On a crisp Saturday fall morning, guests from all over the area showed up to the eighth edition of the Pontiac Country Fair in Luskville to look at the changing leaves, shop around the market, snack on some turkey dinner and hike the falls.
Tractor rides shuttled visitors back and forth between the indoor market at the Luskville Community Centre and the outdoor market in the parking lot for the Luskville Falls hiking trail, just a kilometre away.
Vendors filled tables with everything from jewelry and handmade mittens to wooden gnome and bear carvings for the garden. A telescope at the outdoor market even offered visitors an opportunity to look closely at some of the changing colours of the leaves.
The event was a collaboration between the Municipality of Pontiac, the Marché Pontiac Market organizers, and the National Capital Commission (NCC).
Nathalie Larose is the coordinator of recreation, community life and communications for the Municipality of Pontiac.
She worked with the National Capital Commission (NCC) and the Friends of Gatineau Park to host the market in the Luskville Falls parking lot where, among other tents, the NCC was set up to raise awareness around the protected species in the park and how to visit the park in a responsible way.
She started working with the municipality in 2022 and has been working on building up its relationship with the NCC back to its pre-covid status.
“When I came in during 2022, it was at the end of covid,” Nathalie said. “The first country fair started around 2014 so when covid hit, everything stopped and since I arrived, they’ve asked me to put it back into place because it used to be very popular.”
When the first market started back up in 2022, there hadn’t been enough time to plan something big. In 2023, there were still concerns it would be shut down. This year, the market was in full swing.
Jennifer Larose organized the Marché Pontiac Market side of things – the market that took place in the Luskville community centre.
“We’ve been doing it for seven years,” Jennifer said. “So this year, because we do a Thanksgiving market and were putting it on at the same time as the NCC, they collaborated with us.”
The money they raised by renting out the tables for vendors at the community centre will go towards Les Blés d’Or (the Luskville Golden Age Club), a seniors group that puts on suppers, dances and bingos for community members.
Jennifer explained that at one point, the market was running every month. Now, they host a market in the spring and the fall, as well as a Christmas market in November where Santa and Mrs. Claus attend.
She said that these events encourage seniors to get out and chat with neighbours and guests in the community.
“At the market, they come out, they interact, they’re talking, and we’re raising money for them,” Jennifer said. “This way, we can do the dances and the bingos and suppers to keep them involved.”
Jennifer said that having the market only three times a year means more vendors sign up for lucrative spots and there’s more traffic at each market.
“There was a lot of movement this time,” Nathalie said. “Because of the shuttle we organized, people were able to visit the two sites without using their vehicle. There were always people coming in and out.”
Nathalie said that some people come to the market looking for produce or animal products. This is something she hopes to bring back in the future.
“Next year, I hope that we will be able to get more farmers so we can offer meat and vegetables,” Nathalie said. “It used to be like that so I intend to bring it back to what it was at the beginning.”
