Tremendous turnout for Trunk Sale

Alycia Douglass, Special to TC Media
Tremendous turnout for Trunk Sale
Jason Goldsmith of The Big Blue Hug

SOUTH GLENGARRY, Ontario – Marlin Orchards was abuzz with artisanal exuberance this weekend, as folks flocked to shop in support of Maison Baldwin House. In its 7th year running, organizers Julie Hickman and Debbie Burns of We 3 Girls have it down to a science. “What we love to hear from our guests is that every year, we blow them away,” said Hickman. “We want to make sure that it’s a different show from year to year.”

With that in mind, Hickman and Burns hand-select their vendors with quality being of the utmost importance. After being approached by We 3 Girls several years in a row to vend at the event, Ottawa-based Kendall Valerio of Sadie & June was finally able to set aside time to sell her hand-embroidered heart maps. “We’re always on vacation, but came back early this year so we could do the show,” said Valerio. “We’re constantly impressed with how much they’re able to raise for different charities, and were eager to get on board.”

Having raised $85,000 for the MS Society over the course of 5 years, We 3 Girls decided it was time to turn their attention to other organizations. “We went through a little bit of a process,” said Burns. “First, we asked people to submit their application, and had a panel review the applications, which were then narrowed it down to four. We met with the four groups, and voted. Baldwin House was the winning recipient for this year’s event, and we’re really happy to be working with them.”

Debbie Fortier, who is the executive director at Maison Baldwin House, says that they were thrilled to learn that they had been chosen as this year’s recipients. “We were absolutely over-the-moon excited,” said Fortier. In addition to organizing a free hourly shuttle service out of Cornwall, Maison Baldwin House was also able to get Scotiabank on board, who agreed to match funds up to $5000. “One of our goals is to do more fundraising and become more visible within the community to be able to cover our operational costs,” said Fortier. “This event is going to help put us right where we need to be.”

 

The event has grown a great deal since its humble beginnings in 2009. “It was an unbelievable event – people showed up in droves and we realized we needed a bigger venue if we were to grow,” said Hickman. In its second year, Diane Lunan, owner of Marlin Orchards offered We 3 Girls space in the orchard greenhouse. “We had donated apple cider in their first year hosting the event and got chatting,” said Lunan. “It just came about that we had a greenhouse that has plants in the spring, and nothing in the fall, so it worked.”

Allison Gibbs of Knot by Design has been vending at the event for 4 years, previously attending as a guest. “Many of us have two jobs,” said Gibbs. “Everyone vending is an artisan, but they’re also perhaps teachers or nurses as well.”

The event itself raises funds through ticket sales, raffles, and vendor sales, of which a percentage is donated to the cause. In short, by attending and purchasing products from the event, shoppers are helping to support Maison Baldwin House.

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