Summer 2010
villagevibe News and views from the heart of Fernwood
First Annual Fernwood Bites Fundraiser a Huge Success Sell-out crowd of 300 raises over $5,100 for new Community Chest
›› Lee Herrin
S
hortly after lunch on June 20th, volunteers and staff from Fernwood NRG gathered to begin taking down th the 15 annual FernFest and setting the stage for the first ever Fernwood Bites—a fundraiser to establish a new Community Chest. This fund will allow Fernwood NRG to respond to urgent community need as well as to support neighbourhood improvement projects. The event, which was held in Fernwood Square, began to take shape as the beautiful wooden fences (prepared especially for the event by Landeca) enclosed the east and west sides of the square, while the tables for the participant food and drink suppliers enclosed the north side. Of course, the majestic Belfry completed the enclosure of the south side of the site. At four o’clock, the first participants began to show up to lay out their tables and prepare for the guests. With the afternoon sun shining, participants needed ice to keep ingredients and beverages cool. Participants in the square, like Lucy’s and Stir it Up, were able to use their kitchen facilities to produce hot items for the event, while others who travelled brought cold items. Perhaps the boldest of all was George Szasz, from Stage, who brought a deep fryer to prepare his famous langos hot on site. By six o’clock, the guests, all 300 of them (tickets had sold out a week in advance!), were arriving in a steady stream and were lining up to get in. The volunteers at the gate could hardly keep up with the flow. The participants were ready, the music started, and bites and libations were sampled. The wind came up, but no one was daunted. Jeff Keenleyside of Lucy’s in the Square had the greens blown clean off the pizza he was carrying out of his kitchen—no matter, there were more inside.
Staff from Pig BBQ serve up sliders to the hungry Fernwood Bites guests. Photo: Lisa Matthaus.
By eight o’clock, most participants were out of food, the samples gone to the appreciative crowd. People were heading for the exit, a little cooled by the wind but warmed by the good food, drink, music and company of the event. Luckily, the event was held the day prior to the solstice, so there was enough light in the late evening for participants and volunteers to pack down the weekend and return the square to normal. In the twilight, the participants and volunteers agreed that the event had been a huge success and that it would be back again in 2011. Editor’s note: all told, through the event, and the auction, Fernwood NRG raised over
A big Fernwood thank you to all of the participants and supporters for Fernwood Bites 2010. Bites
Stage Small Plates & Wine Bar Lucy’s in the Square Fernwood Inn The Little Piggy Cornerstone Cafe
Devour Paprika Pig BBQ Wildfire Bakery
Pacific Breeze Silk Road Aromatherapy Averill Creek (Peacock & Martin) Gehringer (International Cellars) Stag’s Hollow
Cedar Creek Quail’s Gate Winery Alderlea Vineyards (Peacock & Martin) Vertical Wine (JoieFarm, Kettle Valley, Orofino and Pentâge)
Pedersen’s Rentals
All of our wonderful volunteers
Libations
Phillips Brewery Sea Cider Renaissance Wine Merchants Tinhorn Creek Twisted Tree Summerhill
$5,100 for the Community Chest. And we’ve
Supporters
also already made the first contribution: $150
Landeca Apex Tents
to Emily Grav of the Paint Box toward paints
Stir It Up Fernwood Coffee The Parsonage Zambri’s Aubergine Specialty Foods
for the Welcome Mural (see page 3).
in this issue Buzz
Feature
Mark your calendar
Mural project becomes reality page 3
“Co-housing” planned for Fernwood page 4
Vining Street block party page 7
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