foreground) roared through some muddy

conditions at the Emo Speedways go-kart track with RaiceWestover hot on his heels. Go-kart racing often is held Fridays

at 7 p.m. in Emo, but will run this Saturday (Aug. 21) from 10

a.m.-noon as part of the Emo Fair.Dan Falloon photo

Muddy racing

By Duane HicksStaff writer

Maureen Comuzzi-Stehmann,niece of longtime Thunder BayNorth Liberal MP Joe Comuzzi,has been nominated to carry theConservative banner in ThunderBay-Rainy River in the next fed-eral election.

In an interview yesterday, Co-muzzi-Stehmann said her mainobjective if elected is to stimulatethe economy across the riding.

We can all agree that, rightnow, we have a fragile economyand we need to create jobs andsome new industry, she noted.

We need to look at everythingavailable to us as a riding associa-tion right in Thunder Bay-RainyRiver, and I think that whateverthe government is going to startproposing, were going to jump on

board and try to bring as muchto the communities as we can,as far as job creation, Comuzzi-Stehmann added.

I think we all can agree themost sensitive area now is theeconomic situation and jobs.

Comuzzi-Stehmann has beeninvolved in business all her lifeas a third-generation Chryslerdealer, running Lakehead Motorsin Thunder Bay with her father,George, and brother, Michael.

Comuzzi-Stehmann will be run-ning against NDP incumbent JohnRafferty and former Liberal MPKen Boshcoff whenever the nextfederal election is called.

I think those fellows have hadgreat opportunities to do some-thing for all of this area, Thun-der Bay-Rainy River, and theyrestand-up guys, she remarked.

By Peggy RevellStaff writer

Toy lending libraries services provided by Best Start hubsacross Rainy River District willcease to exist as of September.

This change comes two yearsafter the Ministry of Children andYouth Services re-did the servicecontract for Best Start hubsandtoy lending libraries were excludedfrom this, explained Mildred Beck,childrens services manager withthe Rainy River District Social Ser-

vices Administration Board.The ministry wanted the BestStart hub co-ordinators to focusmore on direct programming forchildren and whatnot, and not somuch on spending their time onlending out toys, she said, notingthe move follows the earlier phas-ing out of informal child care in2009.

That is not to say that [hubs]will not be [providing] toys andwhatnot for families to use whenthey are at the centre receivingprograms, Beck stressed.

Its just the actual come in andpick a toy off the shelf and sign it

out and take it awaythats theportion that the hub co-ordinatorsare no longer allowed to do, andwere not funding them for it un-der our current service contract.

Beck did say health and safetyitems will remain available for loanto families.

If a non-profit organization/vol-unteers want to take over runningthe toy library, Beck said they cancontact the individual Best Start hub co-ordinator in their commu-nity for more information.

What were working on right

now is were just getting everybodyto return their toys by the end ofthe month, noted Phyllis Kellar ofthe Fort Frances Childrens Com-plex and Best Start hub here.

When we get that all in, thatinventory back, then were goingto do an inventory of what weregoing to keep at the Best Start hub here and what were goingto use in our outreach sites, sheexplained.

Kellar said the local Best Starthub is looking to expand more intodifferent outreach sites and placesinterested in having the hub into

Toy lending librariesacross district to close

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theyll be able to buy at the localstore.

He pointed out Leons Furniturewas founded more than 100 yearsagoand remains a family-runbusiness to this day.

Its similar to us, he noted.Weve been around for 60 yearsand were a family-run business, aswell.

We make a good match foreach other, I think.

Howarth said hes very excitedabout being a Leons Furniturefranchisee.

Be even more excited when the

doors get opened, he remarked.The A. Leon Company was

founded in 1909 by Ablan Leon,at which time it was a general mer-chandise store in Welland, Ont.

It grew to become one of Can-adas largest retailers, selling awide range of merchandise, includ-ing furniture, major appliances,and home electronics, at locationsacross the country.

The company continues to berun by the Leon family, and main-tains the standards of service, in-tegrity, and dedication established by Ablan Leon over 100 yearsago, according to its website.

Howarth excited about change

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their facilities, with local schools apriority right now.

Once the inventory of all thetoys is complete, then well prob-ably be writing letters to differentorganizations and different facili-ties asking if theyre interested intaking this over, Kellar added.

But of course, if theyre taking itover, its going to be on a volunteerbasis, and theres no funds to paysomebody to do it, she stressed.

While the toy lending librarypart will be gone, Kellar noted theFort Frances Best Start hub willcontinue to lend families items thatare specified as health and safetyitems, mainly equipment for young babies like high chairs, playpens,and exersaucers.

Childrens books related to life-changing events, such as deathand divorce, as well as parentcaregiver resources for child rear-ing, also still will be available forlending.

Its up to each individual site todecide how they will modify theservice in conjunction with theirnew service description schedule,and what theyll do with their sur-plus toys after they determine theirinventory that theyre keeping,said Beck, noting one possibilityfor surplus toys could be their do-nation to other organizations thatoffer childrens services.

Strattons Best Start hub al-

ready had started to phase out itstoy library since they werent do-ing much toy lending anyways, sheadded.

This wasnt a total surprise,Beck remarked, saying the local providers knew the toy lending

libraries had been phased out ofthe contract.

Because we managed to be cre-ative and hang on to it for another year, Beck said there had beensome hope among providers that itwould continue on.

But with the implementation ofthe early learning program andchanges to childrens services,Beck added the ministry was quiteadamant that the toy libraries bephased out.

All Best Start hubs in the re-gion are no longer responsiblefor providing toy lending, but areworking with partner agencies toensure that the service exists intheir communities, stated Min-istry of Child and Youth Servicesspokesperson Peter Spadoni.

This phased-in approach is oc-curring, or has occurred, in allother parts of the northern region,he noted.

When Family Resource Pro-grams and Ontario Early YearsCentres became Best Start hubsin response to the governmentsBest Start initiative, they took onadditional roles and responsibilitieswith respect to early identification,early intervention programs, co-or-dination and brokering of servicesfor the early years population,Spadoni explained.

In order for Best Start hubsto take on this larger role, the toylending libraries were removed

from their service descriptions intheir contracts with the northernregion, he added, though reiterat-ing the hubs have been asked towork with community partnersto ensure the libraries still exist asa service.

Toy lending librariesacross district to close

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I know them both very well,and Mr. Boshcoff and I are verygood friends.

But this is about doing some-thing for the people of ThunderBay-Rainy River, she stressed.

I have watched families be sep-arated with the economic situationthats been going on, and weregoing to bring some jobs in and tryour best to create some industryand put families together again sothey can live in the same commu-nities, Comuzzi-Stehmann vowed.

Comuzzi-Stehmann said shes young, energetic, and ready tobring changes to the riding.

I think that Thunder Bay-RainyRiver is ready for change, I thinktheyre ready for a positive change,she noted.

These boys [Rafferty and Bosh-coff] have had an opportunity todo that and, as far as I can see,they havent done anythingno

disrespect.I want to work for the peopleof Thunder Bay-Rainy River, I

want to go to Ottawa, and I wantto make a difference, and I wantthese folks to know that, Comuzzi-Stehmann added.

Ive got the energy and Ive gotthe time to do that.

Patrick Doherty, president of theThunder Bay-Rainy River Conser-vative Electoral District Associa-tion, said in a press release Fridaythat the association is pleased to

have a person of Maureens statureand abilities represent them in thenext election.

We look forward to an interest-ing and exciting time for ThunderBay-Rainy River leading up to thenext election, Doherty added.

We anticipate a successful con-clusion where the Thunder Bay-Rainy River Electoral District willsend a Conservative MP to Parlia-ment.

Comuzzi-Stehmann said nobodywants an election anytime soon,given the fragile state of the econ-omy, but if there happens to beone, the local Conservatives arepositioning themselves in order tobe ready.

Both she and Doherty encour-aged the public to come out andmeet her, as well as learn moreabout the Thunder Bay-Rainy Riv-er Conservative Electoral DistrictAssociation, during the Emo Fairthis Saturday (Aug. 21) from 1-4p.m.

Id be happy to meet every- bodys thats interested in coming

and hearing what we have to say,said Comuzzi-Stehmann.

Id like to get to know the peo-ple up in Fort Frances and Emo.

She added the Thunder Bay-Rainy River Conservative ElectoralDistrict Association also is hopingto hold a meet-and-greet luncheonin Fort Frances at the end of themonth.

Details will be forthcoming.We think the Fort Frances area

is very critical to us, stressed Do- herty. We intend to spend sometime and effort to get to know theirproblems and what theyre lookingfor in the economy.

Were hoping that when we goto these activities, people are goingto come and meet us, and weregoing to listen, vowed Comuzzi-Stehmann.

God gave us two ears and [one]mouth for a reason, she noted. Iwant to hear what they have tosay, what their concerns are.

For more information, visit www.thunderbayrainyrivercpc.ca

Tories pick candidate for local riding

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Festival, enthused Sheldon Bir-nie of the Winnipeg-based band,Cheering for the Bad Guy.

We love playing small festivalsand small towns because were allfrom small towns and know howexciting it is to have somethinglike this go down, he remarked.

Were looking forward to see-ing the other acts, spending sometime on the water, and playing atown weve never played before,Birnie added.

Camping, fishing, and playingour tunes to some folks who maynever have heard them beforeare all highlights were lookingforward to!

Im looking forward to gettingout to Fort Frances for the firsttime, echoed Ian McAmmondwith the Winnipeg band JohnnyRiverboat, who be making theirfirst appearance at the festival.

With one of their members having moved to Fort Frances,McAmmond said hes heard a lotof good things about the town

and festival over the past severalmonths.

Were also looking forward to being able to play in an outdoormusic festival and see a little bitmore of the country, discover-ing new music and meeting newpeople, [which] are things that gohand in hand with these festivals.

[And] touring in different citiesand different towns, he added.

One of the fun things aboutplaying at smaller community fes-tivals is people there might notnecessarily be familiar with yourmusic, McAmmond noted.

But I often find that theres astrong sense of community that you might not see at the biggerfestivals.

And while music is the big drawfor the day, organizers have madesure to have plenty of other thingsto keep those attending the festivalbusy.

As far as daytime events, weregoing to be having a few differ-ent contests to win folk festivalT-shirts, noted Krag.

Were doing race up to the topof the [ski] hill like we did lastyear, as well as a couple of otherfun games that people will be ableto participate in.

For part of the day, there alsowill be a tent for kids activities,including crafts, face-painting, andtie-dying shirts.

Local artist Lindsay Hamiltonwill have a portrait stand set upwhile Marke Henteleff of BlackDuck Pottery will be holding a lit-tle ceramic workshop, said Krag.

Local vendors also will be on hand and folk festival merchan-disesuch as T-shirts and but-tonswill be for sale, not to men-tion merchandise for other per-formers.

The venue also has a licensedpatio, and there will be a 50/50draw.

Were actually going to havetwo golf carts this year to helptransport people around, notedKrag, referring to one improve-ment theyve made from last yearsfestival.

There were a few people last year who were having difficultiesgetting up the little slope to thebase of the hill and were going tohave proper transportation for ev-erybody this year, she pledged.

And also, if youre parked waydown at the end of the road, youll be able to get a ride up to thefront.

As for the proper gear for theday, people should bring withthem chairs or blankets if they plan to sit on the grass, alongwith umbrellas if God forbid itsraining, added Krag, as well assunscreen and bug spray for those planning to attend later in theday.

Tickets for the folk festival, avail-able in advance at Bettys and atthe door, cost $25 for adults (age19+), $20 for youth (age 13-18),and $15 for children (age six-12),which those five and under beingadmitted free.

Last years inaugural Fort Fran-ces Folk Festival drew about 300-350 people for the day.

Maureen Comuzzi-Stehmann

Folk fest ready to fly

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