With the holiday festivities of the independence days of both Canada and the United States behind us for another year, we are again thankful for the relationship between our sister cities on the international border.
Fort Frances and International Falls together celebrate our successes and mourn our losses. We’ve done that for decades, sharing so many more things in common than are different.
How wonderful it is to see our leaders and color guards coming together at parades, and other important community events including Memorial Day ceremonies.
That’s why we must recognize the unfortunate circumstances that led to injuries on the Fort Frances side of Rainy River June 30 during the tug-of-war at the seventh annual International Boundary Waters Dragon Boat Festival.
Certainly no one imagined such a fun and friendly event across the border would send two people to the hospital, with others reporting scrapes and bruises.
Immediately after the event, social media postings attempted to lay blame. And that’s understandable when people are upset by something that occurs during what should be a joyful celebration.
Instead, it appears that misunderstandings about how the tug would unfold, and had unfolded in previous years, were either miscommunication or not communicated between the groups.
We offer our deepest concern for the injured and best wishes for their recovery.
And we ask that people not look for any bad guys in this event. Instead, we should focus on the injured, the first responders on the Fort Frances side who immediately rendered help, and the people who organized the events in an effort to give our communities an opportunity to connect for fun and friendship.
