West Nipissing – A new Barn Quilt Trail will welcome visitors from far and wide during the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo (IPM) in Verner this September, enticing them to explore more of what West Nipissing has to offer.
Barn quilts will dot the countryside, pleasing the eye with vibrant colours and designs, while showcasing some of the area’s older barns.
“This will encourage members of the community, as well as visitors to the area, to further enjoy West Nipissing’s beauty,” says Alicia Giroux, chair of the Beatification Committee for IPM 2019. “These giant quilts will stay up in our community for years to come.”
The International Plowing Match and Rural Expo is expected to attract about 80,000 visitors over a five-day span in September. There will be competitions, live entertainment at multiple Match venues, hundreds of exhibitors/vendors, themed-tents and a lot more.
Rural residents are encouraged to join in the Barn Quilt fun by creating their own in celebration of IPM 2019. To have your home included on the tour map, please send your name and address to ipm2019beautification@gmail.com by no later than July 26.
Barn quilts – 8-feet wide by 8-feet tall, made of wood and painted to resemble a quilt block – need to be installed prominently on West Nipissing barns and other buildings by mid-August.
With North Eastern Ontario as its theme, the trail already includes a number of creations from local artists and schools. Block patterns are: Bear Paw, Country Farm, Hunter’s Star, Milky Way, The North Star, Honey Bee, Old Snowflake, Country Roads, Darting Minnows, Sage Bud and Flock of Geese.
People who create their own Barn Quilts are asked to keep with the established theme.
Locations will be promoted online at www.barnquilttrails.ca and through social media, with potential for other avenues as well.
For more information:
Neil Fox
Chair, IPM 2019
705-753-5450, 705-471-5131
neil.fox@economicpartners.com
Catherine Levac-Lafond
Lead Co-ordinator, IPM 2019
705-753-6958
clevac-lafond@westnipissing.ca
Jean Beauchemin
Marketing Chair, IPM 2019
519-803-0940
jeanbeaucheminipm2019@gmail.com
Carole Lafenière-Noël
Media Relations, IPM 2019
media@ipm2019.com
Richard Vivian
Marketing and Communications Co-ordinator
Ontario Plowmen’s Association
519-767-2928
marketing@plowingmatch.org
Cathy Lasby
Executive Director
Ontario Plowmen’s Association
519-767-2928
cathy@plowmingmatch.org
