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The Citizen, 2017-02-09, Page 9THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2017. PAGE 9. Countdown to I?j9,, Brussels Ag. Society hopes to inspire others with fair Feeding the masses Just days after their biggest project of the year, the Brussels Fall Fair, the Brussels Agricultural Society was at it again, cooking for hundreds of people who made their way from Wellington County to Brussels as part of the first-ever torch -passing in International Plowing Match history last September. Don Chesher, left, and President Matt Cardiff, right, led the way as the society staged its first of many fundraisers to ensure the 2017 fair will be a success. (File photo) Continued from page 8 the IPM begins and people start pouring through the event gates. Both Schlosser and Cummings acknowledge that the Sunday and Monday of the week will be challenging and stressful for those involved with the society, but believe the extra work will be worth it when the finished product is on display. While Cardiff is confident that society members will be able to carry out this momentaneous task on their own, the pool of IPM volunteers has also been made available if they need them. In addition, members of other local agricultural societies, sensing the size of the task at hand, have volunteered their time to help when September rolls around. One of the biggest helping hands, however, came when Brussels Agromart came on as an event - specific sponsor for the Brussels Fall Fair at this year's IPM. Doug Koch from the Agromart said that the company has a long history of supporting the local fair and this year took that support to the next level in order to ensure its success at the IPM. He said it has always been important for owners Merle and Rhonda Hoegy that they support the community that supports them through their business. Bishop said the Hoegy family was one of the first sponsors to come on board, decorating some of the company's trucks with the IPM logo as early as last spring. In addition to the company's monetary donation, it will also provide in-kind services to help make the fair a success. Koch said that it was important for the Agromart to sponsor the fall fair because of its educational aspect. Teaching children about agriculture will secure the future of the industry. Cardiff is a young man who has grown up around the Brussels Fall Fair and he's part of a family with a rich history of involvement with the Brussels Agricultural Society, but he knows that not all children, even locally, have those opportunities now. "The fall fair is important to try and keep that rural lifestyle and tradition alive," Cardiff said. "Young people these days don't necessarily grow up with that, so any chance we have to expose them to that is good." He said he hopes that the fair reaching tens of thousands of people this fall will encourage people who didn't necessarily grow up in the world of fall fairs and the rural lifestyle to pick up a hobby the fair encourages and to help keep the tradition alive. Cardiff also said he feels the fair plays a strong role in building communities. When someone goes to the fall fair, they get to see what their neighbours have been up to, A crucial partnership The Brussels Agricultural Society and Brussels Agromart came together ahead of this year's Brussels Fall Fair that will be hosted at the 2017 International Plowing Match in Walton. The Agromart, owned by Merle and Rhonda Hoegy, right, has always been a big sponsor of the fair, but this year they wanted to ensure the society's initiative was well rewarded. From left: Agricultural Society Secretary/Treasurer Brian Schlosser, President Matt Cardiff and Merle and Rhonda Hoegy. (Photo submitted) what their talents are and what they're capable of. With the fair being held at the IPM this year, that authentic, rural community spirit can be spread to tens of thousands of people. "A lot of what the fair is about is the culmination of a year's work in rural Ontario," he said. There will be some aspects of the fair, however, that will have to fall by the wayside in 2017 for logistical reasons such as the parade. However, organizers are working hard to create a familiarity inside the Brussels Fall Fair tent that will resonate with those who have attended the fair for years. Bringing the Brussels Fall Fair to a potential 125,000 people will be no small task. In terms of sheer time, the fair is normally a two-day affair and for the IPM it will be expanded to five days. Cardiff is confident in the group, however, because he thinks the massive task of the 12 months from the 2016 fair until the 2017 fair has already begun. There was, of course, the 2016 Brussels Fair, which was followed closely by the society sponsoring a first-ever passing of the torch from the Wellington County IPM to the 2017 IPM in September, which involved a tractor parade and an evening of food and entertainment at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. Cardiff said that some felt it was crazy to take on such a large event just days after the 2016 fair, but he knew the society was capable of pulling it off. The event would turn out to be a huge success. In recent months, the society has been hosting a number of fundraising events to ensure they have the means to host the fair at the IPM, which have demanded additional volunteer hours from society members, but those have also been successes, including the society's first-ever ladies night and a children's event, which together raised thousands for the organization. The fall fair will always be the society's primary focus, Cardiff said, but in the 12 months between September 2016 and 2017, the fair will be just one more challenge worth the effort for a more -than - capable group of dedicated volunteers wanting to show off their community. Schlosser views the opportunity in a similar way as Cardiff, saying he hopes that what the Brussels Fall Fair is doing at this year's IPM will strengthen the fabric of fall fairs across the entire province thanks to the Brussels Agricultural Society. "We will have 125,000 people seeing our fall fair this year — people from all over Ontario. We can't expect them to come back to our fair, but they could get involved in their own local fair," Schlosser said. "That's my biggest hope — that these people will become more involved in their local districts and that it was our fair that opened their eyes." 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