Lanark, North Leeds & Grenville - Hometown News April 2022

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Vol. 9

No. 4

YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER - LANARK, NORTH LEEDS & GRENVILLE

APRIL 2022

Smiths Falls family firm reaches 100-year milestone

In 2022 J. Quattrocchi & Co. reaches a significant milestone: a century in business. The company began with this grocery store which opened in Perth in 1922. Photo credit: Town of Smiths Falls.

Smiths Falls - Chris Must editorial@pd gmedia.ca Smiths Falls is home to a family business that has been around for as long as anyone can remember. In fact, J. Quattrocchi & Co. Ltd. has been around even longer than that: this year the company, founded in Perth in 1922, is 100 years old! Although the siblings who run the company have no special plans

to celebrate this milestone, office manager Fran Quattrocchi said this week, “We’ve reached 100 years by having great staff over the years.” Family patriarch Joseph Quattrocchi opened a grocery store in Perth 100 years ago. As the business grew, the family decided to establish a warehouse in Smiths Falls, due to the town’s status as a railway hub with the potential to

distribute fresh produce throughout Eastern Ontario. The initial decision to locate in Smiths Falls was made, said Fran, because the warehouse was located directly beside the rail line. “Trains would come right beside our warehouse.” Although grocery distribution had switched to from trains to transport trucks by the early 1980s

and the original rail line has been decommissioned, said Fran, Smiths Falls continues to be a prime location for distribution, being halfway between Kingston and Ottawa, and just 30 minutes from Brockville. Today J. Quattrocchi & Co. distributes food throughout the Ottawa Valley. In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, the company delivers food such as frozen fish, poultry, frozen food and other groceries. In addition to office manager Fran, family members involved in running the business include her brothers Vince (grocery department and dry goods); Joe (frozen foods and fresh meats); Jim (purchasing produce in Toronto); and cousin Joe (purchasing produce from local producers). The business employs about 45 people, some of whom have been with the company for 30 or 40 years. Over the past 100 years, and in spite of the financial ups and downs of the marketplace, one world war and a major fire in 2002 that destroyed a portion of the Smiths Falls warehouse, nothing has dampened the commitment of the Quattrocchi family, states the history section of the company website. In fact, throughout their years in business Quattrocchi has managed to not only keep pace with marketplace trends, but to excel above their competition and expand their business.

Continuing to operate a family business for over three generations in the face of large competitors has been possible, said Fran, because “We’ve always tried to give the best products and the best service.” Quattrocchi’s competitive edge in the food service industry stems from its commitment to providing quality products, excellent customer service and a competitive price structure. As a food distributor whose products must travel thousands of kilometres every day, Quattrocchi is a business that never sleeps, and a drive by the Smiths Falls warehouse at any time of the day or night will reveal a warehouse bustling with activity. Quattrocchi operates five-and– a-half days a week, taking Sundays off, said Fran. Over the years, the family business has not neglected to give back to the community. Fran noted that Quattrocchi supports the hospitals in Smiths Falls and Perth, as well as its next-door neighbour, the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario. Another former Smiths Falls business, Davidson’s Bread, reached a similar milestone – a century in business – around 1990. That company, now the site of Davidson’s Courtyard, was once the largest commercial bakery in Eastern Ontario.

Perth Festival of the Maples is back April 30 Perth - Chris Must editorial@pd gmedia.ca The Perth & District Chamber of Commerce has announced that the Festival of the Maples, an event which has drawn thousands of visitors to Perth since 1974, will be back in 2022. Held virtually during the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers are planning for a return to the in-person event that attracts over 20,000 visitors annually, Saturday, April 30. In a news release, chamber manager Tracey Raycroft said, “This free yearly event is really the grand finale of the syrup season. Our local producers are proud of their products and

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can’t wait to share them.” In addition to maple syrup producers, the festival features a wide array of artisan and food vendors, farm products, retail and community and charity exhibitors from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Raycroft said more than 100 vendors had registered by the April 1 deadline for registration. This year for the first time vendors will be set up along Foster Street as well as Gore Street. The festival will open with a pancake breakfast at the Perth Legion from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. The annual Classic and Antique Car Show takes place on Foster Street. Live entertainment will continue throughout the day on the festival’s main stage at

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the corner of Herriot and Gore Streets, and there will also be roaming entertainers. Another highlight of the day will be the Maplefest “sap tapping” and “wood cookie” challenge as two-person teams test their skills by drilling spile halls for sap buckets and compete to see who can saw through a log in the fastest time using old-time band saws. New activities are planned for the Tay Basin this year. The Perth Firefighters Association will be offering demonstrations of their Fire Dawgs sports programs for children. There will be a play park featuring bouncy rides, a rock-climbing wall and zip-line run by Ry-J’s Climbing Adven-

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Lanark County is known as the maple syrup capital of the world. Maple syrup producers from across the region will be well represented at the 2022 edition of the Festival of the Maples in Perth, set for April 30. Photo credit: Lanark County Tourism

tures as well as pony rides, a petting zoo and Korny Klown. The chamber is offering free

parking at the Perth Campus of Algonquin College with a shuttle service running to Gore Street.

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