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In the Pembina Valley, summer means festival season.
From the early favourite, the Carman Fair, to the Harvest Festival in Winkler and the Altona Sunflower Festival (to name a few), each weekend-long occasion provides opportunities for bustling community spaces, lively music, and the food that defines summer.
Something else the region’s festivities share is that they couldn’t happen without a large number of volunteers and workers who are instrumental to their processes.
One example is Dale Suderman, who has been working at Morden’s Corn & Apple Festival, the biggest street festival in the province, for 14 years now.
A job since the age of 12
Suderman has been a waste collector at Morden's beloved street event since he was 12 years old.
He is a part of a large body of volunteers and workers who help make festival season into a seamless experience for fairgoers in the Pembina Valley.
For Suderman, it began with a family connection.
“During the summer, we were in town here [and] my uncle had offered me a job to work for the Corn & Apple, and my mom thought it would be a good idea just to get some experience in,” he said.
Working at the festival has become even more of a family affair for Suderman since he got his start — his siblings have also helped provide the essential removal service on the fairgrounds throughout the years.
How many tonnes of refuse?
Although Suderman enjoys his job, he admits that the physicality of lugging garbage and recycling around the fair is a challenge.
It's no small feat.
According to General Manager Chris Abrams, over the course of the Corn & Apple weekend from August 22nd to the 24th, a noteworthy 16 tonnes of compost, recycling, and waste were collected by MWM Environmental.
Abrams said that there were 17 six-yard bins on the streets of Morden during the festival. One day, 33 bins were dumped, another saw 25, and the final day, 19.
The general manager added that one of the workers walked over 60,000 steps (an equivalent of 40km) inspecting the bins throughout the weekend to ensure everything was emptied.
For Suderman, apart from the sheer amount of refuse to handle, there was also the amount left on the street, which offered its own challenge.
Unfortunately, it was here that the wasps and insects gathered.
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Though it isn’t a glamorous task to clean up the items and their unfriendly companions, Suderman’s willingness to tackle it each year stems from a desire to protect children and other vulnerable individuals from wasp stings and insect bites.
Serving the community
In the end, Suderman’s reason for returning to help at the Corn & Apple Festival for 14 years in a row is simple — he views it as an opportunity to give back to the community and be a part of it.
He said that he enjoys working with his coworkers and getting to know them.
It also brings Suderman joy to see festivalgoers embracing the atmosphere of the Corn & Apple.
“I like to see people have fun and enjoy themselves,” he said.
The next festival on the circuit — in which volunteers and workers also play a significant role — is Manitou’s Honey, Garlic, and Maple Syrup Festival.
With files from Robyn Wiebe