Goodbye Township, hello Municipality

Upper Canada Village will host over 30 food, wine and beer artisans and producers at a new culinary event Saturday and Sunday, August 16 and 17 showcasing a selection of the region’s best local food and beverage producers.  And there’s more….this year’s event is themed around the love and role of cast iron cookware.

The highlight of the weekend will take place on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m., with an all-new Iron Pan Competition.  

Chefs from across the region will vie for the judges’ favour as they create a dish using a box of local mystery ingredients, each using a single cast iron skillet. 

Competing Chefs include:  Chef Supremo Ahmad Mansori from Cornwall’s Table 21 and Truffles Burger Bar; Executive Chef Derek MacGregor representing Le Chien Noir Bistro in Kingston; Executive Chef John Leung from Ottawa’s Steak Modern:  Steak & Sushi located in the Byward Market and  Executive Chef Jhonatan Gonzales from Winchelsea Events, Winchester.  

Executive Chef Luc McCabe from NAV Centre will lead the judging panel with the help of Peter Hum, Food Editor at the Ottawa Citizen and Hélène Peloquin, Cook, Writer and blogger from Ottawa (La Cuisine d’Hélène). Chef Wes Wilkinson, Culinary Faculty Member at Algonquin College will Emcee.  

Contestants will be judged on, but not limited to their creativity, use of mystery ingredients, flavours, and cleanliness.  

“We’re extremely pleased to see an increase in event vendors this year, proving that Culinary Tourism is strong and continuing to rise”, says Geoff Waycik, UCV Manager. ”We’ve got one of the most unique venues in Ontario to host this event and as we add in our own Village staff cooking interpretations, it really puts a historic spin on food. The iron skillet theme this year has generated much interest – as the trend with many customers is to simplify and get back to basics in everyday life.  This is the year to attend this event!”

On Sunday, a new segment featuring sensational single-skillet suppers made simple will be presented three times during the day at 10 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and at 1:30 p.m.

Special guest Gourmet Food Chef  Dwight Saunders, Teacher and Wellness Consultant of Aura Culinary Arts in Iroquois, will lend his culinary expertise, preparing three unique dishes from around the world, using local ingredients!  

Not to be missed on Saturday & Sunday: 

The Original 100 Mile Diet…

Throughout the weekend, Upper Canada Village’s own characters from the past will be presenting the region’s original 100-mile diet through heirloom garden tours, as well as special heritage cooking demonstrations and taste testing in the historic kitchens of three of its 19th century homesteads (Louck’s Farm, Tenant Farm and Cook’s Tavern). Other food-related activities will include grinding flour in Bellamy’s Steam Flour Mills, baking bread in the bakery and making cheddar cheese in the Union Cheese Factory.  Village flour, bread and cheese will all be for sale in the farmers’ market area.

The cast iron theme continues throughout the site.  Period kettles, woodstoves and utensils all crafted from iron will be highlighted and/or put to use throughout Upper Canada Village over the weekend.   Visitors can test their strength at the skillet tossing challenge, a more than “light-hearted” activity that will add some weight to the event’s full roster of activities.  

Stop in at Crysler Hall to see “Fire in the Kitchen”, a special exhibit showing technological change in the kitchen in the 19th century.  From new food products, gadgets and tools, to new methods of preparing food, the century marked a period of rapid innovation in the home.  See if you can figure out the mystery artifacts!

Dining in a 19th Century Inn – Willard’s Hotel Weekend Special

Historic Willard’s Hotel Restaurant, across the street from the fairgrounds, is featuring a Food Lover’s Special: Homemade Chicken Pot Pie, Side Salad in a Sweet Cider Vinaigrette Dressing, Village Bread, Strawberry Shortcake and Beverage – $20 per person, both Saturday and Sunday.  Reservations are recommended at 613-543-0660. Willard’s Hotel is licensed and air-conditioned. Other regular menu items will also be offered.

Access to the Farmer’s Market in the fairgrounds, presentations and activities are all included in admission to Upper Canada Village. Adult $18, Senior (65 yrs+) $16; Youth (6-12 yrs) $12.  Visit www.UpperCanadaVillage.com or call 800-437-2233 or 613-543-4328 (locally) for more information or to purchase tickets.

A complete list and description of all vendors participating is available online.  Food Lover’s Field Days is also sponsored by Foodland Ontario, Stormont & Dundas Milk Producers and the Ontario Egg Farmers (Eastern Ontario region).

[…]

Ensuring that families using the Dundas County Food Bank can meet the needs of their babies, is made a little easier with the support of the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada.

Each year, officials from the Dundas County Food Bank and the South Dundas Evangelical Lutheran Parish work together to apply for the grant which is the main source of funding the food bank’s newborn necessities.

This year, the local food bank received a cheque for $2,000.

“This grant means an awful lot to us,” said Donna Quesnel, administrator for the Dundas County Food Bank. Because of this grant, the food bank is able to ensure the baby needs shelf is always stocked with diapers, formula, baby food and cereal.

The food bank has been a successful recipient of this pivotal grant for more than five years.

[…]

It was a sad day on October 7th when the Dunbar Recreation Hall was devastated by fire.

With sighs of relief and several shout-outs of “thank you,” the South Dundas council decided on December 6th that the hall will be rebuilt.

Until that meeting, local residents had been very concerned about the fate of the former hall. So much so, in fact, that they came out in droves to the December 6th council meeting to hear the council’s verdict. 

Clerk Brenda Brunt recommended to council that they choose one of four options to determine the fate of the former hall. The first option was also the only one that allowed for the hall to be rebuilt on the same spot.

Deputy-Mayor Jim Locke quickly chose option one saying, “prior to the fire the building was not slated to close. We have full replacement cost insurance. We have a committed community group. I believe it’s an asset in that part of the township.”

Councillor Evonne Delegarde suggested council consider option two, “use the depreciated value of the building and put towards an existing building.”

Delegarde pointed out that while the building hadn’t been slated to close, it was also not being used very much. She suggested that the township building in Williamsburg would be available in the near future and could possibly become a replacement for the lost hall.

Councillor Archie Mellan, choosing option one, said, “these little communities make South Dundas great. They rally around their communities. They rally around South Dundas, and I think we should rally around them.”

Mayor Steven Byvelds also chose option one, pointing out that “it gives us our asset back and it is covered by insurance.”

He also pointed out that the well and the sewer on the site would need to be investigated. Should either require a lot of work and financing to bring to code, then “we’d have to come back to this because that could change things.”

However, at this time, Byvelds wanted to make it clear to the inhabitants of the hall’s community that “they are part of South Dundas, not part of Chesterville, and we want them to know they’re part of South Dundas.”

He concluded: “let’s take the opportunity and rebuild it.”

[…]