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 |    My random thoughts and reactions to my everyday life. The voices like a forum. |
| HOME SWEET HOME May 16th Blog Prompt: What industry is/was your town/area noted for? Well, in that murky long ago era pre-computers, Sundridge relied upon farming and logging. In time it became a tourist venue. Outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen visited to stalk moose and deer. For a change of scenery they fished in the numerous lakes. Sports types sought skiing, snowmobiling, four-wheeling, cycling, and boating fun. Industry of a manufacturing sort has never called Sundridge home, not until 2016. In that auspicious year, a brewery, a distillery opened in the village. It chose the name Copperhead Distillery. 'Fresh' booze pleased the tourists and provided one more incentive to stay and linger. Much of their product line is sold in mason jars. They began with whisky aged in barrels and branched out to offer unique, fun items. A best seller is apple pie moonshine. Acknowledging the long history of local maple syrup harvesting, this distillery creates maple moonshine. As a nod to their site the company now sells a Sundridge notch moonshine. Some love the Cin-A-Bun liqueur while other patrons like the flavoured vodkas. A recent innovation is known as "juice bags" which contain 12% cocktails. I'm not a drinker, but I do enjoy a different, delicious product, Whisky Mash Smokin' Gun BBQ Sauce. No grocery store offers anything like it. I imagine I'm a booze smuggler sometimes when my eldest daughter requests that I purchase a few cases of apple pie moonshine for her friends. All those glass mason jars clinking in the trunk as I bounce and jostle over the rutted backroads... I do hope nothing shatters. I prefer my apple pie to be served in a pastry shell with vanilla ice cream. A mere five-minute drive 'up' the two-laned highway steers thirsty folk to the South River Brewing Co. It too adopted our area as its home in 2016. On site in great, gleaming stainless steel vats craft beer is born. Rumour has it that taste tours exist. Again, this is not my cup of tea. What else is Sundridge famous for? What do visitors rave about when they return home? What has transformed them and left them speechless/awed/shaking their heads? In one simple word, blackflies. Nothing both irks and terrifies the newbies like this teeny-tiny, 'ninjaesque'flying insect. Environmentalists insist that their annoying presence signals a healthy climate. Blackflies are discriminating bugs. They breed/flourish/multiply in clean, flowing, fresh water. Wonderful! As locals and tourists alike are attacked and savaged by these biting scourges we can justify our suffering is for the greater good. Our waters are not polluted. The blackflies dine upon us and in turn provide sustenance for birds, fish, and dragon flies. We are but bit players in the wheel of life. Bleeding and itchiness are a small price to pay. There it is. 'My' quiet village is not similar to any other destination. We are home to industrious sorts. The whisky stills and the insects keep busy. Sundridge produces moonshine, ravenous blackflies, and scratching, welt-covered victims. Drop in for a wee sip and feed our bugs. New blood is always welcome and much appreciated. ( 518 words minus the 16 words of the prompt) |
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