"A special Christmas breakfast at Kanata Village"

Kanata Village in Brantford hosted a special Christmas breakfast fund raiser Saturday morning.

Approximately 40 breakfasts were served and co-manager of the popular site, Aaron Bell, considered the day a success.

"We had a good turnout," he said. "and we did raise some money to help towards the reconstruction of the longhouse."

Back on May 8th, arsonists burned a large section of the palisade and totally destroyed the 17th century longhouse replica - the center piece of the village.

"We are about 85 per cent complete on the first longhouse," he reports "and the second one we are hoping to finish by the end of January if funding is available."

Along with the great meal and bake sale, Bell presented some very informative and interesting stories for the visitors. There was a silent auction and raffles as well.

The Goarah Desgohwah White Pine Dance Troop were also on hand to entertain. Despite the devastating fire, tours to the Traditional Iroquois Village are up.

At first there were a few cancellations but as construction on the new longhouse began, visitors seemed to be very interested in seeing it as it was being built and the numbers actually grew.

"We have been booked solid since September right through until the end of December," said Bell. A number of European tour packages have been hosted by the Village with half-day tours, full day and even overnight immersion programs where visitors sleep in the longhouse itself.