One Last Look at 2006

Editor

Editor’s Note: Another year has passed and as it has for the past 87 years, the Record has kept track of the happenings in and around Rainy River. Here is a review of the stories making the paper in 2006.

January
Five men have thrown their hats in to run for the federal riding of Rainy River-Thunder Bay. They are Russ Aegard (Green Party), Ken Boshcoff (Lib), David Leskowski (PC), John Rafferty (NDP) and Doug MacKay (Marijuana Party).
Members of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Rainy River put up a sign on the future site of their new church in the west end of Rainy River on Hwy. 11.
Gameland Forest Products owner Robert Tolen approached town council looking for some incentives for him to expand his business in the east of town. He said expansion could mean 10 new jobs for Rainy River.
Both boys and girls RRHS curling teams advanced to NORWOSSAs.
Rainy River High School Drama Class’ held its production of “Sorority Girls’ Slumber Party Massacre.”
The annual Alzheimer Dinner at the Rainy River Legion was a huge success raising $1,500.
Town council terminated Clerk Administrator Deb Bowman.
RRFDC Economic Development Officer Geoff Gillon told municipal leaders at the annual RR Dist. Municipal Assoc. meeting in Bergland that the new cell/internet towers for the Bergland and Morson areas should be up and running soon.
Having Northwestern Ontario separate from Ontario was touted at the RRDMA meeting.
Town council raised the idea of closing the Little St. Railway crossing.

February
Gameland Forest Products expansion plans fell through.
Town council held a public meeting to discuss closing Little St. railway crossing. 30 people voiced their opposition to the idea. Council told those present that taxes would have to go up by about 30% to pay for an upgrade to the crossing if it were left open.
Nearly a million dollars was announced by the government for broadband/cell towers in the Bergland and Morson area.
RRHS students Matt McQuaker-skip, Mitch Seguin-third, Kyle Miller-second and Jared McQuaker-lead, curled their way to NORWOSSA gold.
RR Volunteer Fire Dept. took possession of 2001 fire truck.
The fire dept. was called to RRHS where some garbage outside the shop caught fire. It was quickly extinguished by school staff and the fire dept. with minimal damage to the exterior of the school.
RRHS Jr. Boys Basketball team secured a playoff spot at NORWOSSAs.
Skip Trevor Bonot, Third John Desaulnier, Second Bryan Bonot and Lead Norm Hyatt defeated the Tim Nordin Rink to win the 49th RR Men’s Bonspiel.
RR town council floated a trial balloon in the area suggesting Rainy River, Dawson and Lake of the Woods Townships amalgamate.
Council borrowed more that $203,000 from reserves to cover unpaid local taxes and the town’s financial needs for the time being.
Jackie McCormick (nee Bonot)-skip, Danielle Shrumm-third, Giselle Bonot-second and Grace Seguin-lead won the Stratton Ladies Bonspiel and Trevor Bonot-skip, Adam Bolen-third, Jared Meadows-second and Mike Badiuk-lead won the Stratton Men’s Bonspiel.
Wanda Lundgren won the annual Morson Ice Fishing Derby with a 2lb. 3oz. walleye.
RRHS Jr. Boys won bronze at NORWOSSAs.
Former RR man Justin Wagner lands a big comedy gig at the Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg.

March
Rainy River residents mourned the loss of Big John Sirman, 79. He was the last man to drive the 4008 steam engine into RR and worked tirelessly for decades on community projects, including the railway museum which features the restored 4008.
Kreger Sales and Service opened its doors for business.
RR Figure Skaters dazzled audiences at their annual ice shows. The theme was “Disney Magic.”
Former RR man John Bouchard authored his first children’s book, “A Taste of Soda.”
RRHS Boys curling team did well at NWOSSAs but did not advance to the All Ontarios.
Ken Boshcoff was elected to a second term as MP for Rainy River-Thunder Bay.
Former Mayor Don Budreau, 90, passed away.
Craig Armstrong-skip, Andrea McNabb-third, Jason Wilson-second, and Brenda Jodoin-lead won the RR Mixed bonspiel.
RRHS students travelled to England on a school trip.
The Rainy River opened March 29th.

April
The Pinewood post office reopened in a new location.
Dawn Drennan receives award for bravery.
Town council raised water and sewer rates.
Mable Abbott and daughter Jennette Cross won the Larry Kearney Memorial Trophy at the local legion.
At a meeting between Rainy River and neighbouring communities of Dawson and Lake of the Woods, it was decided that rather than pursuing amalgamating they would work at improving cooperation between the communities on sharing services.
A fire in Fort Frances knocked out area phone services for much of the day on Good Friday.
RRHS Badminton players Carling Nordin, Chantel Heyens, Nick Ashworth and Danny Usiski, Molly Bartlett, Hilary Hansen, Kristin Moen and Joel Ashworth all qualified for NWOSSAs in Thunder Bay. Heyens and Hansen both advanced to the All Ontarios and did alright there but did not medal.
RR was turned down again for COMRIF funding to fix the ailing sewer system.

May
NCDS opened an office in Rainy River.
RR and Dist. Chamber of Commerce held its first annual trade show at the arena.
Just For Kix dancers dazzled the audience at their spring show.
About 30 citizens met with CNR official Randy Domstead to talk about closing or opening of Little St. Crossing. Mayor Glen Armstrong said he would support the closing of Little St. Crossing.
Eight men were honoured at the annual CNR Retirement Banquet in RR. They included Reed Armstrong, Logan Ewald, Richard Barrett, Vaughn Murray, Gary Wilson, Don Marquis, Wes Blight and Robert Desrosier.
Norma-Jean Johnston of RR held a recital for the community free of charge.
Passport requirements for Canadians and Americans entering the USA have been delayed until June 1, 2009.
Nancy Miller of Morson opened an exterminating business.
Local participants in the Alzheimer Walk for Memories raised over $1,500.
The broadband/cell tower was put up in Morson but has not been powered up yet.
The LoW/RR 4x400 relays teams qualified for sections last Thursday when the boys finished 1st and the girls 2nd.

June
Former RR resident Aleesha Day, travelled to Halifax, N.S. to compete in the Skills Canada Competition. The grade 12 student of Murdoch MacKay Collegiate in Winnipeg won gold in the Manitoba Skills Canada Competition in April which earned her a spot at the nationals. She ended up winning a bronze at the national level.
The Ricci family of Rainy River got together in Winnipeg to participate in the annual Walk for ALS and raised $2,700 in memory of their mom Helen Ricci.
Corrissa Hanson was the first ever RRHS recipient of the very hard to win Michael Smith Award for demonstrating a dedication to athletics, academics and community involvement. She received it at the annual school awards and achievement banquet.
RRHS principal Bob McGreevy retired.
RRHS senior Jay Neilson wins prestigious Millennium Scholarship.
Randy Mandamin, 20 and Caine Comegan, 16, lost their lives in a tragic boating accident on Lake of the Woods.
24 graduate from RRHS.

July
Sara Berg and Norma Elliott of Rainy River were acclaimed to the Riverside Health Care Facilities Board of Directors.
The students of Riverview and McCrosson-Tovell Schools out did themselves reading 30,800 books/chapters after being challenged by principal Kendal Olsen to read 25,000.
A change in provincial funding formulas left the RR Dist. School Board with a $1 million shortfall.
Dakota Andy, 14, travelled to the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) in Denver, Colorado and brought home a silver medal as a member of the 4X100m relay team.
A restricted fire zone was announced for the region due to dry conditions.
Jason Lilley opened Northridge Funeral Home in Emo.
The annual Duct Tape boat races were a huge hit again this year with 18 teams competing. That same weekend the 2nd annual RR Musicfest and the model airplane club’s annual fun fly were also well attended.

August
John and Sara Jonassen of 114 Second St., Rainy River had an electrical fire but the home was saved by the fire dept.
Brian and Linda Russell, long time owners of the CN Hotel, turned the keys to the business over to new owners Jeanni Brumwell and Marion Brumwell.
Several trees were downed by a severe thunder storm. However, RR was lucky. A tornado touched down in Warroad, MN., just 35 minutes west of here.
Council has made a third application for COMRIF funding to fix the town’s ailing sewer system.
Terry Gill, left, of Morson, and Chad Hanson, of Fort Frances, won the Morson Bass tournament.
Work continued on broadband and cell towers in Bergland and Morson and several sites throughout the west RR Dist.
Nicole Olson, daughter of Jackie Delvecchio and Damon Delvecchio of Rainy River, has been identified by a major newspaper in the U.S. as someone to watch in the future.
After 16 years weekly bingos came to an end in Bergland.

September
Long time area umpire Gus Lindberg retired from umping at the RR Labour Day Classic. He did the job for 37 years.
Final federal approval for cell and broadband towers in Morson and Bergland received federal approval.
RR Dist. Sc. Bd. dipped into its reserves to balance its budget after changes to the provincial funding formulas left it $1 million short.
Veldron Vogan was hired as the new town Clerk in RR.
An 1,173lbs. pumpkin won the annual RR Valley Giant Pumpkin Festival, shattering records at the local level. The pumpkin was grown by Ben Johnson of Kakabeka Falls.
John Swentik, and his son Ethan Swentik, won the RRWT with 18.70 lbs. of walleye over two days at the RRWT
J&M Taxi started taking fares in RR.

October
Rick and Rhonda Pollard of Stratton took over the Pinewood Hall to manufacture a portable SpeedShield that they invented.
Gary Gamsby was acclaimed to another term as Reeve of Morley.
MoE recommends major changes to the RR landfill site.
Archie Wiersema was honoured by Dawson Council for his 25 years of service in Municipal Government.
Bill Lundgren was honoured by LoW Council for his 25 years of service in Municipal Government.
$300,000 raised at kickoff to raise money for a district wide CT Scanner.
RR Fire Dept. was called on to put a fire out in the old dust collector from former Koeneman Lumber plant. It caught fire while in transit from Kreger Sales and Service to the Border Gasthaus.
Trish Neilson was reelected President of the Rainy River Federation of Agriculture.
Lemuel Carradice, left, and Kevin Zhang both advanced at the Northern Ontario Provincial Chess Championships in Thunder Bay.
A full slate of candidates announced their hopes to be elected to municipal government in Rainy River. Ed Tymkin challenged Deb Ewald for mayor and Brent Anderson, Heather Anderson, Gord Armstrong, Dennis Ewald, Gerry Marchuk, Marilyn McAlister and Dean Wiersema are running for council.

November
Kim and Richard McKenzie left everyone awestruck when they lit up 304 pumpkins they carved at their Bergland home.
Rainy River elected its first female mayor, Debbie Ewald and Gerry Marchuk, Gord Armstrong, Brent Anderson and Marilyn McAlister to council. Representing the west end on the public school board again will be Ron McAlister. On separate board it will be Marj Chojko-Bolec.
LoW elected Val Pizey to be Mayor and Nancy Gate, Tony Sepers, Colleen Fadden and Joann Moen to council.
In Dawson John Amundsen returned as Reeve and Linda Armstrong, Amie Desaulniers, Ben Drennan and Archie Wiersema to council.
In Morley Gary Gamsby was returned as Reeve and Ken Haw, George Heyens, Maury Nielson and Bill Romyn to council.
In Chapple it was Peter VanHeyst getting the nod as Reeve with Mark Hyatt, Rilla Race, James Gibson and Rick Neilson on council.
Farmers stop government from seizing their beef at a Barwick butcher shop. The government claimed the meat had to be destroyed as it was illegally transported and cut up in an uninspected site.
Morson’s cell tower was powered up.
Curling superstar Guy Hemmings visited Rainy River and left the local curlers star struck,
RRHS student Brandon Gough makes top 3% in North American essay contest.

December
New mayor, Debbie Ewald, looks towards a brighter future for Rainy River.
The first licensed day care facility, the Laugh, Learn and Play Centre, held its grand opening in RR.
RR Community Choir held its first concert in two years, singing Christmas music to big crowds in Pinewood and RR.
The first meeting of the new RR town council saw them vote to proceed with closing the Little St. railway crossing.
Rob Cooper and Audrey Smith took over the Road Runner Motel and Chesterfried Chicken.
RR received two signs from the RR Valley Safety Coalition designating it a Safe Community by the World Health Organization.