Deerboine Colony not holding September sale

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This article was published 11/08/2015 (3990 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DEERBOINE HUTTERITE COLONY — A longtime September tradition has come to an end for Westman foodies.

For approximately 25 years customers have journied to Deerboine Hutterite Colony on the second weekend in September for the community’s annual sale. People would enjoy a day of classic Hutterite cooking while shopping for canned goods, baking and vegetables.

But this year that won’t happen — and there are several reasons why.

It’s been a busy year for the colony — this summer colony residents spent their spare time fixing up the communal kitchen. The kitchen building, which was built 13 years ago, has an unfinished second floor that they’ve been working to complete.

“Well fixing up the kitchen, we’re busy. Every spare moment we’re doing tiling, so upstairs we’re busy,” said Anne Marie Hofer, a member of the colony.

But the extra time spent refurbishing the kitchen has cut into the preparation time needed to hold the sale for the small organizing group on the 70-person colony.

Also, the colony has had to scale back the size of the sale in the past few years due to stricter provincial food handling regulations.

“We couldn’t do the food court out there anymore. We have to buy everything instead of make everything, so it didn’t really pay much,” Hofer said.

According to the provincial government, all establishments that want to serve high-risk foods such as meat and eggs (including sandwiches) must ensure that items be prepared in a permitted establishment in order to prevent foodborne illnesses and ensure the safety of consumers.

These rules have been in affect for several years and have meant that many events like the Deerboine sale have had to change.

Last year, the colony didn’t hold the popular food court and instead just served coffee and caramel rolls while people shopped. Hofer says that many customers were disappointed by the change.

While customers can still buy food from the colony, many who have asked about the sale have been crestfallen to learn that the popular event will not take place this year.

Nevertheless, the colony still has plenty of vegetables available for purchase.

“The cinnamon rolls you can order on Friday and they’ll be ready on Saturday, fresh, buns, too. Bread not so much, people don’t buy too much bread but we do sell some, a little bit,” Hofer said.

“You can still have caramel rolls, as many as you want.”

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