What a busy weekend it’s been! Escarpment Views was a media partner with the Guelph Organic Conference, so Mike Davis and I spent the last three days at the expo/tasting fair at Guelph University. The crowds of visitors were good, with free copies of our current and back issues snapped up by so many people that we ran out of some of them. We always look around the building after we’ve given out copies to see if any have been thrown out or dropped as litter, and we’re pleased that we never find any. People hang onto our issues! That must be why our advertisers get results long after new issues have been published.
We were happy to meet Jens Gemmrich and Heike Koch, owners of Frogpond Farm, Ontario’s only organic winery. They had provided wine for one of the receptions, and donated a gift of wine bottles as a door prize at the main dinner. Mike and I must take a tour of their Niagara-on-the-Lake farm this summer.
One visitor to our table, who said he liked what we’re doing with the magazine, was Michael Stadtländer, a celebrity chef with his own property near the Escarpment, called Eigensinn Farm. Michael is also president of the Canadian Chefs’ Congress, which “connects chefs to our land in solidarity with farmers, fishers, gardeners, foragers and all artisanal food producers.” We hope to work with Michael soon.
This weekend we also squeezed in a visit to The Dam Pub in Thornbury, where Jamie Robinson and friends are forming The Grey Bruce Arts Collective to perform local plays and productions. Last night was Robbie Burns’ 250th birthday celebration at the packed pub, where Jamie and other theatre professionals in period costume read poetry, sang, fought with swords and of course addressed the haggis, which Mike actually ate and enjoyed, because this version was made of nothing worse than lamb, oatmeal and spices.
Paul Amos, Roger Shank, Jamie Robinson and Trish Williams gave the dramatic performances. Young Connor Ritchie played bagpipe beautifully and Jessica Nicol demonstrated her championship highland dance skills. Funds raised from this evening go toward Thornbury’s new medical centre.
Keep an eye peeled for more from The Grey Bruce Arts Collective. It promises to be an exciting new theatre centre.
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Michael Stadtlander has been a respected culinary leader since the 1980’s. Always one to consider the product, its origins, and our responsibility as consumers towards it, Chef Stadtlander is a wonderful example of culinary talent with a conscience.