Our group dined at Warfields as our tour drew to a close / Photo: Clark Hoskin

Staying on the theme of supporting rural and small businesses, the final leg of our trip took us west via Highway 5/20 to the town of Clifton Springs. Instead of eating our dinner at a service centre food court on the Interstate, our last stop of the tour was Warfields, a restaurant and bakery.

The tour of the Finger Lakes by rural small business owners from Norfolk County, Canada, was organized by Norfolk County Tourism & Economic Development and sponsored by Ontario’s Southwest Tourism.

We were greeted by Jamie Noga of the Clifton Springs Chamber of Commerce, who thanked the group for supporting this small town, with its history of sulphur springs with curative powers. In fact, the town’s hospital is located next to the historic Clifton Springs Sanitorium Company, built in 1850 to provide primary and specialty care to the people of the Finger Lakes.

“I found it very interesting to hear that other towns have had similar problems with revitalizing what should be the hub of the community. It was good to know that it could be done with the right organizations all working together to build and promote the cores in their counties.” – comment from one of our participants

The group enjoyed an excellent meal coordinated by Warfields’ Banquet Manager, Diane Fabiaszak, and prepared by Chef Phil Yautzy. Four dinner options were provided for our group to choose from, and many guests purchased pastries and cookies at the bakery after dinner.

Finger Lakes sign / Photo: Clark Hoskin

Our group bade farewell to the Finger Lakes and headed back to Canada. The bus arrived at the Norfolk County Fairgrounds after 11 p.m. on March 4.

Read Part 14 to find out what happened after the tour!

See photos of the trip on the Invest in Norfolk facebook page.

Finger Lakes Study Tour blog posts

• Part 1: Wine & Culinary Centre | Technology Farm
• Part 2: Winewagen Tours
• Part 3: Weaverview Farms | Milly’s Pantry
• Part 4: Yates County Arts Centre | Finger Lakes Ec Dev
• Part 5: Climbing Bines Hop Yard & Brewery
• Part 6: Wiemer Vineyards | Glenora Cellars
• Part 7: Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel | Ice Bar
• Part 8: Finger Lakes Distilling
• Part 9: Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Ithaca Commons
• Part 10: Americana Vineyards
• Part 11: Seneca County Army Depot
• Part 12: Seneca Falls
• Part 13: Warfields Restaurant
• Part 14: Debriefing at The Combine

(c) 2015 Clark Hoskin