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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1975-09-18, Page 199 the w !en01ve1 #naerg W141(001 Advsacep T hef VIA 1e00$ POMO Contfe, devote 44004 by AM p the ilienctiond of Midwestern. Ontorlet (SOW 44 30$ readers ok each it kw bo,) in The ListOW*l Bonny, The Wingham .Advance -Times �.1 Forest Confederate, by Wenger Bros, Limited, Fifty-five yrs. ofhard fun The Belgrave, Blyth and Brussels School Fair is unique "We decided to attend the School Fair at Belgrave. As nine sdt*ools were competing, we ex- pected something extra and we were not disappointed. When we arrived, buggies; democrats and cars filled to their utmost capa city were pouring in from every direction; soon the village was .crowded and still they came .. . For a while it looked like a reutlion as everyone was shaking hands vV ith everybody, :.. " With this descriptive narrative, a correspondent known only as "Once. a School Girl" began her review of the very first Belgrave School Fair held October.5, 1920. She didn't know then that the Mit fair was to spawn so many others throughout the years, reaching its 55th. anniversary this year. But some sense of the his- toric occasion of that first fair obviously made itself felk as the enthusiastic correspondent con- cluded her lengthy accolade: "Soon the people were bidding' each other goodbye, promising faithfully to visit each other soon. The crowd began to dwindle and before long the village looked de- serted. But all felt they had spent the inckt enjoyable afternoon and that the irst School Fair at Bel - grave Was a grand success and would stand out as. a red letter day to be reviewed in years to come with a great deal . of pleasure." In this Miss "Once a School Girl" was not mistaken. For not only did the pleasure of that first fair brighten many memories, it gave more than sufficient reason to continue the fair for almost every year after to this day. Only Once was the fair cancelled: in 1937, t when a polio epidemic caused all school fairs still in existence to be cancelled. THROUGH THE YEARS An account of the first fair in the October 14 issue of the "Wingham Advance" gave full details of its progress. The exhi- bits were housed in Foresters' nail; the poultry in the Presby- terian sheds; and the cattle in the Methodist sheds. The reporter for the Advance announced firmly in his lead statement: "The East Wawanosh and Morris Townships School Fair was held in Belgrave, October 5, and was a pronounced success in every respect." A participant in that first fair also remembers the fair as a "pronounced success" but with slightly different. memories. Harold Vincent, later to be- come one of the presidents of the event, was just starting school in that year, and for him, the fair was a spectacular affair. "It wasn't as large as it is now," he remembers, but for a schoolboy it was large enough. "I'm not sure exactly what I entered that year, but I think I ,remember my dad helping me Put together boxes and screens, for rabbits, I think." Aside from the standard exhi- bits of grain, vegetables, flowers, livestock and poultry, which con- tinue until now, some of the dis- plays were so typical of the 1920 GIRLS' SLIPPER KICK -- Kim Craig, 12, entered the contest with about twenty other young girls. Kim is a student at Blyth Public School. era they deserve special merttinn.4' Included' among the special exhibits were: a hammer hapoli ; a milking stool, a patch on a graut bag, weeds, five pounds :print butter (homemade) and a pateb on cotton (girls only). The sports events were aIle re:* markable, if only for onecom petition that is no longer include4 in the program: best develope' boy and girl. How the judges must have enjoyed that event! In 1921, the organizers,adde4 .g picnic and a concert night to the list of events. The concert, held.at the Foresters' Hall, consisted, of, recitations, spelling matches public speaking contests, singing.,, and mouth organ competitions. Until 1934, the concerts were always held on the night of the fair day. After that, they were scheduled at different times until they were discontinued in 1968. So it continued through the years, something added and something dropped in every pro- gram. There was no fair in 1937 due to the polio epidemic, but the 1938 fair was set apart by another event called "Strathcona Exer! cises". One example of these exercises gave these instruc- tions: "Exercise 5: Trunk bending downward to grasp one ankle. Class Attention, with a jump, feet astride place. Grasp the left ankle, down, up. Right ankle, down up." The 1930's also saw such exhi- bits as: three button holes, wash- cloths, a cardbpard rripdei .of matchbox, a 4'indow stick and a bootjack. WITHDREW SUPPORT The government was an avid supporter of t e -Huron County School Fairs ' the 1920's and 1930's, and the' elgrave Fair was one of many in the province that received a boost from both the Ontario Department of Agricul- ture and the Department of Edu- cation. In 1940, however, the govern- ment withdrew its support. Only six Huron County. schools decided to carry on, among them Bel • - grave. The organizers expanded the program that year to include an official sports program; com- piled their own prize list; pur- chased their own seeds; and started inviting the local mem- bers of Parliament as guests. "the exhibits that year included a plain cotton broadcloth slip and a knitting bag, and the evening entertainment received praise from one of the judges : "Mr. Eckmeir ... said there was im- provement from the singing of a year ago and this proved what training could accomplish." In 1942, a "greasy pig contest" was added to the list of events, followed in 1945 by a "freak conveyance" competition. The organizers celebrated the 25th anniversary of the fair that year and instituted the first music fes- tival under its auspices. Since these were the war years, the fair of 1945 was the first to skip a well- known delicacy. The minutes of the board meeting that year dic- tated: "As the fair would be on meatless Tuesday, it was decided not to have hot dogs." There were 1,275 entries in the fair for the anniversary celebration. OVER 2,000 ENTRIES . In 1947 there was a record at- tendance of 21 schools at the fair. Total entries for the fair, the con- cert and the music festival reached over the 2,000 mark. The exhibits included two button holes (obviously due to the short- ages of post-war years) and a • wooden sock stretcher, while the sports event incorporated a calf race and a tug -o -war. The completion of the Belgrave Arena in 1949 finally brought the fair under one roof. No more would livestock be paraded on the main street, and no longer would public speaking contestants vie for prizes on the church steps. That year, the organizers decided tosell advertising space in their u<progranl'list to .help offset some �f the costs. Organizers added a ball game after the fair and an exhibition of antiques to the list of special features. 1 The 1960's brought several changes, some for the worse. The decade started out auspiciously, with 18 schools attending the 1960 fair. It was officially opened by James Bowman, president of the Huron Junior Farmers' Associa- tion, who praised the fair, say- ing: "A fair like this must be the envy of fairs all over the province The people who come here don't have to be lured by special attractions." That year, however, the organ- izers discontinued the prizes for the parade. There was no school concert in 1966, and the concerts were completely discontinued in 1968. In 1967, the new central school system was introduced in the province and the name of the fair was officially changed to the Belgrave, Blyth and Brussels Annual School Fair. The music festivals were discontinued in 1969. TO THE PRESENT The fair celebrated its 54th anniversary in 1970 to the blare of) trumpets and the cheers and ap- plause of delighted students. It was a gala occasion, held on a Saturday for once, and it featured a grand parade, floats and a fair princess contest. Although the music festivals had ended the previous year, a variety concert provided substitute entertain- ment. And to crown the event, some ofthe teachers and students who had participated in the first fair of 1920 were present to aug- ment .the sense of historical achievement. • The work to organize the 55th Annual Fair started back in January. Most of the school projects are conceived in the three schools during the school year, so the teachers and students, need advance notice of the exhibits and themes to be completed. All schooj work is entered in the fair by the end of June. The students are not in- formed, however, of the winning exhibits until the very day of the fair. George Johnston, president of the fair for six years, ex- plained, "The fair is their day .. . and it's always great to see the kids when you open the doors rushing in to see what, prizes they won." • About 500 children participated in this year's events. Aside from the regular exhibits of school work and agricultural products, each school entered a group exhibit for display. The winning individual exhibits received prizes from the fair organizers. Mrs. John Gnay, secretary of the fair for four years, admitted that the prize money was not much but added, "The kids sure look forward to it, even if it's only 20 cents." The fair is financed by the schools, the advertising, a silver collection and various donations. The Huron County School Board donates an $800 grant for the fair. An incredible amount of work goes into making the fairs a suc- cess, and the organizers like to think that no fair has ever failed. The fair is almost one of the last, if not the very last, of its kind in Ontario. So what keeps. it .goi g? For one thing, the enthusiasm of the organizers. "It has a good place in the community," Direc tor Mrs. Stan Hopper explained. "It's gut an ednOntlonal valuer' Harold Vincent says, ` And Rill Coultes, 1975, president .adds, "It's a worthwhile pro, t, so yo # have to like lt." .lot of thecredit goes Yto the parents, for the enthusiasm and support4.they generate. And the teachers, : or the work tiit'ey °Put into the 'school exhibits and the school workduring *the ,year. But the greatest credit, goes to:the the children themsel res, ' whom `'en- thusiasm, zeal and }ger har4. work should:keep the :fair ga for at least another 50 years. DOG SHOW CONTESTANTS waited behind the screen of the ball diamond at the fair grounds for their chance at fame. It was all pretty traumatic for this little guy. "THAT'S SUNSHINE" said Dianne Campbell of 12R 4, Wingham as she polishd her pet's hooves in preparation for the Senior Beef competition. FULL HOUSE — There were just as many people Inside the arena as there were on the grounds. Student art, scrap books, produce baking and flowers were shown Inside the arena. SENIOR CALF COMPETITION— Eric Cook, on the left, prepared his Brown Swiss calf Grace to compete against Chris Meler's Holstein Mawd. Both boys are from Belgrave.