Coming home

The annual Westfort Street Fair is like old home week, organizers said on Saturday.

The event, which shuts down Frederica Street to vehicle traffic, drew thousands to the neighbourhood, shopping and eating and reminiscing about growing up in the area.

“It’s kind of coming home. It’s coming back to your roots,” said J.B. Evans owner Jack Moro, the president of the Westfort Village Business District.

“Some people just love it. You can get a University of Westfort T-shirt and get great food up and down the street and enjoy everybody. There are people behind us just talking, getting caught up, haven’t seen each other. The greatest thing about it is they have smiles on their face.”

There’s no place like Westfort in Thunder Bay, Moro added.

“I think every area has its uniqueness. But in Westfort, the people who have grown up here or their family has a heritage here, are proud of that. They figure it’s the area of hard knocks. You can move out of the area, but you can’t take the Westfort out of the people.”

Once the heart of downtown Fort William, the Westfort neighbourhood has shown its resilience over the years, and to this day is still one of the more vivacious entrepreneurial spots in Thunder Bay.

Erika Maki not only runs a business in Westfort – A Spa For You – she also calls the area home.

From the bouncy castle across the street to the psychic fair she’s hosting at her spa, there’s a little something to interest everyone, especially shopping.

Sidewalk sales are the highlight of the street fair, and one of the biggest reasons why so many people come out.
But certainly it’s not the only one.

“Westfort is a really unique community and they’re really self-supporting. They just come out because it’s a village feeling and they come out to support one another all the time. It’s a great thing to do,” she said.

“It’s one of the original streets in Thunder Bay and I think the communities that have built their homes around here have supported each other and people love coming back home. It’s that great country-home feeling.”

The Westfort Street Fair continues throughout the afternoon.