Fall is the perfect time for a harvest dinner celebrating what local farmers and producers have to offer.
The local non-profit organization Sustainability Partners Uniting Resources (SPUR) will be doing just that in honour of sustainability.
The dinner is being put on to mark the five-year anniversary of the Cochrane Sustainability Plan. It will be held Oct. 3 at Frank Wills Memorial Hall.
In 2009, over 500 Cochrane residents participated in the creation of the Cochrane Sustainability Plan – a plan that is intended to lead the town toward a sustainable future using 13 pathways to assist them.
“A lot of these pathways relate to our local landscape and our local economy, our value for the land and what it gives us,” said Sharon MacDonald, communications and engagement coordinator for SPUR.
She said that a harvest dinner seemed like a perfect idea for the event because people would be eating food from local growers, prepared by local people with local music.
At present, 50 Cochrane businesses have signed on to the Cochrane Sustainability Plan as ‘Champions of Sustainability.’
The harvest dinner will have a turkey with all of the trimmings and desert to follow. There will also be live dinner music by Lara Kruger, cash bar by Fallen Timber Meadery, silent auction with art by Wildcat Hills Artists Group and a short program.
“It just really was in line with our pathways that relate to living locally. We consume the bounty of our local economy – an economy that is healthy and diverse, where everyone can pursue their potential,” said MacDonald.
She explained that SPUR was started because it was recognized that the sustainability plan needed a community group of volunteers who could continue to facilitate its implementation.
“It’s a big picture group that makes growth and cohesion possible,” she said.
MacDonald pointed out that it is especially important to have a group like SPUR as Cochrane finds itself in a period of rapid growth, where improvements or increases in sustainability could help further growth.
Sustainability is an ingredient that makes growth possible, according to MacDonald. She stressed that Cochrane is not just another “bedroom community”, but rather a unique town and amazing place.
She also added that as Cochrane grows, she encouraged new residents to become engaged in sustainability.
“We have a lot of new residents moving in and we want to give them something to plug into and make them feel like an integral party of the community – our events, our culture, our way of doing things,” said MacDonald. “We want to see them out and find new ideas and new energy and figure out a way forward together.”
Tickets are $25 and MacDonald said they are expecting around 100 people for the event. Tickets can be purchased online at cochranesustainability.ca or you can call 403-200-1290. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with dinner served at 6 p.m.
