Chamber promotes area in Edmonton

By Ken Johnston
Editor

They were out spreading the word... that Rainy River and area is a great place to vacation!
Rainy River and District Chamber of Commerce President Don Ricci and RR Community Coordinator Anthony Mason travelled to the Edmonton Boat and Sport Show two weeks ago.
The pair learned that there were still booth spaces available at the show when Tannis Drysdale of Fort Frances called them. They scrambled to get a booth together and Rainy River Future Development Corporation helped with the costs for them to go.
Mason said it was definitely worth it. “We talked to over 1,000 people and gathered personal information from more than 400 of them.”
They promoted mostly tourism in Rainy River and Morson with fishing being the main topic of interest by attendees at the show. “Being a boat show, many people were interested in Lake of the Woods, especially those with big boats at home,” said Mason.
He also spent time talking to some people about buying property here. “I had strong interest from three people about property in the area and one couple about buying waterfront property here (in RR).”
Mason said that they also took some of Gary Halverson’s wood art and sold a great deal of it. Showing some of the talent of local craftsman was a great drawing card to their booth. “We learned a lot doing this and hope to do it again in the future,” said Mason.
They handed out area maps, brochures for various tourist camps in the area and talked about the amenities of both fishing and other tourist attractions here.
They hope to use the info. they gathered from booth visitors to do some direct mailing with more info. on Rainy River and the area.