INNISFAIL - The town’s inaugural Feast On Main was a smashing success.
The sold-out event welcomed 132 guests last weekend (Aug. 18), as they dined on local food, prepared by Innisfail chefs in support of Innisfail’s youth and arts community.
"I think it's great to have the local producers, chefs and the volunteers all work together,” said Glen Carritt, chair of the organizing committee. “We've got a tremendous amount of support from volunteers and the committee members have been working hard. This has been a real group effort," he added.
"It's fantastic to see everything come together."
The outdoor, long table dinner featured a multi-course meal prepared by local chefs Matt Burton, Jeff Gauthier, Derek Layden and Patrick Bauer.
"We have some great chefs and local produce for this event," said Layden. "It's a great community and it's great to come back and do this for the community."
The event coincided with Open Farm Days and Alberta’s first Local Food Week (Aug. 12 to 19) and had more than 60 volunteers, including 12 drink servers, 24 food servers and a crew of 12 people or more, who helped with setting the table and preparing place settings for the meal.
The Innisfail Royal Canadian Legion donated the tables while Innisfail Town Theatre, the driving force behind the gala, provided chairs for the three-hour gala event.
Innisfail’s Liz Bennett was the master of ceremonies for the evening, and entertainment was provided by the band, The 57, which included local talent.
Blaine and Leona Staples, along with their son Gerald, of The Jungle Farm, were just three of the many volunteers on Saturday (Aug. 18). As local producers, they helped supply some of the food for the event.
"The Innisfail Growers is supplying a lot of produce and from our farm there was fennel, strawberries, saskatoon berries, onions, spinach and kale," said Leona. "I think it's a great community celebration."
Sam and his wife Louise Scoble of Calgary were celebrating their 36th wedding anniversary on Saturday.
"We got an email (about the event) and signed up for the Feast On Main. We thought it would be a really neat idea and a great way to celebrate our anniversary," said Sam.
