For more than 100 years the Ponoka Agriculture Society has hosted a county fair, bringing the community together to celebrate agriculture.
This year the fair was held Aug. 9 to 11 in two locations to give entrants in the Home, Hobby and Horticultural Show at the Ponoka Legion, a chance to show off their work in one space, says Sherry Gummow, president of the ag society. The fair showcased agility dogs, a ranch rodeo and other entertainment for the family at the Calnash Ag Event Centre.
“It was the county fair. The people there had a good time,” said Gummow. “There was lots of people having fun.”
Although numbers have been down for the last two years the purpose of the fair is to bring together members of the rural community and a chance at bragging rights for their bench show entries. For Gummow, there was not much chance to sit down and enjoy the fair as she and other organizers were kept busy ensuring a smooth operation. She feels the weather played a factor in the number of attendees as it was one of the first warm weekends of the summer.
“When you’re putting it on, you’ve got your head down and tail up,” said Gummow.
Unfortunately the day before the fair, Gummow received a call the lumberjack show was cancelled as there was a death in the family of the lumberjacks.
Despite the cancellation the ag society worked on keeping families entertained.
Conveners and entrants of the bench show enjoyed the new location at the Ponoka Legion, says convener Donna Rudd. “We’re just very happy with how things went this year.”
Entries in most categories were up and she was pleased to see many youths putting in their fruits, artwork and crafts.
“We have a lot of participants,” she added.
To accommodate those attending, a horse drawn wagon was used to transport attendees from the legion to the ag centre. Kids were able to catch a ride to the ag centre to enjoy the bouncy houses and sumo wrestling activities.
Also at the centre was a farm safety display to educate children about what keeps a farm safe. There was cookie decorating and even greased pig catching.
Rainbow the Clown kept kids entertained with his jokes and balloon making.
A community church service at the curling rink was held Aug. 11, closed out the weekend.
More fair photos in this week’s edition of the Ponoka News.