LAC LA BICHE – for the past 13 years, the annual Lac La Biche Spring Sale has been put on by the Lac La Biche Agricultural Society as a way for home businesses and other small enterprises from the region to showcase their products and give people a chance to shop local.
Vendors such as Lorie Cloutier and Holly Mahowich are familiar faces at the Lac La Biche Spring Sale, which is set to get underway again this year on March 29 at Lac La Biche’s Bold Centre.
Cloutier sells and promotes products for Young Living, a company that specializes in essential oils, personal care, and nutritional products. Mahowich and her sister-in-law Colleen Skyrpan operate a business called ‘Foraging Alive,’ which focuses on foraging wild medicinal plants for making products, such as tinctures, teas, and salves.
Cloutier has been going to the Spring Sale for the past five years. The annual event not only gives her an opportunity to showcase and inform people about the products she sells but also socialize with other vendors and members of the public.
“I like to just meet the people,” she told Lakeland This Week.
“Having a chance to display [products] or show it to people in a bigger environment, it just draws more people in and so you have just a greater chance to get your product out there to more people,” she added.
For the past three years, Foraging Alive has been showcased at the annual Spring Sale.
According to Mahowich, most of the products produced by the small business are made from plants, berries and other vegetation found in the wild, and very little of what they use is purchased from stores.
“We don’t buy anything if we don’t have to,” she said.
Setting up shop at the annual Spring Sale gives the owners of Foraging Alive an opportunity to sell and market what they make but also educate people about foraging for nutritional and medicinal plants and berries that grow in the Lac La Biche region.
“There’s a growing interest now on going out and foraging,” she said. “We also offer foraging classes. We take people out on [forage] walks . . . and point out and teach them about the plants.”
The Spring Sale is also an exciting time for people to get out after a long winter and get to know who the local vendors are and learn that they have to offer.
“Everybody’s ready to get out there,” said Mahowich.
According to Bev Tkachuk, a member of the Lac La Biche Agricultural Society, there are 50 vendors booked for the Spring Sale, and most are from the Lakeland area.
The Ag Society recognizes the importance of promoting and giving local artisans and home businesses a place to spotlight their merchandise.
“They get exposure for what they offer and that's huge for them throughout the year,” she said. “As a community we need to support locals - whether it's businesses, events, groups, our neighbours . . . solidarity is what will keep us strong.”
The Spring Sale also kicks off the season for the 2025 Lac La Biche Farmers’ Market, which starts up this year on April 11 at the Lakeland Agricom, said Tkachuk, who serves as manager of the long-running seasonal market.
For many years, the farmers’ market took place on Fridays from 3-5:30 p.m. In a bid to bring more customers into the venue, last fall, the Lac La Biche Agricultural Society made the decision to change hours from 3:30-6:30 p.m. every Friday from April 11 to Dec. 12.
For more information about the 2025 Spring Sale, contact the Lac La Biche Agricultural Society at (780) 623-7888 or [email protected]
