Sharing our forest's wealth and beauty
Falls Brook forest festival is about daring to dream about being the architects of our own future
New Brunswick's leading craftspeople took centre stage last Saturday, April 5, when the Falls Brook Centre hosted a forest festival at its Knowlesville site.
"The day was full of activities, both indoor and outdoor, ranging from wood carving to bush craft," said Cheryl Ripley, one of the Falls Brook staff members helping Sophie-Michelle Cyr – the centre's community development co-ordinator – organize the event.
She said the festival opened a positive common space for woodworkers, craftsmen and women, outdoor guides, artists, facilitators, cooks, activists and everyone to gather and talk about forestry, what it meant to them and their community.
The beautiful, grey and wet spring day transformed melting snow into a playground for the youth, who built tunnels and fir forts.
"The piney smell was not only invigorating," said Ripley, "but a reminder of the beauty of New Brunswick woodlands.
The forest festival showcased aspects of human interface with our forests. Diverse skills were present in small business ventures, environmental goods and services; value added products, maple syrup products, wood carving, canoe building, woodsmen challenge – building fires, musical instruments, household products like cutting boards and much more.
Ripley explained the festival showcased an appreciation of woodlands and support for these business ventures and those strong, passionate, unique people that make them possible.
"This is increasingly important, especially in a province where small woodlot owners and small businesses are overlooked to the point where forest use priority is given to the large dominating and detrimental influences within the province," Ripley said.
She said a forest festival is one way of celebrating our rich forest resources and giving hope to people who are struggling with mill closures. She added there are many other opportunities and ways of adding value to wood products and resources.
"We may not in the future have the paycheques we have become accustomed to in to the forest industry, but we can combine a quality for rural life with reasonable economic returns," she said.
Ripley said community organization is one example of a way in which people can link together with common visions and sentiments surrounding these daunting issues. Festivals, she noted, provide a firm base in a common space for people to get together, which can be difficult in rural settings.
"As spring melts away the whiteness of winter and roads and pathways become more accessible we'll begin to see more community spaces open up," she said. "Whether they be for fairs, festivals, markets or parks, each public space offers a chance for friends and neighbors to share what surrounds them. Hopefully we'll be seeing more forest fairs and festivals in the near future, celebrating the wealth and beauty of woodlands in New Brunswick, as well as the goods and services that sprout from healthy forests.
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