When temperatures dip well below zero, the Icebox of the Nation sometimes gets national attention for its record-breaking, and often unfathomable to those who live further south, thermometer readings.
A weekend of such record lows, and stories of frigid air across the country, likely sparked the CBS “The Early Show” to send a crew to the Falls this week to report from one of the nation’s coldest locations.
“When we have cold snaps, absolutely it happens,” said International Falls Area Chamber of Commerce President Betsy Jensen of national media attention paid Borderland for the sub-zero deep freezes. “They can hardly believe that people leave their homes when it gets like this.”
But Jensen said that the attention paid to the area can be both positive and negative. Rhetorically, Jensen asked, “Do people really want to come here when it’s 30 below?”
National weather reports and inclusion in pieces by the Travel Channel and an upcoming Weather Channel special often leave viewers with a frosty impression of the area and its winter recreation opportunities and festivals.
Jensen said that this year she heard from some visitors who will be coming to the area because they saw the Freeze Yer Gizzard Blizzard Run on the Travel Channel special, but she doesn’t think that is as common as those looking for warm-weather recreation options.
Jensen said she likes to place a “positive spin” on the area by telling reporters that residents and visitors will be “in the same spots drinking lemonade” in a few months — to encourage people to visit during warmer times and let people unfamiliar with the area know that — yes — Rainy Lake and the area do thaw.
During Monday’s International Falls City Council meeting, Mayor Shawn Mason said she had been interviewed by two reporters seeking comment on the cold over the weekend.
