Mayor hopeful to establish cranberry festival; says work progressing well at Lake Despres site

A10

BY KRIS MCDAVID
Times & Transcript Staff

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

ROGERSVILLE - Bertrand LeBlanc admits the more he thinks about what the presence of cranberry giant Ocean Spray will mean to his community, the more excited he gets.

The mayor of Rogersville recently returned from a trip to Lakeville, Mass., also the heart of New England's cranberry country, to scout the Cape Cod town's annual celebration of its lucrative harvest.

LeBlanc said about 10,000 people attended the Lakeville festival each day when it was celebrated two weekends ago.

He said the event was extremely family-oriented, with energetic crowds gazing into a striking sea of red, watching the curious process of the cranberry harvest unfold firsthand.

"It seems like there's a cranberry bog in every backyard down there, just like you'd see a regular garden around here," said LeBlanc.

"It's really simple; all they do is gather the cranberries, load them onto the truck, and they also set up a few sand pits for the kids to play, some rides, musicians and site tours and it seems to draw people in big time and the process is really intriguing."

LeBlanc said that he has visions of establishing a similar festival in Rogersville once Ocean Spray's project at nearby Lake Despres gets into full swing a couple of years down the road.

Cranberry co-operative Ocean Spray announced it had selected Lake Despres as the sight of a $90-million cranberry farm in January, which would be North America's largest once it's finished.

Ocean Spray intends to plant up to 1,900 acres of cranberry beds on the 8,400 acre swath of rich, sandy land near the lake over the next several years.

LeBlanc said a Rogersville cranberry festival would likely use a similar model as the Lakeville festival, albeit on a slightly smaller scale.

Nevertheless the community is poised to become Atlantic Canada's Cranberry Capital; a title LeBlanc said Rogersville will embrace with open arms.

"This thing was a godsend and we're just so happy and proud for it to be here," he said.

LeBlanc frequently checks in on the Ocean Spray site and he said it looks akin to a 'mini Fort McMurray,' with activity already well underway since the province gave its environmental approval in June.

Mike Stamatakos, Ocean Spray's vice-president of agricultural supply and development, said he's pleased with the way the development of the cranberry bogs has gone thus far.

Stamatakos said the company's goal is still to have the first 150-acres of cranberry beds ready for planting by late spring or early summer.

Most of the work right now consists of reshaping the terrain to form dykes around the bogs and reservoirs -- a process that will continue until the inevitable heavy snows arrive.

Ocean Spray has estimated the first substantial crops will be coming from Rogersville in 2012, with the possibility of 100 jobs being created once production is increased.