After almost 80 years of volunteers slicing onions and slinging an untold number of burgers, the Kinette Food Booth at the Alberni District Fall Fair is closed.
On July 1, 2025 Barbie Kalugin—one of four members of the Kinette Club of Port Alberni—began clearing out the food booth and listing the equipment for sale online. She said it was heartbreaking.
"The Kinette Club is 85 years old. They built the original food booth but it was wood and burned down," Kalugin said. A scrapbook detailing the first few decades of the club mentions the "first Fall Fair held" in 1946, and that a Fall Fair committee comprising sewing and cooking divisions was formed.
An undated newspaper article about the Kinettes' 25th anniversary mentions that members have handled the concession stand since 1946. There are other mentions about a building fund after the first wooden concession burned and the Kinettes paid for a cinder-block building to replace the original concession. That is the existing building, Kalugin said.
The food booth has always been the main fundraiser for the Kinette Club. In four days of the fair, they clear $20,000 after expenses. That money then goes back into the community to support other non-profit organizations or groups that serve the community, Kalugin explained.
While the club's membership is small, they have had up to 120 volunteers who work rotating shifts at the fair every year, she said.
The only times the food booth did not operate were two years during the COVID-19 pandemic when the fair went virtual and a health inspector recommended staying closed because of the close quarters. Then there was last year, when a last-minute fire inspection by the Port Alberni Fire Department deemed the building wasn't up to code because it didn't have a fire suppression system. The Kinette Club did not have time to find, pay for and install a new system before the fair opened, so they were forced to close.
The Kinette Food Booth was not the only concession to undergo and fail the fire inspection in 2024: others in the international food fair were forced to make last minute changes too. The Chinese food booth operated by volunteers from the Chinese Canadian Society had to make some last-minute changes in order to operate. Van Wong in a letter sent to the Alberni Valley News in 2024 said the Chinese society had one day to either comply or shut down. They were able to make temporary fixes and open for the fair.
Steve Kalugin, Barbie's husband, said he had already started getting quotes on fire suppression systems and making arrangements to have one installed in time for the 2025 Fall Fair. Then on Jan. 24, 2025 Barbie Kalugin received a letter from the Alberni District Fall Fair Association (ADFF) saying the board had decided to permanently close the food booth.
In an unsigned statement sent to the Alberni Valley News on behalf of the fall fair association and posted on the ADFF Facebook page, the board confirmed that the Kinette concession will be "permanently closed and re-commissioned as part of the organization's broader plan to modernize and improve fairgrounds infrastructure."
The statement explains that the decision to close the booth was made in January 2025 "after review of ongoing safety, regulatory and logistical challenges related to the structure."
In a followup phone interview, ADFF president Mitch Gardner, also a member of the Kinsmen of Port Alberni, confirmed the board's decision. (He said contrary to the Jan. 24 letter, though, the board will not be using the decommissioned concession as a carpentry workshop. He reiterated it will not re-open as a concession).
"It's been a challenging decision, with respect to what the board decided. I respect Barb and Steve (Kalugin) as well," Gardner said.
"The board deemed it was in the best interest to work on ways to make the fair more viable." And that means finding a different way to use the space. When the food booth did not open last year the ADFF was able to find food vendors to place around the building.
While he acknowledged the Kinsmen and Kinettes started the Fall Fair—in fact, the building where the Fall Fair association has its office is referred to as the "Kin Hut"—Garner said the Kinettes have no legal claim on the building. "They don't have title to it. It's city property leased to the Alberni District Fall Fair Association.
"It's a building that's on the grounds but they don't have any legal title to it."
Gardner says upkeep and maintenance was paid for by the ADFF over the years, including a new roof.
Kalugin counters that, saying the Kinettes pay $1,800 every year and had a "gentleman's agreement" to run the concession every year. She said the Kinettes paid for some work, added a security gate and painted the building every time the fall fair association requested it.
Gardner said he could not address the "ongoing safety, regulatory and logistical challenges." Kalugin said the only safety issue the Kinettes were aware of was the fire suppression system, which they were addressing until they received the letter.
Steve Kalugin posted in a social media post that "all permits and licenses to operate by members and helpers are current. The Kinettes have bought and paid for all equipment and maintenance required..."
The Kinettes have until July 15 to empty the building. Kalugin said some of the equipment will be loaned to the Nanaimo Kinsmen group that opened a small food booth in the international food fair last year, and intend to open it again this September.
As for the food booth building, Gardner said a long-term plan hasn't been decided. "Access to utilizing the space around it was (important) and it...will generate more money for the fair."
