Town committees have a positive plan for Rainy River

By Ken Johnston
Editor

It has been a busy year and local leaders are looking towards an even busier future for Rainy River.
Last Wednesday, the Town of Rainy River’s various committees of council working on Rainy River’s future gave a report to about 50 members of the Chamber of Commerce and the community.
Town Councillor Gord Armstrong kicked things off by noting, “Our motto is a great place to visit, an even better place to live.”
He and the Economic Development, Recreation and Beautification Committees, have been aggressively working to make that happen.
“We have been undertaking a 20-20 visioning process which is kind of a play on words,” said Armstrong. While 20-20 vision is what most think of, it is also a year in our future that the committees are using as a target date to have the community of Rainy River bustling with activity. In fact according to a hand out they distributed last Wednesday they are optimistic that the population will swell from 909 in 2008 to 1,632 by 2020.
“As committees we have set up goals, small steps year by year. We are confident we can get there,” explained Armstrong.
The Beautification Committee has been working diligently to make Rainy River even more beautiful than it is already. They have already planted new trees and looked after the annual planting of flowers all over town each year. Plans for the future include bigger contests to encourage citizens to make their homes and yards more beautiful. They are also planning for new signage at the town’s entrances, a new park on 1st St. and in 2012 they hope to hire a landscaper for the community. Their ultimate goal for 2020 is to have Rainy River known as “The Most Beautiful Town in Canada.”
The Economic Development Committee along with Community Coordinator Anthony Mason have been aggressively marketing housing on the internet. Many homes have changed hands and some old residents have moved back and some new ones moved in.
Mason said they have completed a beautiful town brochure and continue to improve the community’s website. He and Armstrong both noted that they have some positive leads on some new job creation possibilities for RR but do not want to let the cat out of the bag until they are sure they have them landed.
Mason did note that they looked at the possibility of making energy with garbage. However the company they looked at needs 20 tons a day of garbage to make it work so that puts RR’s potential on the back burner. “We are keeping it in the back of our minds as there are experiments with only 5 tons of garbage per day being done in Europe.”
They have been in contact with peat moss companies noting there is a great deal of Peat in this area.
He pointed to the success of the efforts on the Trade Show this past spring and noted that events like that help put Rainy River on the map. He said they are working on others like a professional cycling race and the trade show in the spring and Railroad Daze which was rejuvenated last summer. He did note that Railroad Daze will be a week earlier in 2009 so they can access the big tent which was always tied up in Fort Frances for the bass tourney there.
Recreation Director Meghan Shanks gave an overview of all the programs she has been involved with and talked about ones that the Rec. Board will be offering in the coming year. She also complimented Rainy River as a community. Having been here for nearly a year now, Shanks said, “I really like Rainy River and am blown away by how many volunteers this community has. You guys care about this community and that is what will bring people in.”
Geoff Gillon of the Rainy River Future Development Corporation congratulated Rainy River on working towards goals and for pushing forward with the sewer system upgrades a new church and all the recent real estate deals. “I do not believe Rainy River will disappear. The residents here have taken up the challenge.
His words were echoed by the chair of RRFDC Russ Fortier who hales from Emo. “Congratulations Rainy River on your vision quest. Without a plan I believe communities go no where. Rainy River with a plan will go far and that is good for the entire district.”
After all the local presenters were done the guest speaker for the evening, Simone Chisholm of Sudbury, spoke about customer service philosophies and how it is important to have fun at work and to go the extra mile for your customers.