The Rural Voice, 2000-04, Page 44GB
GREY -BRUCE CONSTRUCTION LTD.
R R. 5 MILDMAY, ONTARIO
Phone (519) 367-2372
Fax (519) 367-2172
• Sandwich Walls •
• Concrete Foundations •
• Bunker Silos •
• Crane Rental •
• Excavation •
Circular Tanks
LARRY HOFFARTH
(519) 364-4523
JIM POECHMAN
(519) 367-2910
At Formosa Insurance we are proud to be the
ones you can count on when disaster strikes.
......... ..............
The people who handle claims know what ifs Ike to live and work here.
Our people are on-call day and night to serve you.
ormosa
INSURANCE
Your Mutual Choice 1-800-265-3020
40 THE RURAL VOICE
two-hour shifts, swung into action
and quickly served their needs. To
speed up production there's actually
a conveyor belt that takes the plates
filled with food from the cooking
area to the folks lined up to receive it.
The majority of the arena floor is
turned into a restaurant with tables
for diners. Here and there throughout
the arena are stations where there is
maple syrup aplenty for the
pancakes.
At one end there's a large stage
where entertainment goes on non-
stop throughout the event. Along one
side are displays of maple products
on sale.
Next door in the community
meeting room there are crafts galore
with a chance to meet the people who
made them.
The big effort all began back in
1968 with an idea to solve a
community problem. The old
community centre, built in 1951 at a
cost of $36,000, needed a new roof.
Belmore was not an incorporated
village so there was no easy way to
raise money, except for the
enthusiasm of the people of the
surrounding four townships (Culross
and Carrick in Bruce, Howick and
Turnberry in Huron) who called
Belmore their home town.
One Sunday afternoon, the
story goes, legendary sheep
producer Walter Renwick and
his friend Bruce Harkness went for a
drive up and down the local
concessions and sideroads, counting
maple trees. Renwick then proposed
the community literally tap this local
resource.
The idea was responded to with
enthusiasm. Families in the area were
soon washing sap buckets and
tapping their maple trees — about
3,000 in all. The sap was delivered to
the "sugar shanty" where boiling
continued day and night to keep up
with the supply of sap. The
evaporators, one owned by the
Renwicks, one borrowed, were
fueled by wood that was also
gathered and cut by volunteers.
By April 13, 1968, when the first
Belmore Maple Syrup Festival was
held, 725 gallons of syrup had been
made. The community had no idea
how many people would come to eat
the pancakes and sausages they had