The Rural Voice, 2000-08, Page 38Are you Properly Protected?
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34 THE RURAL VOICE
Stressing the connection with the
farms where the food was grown, a
bus took visitors to the nearby, farms
of Charles Rau where they toured the
bean fields by tractor and wagon.
Today most of the events are•
concentrated downtown from the
main business section to the arena
but it still brings town and country
together, says Nancy Regier, social
convener for the Zurich Minor
Athletic Association which uses the
Festival as its major .annual
fundraiser.
For Regier the day of the
Festival begins at 5:00 a.m.
when she and other association
members begin preparing to serve a
pancake breakfast at the arena. Grills
have been scrounged from various
sources and are lined up on the ice
surface of the arena for cooking
pancakes. This year for the first time
the sausages will be cooked down at
the Bean Festival Kitchen and
quickly transported up to the arena.
Association volunteers will be
busy serving breakfast for about 750
people from 7-11 a.m. but the work
doesn't end there. All during the day
the association will operate a bar at
the arena. That evening they'll wrap
up the whole day with a dance (this
year featuring the Cherry Dogs). It
takes all the parents of the kids
involved in the athletics association
to make the event work, Regier says.
For her, the day will probably end
about 3:30 a.m.
"But it's worth it," she says. It
certainly is for the athletic
association for which it makes up the
major financial support for the 75
ball players and 90 hockey players.
Other than that, there's only one
other smaller fundraising activity in
the year, she says.
Other groups also benefit from the
annual event. Groups that help out
are given part of the proceeds for
their assistance, says Strickland. As
well the festival has made regular
donations to meet local needs such as
the local arena..
Ironically, the crop that gave its
name to the festival 35 years ago no
longer holds the huge importance in
the area farm economy it once did.
While companies like Hensall Co-op,
Cook's and W. G. Thompson in next-
door Hensall still make the area the
centre of white bean production in