Springwater Township residents and visitors helped celebrate the arrival of fall at the annual Midhurst Autumnfest on Saturday.
The popular event at the Midhurst Pavilion has been taking place since 1969, said Hale Mahon, chair of the Midhurst Community Recreation Association (MCRA), the committee that helps organize the event.
“It’s a long-running community tradition,” he said, explaining the association focuses on some key areas that include the community feel in Midhurst, located about 10 minutes outside of Barrie.
The village, he said, has always boasted a small-town feel where many people know each other, and the goal of the event is to bring the community together in one place to celebrate.
“All of the funds raised here go directly back to the MCRA and we spend that money on community stuff. Right now, we are working on getting banners put up on the hydro poles on St. Vincent Street and a few other streets in Midhurst. It’s all community-driven projects,” said Mahon.
The event included a vendor pavilion, games for kids, and food, as well representatives from local emergency services such as Huronia West OPP, County of Simcoe Paramedic Services, and Springwater Fire and Emergency Services, which had crews on hand conducting a car extrication demonstration for the crowd.
“It’s really the community coming together to celebrate the fall. It’s a good community effort,” Mahon said, noting the group also partners with other local organizations such as the Springwater-Vespra Lions Club, which was on hand selling tickets for its annual Duck Race fundraiser.
The Duck Race, which sees organizers place hundreds of plastic rubber ducks into Willow Creek — beginning close to the bridge on St. Vincent Street — has been taking place for 35 years and helps raise money for local initiatives, explained Ingolf Goetz, president of the local Lions club.
Goetz said they were anticipating selling between 1,600 and 1,700 tickets for the popular event, and people can gather along the Hunter Russell Trail to cheer on their ducks in the race.
“The donations all go to local charities. We try to be as local as we can be. This year’s charity is the Elmvale Food Bank and last year’s was Youth Haven. We pick one charity to make a bigger impact,” he said. “Last year, we sold out our tickets, so this year, we have a few more and hopefully we sell them out again.”
