Another year, another adventure for the brave souls who boarded a school bus from East Van to Powell River, another dash for the ferries and another legendary visit to the Sunshine Coast. Thanks again to Cedric and the Townsite Brew Crew for hosting a pre-festival cask event and brewery tour where we met up with dignitaries visiting from CAMRA Victoria Branch and the CAMRA BC Exec.
Paddy and his team put a huge amount of work into the event and it went off beautifully (except for P49 who had a bit of a nightmare with their jockey box) and we had the pleasure to present the inaugural CAMRA BC Awards to four lucky winners.
The Lifetime achievement award winners were John and Carol Rowling, for their years of work in CAMRA BC and GCBF. Unfortunately they were not able to attend in person so CAMRA BC President Maureen Blaseckie accepted on their behalf.
The Community Activism award went to the Townsite Brew Crew for their excellent work including their growler program which has raised close to $20,000 for non-profits over the last 2 years. This month CAMRA BC – Powell River Branch is the recipient of a dollar from every growler fill at their taproom! If you know of a non-profit on the Sunshine Coast, get in touch with them as they are taking nominations for 2015. Speaking of 2015, anyone joining CAMRA Powell River between now and Christmas will receive “beer for a year” from Townsite, now that’s what I call community activism!
The Innovator award was given to James Walton of Storm Brewing for his unique “brainstorm” brews, and unconventional brewing style brewery. I’m happy that he received this award as we all celebrate Storm’s 20th birthday and its place as one of the most influential breweries in BC history.
Finally the Volunteer of the year Award was presented by me to my good friend Monica Frost for her work doing double duty as Communications Director for both CAMRA BC and CAMRA Vancouver and for the beloved CAMRA newsletter that she puts hours into every time.
Congratulations again Monica, we are all so proud of you and thankful for all the hard work you put in.
The festival ticket included a huge pork feast of pulled pork and sausages made from a pig donated by the farm that feeds them on spent grain and hops from the Townsite brewery, delicious!
After the festival we packed the School bus with 70+ people and drove out of town to the Red Lion pub who had put a cask on for the evening, suffice to say it didn’t last long and after a few hours we returned to Townsite and the haunted Rodmay Hotel’s bar – Mckinney’s for drink and a dance until the early hours.
Thanks again to Paddy and the Powell River team, Townsite Brew Crew, Studio 56, Thomas Henry of Surrey Charter Bus, everyone in Powell River for making us all so welcome and everyone who made the trip by sea and air to this wonderful city.
Adam Chatburn,
President, CAMRA BC – Vancouver Branch
More photos available for viewing here.
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