Hundreds of local residents took advantage of the almost tropical weather this past weekend to take a trip to Tellier's Epenittiere farm – the site of the annual Northern Sugarshack or La Cabane å Sucre du Nord.
The popular traditional French-Canadian event has long since become a staple of the Bonnyville community, and celebrated its 35th anniversary in style on Saturday afternoon, with a record attendance of 678 people showing up to enjoy the three-hour festival.
Bonnyville resident Kristen Thompson brought her niece Maria along for the event, which included musical performances from renowned folk singer Yves Lambert, horse and sleigh rides through the farm grounds, as well as the usual maple toffee on snow. She said they both had a great time in what was their first year attending the event.
“This is the sort of community event that I think everyone should be taking advantage of,” Thompson said. “We've never been to anything like this before and (Maria) had a blast. She was running around the snow, playing with other kids and just had a heck of a time.”
Tom and Christine Guingamp made the almost three hour drive from Edmonton to attend the event with their two kids, meeting up with family from the area just as they have for the past “three or four years.”
“We started coming up here for the Northern Sugarshack after my sister mentioned there was this cool French-Canadian event happening in Bonnyville,” Christine said. “That was three of four years ago now and we make a point of bringing the kids and getting together with (family) because this is such a family-oriented event.”
Tom said he looks forward to the event every year, pointing out that there's nothing close to the kind of relaxed, friendly and family-fun atmosphere experienced at the sugarshack on offer in the city.
“Coming up here is definitely one of our little treats for the year,” Tom said. “We look forward to it just as much as the kids do – there's always awesome food, great entertainment and lots of nice, friendly people you can just stop for a chat with. It's got to a point now where we wouldn't miss it for the world.”
The event has been going on in the Bonnyville area for decades, and this weekend celebrated its eighth anniversary at Tellier's farm. For Mireille Lavoie-Beaupre, one of the individuals from the Bonnyville – Cold Lake ACFA French Cultural Centre charged with the organizing the event, this year's Northern Sugarshack was “absolutely by far the most successful sugarshack yet.”
“We're ecstatic with the number of people that came out to enjoy and share the (Northern Sugarshack) with us this past weekend,” Lavoie-Beaupre said. “We beat our previous record by over 200 people, and I think the most important thing is that this year we had a lot more first timers coming out and seeing what we have to offer, which is really neat to see.”
Lavoie-Beaupre was quick to acknowledge the group of some 50 volunteers that gave their time to come out and help make the event “everything it was and more.”
“I have to say, the volunteers we have that year after year after year come forward to help us out are exceptional,” Lavoie-Beaupre said. “We have a lot to be thankful of these people for – there's no way this event would run as successfully as it does without the amazing help of all our volunteers. Without them, it's impossible to offer this event to the community.”
