Misty, cloudy, hazy and warm. The annual Fine Crafts Festival in Officer's Square opened before the rain started in earnest.

The best news was the selection of Steve Waylon to open for Tim McGraw and Faith Hill tomorrow in Moncton. He was really looking forward to this opportunity - and as he told us on video recently, this could be his year.

It's the start of the Labour Day weekend, which means the school buses are standing by, that the FREX is about to open and that summer is nearly over.

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca

PS - See you at the market. Don't forget to Say Cheese!

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Thanks to your help, Steve will be opening for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw in Moncton...great news for Steve and the band and for their sponsors and supporters, including our friends at Musiplex.

We'll have some other interesting news for you about all this in the days to come...wish we could share it now, but not yet.

Meantime, you can http://www.justfred.ca/cmine/thumbnails.php?album=334">check out the pics and video here on justFRED.

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca

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The evening highlight - a pooch and people fashion show to raise money for the Fredericton Emergency Shelters and the Fredericton SPCA.

Black clouds and heavy rain drenched more than one pedestrian, and cooler weather is predicted to follow. We've had a good run.

More on the radio front - ads start running for the Atlantic Balloon Fiesta in Sussex at the end of next week. And we had a major technical breakthrough this afternoon from the roof of Carleton Place, but we can't tell you the details yet or we'd have to, you know, kill you or something. Let's just say we're lots closer to launching another fun piece of justFRED multimedia.

And Cooper's back in town. He's the Leo Hayes High School student who worked with us this summer cutting many of our videos and taking some of our street photos.

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca

Steve Waylon is vying for the chance to open for Faith Hill and Tim McGraw at their concert in Moncton next month...and he needs your help.

All you have to do is http://www.justfred.ca/vote-submit.html">CLICK HERE to vote for him.

He's one of the remaining eight finalists for the show opener and your vote could make all the difference in the world.

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca

The tears were flowing in Estey's Bridge today - but tears of joy as Steve and Lynn Porter received the keys to their new home.

Steve started going blind in his mid-teens and that's led to some tough times for the couple. But thanks to family, friends, local congregations, business and the community, they were surprised with an awesome anniversary gift.

People from around the world have been watching the community project unfold on the web site at thestevenproject.ca where donations are still being sought to complete the year-long effort.

Cheers,
George

http://justfred.ca/cmine/albums/catherineuploads/2007/aug%2029/steven%20project/normal_IMG_6495.JPG">

School parking lots have been busy this week with teachers back in the classrooms preparing for next week's return of the student population. Some students were back - football players at FHS.

The Fredericton District Soccer Association is planning for the Under-18 nationals, and we're going to provide you and the players from across Canada with a unique view of the Thanksgiving Weekend event.

Hot Toddy drew a happy, warm summer evening kind of crowd to Officer's Square...and on the balcony overlooking the stage, another crowd that came for Girl's Night Out at the York-Sunbury Museum and stayed for the music.

All we need now is six more months of this and then some really nice weather.

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca

Nadine recorded her first radio commercial today...not that it's her first time behind a mic. Far from it. She's a seasoned entertainer with a CD under her belt.

It's gone off to HQ for approval. And we're hoping to hear it on 93.3 FM any time now.

It was a slightly jury-rigged recording setup at Musiplex: usb mic/headset plugged into a Macbook running Garageband.

We're headed over again tomorrow to start setting up our Fredericton North office.

Cheers,
George

PS - And check out the new http://blogs.justfred.ca/justfred/2007/08/27/contest-36-canadian-tire-back-to-school-contest/">Canadian Tire Back to School Contest. You know how much we love contests, and Canadian Tire has SOOOOOO much great stuff...

We know you haven't been doing much in the way of school work over the summer, but this is very simple math:

Add Canadian Tire, two computer desks and justFRED and what do you get?

That's right...a contest.

So here's the deal:

1. Visit either of Fredericton's Canadian Tire stores and buy some back to school supplies...and HOLD ON TO YOUR RECEIPT.

2. Complete the online contest entry form http://justfred.ca/cdntire-contest.php">HERE!

3. And wait for the draw (Friday, September 7th) to see if you're one of our two lucky winners of a computer desk with built-in power and USB ports.

If you must be chained to a desk for the next nine months, it might as well be a good one.

Cheers,
George
justFRED.ca

Our art director, Mila Jones, and her fiancee, Bob Cann, left for Calgary this weekend so Bob can start his new job at the CHUM radio affiliate in Alberta's (and Canada's) boom town.

Mila's going to continue working with us remotely from Calgary - and has high hopes of helping us develop a western Canadian client base.

But it sure was sad to see them pull out of Freddy Beach on Friday.

Cheers,
George

We found out how some of our municipal tax dollars are being spent: competing with justFRED and the city's other media outlets.

Fredericton Tourism's web site now includes a 700+ business directory - with dynamic maps (just like 0urs) - and during a meeting with the city's administrator, Paul Stapleton, we learned that the promotions people have also purchased video equipment and plan to begin producing promotional videos (just like ours).

They claim they're not competing with us using our tax dollars. But they also admit the city's tourism web site doesn't even link to justFRED's 20,000 photos and videos of Fredericton and the people who live and visit the city. Which is what you'd expect from a competitor.

They're about to find out that keeping the business listings and photos up to date is a time consuming and costly exercise that never ends. Can you say 'property tax increase'?

Cheers,
George