Celebrating 100 years of agriculture was felt throughout the Ponoka County Fair Aug. 8 to 10 with many great activities representing the past and future of agriculture. More than 1,500 people attended the fair experiencing two pancake breakfasts, Rainbow the Clown making tons of balloons, a barrel train that never stopped, horse shows, cattle sorting and a full bench show.
President of the Ponoka Agricultural Society Sherry Gummow was very pleased with the turnout to the fair.
“I think it went really well. The barrel train went continuously, Rainbow the Clown was absolutely a hit,” said Gummow. “Overall we had good or better entries in the bench show and several divisions were up including agriculture, junior agriculture, landscaping and photography.”
Gummow thought that domestic arts such as baking and canning were down but that is a trend, which unfortunately is hard to reverse. She was also surprised with the amount of people at the awards presentation. Her favourite part was looking at the flowers and some of the unique crafts that people had created.
Gwen Andrews thought the fair and bench show were great and that it gives people a chance to explore others’ creations.
“I like the good variety and the stuff that the kids created,” said Andrews. “It gives people ideas and encourages people to try new ideas. Especially in our rush society people need to slow down and relax.”
Margaret Martin won top marigold and entered because one of her neighbours encouraged her to enter and thinks that next year she will enter more items.
“I like to go around and look at the different things at the bench show because people make amazing things,” said Martin. “I really like gardening because you go out there and relax and let the rest of the world go. It’s really mental therapy.”
Nancy Gordon had one of the best dahlias in the show, a large dinner plate tubar dahlia. She planted it early in a pot in her house and re-planted it after the scare of frost was gone. She likes coming to the fair but thinks it would have been nice if there were more entries.
“I think there are not enough entries and we the people have to support the fair to make it a good fair,” said Gordon. “People who grow and make artwork and sew they like to show their work too.”
Ron Robinson has been the convener for the agriculture division for the last 15 years and Edith Williams assisted this year. Robinson placed first in wheat, first in second cut alfalfa and second in sweet clover.
“It’s a lot of work but still rewarding. It was a pretty good show,” said Robinson. “The agriculture division is for the rural people and it’s a learning experience for the children. It shows what is grown and educates people.”
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