Canal, Railway and Chocolate Festival

(Formerly known as the Chocolate and Railway Festival)

***To find out more about this year's Festival, click on any one or all three audio tips plus their information video.***

ONE|TWO|THREE

VIDEO

Another Year... New Discoveries...

Once again we’re off to Smith Falls and the Canal, Railway and Chocolate Festival. I’ve told by festival co-chair Jim McPherson that this year's event is going to be bigger and better than ever! Judi and I are anxious to see if this is true. It’s a beautiful sunny morning and we’re eastbound to Smith Falls. Even though there was a traffic tie-up on the Highway 401 in Kingston and we had to take a detour, we still managed to reach Smith Falls in time for the Canal, Railway and Chocolate Festival parade. It was a great parade that included three marching bands, horses, and a number of Shriner Clubs with their airplane formations, floats with “jail cells”, keystone cops, and silly hats, all in great fun for the whole crowd. With the parade over, Judi and I walked to the festival grounds in search of Jim MacPherson and to see what was happening with the festival this year. The Musical Mounties were back along with their hysterical musical ride. There was a new electric train that shuttled the kids (and kids at heart) around the festival grounds. The voyageur canoe rides were back for another year as was Deputy Doodle and Billy the Kidder… A fun way to get around the festival grounds and around the town was with the rickshaw rides from the Rideau Rickshaw Runners. Also returning was the main stage area where numerous performers entertained festival visitors. The whole atmosphere of the park and the Rideau Canal added so much to the enjoyment of the day! So much to see and do! In our search for Jim, we caught up with old friend Dawn Quinn, co-chair of the festival, who was just as enthusiastic about the Festival as ever! We finally found Jim over the bridge in another section of the park. He was co-ordinating the children's entertainment tent. On stage was Capt'n Matt's Treasure Hunt with his pet parrot (hand puppet) who had the kids laughing and playing along with the story that he was acting out. We stayed to watch and laughed along with the kids. Judi wandered down to see the renaissance performance and demonstrations. Jim had his festival duties to perform, so Judi and I said our goodbye to Jim and Canal, Railway, Chocolate Festival and headed to west to Perth and the Stewart Park Music Festival (Click HERE to read article).

Canal, Railway and Chocolate Festival Re-visited

In early May, I received an e-mail from the new chair of the Chocolate and Railway Festival in Smith Falls Jim McPherson. In the e-mail he asked me to change the name of the event to the Canal, Railway and Chocolate Festival. I made the changes on the website and then received another e-mail from Jim asking me to call him. During our conversation he explained that he had taken over from Dawn Quinn and that he and his committee decided to change not only the name but the event itself. He also asked if Judi and I would like to visit this year’s event? I told him that we would and that I would get back to him about which day we would attend. From then on we had a continuous e-mail conversation. It was decided that we would travel to Smith Falls on Friday so that we could attend the opening ceremonies. Jim had also arranged for us to join him and others on a voyageur canoe journey of the Smith Fall’s "Swale". So, on Friday at mid day, we left Cobourg for the Canal, Railway and Chocolate Festival in Smith Falls.

As suggested by Chairman Jim, we arrived in Smiths Falls by mid-afternoon. We had a "voyageur canoe" to catch! We drove onto the festival grounds, parked our car and then went in search of Jim. We hadn't met Jim in person, so we didn't know what he looked like. Undaunted we wandered the ground and finally found a likely looking suspect. Actually, Jim had seen my picture on our website and approached us as we wandered along with a "lost" look on our faces! Jim had been talking with another gentlemen and had left him to meet us. Seeing that he was still busy for the moment we excused ourselves so that he could get back to the business of organizing the festival. We agreed to meet at the docks a little later. At the docks Jim introduced us to the head Voyageur and to our fellow "Swale adventurers". We were all fitted into life jackets and then entered the canoe. The passenger behind me was none other then the MPP for Stormont~Dundas~South Glengarry, Jim Brownell. Jim, at the time, was serving as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Tourism. Once we were all settled, our journey began. We paddled along the Rideau Canal for a short distance, through the Smiths Falls locks and then on into the "Swale". The Swale is a wonderfully preserved refuge for all manner of fish, mammals, birds, insects and plants. We were all captivated by our journey! After our tour around the Swale we headed back to the festival grounds. After we had safely landed and were back on dry ground, Chairman Jim left us to continue his festival duties. Judi and I once again set out to explore the rest of the festival grounds.

The afternoon eventually turned into evening and the opening ceremonies began. The Mayor and several dignitaries were introduced and each welcome those of us in attendance. Finally Jim McPherson took to the podium and after a short welcoming speech, Jim began to make several presentations. At the end of the presentations Jim asked me to come up to the stage. This had been pre-arranged, so I wasn't surprised! He had asked me to say a few words, which I was happy to do. After my "words", Jim and his festival committee did surprise me by presenting Judi and me with a wonderful framed print that had been especially commissioned to celebrate the Town of Smiths Falls. Judi and I were very humbled!

With the official opening over, it was time to make some noise and have some fun. In the stage area a band had set up and start to play. A short distance away a large tent had been set up. This house the "Chocolate Contest". Judi and I along with MPP Jim Brownell had been commandeered to judge the contest! All of us had "reluctantly" agreed to judge! A difficult task given what was to be judged! The entries were fantastic and tasty too! It was hard to "choose the best". It took a lot of "tasting" to make our decision. The "Chocolate Martini" was VERY tasty! After much "licking of lips", we all agreed on the winners. With the "Judges" decisions final, the winners were announced and awards were handed out. It was now time to move to the next contest, the "pie eating" contest. Fortunately this did not need our judging expertise! The participants entered the tent area and stood ready to eat their "fill" of pie. After it was all over, I'm not sure if more pie ended up on the ground and the contestants clothes then in their stomachs! However, everyone, contestants and onlookers alike, had a great time! The evening was wearing on and Judi and I had a long drive home, so we bid a fond farewell to Jim and his fellow committee members. We hated to leave. It is certainly easy to love Smiths Falls and the Canal, Railway and Chocolate Festival!

Chocolate and Trains…

We are headed east to Smiths Falls to the Canal, Railway and Chocolate Festival. We left Cobourg early on a sunny Saturday morning and headed east towards Kingston. At Kingston we turned north on Highway 15. This took us parallel to the Rideau Canal right into Smiths Falls. Smiths Falls is beautiful little town with the Canal running right through its heart. In case you didn’t know, the there is a Hershey Plant located here, thus the chocolate connection. We arrived in town and started to look for the main festival area located in Centennial Park. The park is located closed to the downtown area. We followed the main road until we came to a “Parking” sign. This took us close to the park and we found one of the last available parking spots. Centennial Park was located just south of where we parked. As we followed the road up to the park, we couldn’t help but notice a cascading water fall flowing under a bridge. Continuing further, we knew we had arrived when we saw the huge McDonald’s “M” just inside the main gate. At the main gate we lined up to pay the admission price of $5.00 each. As soon as we enter, the fun begins. McDonald’s Sports Zone is to our right and Caldwell Banker’s face painting is on our left. Now it's time to explore the park and the Festival...

Centennial Park…

This is a beautiful park, right in the middle of Smiths Falls and on the Rideau Canal. There are colourful gardens throughout the park. Boats traveling the locks are docked nearby. The Rideau Canal Museum is close by. There is an in-town RV camp located across the canal from the park, all-in-all a very scenic picture. This is the backdrop for the Main Festival Site! The street that runs through the park is lined with food vendors. There is even a food trailer selling the famous Beaver Tails. Look it up on the “Net” if you are not sure what I am talking about! Further into the park are vendors selling a variety of goods, wood crafts, jewelry, cookware and more. Moving on from the vendors we passed Parks Canada Exhibit. Later in the day they would present a Musket Shooting Demonstration. Passed them were Voyageur Canoes. You could become a Voyageur and a trip in one of the canoes. The cost was $10.00 per person of a 75 minute trip. We walked passed the Main Stage were authors were reading excerpts from their novels. When we were there, E. Russell Smith was discussing, “Locked Up”, stories about the Rideau Canal. He is one of three authors featured in the book. Later the Main Stage would be jumping with music from an extensive list of bands. We left the Main Stage and wanders further into the park, passed a small pond where kids were playing with radio controlled model boats. Then passed an area housing pony rides and finally arrived at Turtle Island where the Algonquin First Nations Cultural Centre were set up. The camp was set up with a large number of exhibits and display. We had arrived just in time for the opening ceremonies. A large number of people had gathered to watch. I was about to take a photo when I was asked not to by one of the participant. The ceremony was very moving and I glad I could witness it. There was still a lot to see, so we went back to the main park area, on our way to our car. As we moved towards the exit we passed the Majic Midway, inflatable fun for all the kids. We hurried passed, the smell of chocolate was in the air…

Chocolate…

We drove to the east part of Smiths Falls to Hershey Chocolate Plant. As soon as we stepped out of the car the sweet smell of chocolate hung in the air. We were pulled by the smell to the front doors of the Hershey Chocolate Shoppe! We walked through the doors and it was like being a “kid in a candy store”! Heck, we WERE kids in a candy store! I never realized how many varieties of candy Hershey made. There was a buying frenzy happening! People were lined up with their baskets full of candies. We bypassed the lines and headed upstairs for the factory tour. The plant is set up so that people can walk around corridors that form a square. On either side of the corridors the walls are lined with information and pictures about Hershey, its product and chocolate in general. Also along the walls are window openings that allow you to look down onto the plant floor. Unfortunately it was a Saturday, so the plant was not operating. It was still very interesting. I wish I could have taken pictures, but Hershey requests that no pictures be taken of the plant area. I had heard that the plant was going to be closed soon. On our way out of the building, with our stash of goodies, I notice a sign saying that the plant would not be closing until the end of 2008. It’s too bad the plant is going to close. They employ a lot of people and attract crowds of tourists. I hope Smiths Falls can replace it with something just as interesting. Well, it was time to catch the train, all aboard...

Trains…

From the aroma of chocolate we moved across town to the excitement of trains. Smiths Falls hosts the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario. It has an interesting array of historic engines and rolling stock, model trains, memorabilia and train oriented gifts. From the parking lot you walk up into the restores Smiths Falls Edwardian Railway Station. The cost to enter is $5.00 per person. The first room you enter is the gift room. They have everything from Thomas the Tank Train to souvenirs and books. From the gift shop you move to the model train room. If you are fascinated with trains and model trains (I am) then this was the place to be. They had several different set ups and gauges, all going at the same time. There was even a suitcase train and one in a guitar case! From there we went onto a platform that ran beside railway cars. There were 2 box cars, a caboose and an operating shunt car that has a little passenger trolley attached to it. It was set up to give visitor a short ride along the rails. On the other side of the platform was a Dental Car. The Museums literature tells us that it is the last Dental Car in North America. Judi and I entered and started to explore. The corridors were VERY narrow and the room tiny, but even though it was compact, it seemed quite efficient. There was a kitchen, an office, a living area, bedroom waiting room and, of course, the dental room, with all the modern equipment of the day. I then went into the caboose. I was surprised how open and sparse it was. It offered no extras for the men who road the rails. In the front of the station they had set up a little sales table were you could purchase some goodies. We passed, having just come from Hershey’s and went on to investigate the Steam Engine and Coal Car. It is amazing how impressive they look when you get up close to them. It is the same for the Diesel Engine they have on the other side of the parking lot. The Diesel Engine is certainly more efficient and cleaner running, but for me the Steam Engine captures my imagination of exciting and far of travel. It was time to leave Smiths Falls and the Canal, Railway and Chocolate Festival and head home. We took a different and more scenic route. We traveled west to Perth and connected with Hwy #7. We continued west on #7 to County Road #37. We passed through Tweed on our way to Belleville and Hwy #401. It took us a little longer to get home, but for interesting towns and beautiful scenery this route was definitely worth the extra time

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