Wednesday June 15, 2011
Submitted by Amy Saunders
It seems the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship has another new sponsor this year—even if that sponsor is under the guise of an older one.
Since amalgamating with Pinewood Sports, Badiuk Equipment has taken on all the responsibilities of both businesses, including the sponsorship of the FFCBC through Lund and Mercury.
In the past, since Lund and Mercury were sold through Pinewood, Badiuk Equipment would have had to sponsor only under their own name.
“Lund and Mercury came with Pinewood. They’ve always sponsored the tournament,” said Badiuk Equipment owner Jim Badiuk.
“This is our first year sponsoring but Pinewood had been doing it since 1995,” he noted.
Although never an angler in the tournament himself, Badiuk sees the FFCBC as vital to the community and intends to continue contributing in the future.
“[The tournament] creates an event and communities need events,” he stressed. “This is a pretty big event, one of the biggest.
“It also keeps the community active; every community needs activity,” Badiuk reasoned.
“If you had no events, it would be a pretty dull community.”
Badiuk also believes the tournament is good for the overall economy of the community, given this is a community built heavily on tourism and fishing.
“It helps us because people are fishing and it gets more people fishing,” he remarked.
“It brings people in from out of town and brings in economy.”
The FFCBC board also is quite excited to have Badiuk Equipment involved in the tournament.
“We’re very happy and pleased to have [them] on board,” said FFCBC chair Gord Watson, adding they look forward to working with Badiuk in future tournaments.
Lund is similarly excited to continue its support in the tournament.
“We’ve long been dedicated to supporting not only our network of local Lund dealers, but also top local grassroots fishing events,” said Ryan Sproule, Lund special events and pro-staff co-ordinator.
“The Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship tournament is really representative of Lund’s appreciation for local and regional competitions, as well as the local dealers who also do a lot of the one-on-one education about the authentic advantages of running a Lund,” he added.