Showing that old is still gold
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- Published on Friday, August 19, 2016
Photos by Tony Eu. Debbie Maxwell (in white) and Melissa Ewasiuk (in black) hand out old fashioned campfire donuts at the NWMP reenactment.
By Tony Eu
Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
On Aug. 13, Carberry celebrated their annual heritage festival. The event took place on Main Street and featured everything from historical reenactments, to fashion shows, to horse drawn carriage rides.
“I think it’s gone very well, lots of vendors, lots of people and it’s not raining,” said Cathy Drayson, one of the organizers for the festival. When asked about how the festival compares to earlier years, Drayson said that the festival’s grown and that there’s more of everything.
Along Main Street, street vendors were set up selling food, jewelry and odds and ends. Next to the old town hall, the Manitoba Muzzleloaders Association had a tent set up, displaying old muzzleloader rifles and occasionally firing off blanks.
Next to the muzzleloaders, a reenactment was set up. The reenactment gave a look into the lives of the Northwest Mounted Police (NWMP) in 1885, giving a glimpse of what fort life might have been like. It featured a NWMP tent containing equipment and other knick knacks that would have been in a tent of an 1885 NWMP officer. It also featured a demonstration on campfire donuts, a returning event that, as with past years, was very popular.
“[We’re doing] very well, probably done a couple hundred this morning,” said Debbie Maxwell, one of the volunteers making donuts. Melissa Ewasiuk, another volunteer, said that it was a “sold out crowd,” with people lining up and waiting for donuts even before they started making them in the morning.
In the old town hall, quilts from six different artists were on display and a cooking demonstration was put on.
In Heritage Park, Gerry Oliver attended to the heritage breeds that were on display to look at and pet. There were breeds of sheep, pigs, chickens and ducks, with a demonstration of rug hooking with wool being put on by Gail Kasprick. “It’s been a very busy day,” the ladies said, supporting the opinion that the festival had a great turnout.
One block of Main Street was closed to traffic and located here were more street vendors, as well as the ‘stage’ for the live entertainment, which included a vintage fashion show, Scottish dancers and music. The fashion show displayed styles of wedding dresses from across the 20th century, with a couple of suit styles thrown in as well.
As for the live music, visitors to the festival heard songs from Swamp Gas, a folk band from Neepawa, Tillie Harpelle, a yodeler and guitarist, as well as Hannah Van De Woestyne accompanied by Ben Lamont. Hannah is a musically inclined ex-Carberry resident, currently living in Brandon and Ben is a young musician from the Brandon band, The 204.
A little bit away from Main Street, a horse drawn carriage ride was available for $5 at the Gingerbread House Museum. Chris Arthur, from Brandon, was driving the two horses, named Bob and Vinnie.
“It’s been a fantastic day,” said Arthur. He said that over the course of the day, they did 12 to 15 tours, which is about the same as last year.
As the day went on, vendors started packing up, people started heading home and the fourth annual Carberry Heritage Festival drew to a close, a success in anyone’s book.
The Manitoba Muzzleloaders fire off a volley of blanks.
