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Happy Monday, Thunder Bay! A mix of sun and cloud, 25°C, and a west wind picking up before lunch — a good week to be outside. In today's issue: a motorcycle club rides for a friend and fills a bin with teddy bears, families get tethered together and dragged through an obstacle course at Boulevard Lake, the regional wildfire count keeps easing, and the Border Cats end their season with a 24-run send-off. ☀️
In this Harbour Beat Issue…
Trivia: Which West African country takes its name from a Portuguese phrase meaning “lion mountains”? (Answer at the bottom!)
The best HR advice comes from those in the trenches. That’s what this is: real-world HR insights delivered in a newsletter from Hebba Youssef, a Chief People Officer who’s been there. Practical, real strategies with a dash of humor. Because HR shouldn’t be thankless—and you shouldn’t be alone in it.
Thunder Bay Events
Free music in two parks, classic cars on Dawson Road, a very loud Tuesday at the Auditorium, a cult sci-fi screening on Cumberland, and a Thursday that ends with a movie under the trees. ✅ 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.
Monday, August 10
AUG 10 · Monday Evening Concerts at Waverley Park — 6:30–9 p.m. · 📍 Waverley Park, Waverley St. · Free · The Coalition for Waverley Park's weekly summer concert — bring a chair and claim a patch of grass · 📅 Add to Calendar
AUG 10 · Dawson Diner Monday Night Cruise-In — 6:30–8 p.m. · 📍 Dawson Diner, 1889 Dawson Rd. · Free to attend · The Lakehead Antique Car Club's weekly show-and-shine — BBQ, ice cream, popcorn and whatever rolls in (weather permitting) · 📅 Add to Calendar
Tuesday, August 11
AUG 11 · Killswitch Engage, with Machine Head and Malevolence — 7 p.m. · 📍 Thunder Bay Community Auditorium, 1 Paul Shaffer Dr. · Ticketed, from $109.73 · Two decades of metalcore plus 30 years of Bay Area riffs, all in one very loud night · 📅 Add to Calendar
Wednesday, August 12
AUG 12 · Live on the Waterfront — 6–9 p.m. · 📍 Marina Park Festival Area, Water St. · Free · The second-last Wednesday of the series, with food trucks and artisan booths alongside the stage · 📅 Add to Calendar
AUG 12 · Vox Popular presents: They Live — doors 6:30 p.m., screening 7 p.m. · 📍 Definitely Superior Art Gallery, 115 Cumberland St. N. · By donation ($10 suggested) · John Carpenter's 1988 sci-fi thriller about a drifter, a pair of sunglasses and what he sees through them · 📅 Add to Calendar
Thursday, August 13
AUG 13 · Summer Fun Night at Vickers Park — 6–10 p.m. · 📍 Vickers Park, Arthur St. E. · Free, all ages · Bike programming with Pedal Forward, crafts and outdoor games from 6, then an 8 p.m. screening of Mamma Mia! — bring chairs or a blanket · 📅 Add to Calendar
AUG 13 · Summer in the Parking Lot — from 6 p.m. · 📍 Superior Inn and Conference Centre, 555 Arthur St. W. · $7 at the gate · Fae Alexander, The CCR Band, and Chris Krienke and Strawdawg on the outdoor stage — one more Thursday after this one · 📅 Add to Calendar
Friday, August 14
AUG 14 · Steve Solkela Live: Circus Comedy & Community BBQ — 6–9 p.m. · 📍 Hilldale Lutheran Church, 321 Hilldale Rd. · Everyone welcome · Solkela's “Overpopulated One-Man Band” — accordion, circus stunts and Finnish humour — with a BBQ before and after · 📅 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 Sunday evening. Fire restrictions across the Northwest still change day to day in a season like this one — check the province's Restricted Fire Zone rules and your municipality's own ban before you light anything outdoors. Latest alerts at Environment Canada.
🌤️ Monday, August 10 — Thunder Bay
25°C
Feels like 27 · Overnight low 13°C
A mix of sun and cloud · No rain in the forecast · West wind 20 km/h late morning · UV 6 (high)
A dry, bright start to the week. A mix of sun and cloud with a high of 25°C and a humidex of 27 — and no rain in Monday's forecast at all, so the concert at Waverley Park and the cruise-in on Dawson Road are both safe bets. Wind becomes west at 20 km/h late in the morning and eases again near midnight. UV index 6 (high), so a hat if you're out in the middle of the day. Overnight it stays partly cloudy with a low of 13°C. The rest of the week holds: 26°C and sunny Tuesday, a 30 per cent chance of showers Wednesday, then sunshine Thursday and Friday. Full forecast and any new alerts at Environment Canada.
A ride for Hoss, and a bin full of teddy bears
The third annual Mike “Hoss” Ellchook Teddy Bear Ride rolled out of the OPSEU regional offices on Memorial Avenue on Saturday, hosted by Shotgun Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club. Hoss — a red seal chef and restaurateur many people knew from This Old Barn, who also served with Oliver Paipoonge Fire and First Response — died two years ago, and the club built a summer toy run around him. “Toys for Tots is a great charity, but we do it in the fall, so the weather is questionable,” national secretary Chris Barn Millington told Newswatch. “We thought we'd do something in the summer to top up that.” The day raised $540 for the Salvation Army's Journey for Life Centre and collected more than a dozen stuffed toys. The club's national rally was on at the same time, drawing members from Alberta, Chicago, Minneapolis, Switzerland and France. It isn't only police — corrections officers, paramedics, firefighters and veterans ride too. “We are a law enforcement club, and we're here to serve,” Millington said.
Tied to your kid, dragged through a mud pit, having a great time
Dozens of families spent Saturday afternoon roped together at Boulevard Lake, running a military-style obstacle course with rope climbs, tire pulls and a swim. It was the Zulu Challenge's first Ontario stop — the Alberta-based event started its tour in Chilliwack, B.C. Founder Tosh Mugambi says the tether is the whole point: “If I can't do it, I'll help you or I'll show you how to do it because I can't leave until you come with me.” Brothers Lucis and Liam Ray, 11 and 12, won the 11-to-13 category and were still arguing about the monkey bars afterward. “It was so much harder because on the monkey bars, when we're swinging, we got it right and then he starts sprinting right when he lands, but he's in front of me, so he just yanks me off of them,” Lucis said. Mugambi is already planning a return: “There's a lot of natural athletes in Thunder Bay, so we're definitely going to build an annual tradition.”
No new fires, and the count keeps easing
The Ministry of Natural Resources reported no new fire starts by end of day Saturday, and the regional total slipped to 109 — down from 130 a week earlier. Thirteen are still not under control, six are being held, six are under control and 84 are being observed. The Rinker Lake complex — three fires across the Thunder Bay and Dryden districts — is now mapped at close to 380,000 hectares, with Thunder Bay 36 alone just over 301,000. Twenty-five crews from Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia are on it, along with two 20-person crews from Mexico, 17 helicopters and an incident management team. Crews reported low fire behaviour on all three fires in the Atikokan cluster along Highway 11. The hazard across the Northwest is mostly low to medium, with pockets of high near Kenora and Fort Frances — and the restricted fire zone stays in effect across most of the region.
The Border Cats end their season with 24 runs
A rough season, a very fun last night. The Thunder Bay Border Cats closed out their 2026 Northwoods League schedule in Duluth by beating the Huskies 24–5 — one run shy of the club record set last year. Thunder Bay's Jack Weiss went 3-for-4 with three walks and scored five times, Jesus Vasquez drove in six, and Ayden Hadley added three hits and four RBI. Bennett Crafton had four hits and stretched his on-base streak to 23 games. As a team they put up 22 hits and 18 walks against seven Duluth pitchers, breaking it open with five runs in the fourth and never looking back. Starter Vincent Segovia went seven innings for a roster-thin squad, allowing three runs. The Border Cats finish 27–41. Next summer's a long way off, but that's a good note to sit on.
Meme of the Day
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Trivia answer: Sierra Leone. Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra sailed past its mountainous coastline in 1462 and named it Serra Leoa — “lion mountains” — and the Spanish-influenced spelling stuck as the country's name.
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