Sadness, but satisfaction reflecting on Schomberg Fair

Dennis O'Hara congratulates Patt Ward of Schomberg.on winning this an ornamental Holstein cow.

The following article was submitted by the Schomberg Agricultural Society.

It's the beginning of June, which sadly means that the Schomberg Fair has come and gone.

Fortunately for the many volunteers and exhibitors, Mother Nature co-operated for the most part and the 157th Schomberg Agricultural Spring Fair was a success, as was evident by the smiles of the people who came through the gates and enjoyed all that the Fair had to offer this year.

This year's theme featured the dairy cow, and cows and milk products could be found everywhere on the grounds. Many volunteers worked tirelessly to exhibit dairy-related information and products, including in the milk tent at the front gate next to our alldairy commercial cattle display. Our Farmers' Olympics included a milking contest, and in the arena, Maple the Mechanical Cow was on display for all to test out their hand-milking skills.

This year, the Schomberg Agricultural Society held a raffle with the grand prize being an ornamental Holstein cow which was won by Patt Ward of Schomberg.

Thanks again to the dairy farm families in our area who opened up their farms allowing the public to visit and learn about the dairy industry in March. Our area is very fortunate to be home to many dairy farms, which were opened to the public for our third annual farm tour. More than 400 people visited each of the four farms on the tour. Heartfelt thanks to the Sheardown, O'Hara, Phillips and Kolb families who not only opened their farms for the tour, but also organized many of the dairy displays and events over Fair weekend.

Our corporate sponsors play a crucial role in supporting the Schomberg Agricultural Society. We wish to extend a very heartfelt thank you to all of our corporate sponsors. Your ongoing support is vital to the continuation of the society and to the return of the Fair each year. Please remember that we welcome new sponsors and if you would like to become a corporate sponsor, we would love to hear from you.

Congratulations to the eight local bands who participated in the Showcase of Bands in the Big Tent Thursday and Saturday evenings. The Showcase featured some of the best local rock 'n roll talent our area has to offer and was a big hit for our younger crowd.

The stage featured nonstop entertainment of local talent, singers, dancers, fiddlers and much more kept the bleachers full throughout the weekend. We can't forget to mention the first Schomberg Idol contest, which has been a huge success this year. Congratulations to Laura Grossi of Bolton for being chosen the first ever Idol.

Year after year, the demolition derby draws a huge crowd Friday evening, and this year was no exception. Congratulations to all the winners.

The Fair would not be the same without the grand parade kicking off Saturday's events. From one end to the other, visitors could cheer on the young pedal pull competitors and in the show ring, the heavy horses were as majestic as ever. We were specially entertained by the Ladies Belgian Mounted Brigade; a truly entertaining showcase of teamwork between riders and their mounts.

This year's Fair saw the return of many crowd pleasing events. Fairgoers were entertained by Tall Tex the stilt walker, the CNE mascot Alex the Beaver, displays of antique farm equipment, modern farm equipment and the Ontario Pork Producer's Porkmobile and the Chicken Producer's Chickenmobile, and the Dog Smart Canine Show.

Saturday evening, the bleachers were full for the fifth annual Farmers' Olympics with six teams competing. Congratulations to The Wannabees (Fair board members, Mo, Debbie and Dave Blanchard and Aaron Metcalfe) for winning the big trophy this year. At the other end of the grounds, the Vintage Tractor Pull followed the Farmers' Olympics with more than 30 entries. A special award was presented this year to the Best Vintage Tractor. The Albert Baker Memorial award was presented by Linda Baker to Alex Mackenzie of Alliston.

On Sunday, the show ring was home to both the 4-H Junior Dairy Show as well as the Junior and Open Beef Show, competing in side-byside rings. Weather did not deter our Junior Dairy exhibitors and we are very pleased that in keeping with our fair theme, our Junior Dairy Show hosted the highest number of exhibitors ever, with 24 bringing their prize-winning animals to the Fair. Although not our largest, our Beef show featured an exceptional display of animals as well. Congratulations to this year's winner of the Peter Sutherland Memorial Trophy for the Overall Champion Beef and Dairy Showperson was Andy Den Haan of Loretto, with the Reserve award going to Melanie Gollinger of Lisle.

We can't forget our Sheep, Goat and Rabbit shows, which have grown over the past few years with exhibitors coming from near and far to enter their prizewinning animals.

Family Fun Day included something for everyone. Babies from far and wide competed in the 30th Brownsville Junction Baby Show. Many fine youngsters came out for this year's competition with many local winners having baby show boasting rights. Pets and Mutts strutted their stuff and kids of all ages competed in other Family Fun Day events such as running races, sack and three-legged races. The ball diamond was busy with teams competing in the horseshoe pitch contest.

The Schomberg Fair Ambassador contest featured two competitors for the title of 2007 Schomberg Fair Ambassador. These young people participate in a number of events throughout the weekend and display the many characteristics of wonderful youth ambassadors. Congratulations to Melba McKinley for winning the 2007 Ambassador Competition. Keep an eye out for Melba as she represents the Schomberg Agricultural Society at many events over the next year.

We also wish to take this opportunity to thank 2006 Ambassador Jennifer Atkinson for representing our organization very proudly over the past year. We wish Jennifer much luck when she competes at the CNE Ambassador of the Fairs competition in August.

Every year, students at our local schools work very hard on their entries for the Schoolwork Section and this year was no exception. High points earned Schomberg Public School the Champion School trophy. Congratulations also go to our Junior Schoolwork champion Kaitlyn Kerek and Senior Schoolwork champion Johnny Kennedy.

Many thanks to all of the Homecraft exhibitors and volunteers who put on an exceptional display of horticulture, arts and crafts, schoolwork, antiques, baking, needlework and much more. Our special homecraft events this year included the return of the garbage barrel decorating contest as well as a celebrity cooking competition, featuring many of our local dignitaries. Not to be missed either were the commercial farm entries, library display, and 4-H Ontario youth displays.

The Schomberg Agricultural Society is a proud member of the Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies. If you enjoyed all that you saw and did at the 157th Schomberg Fair, we remind everyone that there are well over 200 agricultural fairs throughout Ontario every weekend from now through Thanksgiving. To find out more information on dates and events, visit www.ontariofairs.com

Well, the grounds are empty and the Worlds' Finest Shows midway has moved on, but the fun and memories of the 2007 Schomberg Agricultural Fair will be talked about for months to come.

The 2007 Schomberg Agricultural Society directors and volunteers thank everyone who came out to our Fair and helped to keep the giant wheel turning and keep our event a huge success every year.