Horse drawn wagon rides around the Iroquois plaza were a very popular part of the Night Market festivities. Tinkess Photo

IROQUOIS – Things have slowly started to get back to normal following our dealings with COVID-19, and one of the first signs of this is the interest people have in getting out and doing things again. Another indicator that things are almost back to normal, at least in Iroquois, is that people are not only participating, they are also asking for ways in which they can help. The volunteer fatigue period is apparently over!

A couple weeks ago there was a breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the Iroquois Legion, which was very well attended. On Saturday, December 16, things got going at 9 a.m. with a cookie crawl which served as a fundraiser for the Dundas Hospice.

Here is how a cookie crawl works: You purchase a nice, seasonally decorated box in which to place your cookies, and then visit the various local merchants, each of which has a different cookie on offer. One tip: don’t munch on the cookies as you collect them or you’ll finish the day with nothing but crumbs, just sayin’.

Candace Latulippe, the owner of River Rat Treasures, Candy’s Hair Salon, and The Travel Experts is one of the organizers of most of the events in Iroquois (she is a past recipient of the South Dundas Community Builder Award). She explained that the event was going extremely well.

“We had all the boxes sold so that we could know how many cookies each store needs to have. When [the cookie crawl participants] buy the box, we also give them a card with the name of each of the [participating] businesses on it. They go and visit all the different stores and they get a cookie at each store, so when they’re done, they have a full box of cookies.”

It’s a fundraiser that works well for everyone. “It gets people in the stores,” says Latulippe.  “It supports a local charity and there’s no better charity than Dundas County Hospice .”

Through this one event, over $400 will be raised for Hospice.

Another fundraiser that was to wrap up later in the day also involves Hospice. “In loving memory” Angel Winged balls were being sold at River Rat Treasures. The balls (hearts, really) have angel wings and come in gold, silver, and turquoise and have the name of a loved one and their year of birth and year of death on the front. They were sold for $10, with the proceeds being presented to Dundas County Hospice.

“We’ve done over 100 of them,” said Latulippe. “We sold a lot more than we were expecting. We got done about 12:30 last night trying to get them all finished. So that will be tonight. At five o’clock, the minister is going to do a prayer and they’ll all be on one tree, all one hundred of them.”

All told, it should amount to a donation of $1,000 for Hospice. But that wasn’t the only thing happening. Starting at 4:00 p.m. there was a night market in the plaza courtyard featuring several local crafters. There was also free hot chocolate and popcorn, Christmas music from the Seaway District High School band as well as a group of carolers, a firepit surrounded by big comfy Muskoka chairs, and pizza slices ($3.00 each) from Mr. Mozzarella.

And if that wasn’t enough, how about rides on a horse drawn wagon, two reindeer (not the flying type) and even Santa and Mrs. Claus. Many of the businesses had also decorated Christmas trees and they were on display so that you could choose your favourite.

And then there was the memory tree, on which all the “In memory of” Angel Balls had been placed. Following a prayer, the lights on the tree were turned on and there was a steady stream of people looking for their loved one’s name.

Nothing to do in a small town? Not a chance, at least not in this one. And the best part is, there is always room for someone else who wants to help. You don’t ask what’s happening, you wonder what’s next!