by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — The last hurrah of the fall season to purchase locally produced food and crafts is happening this Saturday in Cobden at the Cobden Agricultural Fairgrounds on Astrolabe Street.
While it is the 10th anniversary of the Taste of the Valley, Joy Curry said the big celebration will coincide with next year’s 150th birthday of Canada. Ms. Curry is one of the main organizers on a committee made up of representatives from the Cobden Farmers Market, the Township of Whitewater Region, Cobden Agricultural Society and the Cobden and District Civitan Club.
She admits while the organizers were planning this year’s Taste of the Valley, no one was 100 percent sure this was the 10th anniversary. So, with Canada celebrating 150 years next year, the committee decided that is when it will host a special event.
Since Taste of the Valley began with Bruce McIntyre and Alistair Baird in 2007, Cobden has remained the most popular of all of the Taste of the Valley’s, which has expanded to Barry’s Bay and Renfrew. There were Taste of the Valley’s tried in Arnprior and Petawawa, but they were not successful, Mr. McIntyre said.
“Taste of the Valley is an exposition of Renfrew County products,” Ms. Curry said. “It’s all locally handmade – homegrown. There are no commercial vendors.
“They’re all local producers. They’re all local crafters.
“Ninety percent or better of the vendors are from Renfrew County,” she said, adding, “There are a few outside of the boundaries.”
Ms. Curry said there will be many of the same vendors at this year’s event, but there will be a hole where a mainstay of the Taste of the Valley used to be.
“Uncle Jim’s is not here this year,” she said. “He’s stepping back.
“We’ll miss him. He’s been here since the beginning,” Ms. Curry added, saying, “We’ll find someone to fill his shoes. We have people working on finding someone.”
Jim Zadow always had the food booth just at the entrance to the grounds, she said.
This year, it’s expected there will be more than 100 vendors and “amazing weather,” Ms. Curry said.
New this year will be the local scouts hosting their Apple Day, she said. The girl guides will also be here selling their cookies, as they have in the past.
This year the volunteers with the Cobden Food Bank will get a break, Ms. Curry said. Beavertails owner Nick Jackson has decided that for every donation to the food bank, a person will receive a free cinnamon sugar beavertail. If a person doesn’t bring a donation, they can always buy a cinnamon sugar beavertail, with the proceeds going to the food bank. There will be no other flavours available, Ms. Curry said.
“That’s their campaign to ramp up World Food Day on October 16th,” Ms. Curry said.
She said the food collected, as well as financial donations, will be split between the Cobden and Pembroke food banks. There will be a trailer beside Beavertails to put the non-perishable goods, she added.
The Taste of the Valley runs 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. rain or shine, she said.
While there are other Taste of the Valleys, and successful as well, Ms. Curry noted many people wait for this one. She noted attendance is around 3,000 to 5,000 people each year.
“We have local entertainment on the outdoor stage, the biggest number of vendors, one of the best organized and we have some great partners,” she said.
Cobden’s Taste of the Valley is the significant end-of-season event, she said. All of the area farmers’ markets have closed.
“It’s like the last hurrah of the season,” she said. “Make sure you are prepared to be overwhelmed with choice, good food and friendly vendors.”
But this event does not happen without planning, Ms. Curry said. The committee has monthly planning sessions beginning in April, with the final one planned for last night. However, on the day before and day of, there are many volunteers helping out. The Civitan Club members are in charge of parking while others are needed to ensure the grounds remain clean throughout the day-long event.
High School students can earn their community volunteer hours by helping out, she said. They can let someone on the committee know they are interested in volunteering or show up on the day, find someone in one of the bright yellow volunteer t-shirts and let them know they are ready to work.
“Do you know how much garbage 5,000 people can generate,” she said with a laugh. “We want to keep the grounds neat and clean. We want to reduce the environment footprint. People notice how clean it is.”
New this year will be an information booth, so when people are looking for a certain vendor someone will be able to send them in the right direction, Ms. Curry said. It’s expected this booth will be located just outside the ag hall.
“We’re getting a tent from Home Hardware, so it will be the Home Hardware Information Booth,” she said.
Ms. Curry noted for the first time last year the Taste of the Valley made a profit, however, that money will be put towards this year’s event costs, such as advertising and marketing.
The economic spin-off for the local businesses is incredible, she said.
While no plans have been set in stone for next year, Ms. Curry said discussions have included either a Friday night or Sunday afternoon event.
A Look Back
When the event began 10 years ago, Bruce McIntyre and Alistair Baird were working with the Renfrew County Buy Local program and dealing with the mad cow disease situation, which had hit the county hard in 2003. In 2007, the spinoff from the mad cow was still a problem, Mr. McIntyre said.
“We had brainstormed, he and I, to find a forum where we could promote buy local,” he said. “There weren’t a lot of farmers’ markets around either, they were just starting to really take off.”
Mr. McIntyre added, “We wanted to introduce people to different foods.
“We had the rabbit lady here. People never thought of eating rabbit. We had the pig roast. We had the pizza oven, and all their products were from their farm. We had Simosas. Hemp ice cream, something Renfrew County oriented. Eganville’s finest ice cream, Tracey’s. We wanted to get unique stuff.”
While thinking about where to hold it, Cobden was chosen for various reasons, Mr. McIntyre said.
“It’s on Highway 17, it’s the geographical centre of the County, everyone knows where it is, we needed the right amount of space, and Don Rathwell was a huge supporter of the event,” he recalled, adding, “He could barely walk, but he’d be here.” (Mr. Rathwell was the mayor of Whitewater Region at the time and his knees were going bad, so was awaiting surgery.)
The first year, 25 local producers of food were invited to the Taste of the Valley in Cobden, he said. There were no people selling things, it was an opportunity for people to sample food and sell food. Inside the ag hall, which is where the event was held, the producers were set up along the walls, while in the centre were various displays, such as woodworking, art and a Kidzone.
“Our thought process was free food, kid activities and educational workshops,” Mr. McIntyre said.
Displays over the years have included sheep shearing, blacksmiths, woodworking and amateur musicians, he said.
“We wanted to keep it interesting with a focus on educating children, and the people, about what was available in Renfrew County,” Mr. McIntyre said.
But, along with providing area vendors the opportunity to sell their products, room was also made for area non-profit organizations, such as Opeongo High School, church groups, etc., he said. He said when he was one of the organizers, there were about five to seven spots for non-profit organizations.
The county received grants for the Taste of the Valley to market the event, which really helped launch the first one, he recalled.
Since they didn’t want to compete with the farmers’ markets, it was decided to hold it the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, because by then all farmers’ markets had closed for the season, he explained.
“We were hoping for 500 people the first year,” he said. “By the end of the day, we had close to 2,000 people.”
To keep track, they gave out tickets and took in donations for the Cobden Food Bank.
After the first year, they realized the success this event could become. The second year, they partnered with the Cobden Farmers Market and went from 25 to 56 vendors, including some who were situated outside Renfrew County.
That year, along with getting grants from Community Futures, OMAFRA gave some financial help as well and well-known entertainer Gail Gavin was brought in. A large stage was set up with several chairs situated for people to sit and joy the entertainment.
That year, about 5,000 people attended the event, Mr. McIntyre said. Other things added the second year included draws and the Trinity United Churchwomen were selling food indoors.
The first two years, there was no fee charged to any vendor, because the idea was to showcase local foods, he said. In the third year, it was expanded to just over 80 vendors, which also included area crafters, he said. To include those vendors, a large tent was also erected in the ball field to house them, he said.
Mr. McIntyre recalled that the volunteer committee for the first two years were himself, Mr. Baird and their children.
“We were bagged by Sunday morning,” he said while laughing. “Alistair and I did not eat the first two years. We were just too busy. The line-ups were huge and we just didn’t have the time to stand in line.
“Taste of the Valley closed at three and we’d be there until six tearing down and doing clean-up.”
The third year, Taste of the Valley had become really successful and it was expanded to Barry’s Bay, where it was a success; and Arnprior and Petawawa, where it just didn’t work.
Renfrew was next and it was successful, Mr. McIntyre said. It was held on the weekend the Carp Fair was held, because they wanted to attract people who would normally go to Carp Market to come to Renfrew, Mr. McIntyre said.
There were a couple thousand people who came to Renfrew in the first year, he said, noting there were 16 vendors, most of them food, he said. However, he noted it has turned into more of a craft fair – although he can’t say that for this year because the event was held after the interview.
One of the goals of Mr. McIntyre and Mr. Baird was that eventually the communities where the Taste of the Valley was held would eventually take over the organizing of it each year – and that has happened.
Mr. McIntyre said people are drawn to the Cobden’s Taste of the Valley from the local area, but also from Eastern Ontario and Quebec.
Mr. McIntyre said when the event began, “We had no idea it would grow into the success it is, and even franchise out. The vendors, the local producers, would tell us how amazing the number of contacts they would make. And that’s what it was all about, getting people to know about our local food. Getting the Ottawa Valley people to discover local food. That’s the success right there.”
