East Sooke Blackberry Festival is Coming!
September 19th, 2009
10 am to 5pm with a Community Potluck to follow
East Sooke Firehall & Coppermine Field
Mid September brings the last lingering warmth of summer in East Sooke, and to enjoy the weather and to celebrate our community we are coming together to honour the Blackberry. Here are the activities and contests (subject to change and additions) at this year’s Blackberry Festival:
BLACKBERRY FESTIVAL EVENTS "The More - The Berrier"
Please read the following to find out how you can participate.
Blackberry Bake-off, Best Blackberry Jam and Blackberry Wine
As in previous festivals some of our contests show our affection for Rubus Discolour (the blackberry) shamelessly. There is a Blackberry Bake-Off, including a junior division for those young bakers between the ages of 12-18 years, a Best Blackberry Jam contest, and a Blackberry Wine judging.
Entries can be brought to the hall between 9 and 10 am, on the day of the festival. Each entry will be labelled with a number, and entrants’ identities will remain with the contest convenor, until judging has taken place at 12 noon.
We welcome entrants in the Blackberry Bake-off to enter as many times as they wish, but not with the same recipe as in previous years.
Rules:
- All entries must be prepared by the entrants.
- Entries must be submitted without identifying marks, labels or contact information affixed.
- Jam jars must be no larger than 10 ounces.
"Ode to the Blackberry" Poetry Contest
This year, contestants have a choice of one of two opening lines penned by other poets. Contestants complete the poem in rhyme, free verse or any form of their choosing. It may be Haiku or limerick; it’s your choice. In addition to this poetry challenge our judges are inviting contestants to submit lyrics for a “Blackberry Festival Anthem” to the tune of “Oh, Canada” with the opening line of (yes, you guessed it!) “Oh, Blackberry!”. Entries will be received as listed below, and blind copies will be sent on to our special judges. The winning poem will have a special place in our East Sooke Blackberry Cookbook to be published at a future date. Winner will be announced at 2:30.
Here are the opening lines:
1. From Robert Burns:
“Oh, the summer time is coming…”
2. From Beverly Mitchell:
“A blackberry grew by the side of the road...”
One final word from our judges…
“Of course, your poem must contain the word blackberry or blackberries. It is, after all, to be an ode to the blackberry!!"
Rules:
- All entries must be received by September 17, 2009, with judging to take place September 18.
- Submitted poems must be written by the entrant.
- Entrants can submit as many poems as they like.
- Entries, submitted in paper format must not be signed or have any identifying marks on the front.
- All entries must provide the following information: Name, Address, and Phone Number
Entrants can submit their poetry by email at
anytime or can submit them by prior arrangement between September 10 and 17, 2009. Call Pam at 642-3391.
East Sooke Blackberry Cookbook
We are asking for contributions of blackberry recipes, illustrations, maps, jokes and anecdotes with the intention that some day we will publish a cookbook to be used as a fundraiser for the festival. Submissions can be emailed to blackberries@shaw.ca anytime, or can be brought to the Blackberry Cookbook table on the day of the festival. You can also participate by taking copies of submitted recipes available from the table, testing them at home, and letting us know what you think, by responding to the above email address or by phoning 642-3391.
East Sooke Blackberry Kitchen
Special treats, offered from the community hall kitchen and prepared by some very fine East Sooke cooks, include: Corn on the Cob, Blackberry Festival Clam Chowder, Vegetarian Chili and fabulous Blackberry Tarts.
While you nibble at your snacks, take a few minutes to enjoy the works displayed
in the hall by East Sooke artists. We are lucky to have them in our community.
‘Essence of East Sooke’ Photo Contest
Of course, the blackberry isn’t the only thing we’re celebrating. We’re celebrating community, our lives in East Sooke, and this beautiful place. Our ‘Essence of East Sooke Photo Contest’ honours this. There will be two Best in Show awards, one in the Adult category, and one in the Children’s category (12 years old and under). Entries will be accepted in three classifications: ‘Scenics’, ‘People’, and ‘Animals’. Judges will determine first, second, and third place photos in each classification, and from these will choose the photo, in each category, best portraying the ‘Essence of East Sooke’. Judging will take place on September 18, and all photos will be displayed at the festival.
Rules:
- All entries must be received by Thursday, September 17, 2009, with judging to take place September 18.
- Entry photograph must have been taken by entrant.
- Standard size prints: 3x5, 4 x 6, 5 x 7 to a maximum of 8 x 10 will be accepted.
- There is a maximum of 3 entries per classification per entrant.
- Prints must be securely mounted on white construction paper or white card stock with a 2” surrounding border.
- Entries must not be signed or have any identifying marks on the front. A separate entry form will be mounted on the back.
Entry form specifics:
On a separate piece of paper to be included when you submit your photo, please print: Name, Address, Phone, Category (Age, if Child), Classification: Scenics, People, or Animals, and optionally, title of photo.
Entries will be received September 10-17, 2009.
Please call Pam at 250-642-3391 or email for forwarding submissions.
All photos will be displayed in the hall on the day of the festival.
If you’d rather be in front of the camera than behind the lens, make sure to be on the hill above the playing field at 3:00 pm, when we will take this year’s Blackberry Festival Community Photo.
The East Sooke Volunteer Firefighters are holding an open house, and are looking forward to displaying the proposed option for a new firehall. There will be activities for the kids and maybe even a ride on the fire truck!
The East Sooke Business Association invites you to rent a table and turn your ‘junque’ into cash at their Giant Blackberry Garage Sale (10 am - 2pm). $10 rents you a table. Be sure to email
to reserve your table.
ESBA will also set up tables and will offer clean donated books and garage sale items in good working order.
Folks can drop off donated goods before 9:00 A.M. on the 19th.
Blackberry Children’s Village
The Blackberry Children’s Village will host a day of activities to captivate young East Sookers, and the folks from SEAPARC will be a big part of the day. They’re offering games, pre-school crafts, and a very large parachute. They’ll help us out with our blackberry and spoon race and a sack race. (SEAPARC activities 11 am -1 pm). We’ll have giant bubbles, face painting, a parade and more too! (between 10 – 11)
East Sooke mime extraordinaire Trent Arterberry will share his special talents with your children at 1 pm.
No celebration is complete without its own blackberry and spoon race, and an old-fashioned sack race awaits your inner child.
If your little ones would like take part in a parade around the tent, they can bring their tricycles and costumes from home. There will be additional costumes on-site, and craft supplies that they can use to decorate their tricycles (12:45 p.m.)
Slug Race
Not happy with your brown garden slugs? Your children can capture them and begin training them to be slimy competitors in our slug race, then bring them to the festival. This event will be held at 1:45 pm, so that we can release the gastropod molluscs into the treed area on the edge of the playing field. Please don’t bring the indigenous banana slugs.
Especially for our Youth
Its been pointed out that there were no events for youth at previous festivals. Of course, they are invited to participate in any of the contests listed (well, maybe not the Blackberry Wine Contest), but here are two activities specifically for them.
2009 Blackberry Olympics
For all budding triathlon athletes, we are running an event involving blackberries, spoons, sacks, and big red weather balloons. Challenge your neighbours, friends and families to join in the fun.
Blackberry Graffiti Wall
We will provide the wall and paints, you provide the talent!
Sooke Youth Council has agreed to sell pizza and pop, and is there to tell you what their programs include and how you can get involved this fall.
Gardener's Corner
Our Gardeners’ Corner features seeds, potted perennials and biennials, and good conversation about gardening in our local conditions. Slugs and deer need not attend! If you have donations from your garden please phone 642-3664
Or email to arrange for delivery/pickup.
Entertainment
Talented musicians and performers are warming up for our open stage. Be prepared to be enthralled by Trent Arterberry’s mimographic genius.
Dream Time duo Lani Thompson and Al Crow will mellow listeners out. Take a break and enjoy the music.
If you have a hidden talent yearning for expression, now is the time to share it with your neighbours.
Call 642-3391 or email to reserve a spot on the stage.
While the performers play, volunteers will be listening from inside the hall, as they prepare for our giant neighbourhood potluck dinner (6:00 pm). Bring your favourite dish and share a meal in the community hall. Food can be brought to the kitchen anytime after 5 pm, and can be reheated as required. Supplying your own plates and cutlery will cut down on the garbage.
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE…
Ragley Organic Market will again be a welcome part of our festival. The Carol Cave students will perform a number of dances to delight the audience. Watch Nels Silva’s students demonstrate the Korean martial art of Tae Kwon Do (between 2-3 pm). Visit the displays presented by various businesses, groups and initiatives working in and around East Sooke. Juan de Fuca Emergency Preparedness volunteers will share their expertise on tsunamis and earthquakes. Search and Rescue folks will demonstrate rescue strategies with help from festival attendees. Juan de Fuca Parks and CRD Water will both present literature and answer your questions on their various programs.
At the end of that paragraph please insert: “Come and celebrate community as we enjoy one last summer fling!
OUR SPONSORS
The East Sooke Blackberry Festival Society would like to thank all of our contributors, for the generosity and support for our celebration:
- 17 Mile House
- Amaranth Health Services Inc.
- Black Otter Vacation Rental and Counselling Retreat
- Buck Or Two
- Clown’s Creek Farm
- Coast Capital Savings
- Coles Bookstore
- DFH Realty
- Gibby’s Fishing Charters
- Island Farms Agropur Co-operative
- Jensen’s Essential Cleaning
- Fairway Market
- Fuse Restaurant
- Home Hardware, Sooke
- Lund Security Inc. - Victoria Alarm Service
- Mark’s Work Warehouse, Westshore Mall
- Mountain Jubilee
- Peninsula Co-Op
- Ray Blender of Remax Realty
- Rona
- Sager’s Home Living
- Seagirt Services
- Shopper’s Drug Mart, Westshore Mall
- Slegg Lumber
- Smoke’n Tuna Cafe
- Sooke Harbour House
- Staples Business Depot
- Starbucks Coffee
- TD Bank
- Thrifty’s Foods
- Tideview Farm
- Sunfish Shores
- Walmart
- Westcoast Tire & Wheel Limited
- Willow Wind Feed
- Tom Lee Music Co. Ltd.
- Mills Paint
- Tides of Seagirt Fishing Charters