There were 200 tickets sold for the Marionville Sugar Shack, but walk-ups were expected to push the total beyond 240. Tinkess Photo
MARIONVILLE – It’s springtime in Ontario, and the sap is running, (and running well) so how could you not have a party?
That is exactly what was happening Sunday at the Marionville Sugar Shack (the Marionville Community Centre, to be exact. There were far too many people to fit into a regular sugar shack.)
The event was very well attended, and according to organizer Francois Marion, they expected to end up around 240 happy and well-fed attendees.
“We had 200 reservations ahead of time,” said Marion. “Okay, so there’s people dropping in, which is fine. Two forty sounds like a good number.”
The profits from the day’s events will be used for various community projects and events in the coming year, but making a huge profit was not the main idea behind the event.
“One has to remember that the admission costs are bare, bare minimum,” said Marion, “And the reason we kept it so low was to provide an opportunity to all families and the young ones to gather and have a good gathering within the community.
We have a lot of people from Marionville, but also lots of people from Russell, Chesterville, Orleans, so a good turnout from all over.”
“This is our first event that we do a brunch menu,” added Marion. “We used to do a dinner at night, but the people suggested that we try the brunch menu, and I guess it’s a winning formula judging by the number of people here.”
All the food was prepared by a group of volunteers and it’s all homemade. “That’s why you’re seeing a good turnout,” said Marion, “because they know that the food in Marionville is top notch!
According to Marion, the sugar bush and Sugar Shack Marionville goes back to the 1940s, and at that time they had three significant operations. Now in a small community, there are six small Sugarbush operations scattered around the village. “As you know, we can’t get 200 people in our little sugar bush shack, so that’s why we’ve decided to use the community centre to house the event,” said Marion with a smile that captured the feeling that filled the entire room.
Judging by the number of happy (and full) patrons, and even larger venue could have been used, but that’s a thought for next year.
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.
