Allan Bradbury

In a recent social media post the Town of Fort Frances is reminding residents that they do indeed get grant funding to help pay for road repairs.

Tour De Fort will hold the closing concert of its 30th anniversary season featuring the jazz stylings of Angelique Francis. The Tour De Fort show kicks off a string of northwestern Ontario shows.

Tour De Fort will hold the closing concert of its 30th anniversary season featuring the jazz stylings of Angelique Francis. The Tour De Fort show kicks off a string of northwestern Ontario shows.

Over the last few months a call has gone out to various user groups at the Memorial Sports Complex to gauge interest in using ice at Ice For Kids Arena (IFK) over the summer months. After reaching 81 per cent of the set target, Fort Frances Town Council voted in favour of maintaining the ice through July and August.

The Cornells have hosted over two dozen events in their barn over the years. The farm, about 20 minutes west of Fort Frances in La Vallee has hosted celebrations, plays, and concerts featuring bands from as close by as right here in the district to as far away as Australia, where upcoming repeat performer Kim Churchill is coming from.

Last Friday Community Ties & Tapestries: Fibre Artists of the Rainy River Valley opened at the Fort Frances Museum and Cultural Centre. The exhibit of fibre arts brings together artisans from across the Rainy River District to showcase their crafts.

Melissa Teeple has been interested in horses for her whole life. She owns six now that she keeps as pets on the family farm. After years of taking friends on trail rides, Teeple decided to get the insurance required to host public rides. “I officially started doing trail rides last fall in August,” Teeple said. “I've got six horses that are my pets and have been great. I've been interested in horses all my life and I've always taken people out riding with me but not as a business.” Teeple is able to take out five guests at a time, while she leads. “Five of the six horses are good for beginners,” Teeple said. “I ride my guy, Smokey. He's a bit more sensitive so I ride him.” Along with Smokey, there are Sydney, Roscoe, Zippy, Patches and Roy. You can learn about each of the horses on the Dead End Ranch Trail Rides Facebook page. Dead End is primarily a beef farm. Teeple and her husband Dale have run the farm for 20 years and sons Ben and Sam are also a big help around the farm. Upon arriving at the ranch, Teeple will introduce the riders to the horses and help them get acquainted with riding before hitting the trails. Close toed shoes and long pants are a requirement. “You don't need any experience,” Teeple said. “You've got to wear something like cowboy boots and your jeans, or some kind of boot or shoe and jeans. I give you a short riding lesson at the beginning to make sure you're comfortable with the horse you're on and your stirrups are the right length and all that. Then once you're comfortable, we go out on the trail.” Teeple has been developing the trails on the property for as long as she's lived there. “I've been working on my trails for 20 years, but I started with a hand axe,” she said. “Now they're getting wide enough for the tractor.” Teeple has two trails for beginners, and a third trail for more experienced riders who might not have ridden a lot recently but want to get back into it. Horseback riding has shown to have many benefits for riders and is often used in therapy regimes for a variety of conditions. The Ontario Equestrian Federation (OEF) details a wide range of health benefits that can come as a result of horseback riding. Riding can be good cardio, they say. “You may think that riding a horse isn't that much different than going on a ride at an amusement park. You just jump on and the horse does all the work, right? Well, not quite. A one-hour ride can burn similar calories to that of a 30-minute jog (9 km/h) or cycle ride (14 km/h). Therefore, all the health benefits associated with engaging in regular cardiovascular exercise are gained. After your first ride you may feel muscles that you never knew you had.” Other physical health benefits listed include Improved balance and muscle strength, improved coordination, faster reflexes and increased motor planning, increased range of motion of joints, and improved respiration and circulation, among others. Riding also can be helpful on a mental and emotional health level, the OEF says. “Horseback riding is recognized as having excellent therapeutic qualities. The emotional benefits can be of equal importance as the physical benefits. Simply being outdoors and enjoying the countryside will boost your general well-being and act as a great stress buster,” thy said. “There is a real sense of exhilaration and freedom when you ride, a feeling that is second to none. Furthermore, developing a relationship and sense of trust between yourself and your horse is highly rewarding. Learning to control and care for an animal much larger than yourself can have a profound effect on your confidence and is a great feeling.” Specific mental health helps include: Improved self-confidence, development of patience, improved emotional control and self-discipline, and development of respect and care for animals. Teeple has seen some of these benefits personally with some of her riders. “One customer came, and halfway through the ride she was like, ‘oh my god, I haven't thought about what's been bugging me,' she said, ‘I just realized I was thinking about the beach and I wasn't even worrying about what's been bugging me.' So that person plans to come on the regular.” “I've had autistic kids come in, not doing the trail but doing the lessons and just the difference in their behaviors even away from me like at school improved,” Teeple said. “They get the confidence because they are succeeding at, you know, riding and communicating with this huge animal who's trying to communicate back with them.” Teeple also relayed an anecdote about another rider who was afraid at the start of their ride. “I had one man come that I think had never been around large animals before,” Teeple said. “So he was quite fearful at the beginning, and he didn't actually want to ride on his own. So I ended up leading him on a trail. But from where he started you know to the end of the lesson was fabulous. Going from being scared of being even around them to riding them.” Currently, insurance permits Teeple to take riders from 12 to 69 years old on the trails, part of the reason for that is that riders need to have a certain amount of core strength to stay up on the horse. She is also not allowed to go faster than a walk on the horses in the trails. Teeple says she is also hoping to upgrade her insurance to start pony rides and riding lessons in a ring for younger kids and offer farm tours as well. For more information on the offerings at Dead End Ranch, look up their Facebook page Dead End Ranch Trail Rides. You can also contact Teeple at [email protected] This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.

Last July Giishkaandago'Ikwe Health Services announced they were receiving $5million in funding to build the Wiidookodaadiwin Healing Lodge, on April 25 they held an official groundbreaking ceremony for the building on Agency One land near Couchiching First Nation.

At a special meeting of Town Council last night Fort Frances Town Council passed a bylaw appointing Marcel Michaels as the new CAO for the Town of Fort Frances.

The idea for the shelter grew out of the women’s council for Grand Council Treaty #3.