If you like everything Apple Blossom, you’re going to love what’s coming up in the next week or so. For the past several months, I’ve been working on a landmark pictorial book to celebrate the Festival’s 75th anniversary.

The book – Small Communities, Big Dreams: 75 years of the historic Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival – should hit the streets May 22 and I’d be lying if I said I’m not excited about this project.

It all began over a year ago when our Group Publisher, Caroline Andrews, looked ahead and saw the potential for the book in conjunction with the 75th anniversary of the Festival. She floated the idea to Festival president Sally Swanburg Wallace and VP Cathy Briggs and the rest, as they say, is history.

The project was given an enthusiastic green light and it fell to yours truly to assemble the nuts and bolts. I had never participated in an undertaking as ambitious as this and the challenge was intriguing.

Thankfully, there were several local avenues of inquiry that proved to be propitious, namely the Kings County Museum and its curator, Bria Stokesbury; Acadia University and its chief archivist Pat Townsend; Frankie Anderson, office manager, general secretary and resource extraordinaire for the Apple Blossom Festival; and our own in-house staff, whose combined experience locally amounts to over 100 years and then some.

Our production team of Alison Ross, Birgitta Guy and Andrea Burbidge were outstanding in rendering the book and Sally’s and Cathy’s support, encouragement and insight refined the product.

What you’ll see is a wonderful pictorial history that offers photographic images from the first Festival in 1933 to the present day, divided into three distinct sections: The Early Years; Growth and Change; Today and Tomorrow.

It’s a limited edition text, 88 pages, full colour save for the pictures that were shot in black and white during the early years, and available for pre-purchase online at NovaNewsNow.com and www.appleblossom.com (the Festival’s website).

The great thing is, we won’t make a dime: 50 per cent of the profits will go the Festival and 50 per cent to local charities.

We believe the Festival has given a great deal to this region and it’s incumbent on us to continue that tradition in the successful execution of this unique publication. Order now, grab a piece of history and support local charities to boot!

As well, we just wrapped last week on this year’s Official Apple Blossom Festival Souvenir Edition, which we anticipate will also be a keeper in years to come.

It’s brimming with colourful images and packed with information about this year’s Festival. As an added bonus, we hope you’ll enjoy our Find the Diamond contest that could net you wonderful prizes donated by Herbin’s Jewellers in Wolfville and D.M. Reid Jewellers in Kentville.

The ads in this year’s Souvenir Edition have diamonds hidden in them. All you have to do is find the diamond, note the ad and then go online to the Festival website noted above to post your entry. There are 75 to honour this year’s anniversary and if you find them all, you could be a winner. We think it’ll be fun, and a great way to celebrate the Festival’s diamond anniversary.

So keep your eyes peeled over the next couple of weeks as these products find their way to local stores, agencies and into your homes. The Festival is just around the corner and we hope you’re primed and ready to make this year’s event truly memorable.