Impressive pavilion

Dear sir:
Recently I attended the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. It is a personal pilgrimage I have made since boyhood.
The fair is an eclectic event of rural traditions and products. From “Buster” the bull husbandry services to bison-on-a-bun burgers, from handmade textiles to petting zoos for city kids to handle barnyard animals, the Royal Winter Fair is a celebration of human creativity and connectiveness with God’s creation.
This year I was particularly impressed with the FedNor pavilion showcasing booths of northern entrepreneurs and experiences. There were 33 exhibitors ranging from First Nation cranberry growers to first-time greenhouse growers.
This is the third year FedNor has organized this impressive showcase of northern success stories.
Awards were presented to Belle Vallee Wools, District of Temiskaming Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Hawberry Farms, Iroquois Cranberry Growers, The Nickel Chef, Rainy River Elk Company, J&M Smokehouse North, Northern Ontario Agri-Food Education and Marketing Inc., and Northern Ontario Aquaculture Association as founding participants in this effective venue to educate the rest of Ontario to northern opportunities of retail and recreation.
As Chef Tom Reid from Sudbury prepared a delicious elk dish from Rainy River at the cooking demonstration dais, a woman beside me said, “I didn’t realize the north had such interesting products and people. I thought it was just rocks and trees.”
Thanks to FedNor, the rest of Ontario has a better appreciation of the people whose CN view of these rocks and trees is from a train, not a tower.
Signed,
Gerry M. Lougheed Jr.,
Vice-President,
Lougheed’s Ltd.,
Sudbury, Ont.