BRUCE IPM invests over $800,000 of profits into Health Care and Community Projects

Organizers of the 2008 IPM have realized a profit of approximately $822,000. After an unforgettable rainy, muddy weekend when exhibitors and trailers were arriving on site an astounding 94,400 visitors attended the five day show when the gates opened Tuesday September 16 just north of Teeswater.

In the early stages of planning the IPM Committee selected local health care as the main beneficiary of any profits having the greatest impact for all Bruce County residents. A meeting is scheduled for early February when the IPM Executive will meet with representatives from local Hospital Foundations to discuss equipment available to be funded within their facilities. A total of $500,000 has been budgeted to support local health care in area hospitals.

Community organizations will also be recognized for their contributions to the IPM in exchange for volunteer time, resources or services. Donations totaling $130,000 from profits of the International Plowing Match are: Tractor Square Dancing “Team Farmall” $6000; The Municipality of South Bruce $30,000; The Municipality of Arran-Elderslie $5000; Bruce County Plowmen’s Association $30,000; Bruce County Heritage Association $5000; Bruce County Genealogy Society $1000; Bruce County Woodlot Association $2000; Bruce County Foster Parent Association $2500; Formosa Lions Club $500; Belmore Community Centre (Kitchen) $3000; Bruce County EMS $25,000; Bruce County Mutual Aid Fire Association (new equipment) $10,000; and St. John’s Ambulance $10,000.

Organizations receiving a total of $69,140.00 for time working at the IPM include: Quota International (Owen Sound), Mildmay Rotary Club, Clifford Rotary Club, Southampton Rotary Club, OES Goodwill Chapter (Harriston), Paisley Rotary Club, Chesley Rotary Club, Huron Shores ATV Club, 543 Squadron Air Cadets, Belmore Minor Sports, Ripley Lions Club, Teeswater 4H Club, Formosa Lions Club, Walkerton Knights of Columbus, Walkerton Rotary Club, Paisley Kinsmen Club, Trinity Lutheran Church (Walkerton), Chepstow Lions Club, Ripley Lions Club, Tiverton Lions Club, Lucknow Lions Club, Special Olympics Central Bruce, Walkerton District Secondary School, Walkerton Hawks Jr. C Hockey Club, Cargill District Community Fund, Mildmay OSS Broomball, F.E. Madill Secondary School Rugby Team, Saugeen Shores Winterhawks Hockey Club, Kincardine Rotary Club, Wingham Jr. C Hockey Club, Teeswater Culross Horticultural Society and the Teeswater Culross Fire Department.

The IPM also has set aside $82,000 for IPM Committee and Executive Members to direct $2000 dollars each to a charity or community organization of their choice in reward of their efforts and time dedicated to the IPM. Their commitment for success by keeping costs low while also fundraising had a dramatic impact on the event profits.

Event organizers acknowledge the success of the event would not have been made possible without the overwhelming response from the local community and businesses who supported the IPM. The entire county of Bruce along with surrounding Huron, Grey, Wellington and Perth Counties were behind the IPM from the very first announcement that the event was going to be held in Midwestern Ontario.

Official financial figures will be presented at the Annual Meeting of the Ontario Plowmen’s Association held in the District of Temiskaming host of the 2009 IPM in late February. The IPM comes back to south-western Ontario in 2010 to be held near St. Thomas in Elgin County, then in Eastern Ontario hosted by Prescott-Russell for more information visit www.plowingmatch.org.

There was much more of a ‘fair’ feel than I remember but 25 years is a long time and my memory isn’t what it once was. 

I have to admit that I didn’t go into any of the tents or look at any exhibits.  I got sidetracked in the hospitality tent.  There was a terrific band playing and I ended up staying until they finished their set which happened to coincide with the closing for today.  

The band is Lucky Dog.  Maybe band is the wrong word, they’re a trio and play a mix of their own music and some country and rock songs.  I’m going to post about them as soon as I figure out how to upload a video clip – and get someone to edit it for me.

In the meantime – a photo.

Lucky Dog at the International Plowing Match in Teeswater

from left: Anthony McCann, Steve Wilson, Bob Walters.

My curmudgeonly companion had 2 complaints comments.  Instead of playing City of New Orleans (which I love) he thought Lucky Dog should have played one of Gordon Lightfoot’s Railway Trilogy and he thought that the beer served should have been from a Bruce County Brewery.

It’s not that she has anything against city folks…she just wants them to feel at home and help them understand us.

Don’t be insulted, it’s all in good fun, so don’t take it the wrong way.

THE RULES OF RURAL ONTARIO ARE AS FOLLOWS:

They also make delicious muffins and a honey glazed donut that is to die for.  Someday I may try the bread.

If you’re planning to go to the Lucknow Reunion next week make sure you take time to try the butter tarts.

Armstrong’s Home Bakery
644 Campbrell Street
Lucknow ON
519-528-2211

closed Sunday

Somewhere in Ontario someone is producing fiddleheads.  How do I know this?  Zehrs in Goderich has been selling them this week, alongside Ontario asparagus.  I really don’t know how you grow fiddleheads commercially.  Maybe someone found a great use for their swampy back forty. 

Every time I buy fiddleheads at least one person asks me how to cook them.  Apparently a lot of people have eaten them picked but don’t know what to do with them fresh.  There are 8 fiddlehead recipes at the Fiddlehead Facts page on the University of Maine site.  Fancier than I like though.  Spring vegetables should be fairly plain, I want to taste spring on my plate.

Preparing fiddleheads:
Cut off the brown part of the stem and then wash the fiddleheads.  It’s easiest to do in a colander under running cold water.  Rinse away the little bits of papery brown leaves.

Nan’s Fiddleheads
This is how my grandmother always cooked them.

• Boil the fiddleheads in salted water (or not, the salt is up to you) for about 10 minutes.
• Drain them and let them sit covered for another 5 or 10 minutes until they are as done as you like.  I usually drain them again at this point. You can also steam them for about 20 minutes.
• Add a ‘glob’ of butter
• Add about 1 TB white vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Eat

Sam’s Fiddleheads

This is my new favourite way to cook them

• Boil the fiddleheads for about 5 minutes
• Drain them
• Put about 1 TB oil – I use olive – in a skillet
• Add 1/2 chopped onion, or a chopped shallot, or a clove of chopped garlic, or a mixture and saute until tender.
• Add the fiddleheads and continue cooking til they are done
• Add about 1 TSP white vinegar
• Salt and pepper to taste.

I could eat fiddleheads and asparagus every day while they’re in season.  Have to say that my dining companion is finding it a bit boring.  It’s a good thing that I’m off to visit my daughter for a few days.  I can subject her to an unending stream of spring veggies.

It’s almost summer and my search for the perfect butter tart is back on.  I’m committed to this; fully prepared to visit every bakery, restaurant, and market in Grey, Bruce, and Huron County and sample hundreds of butter tarts.  Maybe not all this year. 

Last year I discovered 3 purveyors of fine butter tarts who were worth mentioning.

Why try and find the perfect butter tart?
2 reasons. 

• I love butter tarts but given the calories involved I only want to eat really good ones.
• An amazing number of people search the internet for butter tarts which tells me that I’m not alone.

I have 2 additions to my own personal butter tart trail.

The first is in Toronto.  I’m there often enough that it makes sense to have a source.
Miss Cora’s Kitchen is in Kensington Market and Miss Cora makes fabulous butter tarts. She’s so relaxed about how good they are that she let Tim from BlogTO make a how to make butter tarts video and post her recipe.  I admit to using it to make my butter tarts but that’s another post.

My other great butter tart discovery so far this year is from Hats off to Harry’s in Neustadt in Grey County. This was a serendipitous discovery.  I needed a washroom so went in to get a coffee to go.  Not for me.  I noticed the butter tarts on the counter near the cash and asked who made them.  Harry makes them.  Which also answers the questions – is there a Harry? 

Harry makes the best pastry I’ve ever had.  And the filling is pretty good.  I’d say 4 stars for the filling and 5 stars for the pastry.

Hats off to Harry

366 David Winkler Parkway

Neustadt, ON
N0G 2M0
Phone: 519-799-5995

My personal butter tart trail

Now it’s part of a complex.  Still a great place to go. 

The best booths are the local producers.  I bought fiddleheads from a Mennonite who wanted to know how I cooked them.   "Steam them and then add some butter, some white vinegar, and some pepper – it’s the way my grandmother always did them."  He said that sounded good, he hadn’t thought of vinegar.  I asked him if he liked  fiddleheads.  "Not really" he said.  "I just pick them and sell them."

I was born in Saint John, for me fiddle heads are spring.  Fiddleheads, new potatoes, and Atlantic salmon.  It’s a spring dinner. It’s tonight’s dinner.

There was also rhubarb, another sure sign of spring.  I’m not a rhubarb fan.  It makes a gritty coating in my mouth.  Yuck.  Everyone I know loves it.  No accounting for tastes!

Lots of people selling bedding plants, – flowers, vegetables, and herbs.   

Someone selling apples which seems strange at this time of year.  At least there were lots of varieties.  Remember when the only varieties you could find were Macintosh and Red or Golden Delicious?  Nice to see the old varieties back.  and to see some of the newer varieties. 

Oh, it looks like these are Macs and red and golden delicious. 

Of course it wouldn’t be a market without the stuff.  Clothes, shoes, sunglasses, T shirts, kitchen stuff, cell phone accessories, you name it, there was a booth.

( editor’s comment: Have to admit – lately that’s the royal we.  I need to crack the whip! Bet we get a lot of traffic because of whip!)

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This is going to be a very big year for Bruce County. There’s the Lucknow Reunion, the Southampton and Kincardine anniversaries and then there’s the big one!

The International Plowing Match (IPM), will be held at the little riverside town known locally as "Terrific Teeswater", not far from where I live.

So what does my family and the LCBO have to do with this?

My cousin Mary Wiley is promoting something called 20 Bees Wine. One of her big  projects for this busy Bruce County year is to supply commemorative wines for IPM…a red and a white. 20 Bees is produced by a group of independent grape growers in the Niagara region, with big ideas. Their wines are all "VQA" meaning they are guaranteed to be 100% Ontario.

The IPM white is a 2006 Chardonnay, lively and a tiny bit fruity, that goes well with grilled pork, chicken, fish, pesto sauces and mild cheeses.

The red is a 2006 Cabernet-Merlot. It’s perfect with red meats (this is cattle country after all), and slightly aged cheeses. The taste hints of red berry fruit. The wines were created to complement all the foods available in Bruce County.

Mary was born on a farm near a Bruce County crossroads hamlet called Holyrood, just up the road from where I am now living in retirement. It’s a tiny place, so when we locals pass by there, we never blink.

Mary was always in the thick of things and has been spokesperson for various agricultural groups and organizations; now she’s moved into the world of wines.

She’s busy as a you-know-what, buzzing about Niagara Vintners.

The IPM logo is proudly and prominently displayed on every bottle.

The label will be a collector’s item I’m sure.

So cheers to Mary, and to Ontario wine and of course to the International Plowing Match.

They’d better have lots of it on hand, because the plowing match is expecting more than 100,000 visitors to attend, starting this fall, Tuesday September 6th.

You can learn more about 20 Bees here… and more about IPM here.

When people want to find a product or service in Grey, Bruce, or Huron County they often search on the internet.  For more and more people that’s the first place they look.  If your website isn’t on the first or second page of the results they’re going to buy from someone else.  If you don’t have a web site ….

Take a look at some of the sites we’ve designed for small businesses. 

My day job is designing and building websites.  for the love of work is a web design company specializing in web development for small business.  I’d like to design a site for you.  Don’t miss those customers who are trying to find you online, email me for a free site design estimate.

If you already have a website but it isn’t delivering the traffic or customers you want I also offer a site optimization service for better search engine placement.  Send me a link to your Grey, Bruce, of Huron County website and I’ll send you a free analysis of your home page.

If you find all the geek talk that surrounds web design confusing or intimidating check the blog at for the love of work.  We translate from geek to English.