Two Hills County Farmers Appreciation

Two Hills County Farmers Appreciation

Emily Mailhot Reporter – Vegreville News Advertiser

The Two Hills district UFA Farmers Appreciation BBQ’s have been going on longer than anyone in the community can confidently guess. The tradition was carried on in the UFA parking lot on Friday, June 14, when guests throughout the county were invited to come and share a free BBQ lunch.

Beef burgers cooked up and served by UFA, County of Two Hills, and Town of Two Hills staff and councilors, who volunteered their time and efforts to make sure local farmers knew that the area appreciates all they do not only to feed the world but to support the local community every chance they get.

Starting earlier and ending after the luncheon, a Farmers Market was available for shopping through, under a large white tent that was donated by Webb’s Machinery for the event. The around 1,000 people who attended the event were able to buy fresh vegetables, honey, homemade decor, and more from the local vendors. This was the first time the Country Market was a part of the events, and general manager of the Two Hills store Doug Robb said that he thought it was going well.

“We thought we’d just try it out, offer something a little more interesting along with the BBQ, and if it keeps going well we might just bring it back next year.”

The petting zoo featured at last year’s event was not available due to a scheduling conflict. Also, new this year, three different contractors got together to build a greenhouse for sale by raffle. All proceeds from the raffle will be donated to STARS

Ambulance. “It’s something that’s interesting to a lot of people, so they can grow some vegetables year-round,” explained Robb. “As long as the winner lives relatively close-by we’ll deliver it to them. It’s something Becky Lastiwka put together for us all on her own.

The county of Two Hills was built on agriculture. “By hosting the BBQ and events like it, we just do one small part to recognise the importance of agriculture in the community and all our local farmers do here,” said Robb. “The whole small town comes out to the event, and pretty much everyone I’ve seen is a customer here… it’s really fun, even more so because the weather’s got it together, and there’s some peace of mind there for the farmers.”