The Northwestern Health Unit is actively trying to improve health and food security by raising the nutrition level of the food we eat through a wide range of programs.
These include “Plant a row, Grow a row,” food box programs, community gardens in Emo and Fort Frances, a “Buy Local” display unit for trade shows and fairs, a “Buy Local” brochure, and an update of the “Buy Local, Buy Fresh” guide to local food.
4-H and the Ag in the Classroom programs also are doing their part in promoting local food production.

North Star School in Atikokan is being recognized by the Rainy River District School Board at its regular meeting tonight for providing a theatre arts program for students there.
In February, Doug Dunnet’s Grade 5/6 class participated in a workshop with the De-baj-a-muh-jig (“Storyteller” in Cree and Ojibway) Theatre Group.
They worked with the students for an hour-and-a-half each day during a two-week period.
The workshop had two purposes.

Emo businessman Mark Loney is scheduled to appear as a witness at the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food meeting tomorrow as part of the ongoing “Product of Canada” study.
Local MP Ken Boshcoff’s office has been working with Loney in his efforts to receive approval from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to label and sell Canadian-made jam in his Emo grocery store.

The Rainy River District “Best Start” Network is announcing the opening celebration of the Stratton “Best Start” hub this Saturday (May 3) from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., with a cake-cutting ceremony at 11:30 a.m.
The hub is located in the Stratton Resource Centre at the intersection of Highways 11 and 617.
The “Best Start” hub is a welcoming place where families with young children can explore a variety of early-learning programs during drop-in or scheduled groups.
Workshops and information are offered on parenting and child development.

It was billed as a fundraiser for the Northern Echo Bible Camp but with the blowing snow and plunging temperature outside, it could have doubled as a Christmas supper.
Nevertheless, a large crowd filled the hall of the Christian Reformed Church in Emo on Friday evening to raise money for this year’s camp, to socialize, and to enjoy a fantastic turkey meal.
The turkey supper, complete with dressing and home-made pie, was prepared entirely by Stuart and Debbie Firth and their family, who must have spent many hours preparing the amount of food necessary for such a large crowd.

Nine students of the Northwest Tae Kwon Do club attended Grandmaster Kang’s Can-Am games Tae Kwon Do tournament at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg on Saturday.
All nine competed in the forms competition:
•Terry Martin of Fort Frances (green belt blue stripe);
•Dawn Martin of Fort Frances (green belt blue stripe);
•Amber Martin of Fort Frances (green belt blue strip)—bronze medal;
•Alex Woknitz of Fort Frances (green belt);
•Cole Turcotte of Fort Frances (red stripe);
•Maria Vandenbrand of Stratton (blue belt);

The biggest spring sale ever held in Stratton looked more like a winter sale on Saturday.
With a winter storm blasting hard outside, 1,424 head of snowy-backed cattle were put over the scales and under the auctioneer’s hammer between 9:30 a.m. and 9 p.m.
But only a couple of trucks got loaded that night. With almost 30 cm of snow on the ground and most highways closed, they wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere even if they had been able to get turned around in the parking lot.
The majority of the cattle were loaded out Monday.

With the 70th anniversary of the Dance fire approaching this October, a committee made up of victims’ family members are planning a large memorial to commemorate the 17 lives that were lost.
But they are looking for support from the community to make it happen.
“The Dance fire is a significant piece of history of the Rainy River District,” noted committee member Donna Haglin. “And we want the history kept alive.”
The committee is hoping to have a monument constructed at a location along Highway 613 North—very close to where the majority of the lives were claimed.

A former Sioux Lookout man has been fined $800 for lying to a conservation officer and $400 for having a loaded firearm in a vehicle.
Conrad J. Wesley, 37, of Winnipeg, Man., pleaded guilty under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act. The Crown seized the rifle, which will be returned to Wesley once he pays the fine.
On Oct. 29, 2006, Ministry of Natural Resources conservation officers from Sioux Lookout District checked Wesley as he was driving on Highway 516 north of Sioux Lookout.

On Monday, the Emo-La Vallee-Chapple Healthy Community Coalition sponsored another “trip” for the members of the Emo Country Club.
This time the group was taken on a visit to Kenya and Liberia.
Megan Bale, of the Healthy Community Coalition, introduced Patrick Giles, who began to tell the group at the Golden Age Manor about their trip to Kenya.
Giles and his wife, JoAnne, left for Kenya on Dec. 7.