Latest news with #ChapmansIceCream
CTV News
a day ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival to take over heart of Midland
Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival is back, taking over the heart of downtown Midland and drawing thousands of visitors for a day of sweet indulgence. (CTV News / Steve Mansbridge) Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival is back this Saturday, taking over the heart of downtown Midland and drawing thousands of visitors for a day of sweet indulgence. Now in its 12th year, the admission-free festival has grown into one of the largest celebrations of the iconic Canadian treat, drawing over 50,000 visitors annually. Spanning Midland's downtown core, the event transforms into a hub with roughly 230 of vendors, food trucks, and local merchants flooding the streets. Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival People flood the streets for Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival. (CTV NEWS) This year brings a special treat with the announcement of Chapman's Ice Cream, Canada's largest independent ice cream manufacturer. Festivalgoers will get a chance to try the new Chapman's Super Premium Plus Butter Tart ice cream, specially created for the event. The festival runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. A highlight of this one day festival is the Egg Farmers of Ontario Butter Tart Contest, where professional and home bakers compete for the coveted title of best butter tart in the province. The day also includes live entertainment on the main stage and a lively Kids Zone featuring performers. The event will have two free shuttle services running from 8:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with parking at Georgian Bay District Secondary School and Wye Valley Road near Highway 12. The festival is expected to generate an estimated $2 to $4 million, according to officials.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Local businesses step up to support new school opening in Markdale
A ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the official opening of Beavercrest Community School, a new educational center in the Town of Markdale, that wouldn't have been possible without the support of local businesses. The new facility is equipped with 17 classrooms that have the latest technology to enhance student learning. Tennille Schultz, the school's principal, is excited for students and the town to have the school operating before the end of the school year. 'I was impressed with the size of the classrooms and the hallways,' said Schultz. 'The color scheme that they used, we did not have at the old Beavercrest, so it was nice that we were moving into a new facility.' Beavercrest Community School A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the official opening of Beavercrest Community School in Markdale, Ont. (CTV News/Luke Simard) The community rallied around the idea of building a new school after it was almost shutdown in 2016, and multiple local businesses stepped up during the process, including Chapman's Ice Cream, and offered to buy the school to keep it open. Ashley Chapman, CEO of Chapman's Ice Cream, said the closure of the school would have hurt the local economy. 'When all this came down the pipe that we were going to lose our school, we were desperate to change the way it was going, and it would have killed our town and our business would have suffered as well,' said Chapman. 'We love it here, we want to see it thrive, not die.' Chapman's Ice Cream Chapman's ice cream facility in Markdale, Ont. (CTV News/Luke Simard) Chapman's employs over 600 people in the community. 'It's the canary in the coal mine and once that goes... to get a school back is just incredibly difficult,' said Chapman. 'I grew up in this area. I went to Beavercrest when I was a kid, so seeing that shut down just arbitrarily without a real look at the numbers and growth that were there happening at that time, it was heartbreaking.' The school was built on the same property as the old school, directly beside a new neighbourhood. Beavercrest Community School Beavercrest Community School in Markdale, Ont. (CTV News/Luke Simard) During the design process the school underwent three expansions to accommodate the rapidly growing community. 'We only have one school,' said Grey Highlands Mayor Paul McQueen. 'No school in Markdale does not make sense - you start to lose families in your community, so we fought hard, the community fought hard.' The school will use the summer to complete the finishing touches on the interior and exterior of the new building. A new playground will soon be built on the property ready for students to use by the beginning of the new school year in September. 'This community values education and this community values that education is within their town,' said Shultz. 'They are happy to know that the new building is here and it's a lovely building in a nice subdivision and that their kids are close to home learning.'
