Anxious to get a taste of a tradition that dates back to the early 1930’s, people were lined up out the doors at the East Ferris Community Centre in Astorville Sunday afternoon.
The annual picnic, hosted by the Saint Thomas d’Aquin parish, serves up a hearty helping of some traditional French-Canadian dishes. People from far and wide come for the traditional home made sea pie, also referred to as cipaille, along with home made baked beans, mashed potatoes and salads.
Sea pie is a layered dish of meat or fish cooked in a Dutch oven with vegetables and spices, separated by layers of pastry. The dish is topped with one final layer of pastry and is slowly cooked throughout the night in an outdoor oven.
In the kitchen, Gilles Lefebvre and Dave Cruickshank rolled up their sleeves to get enough potatoes mashed to serve the hungry crowd.
“It’s about giving back to the community. It’s just fun,” said Lefebvre.
“I just enjoy meeting people and seeing people year in and year out that support the community. There’s quite a few seasonal cottagers who come here for the meal, and of course, there’s the locals who are here as well,” said Cruickshank.
And those with room for dessert got to pick from the nearly 270 sinfully delicious homemade pies, baked by an army of volunteers, to tantalize the taste buds.
Colette Perron carefully cuts through one of the pies, this one a lemon meringue, to have ready to serve. She has been volunteering at the picnic for at least seven years.
“We all get together and do the pies right here. I really enjoy helping out. It’s nice to see everyone who comes here.”
Her sidekick at the pie table is Pat Lachapelle. This is her second year lending a hand.
“They needed help so, you come and help. It’s just being part of the community. You get to meet people. I’ve lived here almost 20 years now, and I’m meeting all these new people. It’s great. There’s quite a few new people who have moved to the area now.”
Pauline Rochefort has attended the event since she was a little girl. Now she volunteers alongside her father.
“It’s quite something to see a photo of the people gathered in 1931 for the first annual picnic. People keep coming back, that’s what’s incredible,” said Rochefort.
“They come for the sea pie. We say it’s the world’s best sea pie, but we have to be careful because our neighbour down at the end of the lake, Lake Nosbonsing in Bonfield also make a very good sea pie,” she laughed.
She says the Rochefort family has played an integral part in helping with this annual gathering. Now 88 years young, her father, Bernard Rochefort has been attending the picnic since he was just a wee lad. He also helps volunteer.
“I started coming here when I was two years old. I remember when I was older, saving my pennies to come here. I might have a dollar to spend, but in those days a pop was about five cents, a chocolate bar was five cents also. So you could spend quite a bit you know,” laughed Rochefort.
“The picnic used to be at the church, and there was a platform about four-feet high, and politicians used to come and get on it to talk to the people. I remember that quite well. It was a way to reach the people and meet them because in those days there weren’t many newspapers or even television.”
In those early years, the meal was held in the basement of the school, and the games were played on the church lawn.
Today the games and meal are held under one roof, at the community centre.
“The main purpose of the picnic is to make money for the church. We usually make around $8,000 or $9,000 clear profit. The nice thing about it in my point of view is the people. We still meet people from way back when I was a boy. The funny thing too, is that I see kids now about five or 10 years old, and I know who they are, just by the family resemblance,” laughed the older Rochefort.
