Encouraging women

Women chefs, sommeliers and beverage makers celebrate

Enid Grace offers a delicious array of treats from her café.

The leading women in the County’s food and beverage scene gathered at the Drake Devonshire to celebrate International Women’s Day on Friday, March 8. Twenty-three female chefs, wine and beer makers, and food visionaries provided tempting sweets and savouries as well as a wide selection of drinks including wine, beer and cocktails to the hundreds of people who came out to acknowledge the work of women in the County and indeed across the world. The event was organized by Drake bar manager Cheynelle Fraser and chef Alexandra Feswick. “There are so many talented women in the County, so we wanted to celebrate them and show our appreciation,” said Fraser. This is the second year that the Drake has held a celebration of International Women’s Day. “I think International Women’s Day for all of us is about uplifting each other, and a big part of that is creating platforms where we can all support each other and maximize our abilities. A very close second to that is community building,” said Feswick. This year, Feswick and Fraser chose to support Reaching for Rainbows, an organization that provides a nurturing and supportive environment for the most vulnerable young girls in the community. “With me and Chey both being moms, we recognize strongly that change is going to come with our generation, and it’s important to support an organization like Reaching for Rainbows that is really empowering young girls,” said Feswick.

In addition to mutually supporting each other, the event was a means to showcase the talents and abilities of women entrepreneurs in the County’s hospitality industry. The participants included established chefs such as Lili Sullivan and Megan VanHorne, and wineries such as the Grange, Rosehall Run and Karlo Estates. Beer brewers such as Parsons, Midtown and 555 Brewing, in which the women share equally with their male partners, were also present. There were success stories in the form of Idle Wild and PicnicPEC, both of which started as mobile kitchens and now as a result of the hard work and perseverance will soon see the opening of storefront locations. Newcomers Kelly Buckingham and Kelly Sinclair of The Wellington Hotel were thrilled to be part of this event. “It’s exciting for us, and we’re really proud to be joining a group of really awesome female business owners and entrepreneurs and supporting them in what they are doing,” said Sinclair. The fact that the event was being held on International Women’s Day was important to Buckingham, who is the mother of a three-year-old girl. “I’m lucky to have great, supportive women in my life and it’s a day to recognize women, no matter what their jobs are,” she said. “I definitely know more and more women who are taking a jump in entrepreneurial roles and starting their own businesses and showing more confidence out of their desire to be super strong and take chances on their own.”

This event raised over $4,000 for Reaching for Rainbows. Reverend Lynne Donovan of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Picton started the initiative eight years ago as a way to help vulnerable young girls gain a measure of confidence in their lives by providing them with a safe and nurturing environment in which to learn and collaborate. Rev. Donovan was grateful for the all the support. “If we want vulnerable children to thrive, we need to provide them with a circle of friends,” she said. “We need to provide them with someone who has their back and we need to provide them with somebody who sees their light, and I bet every single person in this room knows what that feels like.”