DAY 3
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breakfast Tango Cafe & Grill go
Second day here – the staff considers us “regulars”. We have custom omelets with house baked scones and good coffee.
9:30 am drive to Eastern Perth County to explore Amish communities
10 am tour Perth County Welcome Center and Artisan Marketplace – town of Shakespeare go
Cathy Bieman of Perth County Visitors Association takes us through the Marketplace which showcases local products, arts, crafts, jewelry, clothing, soaps, amenities and furniture. Many beautiful hand made quilts, soft furry animals made from reused fur coats, and tasty organic maple ice cream and candies.
10:30 am tour The Best Little Pork Shoppe go – town of Shakespeare
First stop is just next door – the place with the 10′ pig (Percy) in the meadow – to meet Linda and Jerry, the Pork People. Started as a coffee and sweet roll shop, they now rule an emporium well known in Ontario province for their pork products – whole hog sausage, smoked chops, ribs, pulled pork, tourtières (pork pies) and roasted pig tails. Their enthusiasm, sense of fun, excellent customer service and commitment to quality keep patrons coming back. The on-the-farm bakery has artisan breads, raisin brioche, butter tarts, berry pies and heirloom scones!
11:30 am lunch AnnaMae’s – town of Millbank
Famous for Broasted Chicken, so we try some. Two small, one large dining area. Very busy. Locals and lucky tourists stop in for meat and potato home style cooking at a fair price. Fresh Mennonite style baked goods. Fruit pies look absolutely to die for delicious. Gift shop area.
1 pm Countryside Tour – learn about Amish way of life, Millbank and Milverton
As we drive through Milverton, a center of Amish life, off duty horses are resting, feeding, socializing and enjoying the clear sunny day in the verdant fields. Horse and buggy trotting down lane driven by traditionally clad women cause us to slow down. Other Amish woman can be seen hoeing their gardens and hanging clothes. Horse drawn equipment still used to farm the land. No electric lines attest to the community’s simple lifestyle choice. Amish families have 8 to 10 children who attend school through 8th grade. Family run farms/businesses require lots or manpower. Amish families work hard; they are green, innovative, productive, prosperous. We see the results of their careful stewardship of the land in the healthy beautiful children and the lush fertile fields and marvel at their tenacity and accomplishment.
• MF Family Furniture
10,000 sq. ft. showroom features solid wood furniture locally made by Amish craftsman. Custom work is also done. Styles and finishes fit into many home settings. Handmade quilts on display and a section of small antiques – butter churns, non-electric irons, bowls, linens. Proprietor Ray Kuepler, once a furniture craftsman himself, now presents the finest work of the area’s best craftsmen.
• Harness and Buggy Whip manufacturer
Ever wonder how a horse collar is made? Or bridle? How about a team harness? We get a demo from a delightful experienced Amish maker of leather products needed to work with horses. He shows his workshop, patterns he’s developed and leather stock as he talks about the techniques and special machines used to create the finest of products. Saddles made at special request but his major market is the Amish community which uses horse power for farming and transportation.
• Buggy Maker
The “Cadillac of Buggies” parked in the workshop has a special axle providing ease of turning and making it user friendly. Our host, an amiable Amish craftsman has a year long waitlist for new buggys. He bends the metal for the wheel and demos attaching the metal to the wheel. Low tech requiring manual strength and dexterity but very effective. Buggies everywhere in various states of completion: some in for repair, for updating or repainting. New ones in progress. A generator powers the tools. The Mrs. stops by. She wears traditional self made dark hued clothing and white bonnet common to the Amish. We chat about her vegetable garden and share food preservation techniques.
8 pm see Grapes of Wrath opening go Avon Theatre go
Avon Theatre Built in 1901 as the Theatre Albert, purchased in 1963 by the Festival, it seats 1,080. In 1983, a 3-story addition was added to the rear of the building, which houses the Studio Theatre, the administrative offices, dressing rooms, production workshop, and wig room.
Grapes of Wrath Adapted from John Steinbeck’s book by Frank Galati for which he won two Tonys. This version has Steinbeck’s original controversial ending. Director Antoni Cimolino states the play “involves a journey from illusion to truth through struggle and conflict to the cathartic embrace of our common humanity and our common mortality”.
stay Mercer Hall Inn go
