Kawartha Lakes Country Living Show: Big event in Fenelon Falls

The Kawartha Lakes Country Living Show in Fenelon Falls can be credited with providing a great time for a lot of people, but it can also apparently cure ophidiophobia – that would be a fear of snakes. Well, at least it worked out that way for Shannon Bain, manager of the Fenelon Falls and District Chamber of Commerce.

Bain has been involved with the Kawartha Lakes Country Living Show in some way each year since moving up from Toronto six years ago. The first year that she was there, it was with her real estate brokerage.

“I was squirmy every time I passed by the busy petting zoo they had that year,” she remembers. She had been afraid of snakes ever since she stepped on one as a kid.

“I must have been talking about this at the booth because my broker just shot up and declared it was time I touched the snake – and I did,” she says.

“I wore that super docile snake around my neck and felt like a new person.”

So that’s how Bain credits the Country Living Show with curing her fear of snakes.

The local Chamber, located at the top of Lock 34, started and organized this event 34 years ago. Proceeds from the show form an important part of the Chamber’s operating budget.

“Many of our tourism initiatives directly benefit from the success of the show.”

Events like this help to promote, expose and showcase the incredible companies that are available in Fenelon Falls and Kawartha Lakes, she says.

“We aren’t a community of mega, international companies. Most of the business marketing around here is done through networking, by referral and reputation.”

Bain would describe the Country Living Show as a small business conference in a way, where businesses can test their products and consumers can compare services and offerings.

This year, it’s being held Friday, April 27 through to Sunday, April 29. It’s held at the Fenelon Falls Community Centre on 27 Veterans Way. Admission is free.

Tim Wisener is committee chair for the Kawartha Lakes Country Living Show. He’s also a business owner, with his Fenelon Falls-based business known as Home by Tim and Chris. It’s a full service design build firm, going right from home concept all the way through to the building and then decorating stages.

He says what he loves most about the Country Living Show is “the sheer variety of vendors.”

“We have everything you could need for your home or cottage, like builders, designers, HVAC, plumbers, electricians, appliances, and so on but we also have the things you wouldn’t expect like the curling club, the flag guy, the sock lady, the golf course, a group of fine artists, a sailing club and the Barn and Bunkie artisans showing their wares.”

This year, Wisener says the show will be bigger than ever, with new vendors showing model cottages, a restaurant you can sit and enjoy lunch at, free experiences and giveaways and maybe even some free food.

“Everyone is welcome and we encourage the whole family to come out and enjoy the show.”