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FROMOURDESK Mark Halsall SPUDSMART.COM SUMMER 20152 Tater Tourism POTATOES AND TOURISM. Two words that most people wouldnt find particularly synonymous. Ryan Albright is one of the exceptions. The New Brunswick potato grower is a co-founder of the Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company which is featured in our lead story on page 4 of this issue of Spud Smart. Albrights company makes old-fashioned potato chips at its plant in Hartland N.B. which is home to worlds longest covered bridge. About 100000 visitors come to Hartland each summer to see the bridge. Tying the companys name and products to a famous landmark has not only resulted in a strong brand for Albrights business. The Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company has successfully tapped into Hartlands robust tourism trade to become a thriving attraction itself. Albright says about 200 tour buses stop by Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company each year. Visitors can tour the plant to see how chips are made and are offered hot bags of chips fresh off the production line with their choice of 35 different seasonings. Albrights innovative marketing and agritourism efforts caught the attention of Rick Mercer the CBC television personality who featured the Covered Bridge Potato Chip Company in a segment on The Rick Mercer Report earlier this year. Situated in New Brunswicks major potato grow- ing region the Saint John River Valley the folks in Hartland are proud of their potato heritage. The town is one of a number of Canadian communities that host annual festivals celebrating the potato which contribute to agritourism in their areas. Another New Brunswick event is held further up the Saint John River Valley where the annual Grand Falls Potato Festival is still going strong after 50 years according to organizers. Head due east across New Brunswick and the Northumberland Strait and youll find the Prince Edward Island Potato Blossom Festival held annually in OLeary. Theres also a potato festival in Notre-Dame- de-la-Paix Que. and a couple more in Ontario the Alliston Potato Festival and the aptly named Spudsbury Potato Festival in Sudbury Ont. Then theres the Portage Potato Festival held annually in the Manitoba community of Portage la Prairie. Youll even find a potato festival in British Columbia a one-day event staged at the Huble Homestead Historic Site near Prince George. In addition to festivals there are some prominent potato museums in Canada that cater to everyone from curiosity-seekers to serious spud aficionados. Potato World is a popular tourist spot in Florenceville-Bristol N.B. offering visitors an assortment of hands-on displays educational videos views of antique farm machinery and strolls through a potato variety garden. The Canadian Potato Museum in OLeary P.E.I. bills itself as a celebration of all things potato. In addition to the largest collection of farm implements and machinery used to grow potatoes in the world the museum features heritage buildings and a potato-themed cafeteria where the offerings include potato fudge. Visitors can also get their picture taken with the worlds largest spud sculpture right outside the museums front doors. The Canadian Potato Museums important contribution to Prince Edward Islands tourism industry was recognized when it received the 2015 Premiers Award for Tourism at a P.E.I. tourism industry awards gala this past March. In handing out the award Premier Wade MacLauchlan applauded the museum for having its best season ever with more than 10000 visits in 2014. It is an excellent example of what can be accomplished with a strong product wise investments and a staff and board dedicated to creating a memorable experience for visitors he said. As theyre proving in OLeary P.E.I. and Canadas other spud hubs potatoes and tourism arent such strange bedfellows after all. SUMMER 2015 - Vol. 12 No. 3 The magazine of the Canadian potato industry. PUBLISHED BY 6327435 Canada Ltd. 403-313 Pacific Ave. Winnipeg MB R3A 0M2 Phone 204-453-1965 Fax 204-475-5247 Email issuesissuesink.com issuesink.com PUBLISHER Shawn Brook sbrookissuesink.com EDITOR Mark Halsall mhalsallissuesink.com EDITORIAL Julie Deering Lindsay Hoffman Shannon Schindle Marc Zienkiewicz MARKETING Craig Armstrong carmstrongissuesink.com Brenda Ezinicki bezinickiissuesink.com Sam Mostafa smostafaissuesink.com Hiten Shah hshahissuesink.com CREATIVE Theresa Kurjewicz Lesley Nakonechny DIGITAL Kyle Dratowany Jill Hollosi Caleb MacDonald Lynne Roy CIRCULATION Dean French dfrenchissuesink.com CONTRIBUTORS Kari Belanger Melanie Epp Lukie Pieterse Jim Timlick EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Khalil Al-Mughrabi Benoit Bizimungu Robert C. Bob Hamilton Jason Kehler Keith Kuhl Bill Moons Rick D. Peters Janet Porchak Tracy Shinners-Carnelley Bert Tupling Peter VanderZaag Hubert Zandstra SUBSCRIPTIONS Spud Smart is published four times a year. To subscribe please email subscribeissuesink.com. Canadian subscription rate is 45.00year plus GST. International subscription rate is CDN95.00year. PRINTED IN CANADA Please recycle where facilities exist. No part of this magazine may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. Spud Smart makes no expressed or implied warranties of mechantability or fitness for a particular purpose or otherwise concerning the use of any product and assumes no liability for any injury or damage direct or consequential incurred from the use of such products or services therein. Federal provincial and municipal laws and regulations supersede the information contained within. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40030841. 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