Over 200 people attended Brantford Native Housing’s (BNH) annual Strawberry Social at Mohawk Park on Tuesday, June 16, 2026.
While the organization has hosted the event and other socials for many years previously, this year marked the fourth annual Strawberry Social since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Lacey Stevens, BNH Community and Communications Coordinator, said she and the rest of the team were thrilled to welcome everyone back to the event.
“As soon as we wrapped up last year’s event, I was already thinking ‘we should try this next year, and we should try that,’ so, I’ve been really excited to plan for this, and so far it’s gone really great,” she said. “It’s a nice opportunity to see a bunch of our tenants and different members of the community come together. Everybody just gets along so well, and is happy to be here so it’s always a really fun time.”
Throughout the event, attendees had the opportunity to enjoy free beef and chicken on a bun, and fresh strawberry juice from CA Culinary Services, and dance along to social songs.
“We also changed it up a bit this year and decided to include both Haudenosaunee social singers and Anishinaabe big drum singers, which is really nice to have and include everyone,” said Stevens.
Youngsters in attendance watched in awe or danced around the drummers, while others played with strawberry balloons outside.
In between enjoying food and socializing with others, many guests took the opportunity to shop from the various vendors on site like Urban Bead Kin, Sweet Treats by Chloe, City Girl Beader, and Burning’s Beaded Expressions.
From beaded jewellery to make-make-you-own pens and rawhide rattles, cake pops, strawberry themed goodies, and orange shirt pin kits, there were plenty of ways to support the local vendors.
“Since we’ve had such a great turnout in previous years, we thought we would include some vendors at the event,” said Stevens. “Some of them actually attend our Tuesday evening programming and decided to set up today so that’s really nice to see them showcasing some of their beautiful creations. We even had some of them donate pieces as prizes for spot dances, which was very generous of them and we’re excited to give those away.”
Qualia Counselling Services, Onkwehón:we Health Check-in and Gihekdagye Friendship Centre were also onsite to engage with the community, while BNH raffled off door prizes including a barbeque tool kit, pickleball set, plant kit, and picnic set.
Overall, Stevens said she was happy to see how many people turned up to the event.
“This is an event where the staff really comes together to plan and run the day to benefit everyone, and it’s just really gratifying to work together like that for the community,” she said. “Having our tenants, our transitional and our supportive clients come together is awesome, it’s like bringing all our clientele together, and celebrating tradition and culture. It’s just really nice.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
