About The Canadian Gourd Society

We have gourders all across Canada, though unfortunately many gourders work on their own.  We now have free membership for Canadian Gourd Society members in the hope that more independent gourders will join and receive our newsletter.  We receive a number of requests each year from gourders looking for someone near them to gourd with.  Without your information, we cannot make the connections that are needed to put gourders together.  We would love to have a more complete list of avid gourd growers as well as gourd artists.  The Kawartha Gourders are able to meet and gourd weekly in Peterborough. This group started in 2007 with only 3 members, membership currently is 12 active members in 2022.  Working together gives the opportunity to share tools and ideas wherever you are.  If you are not a member yet, please join us.  We are here to help you in any way we can.

History of the Canadian Gourd Society

February 8th, 1999 was a significant day for the Canadian Gourd Society.  This was the very first meeting of what would quickly become a place for a craft which predates history as we know it.  Eight people attended, all growers and artisans, and all had been working with the little known gourd.  Instrumental in the development of the CGS was Darienne McAuley.  Darienne had been working with gourds for 4 years by this time and in April 1999, the first newsletter was published. Inundated with enthusiasm, the membership started to grow and now we have members from all across Canada and the US.

Our membership is diverse consisting of people from all walks of life. We meet a few times a year at venues which include the annual Canadian Gourd Society Festival (GourdFest), workshops, exhibits and demonstrations.  We now publish a quarterly newsletter, Canadian Gourder, which is both educational and intriguing and is packed full of techniques and upcoming events. To submit articles, or comments for the Newsletter please send to our Newsletter Editor Sharron Anstey
Interested in becoming a member? Click here to join!