Meet me on Main St. South Mountain may have started slowly but it quicky shifted into gear. Every where you looked people were chatting, laughing, dancing, and having a good time. Tinkess Photo
SOUTH MOUNTAIN – If you were to go to all the Meet Me on Main St. events across North Dundas this summer, you would probably come away with the opinion that each one of these communities is just a bit different from each other. Case in point, South Mountain. At 5:00 p.m. there weren’t many people around, but a half hour later it had started to fill up and by 6:00 p.m. “the joint was jumpin!”
On a beautiful July evening it was great to see people mixing and meandering from group to group, taking a few minutes to catch up with friends and neighbours before moving onto the next stop in an evening of socializing. For many, this was an opportunity to not have to make supper. Some carried their comfort food with them as they wandered, but many grabbed a seat at one of the tables that had been set up just for that purpose. Seating for 200 anyone?
And if you had a long hard day doing “thirsty work,” then you had more choices to be made. Would you like to sample a brew from Lost Villages Brewery, a glass of vino from Smokie Ridge Vineyard, or maybe something from Kings Lock Organic Distillery, not to mention an assortment of non-alcoholic beverages from the food vendors like Fat Les’s Pub and Poutinerie, Simply Baked Catering, Sandy Row Restaurant and Golf Club or the South Mountain Fair.
There was also the opportunity to learn a bit more about your community by speaking directly to the volunteers that make it happen. North Dundas Fire Services were talking to everyone who stopped by about fire safety, the Friends of the South Mountain Library were giving away books, BCG Dundas Youth program and The Canadian Cornhole League showcased what they were all about, and there was even a chance to explore the fastest growing sport and give Pickleball a try, courtesy of the North Dundas Pickleball Club.
Filtering all through each of these things was the music of Ken Workman and friends who touched on a wide range of musical interests. They even managed to get some folks up to dance!
It is a very busy world in which we live, but events like Meet Me on Main St. provide an opportunity to stop, look around and appreciate the place we call home. There’s nothing quite like it.
Terry Tinkess is a professional photographer, educator and journalist. He has been making a living with a camera and keyboard since 1999 and has been featured in such publications as The Ottawa Citizen, Cornwall Standard Freeholder, The Globe and Mail, The Miami Herald, Ottawa Construction News, The Ontario Construction Report, Ontario Home Builder Magazine, Reed Construction Data, Canadian Potato Business and most recently, The Record and Eastern Ontario AgriNews. Terry lives in Ingleside, Ontario with his wife Brenda, Mia the anxious Pittie and cats Wally and Chubbers.