Mary Watters said she feels at home on both sides of the Canadian-US border, but that’s not always the case.
Born in Duluth, Minnesota, she moved to Fort Frances, Ontario at the age of six, spending most of her childhood in neighborhoods in northwestern Ontario.
“I went to high school [International] Falls and my Fort Frances friends called me a “traitor” and my new international friend called me a “canuck” — so I was a teenager without a country,” Waters said, after which he settled in Koochiching County, Minnesota.
When many people feel divided Canada – U.S. trade war continues to escalateWatters came up with the idea of bringing people together.
Watch | Francisburg and International Falls residents connect on the border
About 150 people gathered on the International Falls Bridge on Saturday. They shook hands, hugged and linked, forming a line across the two countries.
“These two communities, we’re on the edge of each other’s country in the middle of the wilderness, so we’re really nervous,” Waters said.
One song Watters said that Zero Temperature, Canadians and Americans sang “We Are Family” together, which illustrates the close connection between border towns.
“There are too many intermarriages. There are a lot of friends going back and forth, and they work back and forth,” she said. “It’s about expanding goodwill and feeling good. [moment]. ”
Waters said border workers on both sides were collaborative during the event, and this part was affected. Similar party between Windsor and Detroit.
“I feel home on all of that bridge we have,” she said.
“We have such a strong connection”
Mary Ann Woods Kasich uses social media to help spread news about the weekend event. She explained that a few years ago, Ranier residents in Minnesota sold advertisements in Francesburg and participated in the Francisford Rotary Club and the Francisburg Chamber of Commerce.
In the days after 9/11, she helped organize a run between the two countries, and participants brought the boat back to Ranier.
“Every July 1, we enjoy Canadian fireworks on the waterfront of Ranier,” Woods Kasich told CBC News. “Americans on this side gathered in Ranier or on board toward the historic cantilever bridge fireworks.”
“Historically, my point of view is a close connection with Canadian friends. It expands 100% of the world for both of us!”
Waters said Francisburg and International Falls face similar challenges to border towns from 9/11 to the common 19 pandemic.
In times like this, she said she wants people to remember their similarities, not differences.
“I just want love to disappear, I think it will.”
