Family Day in Wellington

A hive of activity at the Wellington Community Centre

The Family Day weekend in Wellington actually started off on Saturday morning with a pancake breakfast at Wellington United Church. Members of the Prince Edward County Lions Club served up a delicious breakfast including eggs, sausages and pancakes topped with this year’s crop of maple syrup provided by the Brummell family in Cherry Valley. “Mother Nature told us it was time to start tapping on February seventh, so we did,” said Brad Brummell. The doors opened at nine, and by 10 a.m. nearly all the tables were occupied by folks enjoying a Saturday morning community breakfast.

On Monday, the Wellington and District Community Centre was the nexus of a whole host of activities. There was free public skating in the arena, and members of the County OPP detachment and local firefighters were on hand with information displays and goodies for the kids. County Kids Read was there with a mission to hand out all of the children’s books they had brought, and they very nearly succeeded. The HUB childcare centre provided colourful mats and toys for tiny tots to play with, and the 4-H club held a craftmaking session. Several dogs from the Lions Foundation Dog Guide program were also at the community centre. Some of the dogs were in training to become accustomed to the public while others were retired from service as hearing dogs, diabetic alert dogs or autism assistance dogs, among other services.

The highlight of the day was the soup lunch provided by the Wellington Rotary Club—which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year—and other local businesses and individuals. Hungry Family Day participants had a veritable Horn of Plenty when it came to soup choices. There was curried butternut, cream of leek and potato with smoked haddock, lentil, and Cowboy soup—although this writer did not inquire about the ingredients used in the latter. And for those with a sweet tooth, there was an entire table laden with butter tarts. “This is good food, amazing cooks and generous people. And the weather today is perfect. It’s a winning combination,” said one visitor.