Brody Coram did what any kid would do at Saturday’s Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival.
The 11-year-old Orr Lake boy crammed as many pancakes as he could into his mouth.
“It was kind of hard…small mouth and big pancakes,” he said, noting he did so without maple syrup.
“I would just get sticky and slow me down,” said Coram, who is a Youth-13 Elmvale Minor Ball player in the Georgian Bay Minor Softball League.
Coram competed in the pancakes eating contest with teammates Everson Fay of Wyevale and Nash McMann of Elmvale. Hundreds crowded the festival and filled the streets - despite cool, damp and sometimes rainy weather - with the Elmvale Community Arena parking lot being its centre.
There were booths selling birdhouses, pastry, jewelry, clothing, military surplus clothing, pancakes and, of course, maple syrup.
This is the sixth year Backwoods Maple Syrup of Coldwater has participated, selling syrup in sizes from 250 and 500 millilitres right up to two and four litres.
“We hope to sell everyone. The sales have been really good,” said Paul Partridge of Backwoods. “Despite the rain, it has been busy.”
Paul Blake of Blake’s Maple Products in Lucknow was at his first festival and hoped at mid-day the sales would improve.
“It’s not too bad,” he said, “But the day’s not over yet.”
The Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival is a fundraising day which supports various needs within the community.
All proceeds from the one-day event are turned back to local schools, children’s music programs, library support, arena and community hall projects, girl guides and scouts, as well as helping many other projects where other financial sources are not available.
Many volunteers and many hours of planning and behind-the-scenes effort go into preparing for the festival.
The idea for a maple syrup festival was first conceived at the home of school teacher, Doug Rose, in 1965, when several people representing local groups and organizations gathered.
Rose was the first chairman, and the first festival was held on April 9, 1966.
Its proceeds amounted to $1,626.48, with a net profit of $482.12. It was divided amongst the contributing parties, each receiving the sum of $80.69.
