We attended the 140th Annual Strawberry Festival
at Canadice United Methodist Church with Jim & Bev Slocum. We enjoyed a
dinner and naturally, Strawberry Shortcake! They had quarts of Strawberries for
sale, a silent auction and a rummage sale. You know me … I had to do some
research!
The first Strawberry Festival was held on June 28, 1879 at
Slout Resort on Canadice Lake sponsored by Mrs Esther Norton and George
Sharpstein. This resort was 35 feet wide and 75 feet long resort with half the
resort resting on land stretching out on pylons onto the lake. It was the first
of many homes on the lake, until 1944.
During the early 1900s the festival was held at various
location, including Wyanoke Cottage, Mr & Mrs William Preston’s home, the
William Cronon Cottage on Honeoye Lake, LM Doolittle’s on Canadice Corners
before settling at the Canadice United Methodist Church.
The festival has run continuously except for 1917, due to
World War 1. Not even Hurricane Audrey in 1957 could stop this festival! The
first meal was friend chicken, baked beans, homemade biscuits and butter,
pickles, cottage cheese pie, cake, coffee and a large dish of strawberries for
the large sum of twenty-five cents. Everything but the coffee was homemade or
locally grown. This tradition holds true today except the ham and coffee.
This year they started Monday morning with preparation of
the carrot salad, as t has to marinate for a week! Wednesday the hams were
baked and the craft sale was set up. Friday, the potato salad was prepared, the
biscuits were baled and the hams was sliced. Saturday morning was strawberry
preparation day. They started very early to prep 10 flats of strawberries. Everything was delicious and I even found a few sets of
handmade earrings!
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