And the Winners are….

Photo courtesy of
Fort Frances Times

Last night, at the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce Annual Deck Party at La Place Rendezvous the RRFDC announced their Top Ten Customer Service Challenge Champions and 5 Honourable Mentions for 2011.

This year’s challenge, which was held online via a ballot form, saw around 250 voters selecting their choice of 3 businesses who they felt deserved their votes for great customer service.  The RRFDC then compiled a list of Top Ten from the 28 participating business, and also gave out 5 Honourable Mention Certificates.  The Top Ten were awarded with a 2011 Customer Service Champion plaque. 

Here are the Top Ten Champions for 2011: (listed in alphabetical order)

J  Cloverleaf Family Foods

J  Fort Frances General Supply

J  Fort Frances Times Ltd.

J  La Place Rendezvous

J  Maddy's Little Store

J  McTaggarts

J  Simplicity Professional Hair & Body Care

J  Super 8 Motel

J  Times Web Design

J  West End Motors FF

and the 5 Honourable Mentions are: (listed in alphabetical order)

J  Brockie Jewellers

J  Celeste's

J  Fort Frances Enhanced Hearing Centre

J  Northwood's Gallery & Gifts

J  Pharmasave

Congratulations to all the winners and the RRFDC would like to thank the businesses for their participation in this year’s challenge and to thank all the customers who helped to determine the winners by their votes.  We hope to see everyone next year in the 2012 Challenge.

Rainy River Meats Inc.

Peggy Revell Photo
 Fort Frances Times

(Excerpt from the Fort Frances Times)

http://www.fftimes.com/node/242691

Rainy River Meats Inc. co-owner Marg Irvine showed where the sirloin tip had been removed from the hindquarter of local ‘AA’ beef, which the business has been processing since its start-up last month in Emo. It’s been a busy first month for the plant as its owners look to promote meat raised by local farmers and get it onto the plates of people across the district.  

Triplet Calves born in Rainy River District

By Peggy Revell, Staff writer (Fort Frances Times)

A rare triplet birth has turned this year’s calving season into one for the local history books.

“It was a surprise,” said Wayne Flatt, whose farm just north of Emo welcomed healthy triplet Charolais calves to the world back on May 9.

“I’ve been farming for some 44 years,” he remarked. “First time that I’ve had a set a triplets.

“I’ve had lots of twins, but not triplets.”

Read more…

http://www.fftimes.com/node/242537

Heritage sites open for season

By Heather Latter, Fort Frances Times

Friday, 20 May 2011 - 1:28pm

The “Hallett” and lookout tower along the La Verendrye Parkway opened for the season this week, with residents and visitors invited to check out the local heritage sites.
Having relocated there last year, Fort Frances Museum curator Sherry George noted they are great attractions that also are a part of the town’s history.

Read more…

http://www.fftimes.com/node/242614

12th Annual Fly In, Drive In BBQ

The 12th Annual Fly In Drive In BBQ will be held at the Fort Frances Airport on Saturday, June 4th, 2011 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.  






On display will be Homebuilts, Wheel Planes, RC Aircrafts, Amphib Planes,  and Motorcycles.   


The Early Iron Car Club will also be on hand with their vintage autos.  For more information, contact Bruce Caldwell at (807) 274-3070.


FORT FRANCES AIRPORT ~ YOUR GATEWAY TO THE NORTH

2011 Customer Service Challenge Update

Bill Gushulak (L) of  Fort Frances General Supply receives congratulations from Board Member Brian Kahler  on winning a Customer Service Challenge award. (archived photo)

The voting for the 2011 Customer Service Online Challenge closed on Friday, May 13th.   Approximately 230 votes were received and RRFDC is currently compiling the numbers for this year's Top Ten Champions, which we will be announcing on May 25th at the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce's Annual Deck Party.  

Emo Walleye Classic

The TENTH Annual Emo Walleye Classic kicks off May 26, 27 & 28, 2011 - a catch-and release tournament on the picturesque Rainy River, in Emo, Ontario. 


Sixty-five teams from Canada and the U.S. will chase the top spot – and over $40,000 in prizes!


For more information, visit http://emowalleye.com/

Rainy River Trade Show - Saturday, May 14th

By: Ken Johnston, Editor (Rainy River Record)

The doors of the 6th Annual Rainy River Trade Show open at 10 a.m. and remain open until 4 p.m. on Saturday, May 14th, 2011 at the Rainy River Rec Centre.  Most booths will be offering their own prizes, but this year, the Rainy River & District Chamber of Commerce (the event host) will be offering a special door prize.   They have (2) three-day passes for the Kickin Up Country music festival to be held in Karlstad, MN, this summer.   It is a prize worth over $300!  To qualify, the public needs to pay the $2 admission for 12 and over.  Kids aged 11 and under are free.

Andrew Hartnell, the show's coordinator, said that they have secured two food vendors already and are working on securing two more.  "The canteen (at the arena) will open, and the Knights of Columbus will have food on the floor of the arena."  

The Chamber will have a booth on the floor this year with a sound system to make announcements throughout the event.  They will also have centennial cookbooks which will be for sale in the booth.

They are also pleased with the slate of participants this year noting that there are many new ones.  There will be kids activities held in and outside of the arena.

Last year about 600 people visited the trade show and Hartnell expects the numbers to be strong again this year.  Anyone wanting to rent booth space needs to get a hold of Hartnell at the Chamber by calling 852-4551.

Rainy River to be on T.V. starting May 20th

By Ken Johnston, Editor (Rainy River Record)

It is almost time for Rainy River’s 15 minutes... or 30 minutes in this case.... of fame!

Last September a television crew and the host of the show The Dime Store Fisherman, were in the community to film an episode. Their visit coincided with the Rainy River Walleye Tournament and they also were taken fishing with local anglers.
At the time Andrew Hartnell was the town’s economic development officer, but now he works for The Dime Store Fisherman from his home near Rainy River.

Hartnell received word this week that the preview copy of the episode will be in Rainy River this week! “We hope to have a community viewing before it airs on t.v. but that is still in the works,” he said Monday.

The first date of the show to appear on t.v. is May 20, 2011 at 10 a.m. on WILD T.V. It will then play again May 21 at 2 p.m. and May 23 at 6 a.m. on WILD. “These are the first dates. It will air more but I haven’t received those dates yet,” said Hartnell.
In addition to focusing on fishing in the Rainy River area, the episode will also feature the Town of Rainy River and its other attractions.

WILD TV is on Bell TV at channel 389 and Shaw Direct at channel 456.

Tourism Week Coming in June

The Ontario Travel Information Centres will once again be hosting regional events and open houses at all 18 centres across the province during Tourism Week. Scheduled from June 3-12, tourism week is designed to attract public attention and awareness of Ontario's tourism industry. This is a great opportunity for you to showcase your tourism products to visitors and join in the celebrations occurring in your community. The travel centres will be hosting kick-off events from June 3-12 and open houses throughout the rest of the week.


We welcome and encourage you to set up a promotional display, free of charge, at the Fort Frances Ontario Travel Information Centre during Tourism Week.   We can accommodate many types of displays both indoors or outdoors, including and not limited to promotional vehicles outdoors and tables or booths with brochures, poster stands, banners, promotional DVDs or posters, etc. indoors...


  Best regards~The Staff of the Fort Frances Ontario Travel Information Centre

Enhance your e-Business Practices with the Small Business Internship Program

A significant number of established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are currently only connected to the Internet or are passively on-line, and might not be taking advantage of the possibilities offered by e-business. The Small Business Internship Program seeks to improve the competitiveness of SMEs by supporting businesses to actively market on-line and improve their competitiveness with e-business practices and technologies.
Join the Small Business Internship Program Team, as they explain how the Program could work for your business. Victor Paul-Elias will present the English Webinar and Lynne Antoine will present the French Webinar.
The webinar takes place on Thursday May 12, 2011 at 12:00pm Eastern Time in English and at 1:30pm Eastern Time in French. If you're interested in attending, complete the English Webinar or the French Webinar registration form.
For more information, please send an email to SBTBWebinar-DGPETWebinaire@ic.gc.ca or visit http://www.ic.gc.ca/webinars

Upcoming Workshops & Seminars for May

3rd      2:00-4:00        (VC)   Survey Design for Customer Research

17th    1:00-5:00        (VC)   Performance Management

18th    12:30-3:30      (VC)   GST/HST Seminar – New HST Rules and Information

Video Conference Workshops are $5.00 each and are held at RRFDC in our training room.  For more information or to register, please call RRFDC at 274-3276.

2011 Customer Service "Online" Challenge

Do you think that businesses in the Rainy River District offer great customer service? If yes, then now is the time to say so...

RRFDC is once again holding the annual Customer Service Challenge, but we are changing things up a bit this year.  This year's challenge is going to be a little different with an online voting system that will allow you, the customers of the Rainy River District, the chance to say who deserves to be in the Top 10 based on great customer service.

Here are the details:

Starting May 3rd until May 13th, the voting will be open and you, the customer will have one chance to vote for your choice of the top 3 businesses offering the best customer service. To make your vote valid, you must briefly express why you felt the business(s) earned your vote for great customer service. Voting will close at 4:00 p.m. on May 13th, 2011.

Once the voting has been completed, RRFDC will then determine from the online results, this year's Top Ten Champions, which will be announced later in May at the Fort Frances Chamber of Commerce's Annual Deck Party.

To vote go to www.rrfdc.on.ca and click on “2011 Customer Service Challenge.”

Here is the final list of this year's contenders (alphabetically):

Belluz Concrete & Rentals

Boston Pizza

Brockie’s Jewellers

Causeway General Insurance Brokers Ltd.

Celeste’s

Cloverleaf Family Foods

Fort Frances Enhanced Hearing Centre

Fort Frances General Supply

Fort Frances Times Ltd.

Green’s Countrywide Furniture

Kupila’s Sound Center

La Place Rendezvous

Leon’s

Maddy’s Little Store

McTaggart’s

Naughty Pine Riding Ranch

Norlund Oil (2003) Ltd.

Northwood’s Gallery & Gifts

Peterbilt Fort Frances

Pharmasave

Simplicity Professional Hair & Body Care

Studio Gibbous

Super 8 Motel

Taggs Source for Sports

The Den

The Ear Clinic, Inc.

Times Web Design

West End Motors

Good Luck to All Participants!!!