The town of McCreary woke up to their streets overwhelmed with festival goers on Saturday and Sunday, visiting for the Manitoba Maple Syrup Festival.
Pam Little, President of the Maple Syrup Festival, said this year's festival was surrounded by success, especially with one of the festival's main attractions.
"I think it was a really successful festival. We had great evaluations, we had about 50 evaluations back and people were very happy, and when you talk to them, they seemed to be quite happy with the weekend...people consistently write the sugar bush as a highlight, and the wagon, taking a horse and wagon to the sugar bush, is often a novel thing for a lot of the people who come out here, and the entertainment is also a highlight for a lot of people," said Little.
This year's festival had singers, musicians and performers of a wide variety come to McCreary to put on a show for the festival. One of those performers was Caleb Rudkevich, the guitar-strumming, harmonica-playing, singing triple threat from Alonsa. He put on a great show at the McCreary Senior Drop-In Centre on Saturday.
"We have such a huge number of people around here that are talented and that we can draw from, so it makes [the festival] really interesting for people I think," said Little.
Another staple of the Manitoba Maple Syrup Festival is their Farmers and Makers Market, taking place at the McCreary Community Centre. Little said there were about 30 vendors this year, and they definitely stepped up for the community. This year's silent auction was only able to take place because of their generosity.
"We ended up with a silent auction because so many vendors donated their wares to us, that's the only fundraiser really we do as the Maple Syrup Festival," said Little.
Little said the festival is usually less of one group doing the fundraising, and more of a place for many community organizations and groups to do fundraising together. This year, the McCreary Marlins minor baseball team put on a pancake breakfast at the McCreary Legion, helping to raise money for their team. Little said though she doesn't have the exact numbers, most groups told her their fundraising efforts went well.
"I know that the Marlins, who put on the breakfast, and the Dead Ox Trailblazers, and the Food Bank, I don't have their numbers but they all told me that it was a great fundraiser for them," said Little.
The Manitoba Maple Syrup Festival serves as an amazing way for the Town of McCreary to show off what they have to offer. Little said the festival, at least for her, is a great source of pride.
"A lot of people who go to the festival are not from McCreary, and we're really proud to show off our town," said Little.
Little also constantly sang the praises of the more than 75 volunteers who helped to put on the festival this year, saying it wouldn't have been possible without them.
