Here is a shameless plug for our favourite Ottawa Valley fiddler – Alexander George.
This weekend – April 4 & 5 – the sap will be flowing and the many Lanark County maple farms are hosting a special festival to showcase their syrup as well as some local Valley talents.
One Almonte maple stand, owned by Ray Fortune and his family will have the wildly entertaining Kettle Boys, who will delight visitors with their antics. And beside their open fire will be a stage where you will hear sweat sounds of the fiddle…
Here is the link to Alexander’s post on his weekend performances at the Fortune Family Farm.
So, do you think he’ll play Maple Sugar – Ottawa Valley’s classic tune by the legendary Ward Allen??
Watch Alexander’s site next week for pictures and a story or two from the fun in the maple bush. Better yet, if you want to experience the quintessential Canadian spring event, then come out to one of the Lanark County maple bushes and see the sap running for yourself!
Update – Monday April 6
Alexander did indeed play “Maple Sugar” – at least a dozen times. In the photos below you will see Lisa accompanying the fiddler and a nice picture of owners Ray and Ruth Fortune with Alexander and Lisa. There are more photos of the performance to be found on AlexanderGeorge.ca
Ward Allen’s classic “Maple Sugar”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIYRYZHZYJc
Ottawa Valley’s legendary Ward Allen played with Wilf Carter. He appeared on the Grand Ole Oprey and had a radio show with Frank Ryan on CFRA in Ottawa Canada. He played with his band the Happy Wanderers with Joe Brown on base who later created (literally the Brown family).