Great Beaver boat races sail into town Sunday!

By Jack Elliott
Contributor

It’s that time of year again. Once again followers of the Great Beaver will attempt to lure him out of seclusion by offering sacrifices of cardboard, high tech Tuck Tape, and tender (or tough) humans onto the River at Rainy River, Ontario. The switch to Tuck Tape generously supplied by Lowes Lumber & Furniture of Fort Frances and Sleeman was necessitated by the increasingly sophisticated designs of the high performance craft. Standard duct tape was not up to the speed challenge plus the changing tastes of the Great Beaver for the more exotic food fare necessitated this change. This is the eleventh year in a row this sacrifice has been offered. Maybe this year the mythical Great Beaver will take the bait.
Event organizers have been scurrying around like- what else- busy beavers rounding up supplies and encouraging brave souls to enter teams.
“I just received a new shipment of super strong Tuck Tape from Lowes Lumber and I’ve been baiting along the shores of the Rainy River to lure out Castor rainyensis,” stated scientific-minded volunteer Bob McGreevy.
“No, it’s the cardboard he’s after,” countered Gordon Prost explaining he had an especially aged store of vintage birch flavoured cardboard specially manufactured by Norampac just for this event.
“You’re both wrong. It’s the black ash gun-whale supports I’ve milled. I had the logs submerged in a beaver pond, fermenting. That monster will find them irresistible,” emphasized Ken Trenchard who will also be a contestant again this year along with his daughter Tamara and son Adrian.
No matter whom wins there will be a trophy for each class and a “Most Spectacular Sinking” award sponsored by Fort Frances General Supply.
Dennis ‘Topper’ Topp, biologist, with the Minnesota D.N.R who assists with the lifeguarding responsibilities has been encouraging teams from the U.S. to join.
“It’s only fair. We share this great river,” he explained, but the suspicion persists his real motive is to latch onto the Great Beaver and spirit it off to the American shore. Hopefully there will be a boat and crew on hand from Canada Customs and Immigration to subvert any breaches of border protocols.
Team Tiboni who took an unsuccessful run for the title and came close to winning the most spectacular sinking one year commented, “Mom sat too close to the stern and took us under. We’ll do better this year,” affirmed a stoic Captain Christian Tiboni as he mulled strategic design criteria.
The 11th Great Beaver Cardboard and Duct- now Tuck-Tape Boat Races will follow the same protocols as in past years.
Purist Classes- adult, youth, and family- register at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 21 at Hannam Park in Rainy River. The $10.00 per team registration will include a supply of all materials picked up at the same time to build your boat. Contestants have until 3:30 – race time- to complete construction.
Open classes- can be constructed prior to Race Day using cardboard, Tuck tape and additional adhesive components of the contestants choosing. Suitably themed and costumed participants are encouraged to enter their creations in the RailRoad Daze Parade held on Saturday. Deadline for race entry is race day, Sunday, 2:30 p.m. Fee is $10.00 per team but all supplies and materials are furnished by the team.
Contestants must supply their own tools, paddles, and lifejackets. Number of entrants shall be limited to available supplies.

For more information contact Bob McGreevy at 852-4404 or Jack Elliott at 852-3790 or check the www.rainyriver.ca and click on the RailRoad Daze link

So track on down to RailRoad Daze, July 19-21 and enjoy a splashing good time in Rainy River.