The Rural Voice, 1993-09, Page 12moved including thousands of feet of
water lines, hundreds of signs, thc
headquarters building, furniture,
close to 30 ticket booths and dozens
of garbage barrels. All in all, the
supplies filled nearly four tractor
trailer loads.
The OPA supplies were kept in
storage until a few months ago.
Between dismantling and setup, there
isn't much action as the site itself was
chosen and prepared years before
when Bruce County
vied to hold the match.
The site, located just
five kilometres west of
Walkerton, is ideal.
The 100 acres where
thc Tented City is to
be erected is a hay
ficld that's been
seeded for several years, an important
asset for an outdoor show, says Mr.
Roc, for heavy rains can quickly
make a sodden, muddy mess of other
fields.
Once field owners Nellie Johnston
and her two sons, Jim and Campbell,
took their final cut off the field, the
OPA moved in for their annual task
of surveying the field and recording
the measurements to aid in laying out
exhibitor lots, explained John
Fennell, general manager of the OPA.
"Each job, the surveying and the
marking, takes about four days."
Most lots have a 20 foot frontage and
80 foot depth and are rented to
exhibitors for S390. The OPA has its
own team of personnel and
volunteers for this job. Then, Roe
engaged his volunteers to begin the
actual setup of the tented city. The
first priority was erecting a snow
fence around the entire 100 acres to
contain the site and provide a
measure of security.
Over 10,000 feet of
fence, (provided by
thc Bruce County
Highways
Department) was
raised.
The next task was
bringing power to the
site. In late summer, an electrical
contractor was hired to install over
150 electrical poles up and down the
site's service roads. This is the main
power supply from which all the
exhibitors feed, much like homes are
connected to the myriad of power
lines running along Ontario's
roadways. The contractor, Telltrade
Services from Toronto, has an
ongoing contract with the OPA, and
the electrical service annually costs
the organization more than $100,000.
He's on the site from mid-July until
the match is over hooking up
exhibitors to the power supply and
ensuring there are no power failures.
With the power in, Roe had his
team take on one of the more arduous
tasks — installing water lines.
Fortunately for the committee, much
of the pre -planning involved was
unnecessary thanks to the efforts of
the 1976 Bruce County International
Plowing Match committee. They had
found an ideal well located 3,000 feet
from site which had an ample water
supply and would not affect water
service to nearby homeowners. But it
was up to the new committee to
install the 10,000 feet of water lines
necessary to provide full service to
the site. The lines are plowed in six
inches deep using a special one
furrow plow supplied by the OPA.
Once they're in place, they are
hooked up, pressurized, chlorinated
and buried. Water quality is a
priority, says Roe, who added the
Walkerton PUC is supplying the
Jim Roe, (below) Tented City
Chairman passes some of the 10,000
feet of snowfence to be erected at the
site. Above, in the electrical tent,
workmen make up electrical services
for exhibitors.
8 BRUCE COUNTY I.P.M. EDITION