To the Editor:

On Thursday June 27, a group of 47 diners from across the North Country community enjoyed a lovely evening of delicious food and friendship in celebration of GardenShare, a local organization that promotes local food security for all of St. Lawrence County residents. The seated dinner was held outside on the beautiful grounds of St. Lawrence Nurseries https://www.slngrow.com/, just south of the village of Potsdam on Rt. 56. 

Proprietors Connor and Alyssa Hardiman, who took over the nursery in 2015 and recently moved it to its new location, were in attendance. Dinner was prepared and served by the talented staff at Big Spoon Kitchenhttps://bigspoonpotsdam.com/, and consisted of a creative, multi-course menu crafted from local ingredients provided by Brandy View Farm, Madrid; Cedar Hedge Farm, Lowville; Kent Family Growers, Madrid; Martin’s Farmstand, Potsdam; and Theobald Farm, Potsdam. Martin Bregg and Larry Goodspeed, from Bregg Winery in Norfolk, were on hand to offer a variety of their handcrafted wines produced from locally grown fruits.

I would like to publicly thank all who devoted their time and talent to put this fabulous fundraising dinner together – the early summer evening spent in such a beautiful location among new friends and old was memorable. This was the first of a 3-part GardenShare Dinner Series planned for this summer. The second dinner will be provided by Foster the Plant, on Thursday August 22nd at the Dobisky Center in Ogdensburg, and the third by the Blue House Wednesday October 9 in the Madrid Community Center. To register for a dinner,  GardenShare has a long history of addressing hunger in St. Lawrence County by ensuring everyone who lives here has access to nutritious local food grown right here in the North Country. I encourage you to come out and support the important work of this local nonprofit organization. For more information, or to register for a dinner, visit https://gardenshare.org/.

Jan DeWaters
Potsdam
GardenShare volunteer