The CAMROSE BOOSTER, July 27, 2021 – Page 21
County declares food week By Murray Green
I will return once more
On our holiday, we developed a bit of a theme song. At home, I regularly sing and I make up my own words to songs, which I like to think that my children find…endearing. We were at the start of a nine day canoe trip, sitting around the campfire while my husband napped in our red hammock nearby, and searching for an appropriate campfire song. We quickly settled on “Land of the Silver Birch”, a Canadian folk song that my 10-year-old son learned at school and then on the guitar this year. The words really resonate with me and fit so well with our adventure: Land of the silver birch, Home of the beaver Where still the mighty moose, Wanders at will Blue lake and rocky shore, I will return once more We sang it in rounds to our hearts content, and then it often returned unbidden as we dipped our paddles into the clear waters, loons beside us. My son said the verse “I will return once more” means a promise to your family that you will return home, whereas I like to think of it as a promise to the nature around you that you will return to enjoy it again. Then came the portage to Dabbs Lake. This is a lake on our annual trip that for some reason calls to my husband as a grand adventure. One year we had a canoe cart laden with all our supplies and were sinking into knee-deep mud before my husband conceded that it was too wet of a year to attempt to get to the lake. Each year, we have hiked the portage, swatting masses of mosquitoes away, to sit on a pile of logs and look at the lake while eating lunch. Safe to say, it is not my favourite part of the trip. This year, due to severe wind days before we started the trip, there were several large trees across the trail. We did our annual pilgrimage to stare at the lake and I hoped that was the end of it. Days later after completing a circuit into another lake, and I suppose still looking for more adventure, we camped near the start of the portage and planned to haul our canoe in so that we could actually paddle the lake and see what state the campsite was in that was shown on the map. To my surprise, families with young children whom we had met earlier were also planning to hike the portage to see the lake that day, though not with their canoe along. (Other people are doing this…for fun?) We started ahead of them while they ate lunch, stopping regularly to saw trees off the path, yanking and bumping the canoe cart over roots and small trees. Of course I had to start singing, if nothing else to take my mind off the mosquito I had just swallowed. The words of our theme song were changed to: Down at the Dabbs portage, We’ll drag our canoe Over the squishy marsh, While eating mosquitoes Friends are behind us, They think we’re craaazy This drove our kids crazy. They begged me to stop in case our new friends caught up and they would be supremely embarrassed. Our friends caught up, scooted ahead to escape the insects and our children happily scampered off with them as their dad wrestled with a large tree. I tried to blend in with the crowd marching off, but got hauled back to help get our canoe to the water. A bit later, it started to rain and we donned rain jackets and continued our processional to the water. We were finally able to paddle on the elusive lake, found the campsite, and read the memorial. The lake was named in honour of a 20-year-old Howard Earl Dabbs from Forestburg who was killed in action at the controls of his Lancaster bomber during the Second World War. We then carried our canoe and gear back to camp before a big rain that night. This nearly inaccessible lake has also captured the imagination of our children and talk began immediately on how to camp there next year. These trips are life-changing for us and our kids. We were truly up close and personal with nature, seeing a small black bear rooting through the grass on the mainland while we camped on an island, spotting over a dozen deer and several beavers, identifying 17 kinds of birds and watching baby birds “run” across the water to catch up to their families. Our kids helped with simple camp chores like setting up our tent and sleeping gear, pumping water and collecting firewood, making sticks for roasting marshmallows and cooking bannock. They saw how little we actually need. I will return once more.
Camrose County declared Aug. 8 to 15 as Local Food Week. “In order to demonstrate a commitment to supporting the entrepreneurial spirit of our farmers, growers, bakers, processors, chefs and other local food producers, council passed a motion to proclaim the week,” moved councillor Doug Lyseng, at the July 13 Camrose County regular council meeting.
ket to promote Local Food Week,” said Anjah Howard, a member of the FACC. Alberta Local Food Week gives everyone a chance to meet local farmers and entrepreneurs who work to put nutritious food on our plates, and to show support for all things grown, made and harvested in Alberta. The week offers a great opportunity to enjoy some delicious local food by visiting an Alberta Approved
photos from August 1 to 28. Event updates can be found at county.camrose.ab.ca/ e v e n t s/f a c c - s c a v e n g e r hunt/ and each week’s deadline is at midnight on Saturday night. Open Farm Days also promotes area farms and operations. Follow the local food conversation to see events, activities and celebrations using #ABLocalFood. Alberta Local Food Week occurs each year
Murray Green, Camrose Booster Food Artisans of Camrose County chair Edith Tabler, left, Camrose County Reeve Cindy Trautman, City of Camrose Mayor Norm Mayer and Camrose MLA Jackie Lovely signed a proclamation declaring August 8 to 15 as Local Food Week. A scavenger hunt will take place with four weeks of prizes. You have to submit 16 to 24 photos from August 1 to 28. View the Camrose County website for contest details.
“MLA Jackie Lovely, Mayor Norm Mayer, Reeve Cindy Trautman and Food Artisans of Camrose County chair of FACC Edith Tabler signed a proclamation on July 22 at the Downtown Farmers’ Mar-
Farmers’ Market in your area or pick your own fresh fruit and vegetables at a u-pick farm. A scavenger hunt will take place with four weeks of prize give-a-ways. You have to submit 16 to 24
during the third week of August. Food Week ties into Alberta Open Farm Days, giving Albertans a chance to visit local farms and experience where their food comes from.
City contest winners
Lori Larsen, Camrose Booster Photos clockwise. Top left photo. Winners of the City hosted Canada Day I Spy contest left to right back row are Gord Johnson, Carol Manning (Kayla Manning missing), Maria Heise (Keirah Heise missing)and Peter Loewen. Front row left to right Kruz O’Riordan, Wolfgang Moore, and Kingston and Kash O’Riordan. Top right photo. Winner of the Chalk the Walk contest Kelsey Gerlitz. Photo to left. Winners of the I Spy Canada Day contest Mariana, Angela and Lizeth Ruiz.
