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Happy Thursday, Thunder Bay! Sunny to start, then a mix of sun and cloud, a 30 per cent chance of a late-afternoon shower and a high of 25°C. In today's issue: wildfire evacuations squeezing the hotel rooms medical travellers depend on, a brand-new dog festival with a serious cause behind it, nominations opening for the arts and heritage awards, and the first shovels lining up in Ignace. ☀️
In this Harbour Beat Issue…
Trivia: Agatha Christie's detective Hercule Poirot came from which country? (Answer at the bottom!)
Little Known RMD Strategy Allowed by the IRS
For investors with $1M+ in retirement accounts, the tax code allows specific strategies that can reduce your tax exposure once RMDs begin—but only if used before then.
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Thunder Bay Events
A movie under the trees at Vickers Park, accordion hymns in Finnish out on Hilldale Road, and then a weekend with almost too much in it — the Murillo Fair, the Westfort street fair, a dog festival at Kamview, taiko drumming in West Thunder and a colour throw at the Marina. ✅ Outdoor events can still shift on short notice — confirm with the organizer before you head out, and check current fire restrictions before lighting anything at a campsite.
Thursday, August 13
AUG 13 · Summer Fun Night at Vickers Park — 6–10 p.m., film at 8 · 📍 Vickers Park, Arthur St. E. · Free · Bike programming, crafts and outdoor games, then Mamma Mia! on the big screen — bring a chair or a blanket · 📅 Add to Calendar
AUG 13 · Summer in the Parking Lot — 6 p.m. · 📍 Superior Inn & Conference Centre, 555 Arthur St. W. · $7 · Second-last Thursday of the series, which wraps up on Aug. 20 · 📅 Add to Calendar
AUG 13 · Faith, Hymns & Finnish Gospel with Steve Solkela — 7–9 p.m. · 📍 Hilldale Lutheran, 321 Hilldale Rd. · Free-will offering at the door · Accordion-driven bilingual Finnish and English hymns from a performer who plays close to 300 shows a year · 📅 Add to Calendar
Friday, August 14
AUG 14 · Murillo Fair — 5–10 p.m. Friday, then 10 a.m.–10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Sunday · 📍 Murillo Fairgrounds, 600 Pole Line Rd., Oliver Paipoonge · The Oliver Agricultural Society's annual weekend: livestock, homecraft, midway rides and lawn mower races · 📅 Add to Calendar
Saturday, August 15
AUG 15 · Westfort Street Fair — 9 a.m.–5 p.m. · 📍 Frederica St. · Free to wander · Vendors, businesses, artists and musicians take over the street for the day · 📅 Add to Calendar
AUG 15 · Pawchella — 12–4 p.m., walk at 1 · 📍 Kamview Nordic Centre, 851 20th Side Rd. · A 2 km and 5 km community dog walk with vendors, a DJ and contests, raising money for appendix cancer care through the Northern Cancer Fund · 📅 Add to Calendar
AUG 15 · LJCA Summer Matsuri — 4:30–9:30 p.m. · 📍 West Thunder Community Centre, 915 Edward St. S. · Free · Taiko drumming, kimono dressing, martial arts demos and a market full of food · 📅 Add to Calendar
Sunday, August 16
AUG 16 · Festival of Colours — 3 p.m. · 📍 Marina Park, Water St. · Ticketed, $17.55–$38.95 · Colour throws, live music, dance and food — wear white, and don't plan anything formal afterwards · 📅 Add to Calendar
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✅ NO WEATHER ALERTS IN EFFECT
Environment Canada had no watches or warnings posted for Thunder Bay as of Wednesday evening. Fog patches are expected to form before morning and burn off through the first part of the day, and there is a risk of a thunderstorm late in the afternoon. Fire restrictions across the Northwest still change day to day — check the province's Restricted Fire Zone rules and your municipality's own ban before you light anything outdoors. Latest alerts at Environment Canada.
🌤️ Thursday, August 13 — Thunder Bay
25°C
Feels like 30 · Overnight low 12°C
Sunny start, then sun and cloud · 30% chance of showers late · risk of an afternoon thunderstorm · UV 7 (high)
The best-looking day of the week, right up until late afternoon. Sunny in the morning — after any early fog patches clear — then a mix of sun and cloud with a 30 per cent chance of showers and a risk of a thunderstorm late in the day. High of 25°C with a humidex of 30, and a UV index of 7 (high) through the middle of the day, so it is a sunscreen day if you are out at Vickers Park. Overnight goes partly cloudy, low of 12°C. The weekend holds up nicely: sunny and 24°C Friday, sun and cloud at 23°C Saturday for the street fair, and 24°C Sunday with a 30 per cent chance of showers. Full forecast and any new alerts at Environment Canada.
No room at the inn for people who came here for care
Here is a knock-on effect of the fires that does not show up on the daily fire map. Wildfire evacuations have moved a lot of people into Thunder Bay at exactly the moment summer tourism already had the hotels full — and the people getting squeezed out are the ones who travel here for medical appointments. For patients coming in from across the Northwest, and especially from fly-in communities, a hospital appointment is never just the appointment: it is the flight, the ride, and a bed for the night before and after. When there is no room, the trip gets harder, and sometimes it does not happen at all. A reminder that this fire season is quietly reshaping things a long way from the fire line.
A new dog festival with a serious reason behind it
Pawchella lands at the Kamview Nordic Centre this Saturday, noon to 4 p.m., and it is exactly what it sounds like: a family-friendly dog festival with local vendors, a live DJ, contests and a 2 km and 5 km community walk setting off at 1. Underneath the wagging tails is a harder story. The day raises money for appendix cancer care and research through the Northern Cancer Fund, and it honours Hannah Deley, who spent her own diagnosis supporting other people facing theirs. There is a “Pledge Your Paws” side to it too, where dogs get their own fundraising pages and compete for Top Dog. Bring the dog, bring the family.
You get a say in who wins the arts and heritage awards
Artists, writers, photographers and the people who quietly keep the city's culture and heritage going will be recognised this fall — and nominations are open to the public, which means the shortlist depends on somebody actually putting a name forward. If you have been meaning to say thank you to whoever runs the gallery night, restores the old building, or has taught half the neighbourhood to throw a pot, this is the mechanism for it. Worth five minutes of your Thursday.
Ignace is ready to start building
The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is now taking construction proposals for its Centre of Expertise in Ignace, with building set to begin next year. The centre is the visible, above-ground piece of the much larger deep geological repository project for used nuclear fuel — a research, community-engagement and knowledge-sharing hub rather than a storage site. For a town of Ignace's size, a construction contract of this scale is genuinely big news, and it is the clearest signal yet that the timeline is moving from paper to gravel.
Local Business Spotlight
Featured Restaurant: Bight Restaurant & Bar
Overview
If you have walked the waterfront at Prince Arthur's Landing on a summer evening, you have walked past it. Bight sits right at the marina on Sleeping Giant Parkway, which gives it the one thing almost no other dining room in the city has — masts and open water out the window while you eat. It has become the default for the occasion dinner, the out-of-town guest you want to impress, and the long lunch that turns into three hours because nobody wants to give up the view.
What to know
Separate lunch, dinner and dessert menus — not one list stretched across the whole day.
Reservations can be booked straight from the website, worth doing on a weekend or any night there is something on at the Marina.
Mariners Hall is available for private events, from weddings to celebrations of life, and the entire restaurant can be rented out.
[Signature dishes and current seasonal features — confirm before sending.]
Ambiance & Experience
Bright, modern and glass-forward, built so the harbour does the decorating. It reads as a special-occasion room without being stiff — people turn up in everything from a summer dress to shorts straight off the boat.
Location & Contact
📍 2201 Sleeping Giant Pkwy, Unit 100, Thunder Bay
📞 807-622-4448
Operating Hours
Tuesday to Saturday: 12:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
Sunday: 12:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Monday: closed
Hours can shift for private events — call ahead or book online.
Final Word
On a 24-degree Friday with the sun going down over the marina, there is not a better seat in Thunder Bay. Book a table at Bight →
Meme of the Day
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Trivia answer: Belgium. Poirot is a Belgian police officer who came to England as a refugee during the First World War — he is very often mistaken for a Frenchman, an error the fictional detective takes great exception to.
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