It was a chance to fill your stomach, learn about hoop dancing and re-live the old tradition of cruising down the street.
Carrot River’s third annual Flavours of the Outback was held at that community’s town square Aug. 18. The event is designed so that a different local club takes charge of organizing it – and benefitting from the money raised for it – each year. This year, the Carrot River Ukrainian Club took charge.
“This is the most food vendors we’ve ever had. A lot of the different food vendors are new,” said Brandie Trew, the club’s president, hours before the event. “You’ll be able to get a well-rounded meal from perogies to borscht to sausage to steak.”
People came to the town square and bought tokens, which then could be exchanged for food – or in some cases, balloons, art and apparel. Some of the meals included homemade hotdogs and Mennonite sausage. There was also dessert available to finish the meal: popcorn balls or pie.
Trew said organizing the event has made the club more visible in the community.
“We are a small club and I think sometimes people forget that we’re still here,” she said. “Modern dance has kind of become the more popular thing to put your kids through but Ukrainian dance has been in the community for a long time and we would like to continue to see it there.”
She added there’s no need to be Ukrainian to participate in the club.
Trew said organizing the event is a great way for local organizations to raise money and serve the community at the same time.
“It’s been fairly easy. I would recommend it to any club,” she said. “I think most vendors are excited to do that and showcase what they can do to the community, either with food or non-food items.”
After the meal, the visitors watched Terrance Littletent perform a traditional hoop dance before he invited two people onto the stage to get a lesson on how to do it.
At the end of the event was the town’s first Cruise Night. Miranda Blaber, the town’s recreation manager, said cruising in your car was something that was popular in the 1990s. Eighteen years ago, car enthusiasts placed posters around town, took over the radio rebroadcaster that was then located in the town and cruised down Main Street.
A new car club was just created in Carrot River and they wanted to relive those days.
“The car club wanted to see something come back and a couple of people approached me and we had said let’s give it a shot, let’s keep it simple, let’s try and pay tribute to something from the past and let’s see what happens, ”Blaber said.
That event was informal, with anybody wanting to display their ride, whether it was an old restoration or something new, able to do so by driving up and down Main Street.
