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Serving the communities of Blyth and Brussels and northern Huron County Thursday, September 14, 2017
Sunny Thresher weekend makes up for wet Friday
A fine tradition
The annual reunion of the Huron Pioneer Thresher and
Hobby Association was another success, welcoming 7,000
people to Blyth over the course of the event's three days.
Things began with a cool, rainy Friday, but visitors made up
for it on sunny Saturday and Sunday for two of the busiest reunion
days in recent memory. Despite some of the events having to be
cancelled due to the rain, Secretary Jackie Lantinga said the
reunion will be one to remember. (Shawn Loughlin photo)
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
The annual reunion of the Huron
Pioneer Thresher and Hobby
Association proved to be great
despite some wet weather on
Thursday and Friday according to
President Peter Hendriks.
Friday morning saw rain, which
pushed back some of the
programming, according to
Hendriks. However, a significant
increase in Saturday attendance
offset any loss the rain storm may
have caused.
"The weather really turned Friday
afternoon and Saturday morning in
our favour," he said. "We had an
above -record day on Saturday and a
nice, strong normal Sunday."
Over the event, Secretary Jackie
Lantinga reported approximately
7,000 visitors came through the
gates, not including children under
12 or the over 800 members,
volunteers, exhibitors and
vendors.
Camping Chair John Green
reported 595 sites rented out on the
grounds, which was down slightly
from 2016 due to the weather.
Hendriks said he thinks that
everyone who had planned to attend
but didn't come on Friday came on
Saturday, increasing the number of
people at the event.
"The displays were well received
and we had a big parade on
Saturday," he said. "I had reports
that some people felt it was an over
an hour."
The Huron -Perth Trapper's
Association, a new addition to the
working displays in the Memorial
Shed, was well attended Hendriks
said.
"We had a lot of good comments
from them about people interested in
what was going on," he said.
Hendriks also said the Huron
Pioneer Thresher and Hobby
Association received a lot of
positive comments on the veranda
added to the log cabin and said that
music events throughout the
Continued on page 23
100th IPM begins this Tuesday in Walton
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Over five years in the making, the
International Plowing Match (IPM),
the 100th in history, is finally ready
to begin at Jack Ryan's farm in
Walton.
It was in March, 2012 that the
Huron County Plowmen's
Association first expressed an
interest in hosting the 2017 IPM. In
early 2013, Walton was added to the
list of potential sites alongside
Hensall and Vanastra. East
Wawanosh, one of the early
candidates, was then dropped.
In March, 2013, Huron County
won the right to host the IPM and
later that year Walton was
announced as the host community
for the match.
Chair Jacquie Bishop and her team
of volunteers have been hard at work
over the last five years to ensure the
match will be a success and one of
the most memorable events in Huron
County history.
Last week over 1,000 volunteers
were in Brussels for an orientation
day after persistent rain closed the
IPM site and it was moved to the
Brussels, Morris and Grey
Community Centre. This Sunday
there will be a special church service
ahead of the IPM at 3 p.m. on the
grounds and Egmondville United
Church's Steve Hildebrand will be
the guest speaker.
On Monday, the site will no
doubt be abuzz with activity as
hundreds of volunteers put the
finishing touches on the site ahead
of Tuesday, Sept. 19, the first day of
the 2017 IPM.
TUESDAY
At 10 a.m., the IPM officially
begins with the parade, followed by
the opening ceremonies at 11:30
a.m. on the main stage.
The Huron County Variety
Showcase then follows at 12:30
p.m., followed by the auction for a
truck, a special IPM bench and one
of the custom -bred IPM daylilies.
The Larry Mercey Trio follow at 2
p.m., with Shane Cook performing
at 3:30 p.m.
At Walton Square, the Szoke
Extreme Motorcycle Show goes
ahead at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3:30
p.m., while the Farmall Dancing
Tractors perform at 11:30 a.m. and
2:30 p.m.
The Road to the Royal Chef
Challenge, featuring Peter Gusso of
Blyth and James Eddington of
Exeter, goes ahead in the Lifestyles
Tent at noon, while Crippled Duck
will perform on the Ontario Mutuals
Stage at noon through to 2 p.m.
There will be a Queen fashion
show and formal tea at 3 p.m. in the
Lifestyles Tent.
As far as plowing is concerned, it
begins at 9:30 a.m., then again at 11
a.m., with horse plowing set for 10
a.m. and VIP plowing at 2 p.m.
There will be a steam engine
plowing demonstration at 1 p.m. and
the Brussels Fall Fair will be holding
the children's tractor pull from 11
a.m. to 2 p.m. and 2-3 p.m. daily.
Daniel Steep's agri-magic show
Continued on page 10