One last look at 2009

Editor’s Note: Another year has passed and as it has for the past 90 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 2009.

January
Ashley and Kayle Stamler of Rainy River braved the elements and did the Polar Plunge in Fort Frances. They raised $480, half of which will be used for the new skateboard park in Rainy River.
The New Year’s Baby for 2009 is Natalie Paige Seguin. She was born at La Verendrye Hospital on Thursday, January 1, 2009 at 12:23 AM, weighing in at 7 lbs – 12 oz.
Proud parents are Katie & Tom Seguin of Pinewood, Ontario. Proud big sister is Leah.
The Rainy River Hospital number, 852-3232, was turned off after about five decades of use and a new automated system using the Fort Frances number 274-3266 will replace it.
Town council retendered a portion of the sewer system project.
The Fire Dept. responded to a natural gas leak at the Roadrunner Motel. There was no damage and no injuries.
In her look at the past year and the future, Mayor Debbie Ewald expressed hope that Rainy River’s downward slide has ended and the community has a bright future ahead of it.
There were three grand openings in Rainy River. They included Rainy River Public Library, NCDS Career Works and Service Ontario Office on Main St. in Rainy River.
Riverside Health Care Facilities began operating a Senior Shuttle Van to transport eligible clients to medical appointments starting January 20, 2009 in the district.
Deidre Wilson, 16, of Rainy River is the first local person to be nominated as a Junior Citizen in the province of Ontario in about 20 years. She was just one of 116 to be nominated.
The end of a two year quest to close Little St. Railway crossing and install crossing arms on Government Road culminated when CN workers installed and tested the arms on Govt. Rd.
In total $3,234 was raised, about $700 more than last year at the annual Linda Johnston Memorial Alzheimer Dinner to Remember.
February
Don Ricci was acclaimed president of the Rainy River and District Chamber of Commerce.
Donna Ivall-skip, Janet Schaaf-third, Rachel Marquis-second and Janet Wolanicki-lead won the annual ladies bonspiel when the power went out due to high winds and it was decided to go by team records of play during the event.
Council renewed its garbage collection contract with Clarence Advent through 2012.
Ken McDonald of Stratton, a member of the Masonic Lodge in Emo (Manitou Lodge 631), together with members from Rainy River and Fort Frances lodges are spearheading efforts locally to bring the MasoniCHiP program to this area to get parents prepared in case their child ever goes missing.
U.S. unmanned drones now patrol the U.S.-Canada border here.
Trevor Bonot, formerly of Stratton, competed on a team from Thunder Bay in the Northern Ont. playdowns in Fort Frances to try and win a berth to the Brier but came up short.
Roadrunner Motel owner Rob Cooper wrote a number of letters to the editor and appeared before Rainy River Town council to complain about high taxes and his water rates. Council argued that taxes in Rainy River are very competitive.
Trevor Bonot-Skip, Craig Armstrong-Third, Bryan Bonot-Second and Andy McCormick-Lead, defeated Tim Nordin, Clifton-Chjoko-Bolec, Steve Beyak and Branden Brigham 10-1 to win the Rainy River Men’s Curling bonspiel.
The Riverview girl’s basketball team came up with silver at the Crossroads basketball tournament.
March
Rainy River residents were put under a Boil Water Advisory Friday afternoon and should continue to boil their water for the immediate future. The reason given for the advisory was “Due to inadequate treatment (of the water).”
The largest walleye of the 12th Annual Morson Ice Fishing Derby was caught by Colin Wood of Rainy River. His 4.12 lbs. fish won him $250
Town council postponed a controlled burn of a derelict 5th St. house when environmental concerns were raised by a neighbour near the home.
Rainy River Hospital Aux. announced its intentions to raise money for an Emergency Room Ultra-Sound.
RRHS Mixed Curling team, Jared McQuaker-skip, Alyssa Jodoin-third, Tyler Nielson-second, Ben Miller-second and Kaylee Heyens-lead won NORWOSSA Gold. Unfortunately Mixed does not play at any level beyond NORWOSSA.
RRHS Boys Team, Matt Johnson-skip, Mitch Haw-third, Cody Jarvis-second and Cody Ossachuk-lead won NORWOSSA Silver and then went on to win NWOSSA bronze.
The fire dept. was called to a gas leak at 411 First Ave., Rainy River. No one was injured and there was no damage.
A cement truck and two snowmobiles went through the ice on Lake of the Woods.
Tim Nordin-skip, Jason Wilson-third, Steve Beyak-second and Shannon Nordin-lead defeated Dale Morrison, Cheryl Morrison, Al Wolanicki and Susan Wolanicki 9-5 to win the annual Rainy River Mixed Curling Bonspiel.
RR Chamber of Commerce President, Don Ricci, and RR Community Coordinator Anthony Mason travelled to the Edmonton Boat and Sport Show to promote Rainy River.
April
The girl’s basketball team from Riverview School took top spot at the regional tournament in Fort Frances.
The Rainy River opened on April 3rd.
It was announced that Railroad Daze will be held a week earlier this year.
Rainy River’s arena will receive $37,500 for improvements including a commercial dehumidifier.
Rainy River High School is closing in on its $15,000 fundraising goal for courtyard renovations at the school.
HydroOne donated $10,000 towards Rainy River’s skate park project.
Three of the twelve Rainy River High School students that qualified for NORWOSSA Badminton playoffs in Dryden have advanced to NWOSSAs They are Courtney Hansen (won Gold in Junior Girls singles), Jordan Hansen and Catherine Whetzel won Gold in Badminton Doubles.
Lori Kuzyk of Rainy River has won a provincial award. She won for Excellent Support Staff as an Educational Assistant, Rainy River High School.
591 people attended the annual Rainy River and District Chamber of Commerce Trade Show.
Andrew Hartnell was hired as a Community Coordinator in Rainy River.
May
229 years of experience was honoured as CNR retirees attended the annual retirement party in Rainy River. They were Ian Johnson, Wallace Armstrong, Ross Keiler, Brian Nielson, Steve Herman, Barry Hartry and Darryl Dyck.
After a fair bit of discussion, Rainy River Town Council passed a motion, to extend Community Coordinator/Economic Development Officer Anthony Mason's contract until Dec. 31, 2009.
The Dawson and Rainy River Fire Depts. were called out to an out of control grass fire just north of Rainy River. An abandoned house was saved but a shed on the property was lost. It was a windy day and the fire moved quickly.
Colin and Trish Neilson receive the Bill Gibson Award from the Rainy River Federation of Agriculture.
Rainy River High School played host to NORWOSSA soccer qualifiers for the first time ever.
Recently at St. Clair College, Windsor, ON, Stratton native Angela Lee was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) for her curling contributions.
Dorion Ozykowski of Rainy River helped rescue a man from drowning.
U.S. National Commander of the American Legion, Dave Rehbein, visited both sides of the border when he made a stop at the American Legion in Baudette and then later that evening visited Rainy River's Legion.
Ben Mast of Rainy River wins the district speech contest.
RRHS students put on the drama production Romeo and Juliet.
After several delays the new I.D. rules for entering the U.S. took effect, requiring WHTI approved documents of which the passport is the most prevalent.
The Huff and Puff Fitness Centre was officially opened at Rainy River Health Centre.
June
Wood’s Quality Bakery and the Northern Lights Credit Union in Rainy River both received Customer Service Awards from the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce.
A Rainy River man was charged after $212,000 in marijuana plants were discovered in a local home.
Saragh Fraser finished 7th in the State Finals for Track and Field as a member of the Lake of the Woods/Rainy River Track team. Fraser raced, in the 400m dash, to an all-time personal best and another new school record of 59 seconds a record she had just set a week earlier.
Jordan Hanson and Brenley Anderson were named RRHS Senior Athletes of the Year.
Riverview School wins both the Intermediate and Junior Track meets.
Former Rainy River resident and children’s book author John Bouchard held a book signing at Rainy River Public Library.
Grade 8 Riverview Student Shauna Moen received the Ontario Principals’ Award for Leadership.
There will be no tax increases for Rainy River this year.
Rainy River receives $310,000 to renovate the town garage and town hall.
32 graduate from Rainy River High School.
July
Rainy River Public Library has hired an experienced man to be its new assistant librarian. Michael Dawber was a librarian for 10 years in southwestern Ontario and is an accomplished author.
RR Fire Dept. put on a spectacular fireworks show for Canada Day.
Area Catholic parishioners welcome Father Alan Albao.
Plans to convert analog U.S. over the air t.v. signals to digital will soon take effect.
Local business, CN Hotel, expands its kitchen services to Hannam Park for the summer.
After several years of absence, tennis is back in Rainy River thanks to the efforts and contributions of Dr. Albert Beller. He and a group of volunteers painted the lines back on the courts adjacent to the arena and also installed nets.
The Rainy River Playschool Inc board members and staff are happy to announce they have moved into their new centre which was formerly the dutyfree/Sears building.
Bruce Goodfellow, Bucky Morrison, Reggie Morrison and Gary Tuesday won the first annual LoW Recreation Committee Golf Tournament held last weekend at Spruce Creek Golf Course just south of Morson.
August
The Town of Rainy River presented Carol Peterson and family with a Certificate of Appreciation for donating a $25,000 Columbarium to the local cemetery.
Glen Crackel wins the Rainy River Open Golf Tourney for an eighth time while Deb Whetzel won the women’s title.
Council passed a motion to award a tender to Thermaltecs/Filmore Mechanical in the amount of $246,500 to retrofit the Town Garage, making it more energy efficient.
Council renewed their cleaning contract with B & B Cleaners for another year at a cost of $1,299.21 per month.
Almer and Bill Godin win the Morson Bass International tournament.
A freaky weather pattern saw frost strike the area in August!
September
A pole identified by Hydro One about nine years ago, as needing to be replaced, finally snapped due to rot at its base. Residents in and around the 200 block of Third Street in Rainy River were without power as Hydro One crews replaced it with a new one.
Pinewood resident Kevin Kennedy raises $4,232 as part of the annual Alzheimer Ride for Memories.
Marvin Windows founder Bill Marvin passes away.
Big Grassy wins Rainy River Labour Day Fastball tournament.
Work is progressing well at the town garage and town hall energy retrofit projects.
Pinewood resident Scott Downs wins a national nursing award.
Rainy River was showcased on a bus tour.
Ben Johnson of Kakabeka Falls, Ont. won his 4th Rainy River Valley Giant Pumpkin title with a 773 pound pumpkin.
Jason and Oliver Gibbins win the Rainy River Walleye Tournament for the second time in as many years.
October
Legion and Legion Aux. donate $5,000 and $1,000 respectively to the Hospital E.R. Ultrasound project.
For the second time Skylar Arpin has donated hair to the Locks for Love to the Canadian Cancer Society. This time it was 13 inches of hair and last time was 12 inches. The hair is used to make wigs for women undergoing chemotherapy.
42 area kids qualify for provincial chess championships.
Riverview athletes finish at the top of the Cross-country pack.
Rainy River Branch of Northern Lights Credit Union celebrated Credit Union Day with an open house.
Testing of new digital over the air U.S. t.v. signals begins.
Nine students from Riverview School qualified for the National Chess Championships to be held next July in Windsor, Ont. They are Gethon Wood, Bethany Sinninghe, Madison Brown, Moriah Carradice, DJ Trenchard, Naomi Carradice, Lemeul Carradice and Rebekah Fraser and Darrell Jonassen.
Riverview runners finish strong at the Mid Canada Elementary Cross Country Run in Thunder Bay. Results were as follows for the 3 km run: In the girl’s division, out of 153 runners, Hayley Arpin came in 17th (time 14:14), Elizabeth Fraser 4th (time 12:52), and Skylar Arpin took home the gold medal with a time of 12:27.
Rainy River Figure Skating Club raises over $4,000 at their annual skate-a-thon to start their season!
Riverview girls volleyball team brought home silver medals from Atikokan. The boys won bronze!
November
A group of volunteers erected a structure in the old Mill Yard to house equipment for a community garden to be started in the spring of 2010.
Dawson Twp. donates $1,000 to the E.R. Ultrasound project.
A new law prohibiting the use of handheld devices while driving a vehicle kicked in.
School absenteeism is way up due to the flu.
Former Rainy River resident Carla (nee Wiersema) Armstrong appeared as a guest on the television network Business News Network as a commentator on personal investing.
Hundreds gather at Rainy River Legion for Remembrance Day services.
Town of Rainy River announced it will install 3 Phase Power on Main St. in Rainy River to help attract businesses to the community.
The Rainy River Beautification Committee, using lights donated last year, has been busy decorating trees around town.
Doctors trained on the new E.R. Ultrasound which is now in service at Rainy River Health Centre.
Former Pinewood Reeve Alphonse Langlais passes away.
Rainy River Curling Club was the 628th Camille Villineuve has curled in. Villineuve is from Quebec and is attempting to set a world record for curling in the most curling rinks in Canada and the USA.
Andrew Hartnell and Melissa (nee Hartnell) Jenson, travelled to Toronto to learn how to run a Relay for Life Cancer fundraiser in Rainy River.
December
The sewer project, involving a new lagoon and lift station is nearly complete in Rainy River.
CNR locomotive engineers go on strike but it was short-lived as the parties agreed to further negotiations and if necessary binding arbitration.
Rainy River, Dawson and Lake of the Woods Townships begin looking at amalgamation of their fire depts.
KidSport has helped 51 kids play sports but needs financial help from the public.
Rainy River Curling Club becomes a committee of town council.
The Riverview Grade 7/8 girls team won the regional volleyball championships in Fort Frances.