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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 2005-03-17, Page 33PAGE A8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2005. OPA puts on a show to celebrate agriculture By Bonnie Gropp ( 'ilizen editor Each year, the Ontario Plowmen Association puts on a show that not only celebrates agriculture, but gets a community working together. The OPA. which has been in existence tor close to 80 years is the parent organization of 55 branches. It is also the governing body of the International Plowing Match. It is the association's only fundraiser, “the event they work all year for,” says Neil McGavin. McGavin joined OPA 20 years ago. He worked his way up through the system, as chairman of the Planning an event z tractor portion and on the tented city committee for a few years, before serving as president. When a community wins its bid to host the IPM, that community is given the task of pulling it all together. “That is the big reason for the event.” says McGavin. “It really gets a community working together. I really thought I knew everything afrout Huron until the match was here. There are businesses tucked back on roads that I would never have known existed.” The 1999 match was held in Dashwood. Graeme Craig of McKillop, an OPA executive member and chair of that IPM said what makes the match unique is that it travels. “It moves around the province so every host region has a different population and a different potential to educate. And we al) need to be educated.” While the match in Huron, and this year’s which will be held outside Listowel, are in areas of strong agricultural focus, next year’s in Peterborough will show a a different type of farming. “It s a different perspective, but the same basic premise of being educatioal,” said Craig. The IPMs receive an average attendance of 80.000 through the week it is held. The event caters to urban and rural, though the emphasis is on agriculture. “One of the OPA’s main things is to try to educate the rest of the people to what the farmers are doing and what they go through.” said McGavin. The ignorance of some urbanites, and even rural people, can be surprising and contributes to misunderstandings that exist regarding agriculture production. For example questionnaires at the pork exhibit, show'ed a shocking 50 per cent of the people saying that milk came from pigs, said McGavin. The displays also provide a lot of learning. The huge antique display gives children an opportunity to see “how their grandparents and great- grandparents lived.McGavin explained. Continued on A9 A group of dedicated volunteers with Brussels Agricultural Society work hard to keep the annual fall fair an entertaining community event, among them, from left: Cathy Cardiff, Dorothy Cummings and Jeff Cardiff who have all been involved with the organization for many years. Jeff and Dorothy have each served as Society president, while Cathy has been Homecraft president. (Bonnie Gropp photo) Directors visit local schools Continued from A7 Success in this area can change from year to year. Today many teachers often live outside the community and their tie to agriculture may be non-existent. With that the fall fair may be a low priority. However, says Cathy, the area schools are currently, “heavy with local people. Many of the teachers are from the farm community or have lived in the area for quite a few years." The directors go to the schools each year to discuss the fair with the teachers “The principals want an educational component, more like a field trip as opposed to the fair just being a day off.” said Cummings. The society came up with another way to emphasize education with a special program in the morning, before the parade. Jeff said that in years past it was safe to assume that if you got the children to attend then the parents were there too. “That’s not the case anymore. A lot of parents are working.” For this reason the Tuesday night opening has become the busier time rather than the daytime fair. In response the ag society has done what they can to increase the entertainment value for the night ceremonies, still keeping to its rural roots. A silent auction and ‘Mayor’s Challenge’ involving competitive games such as shelling corncobs and making pigs out of vegetables were very well received. "It’s a good way to get our municipal councillors involved,” said Jeff. "We had some contact us after and say how much they enjoyed it. And it was all activities that didn’t cost a cent.” Keeping the costs to a minimum has been another way to meet the changes of today’s society. Admission is now by donation allowing people to come and go more freely. The notion that a weekend fair would attract greater attendance is not something these three directors agree with. “If we went to a weekend fair our midway would be gone. They go to the big fairs,” said Cummings. As well, a weekday fair is in conflict with fewer events. “Even weddings’ could cause a problem with numbers and the arena is more available to us during the week,” said Cummings. Every detail is clearly considered by the Society when it comes to keeping this rural fixture alive. “Our focus as an agricultural society is the fair. We plan all year for that one event,” said Jeff. However. they have also presented two very successful Huron Hiker Tours, furthering their mandate to show agriculture to the people. “1 think if an opportunity arises this society is very open to presenting our way of life to urban people, but the fair is definitely our big one.” said Cummings. “I don’t know if there is any other event in the community that pulls together so many people from so many different walks of life. They attend from every church, from town, from country. They belong to other organizations in town.” said Cummings. “We have such a determined group of volunteers who believe in giving people a reason to come to the fair. It has been a part of this community for 144 years and when it’s our time to pass the torch we want it to still be a part of this community,” said Jeff. Cummings said that many of the challenges the group faces now were the same as in the past, time and money. A recent Trillium grant, however, has helped pull the society into the 21st century with rew signage and displays. “We can’t compete with the bigger fairs, but we try to offer something for everybody,” said Jeff. 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