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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1968-10-31, Page 323*-4THE HYRON EXPOSITOR, SEAFORT11, OCT; 31, 19611 Huron's Only Class 'EP •Fair' eaforth Agricultural By Mrs. Joseph Grummett The Seaforth Agricultural Society held its 123rd annual successive fall fair, having been organized in 1845. This fact is based on in- formation regarding agricultur- al societies in. Huron County, taken from Trawactions of the Board of Agriculture of Upper Canada, 1857, and from a re- port by Thomas McQueen, of Ooderich• -rThere are at present six branch societies in Huron Coun- ty, dtmely: Clinton, Harpurhey, Stanley, Hay, Exeter and Bruce - field; one in Usborne and one th McGillivary Townships. The oldest of these is Harpurhey, fr which was established in41845, apd includes the northeast side 3T.Tuckersinith, part of Hullet and the Township of McKillop. It has about 100 members and is prospering. " TO PRESENT SITE IN 1902 Although the Seaforth fall fair has had several locations, it,has been held at the present site since 1902. The first fair using the new grounds and buildings in 1902 was held September 25 and 26. Exclusive of the cover, the prize list of that year had only eight pages, and the event was named "The Fall Fair of the Tuckersmith Branch Agricultur- al Society, " :Still retaining the name from two previous loca- tions, namely, Tuckersmith Township. The adrnission chatg- ed was: non-membets, 25 cents; ladies and children, 10 cents; carriages, 25 cents. The officers and directors in 1902 were; President, D. D. Wilson; ,vice-president, George Sills; secretary -treasurer, T. E. Hays; auditors, Andrew Young and W. Somerville, all being residents of the Town of Sea - forth; directors: Seaforth, Geo, Chesney,,.Mike Broderick; Mc- Killop, James Evans, I. M. Gov- enlock; Hullett, John Dale, C. McGregor; Tuckersmith, John Dale and William Chesney. Hon- orary directors were; James Dick, William Archibald, J. G. Grieve, William Mcilacish,John Britton, R. Andersbn, G. E. Cre,sswell and Robert Charters. The prize list of 62 years ago listed classes for heavy draught, agricul_tural, general purpose, carriage and roadster horses, with $2 and $3 offered as first prizes for single horses and $4. for teams. A.general purpose horse was described as one suitable for wagon, carriage, buggy, saddle orfplow. FEATURE CATTLE, SHEEP Cattle classes were for thor- oughbred Otalarit,-grades, but- chers' cattle, Ayrshire, J ersey, Polled Angus and'Hereford. A class for sheep was includ- ed in the sheep listings, and three classes of pip - Yorkshire, Berkshire and Tamworth, with the notation that all hogs must be,unloaded from the'Wagons and placed in pens. Exhibiters of implements were not charged for their space and included classes ' for ensil- age cutter, wagons, top and op- en buggies, iron beam plow, stubble plow, ph -soil plow, dou- ble 'mould plow, gang plow, horse hoe, two -horse, cultivator, pair of iron harrows, land ro11-1 er,hOrse hay rake, turnip seed, drill, turnip cutter, tread power, farm furnace, windmill and wooden pump, with prize motl- ey of $2 and $1offered for wooden pump only. The dairy produce class , called for 25 pounds of butter in crock tub, and five poun,ds of table butter, There were classes for factory -made c 50 pOunds or more, and for privately made cheese, '15 pou-' rids or more; as well as a class for homemade wine. , Domestic manufac.:turers listed were: 10 yards cif domes - dc cloth and 10 yards, of flannel cloth, and lindsay woolsey, woollen liomemade quilts, home- made blankets,' woollen yarn homespun; factory- made quilts, tweeds, flannels wad blankets, single and double team harness• ladies' and gents' boots, cooper work (barrels), fin and marble Work, set of par lor and bed- room.furnitnre, collection of Musical instrut.nents; barrels of ' grat, fldur anei oatmeal; collec- . tiOnS of harm and baton sides; CollentiOnS of pottery, brick and alai bat 414Ortitent of sashes — and cloth and otortrnent Of lOuthot and. Ftsath‘et products. Mg* tIO'SEAF.OliTH The eitoremifitionea ante - tC.tv 11, tiiiititif4ctured ittio4vtlit, 'Own at that time, It is recalled that two early lo- cal harnessmakers - Gillespie and Mike Broderick - were keen competitors in the harness classes for many years, and their well -made brass -mounted harn- ess wanalways a special attract- ion. Classes in ladies' wOrk in- cluded: netting; embroidery in silk, wool, cotton and linen; tablescarf; mantel drape;wall panel; fancy screen (folding or fora fireplace); picture throw; crazy patchwork quilt; wax flowers and fruit; wool or fea- ther flowers; gent's fine shirt, both hand and machine made, and rag carpet. • In June, 1915, the covered grandstand at the present site was destroyed by fire on a , Monday, from .an unknown cause, and a temporary stand was rushed to oompletion for races held that same weekend. This w<koden structure has with- stood the elements of weather until now - 49 years kater, it has been torn down and is be- ing replaced for the present by , steel and wooden bleachers, large .enough to,seat 250 per- sons. FIRST IN HARPURHEY The first known site for the fall fair, sponsored by the Tuck- ersmith Agricultural Society, as it was then known, was in, Har- purhey, with Knox' s Hall (on land later oWned by Joe Grum- mett and now by Frank Kling) - just east of the ,Harpurhey cemq;ery - being used as thr,; shout -house. Across the road, a dirt street was nsed as a half - mile straight race track. fhis track is now, in part, useel as a laneway for farmers, the; re- mainder having been inc orpor- ated into farm land. Vie second known lc.ication in the area was where th e Seaf- School Days at SDHS; (Continued f:rom page 27) that should be: mentioned, but my mind goe.s back to Carrie M. Knight a nd Brenton Kerr, • who captured first place in the Province in. 1904 and,1913, re- ,spectively to Freeborn John- ston and Exl. Whittaker, who stood secrand in the Province . in 1906 ;and 1908, respectively; to J.. A. and J. S. Dickson, Al- vin Surr erns, Maly Cowan, A. W. Johnston, Mary Johnston, Will S.trachan, Mary Gillespie, each ai wi.nner,of one or more open :Acholarships. - Brit it 'Wasn'tall work. The Hough Cup teams of the o 1 d school als o made history. • To see Charlile Sills, Lou McDon- ald.. Fred Broadfoot, Tom' Mill- er, Will Hays, Harry Bright, Ge;off, .Haitilton, Bob McLaughl- in, Tom Gormley, Bert Archib- add, Billy Dafdie, George McM- ann, Leo Charlesworth, Arthur Woodley„ and Many others, " dribble the hall down the field was a joy to the Seaforth fans and had medicine for opposing teams. Andv/hat a wise board o f trustees ie had in those days! Changes in it3 personnel were rare. I ueem to remember that Williath Har try, Dr. Burrows, Stanley pays, W. D. Bright, J. M., Best, Dr. McGinnis, were the -hardy perennials. These and their colleagues were content to look after the school proper- ty, hire and fire teachers a s the need arose, hand over fin- ancial rnatters to Col, Wilson, the Cha:ncellor of the Excheq- uer, educational matters t o the Principal, and then adjourn to the curling rink or the .bowl- ing green. I wonder if there are many such efficient boards left in the Ftovince. I have always been glad that I was away from Se4orth when war broke out( when The boys, one by one, left the class -rooms of' the old school for traintng camps or France.. Some ;whose names stand high in the great- est hon.or roll of all "poured out the red Sweet wine of„youth; gave up the,YliarS' to be ()AIM k and joy, and that un - hoped serene, That Men call age; and those . who would have been, Their lions, they gave their irri- MOittalfty," . 'TtY thew; "Alfa atot.MIe orth Public School now stands, and which was then a part of Tuckersmfth Township. This area boasted)a quarter -mile oval track, gran&tand and a large show 8ui1ding and a,tick- et office, where Neil Bell's Shell service station tow stands The whole area was surrounded by a high board fence. Around the turn of the cen- tury, the exhibits' building at the Harpurhey 'Location burned down under mysterious circum, stances, and the remaining structures we,:e torn down and the area abandoned. The old ticket officepwas moved to the present Iodation and used until about 10 years ago. OPERATE 1/4 MILE TRACK At the time the quarter - mile ova.l was in use in Harpur- hey, the. Turf Club operated a half -mi le track din the Lapslie farm, .i,ust north of the town on the sec:ond field back from the road. This farm is now owned by Ggrdon Elliott. Following the abandoning of the Tuckersmith fair grounds, the gricultural Society bought Ian d fm William Duggan, on which wa built the present roundhouse. -This two-storey stilyn use, is unique i n constructicrn, being 'eight-, sided with a dormer in each of the eight sections of the roof. These have since been removed. The Turf Club then bought adjoining land on which George McCartney held a $1, 000 mortgage. A half -mile race,track was built, then the area was -put up for auction . and bought by the Agricultural Society, with the Town of Seaforth and the Townships of ' McKillop and Tuckersmith each contributing $100.' and Tom Scott making up the $700. balance to pay off the mortgage. STEADY' IMPROVEMENT The Seaforth Agricultural ° Society has carried on success- fully over the 68 yearS since the turn of the century, progressing and improving steadily. 4eom- munity centre'has been 641t on the grounds; several cattle heds have been built; horse barns re- buirt and relocated; the half - mile oval is second to none. Society in 124t1i Year In 1955, a permanent plat= form, gomplete with dressing rooms, office space and a speak- er's stand as been built. A pylon, bearing a suitable pla- que, was also built and was un- veiled during the opening cere- monies of the 110th fall fair. Ontario's Lieutenant Governor, L. 0. eeithaupt, officially op- ened the fair that year; also that year, 1955, the society entered a float in the town's Old Boys' Reunion parade and was, awarded a prize. At'its annual meeting that year, Jerry Montgomery (then Huron Ag. Rep.) congratulated. the society on its growth arid progress over the past few years. He stated that the breed shows for cattle, field crop com- petitions and 4H clubs were doing a great deal for our fair and our community, and sug- gested that the fair board make an all-out effort to attain a class "B" status. VARIETY NIGHT HELPS In 1955 and '5a two SUCCESS- ful Variety Nights,were held, namely, "Crossroads," with Mrs. P. L. Brady and Prof.James Scott as co,conveners, The tal- ents and labor of those who pres- ented these goncerts were great- ly appreciated by the fair , board, as they did much to unite rural and urban folk, as well as raising much-needed money for the society. In 1956 Murray Gaunt, of Lucknow, showed the top baby beef calf at our fair, and Went on that fall to win the Queen's Guineas at the Royal Winter Fair. Mr, Gaunt -is now MPP for Huron -Bruce. The Seaforthlair gained its Class "B" standing in 1959, then becoming eligible for a federal grant each year, in addition to its other grants. Contributing generously to - Wards the staging of a success- ful fair have been the.Town of Seaforth, the Townships of Mc- Killop, Tuckersmith, Hullett, Hibbert and Stanley, as well as the County of Huron and the Provincial and Federal Govern- ments. Special appreciation goes to those organizations, com- panies and individuals who have donated trophies, special awards arrd prizes over the years. The -society also appreciates the. teachers, pupils, parents asid school,boards, who have, year after year, placed their many 'beaudful exhibits. The Women's Institute, for many years, has operated a 'luncheon booth at the Seaf- orth fair, with another group providing a second both each year. LIONS SPONSOR PET SHOW For over 15 years, the Lions Club has been in charge of a successful pet show. This event never fails to attract the inter- est of old arid young alike. The efforts of the Chamber of Com- merce in plaeing commercial exhibits, with draws, have ad- ded much to the success of a lively, progressive fair. Much of the credit for the success of the Seaforth fair must go to its various presidents and secretary -- treasurers. Te 4-H Club lead- ers, directors and all committee members, who give freely of their time, are also to be com- mended, not forgetting the faithful women who canyon regardless of the shortage of display space and other fa- cilities. The fairgrounds itself is well equipped with buildings in which to house livestock - the barns having_been built chiefly by volunteer labor and donat- ions of materials. For several years a champ- ion cook and champion seam- stress were declared. This has done much to enlarge those particular sections. The arts and 'crafts section, too, has progressed under the guidance of an interested committee. FIRST CLASS "B" FAIR A colored photographic competition and an essay com- petition have been sponsored by the soeiety for several years. In a provincial competition, first, and third prizes were won in consecutive years for prize lists. In 1959 the society helcl its first Class "B" fair, with Robt. W. Campbell as president, Since then, an organized junior fair has been an outstanding fea- ture of the Seaforth fair, with indoor educational exhibits and outdoor livestock competitions - incorporating clubs from the whole cotinty. A new competitien held in 1963 was the Huron County 4-H Swine Club competition with approximately 80 members, each having two animals. This was sponsored by the Huron ..Couniy Hog Producers and was the largest of its kind in Ontario and North Arnerica. This year there will be junior and senior clubs, those having taken part last year being in the senior club. Three members of the fair board - R. W. Campbell, Mrs. Joseph prummett and Earl Dick have each held the office of District Director for District 8 (Perth - Huron), each holding office for, three years. Mrs. Grummett is a past provincial president for the women's sec- tion. There has been a Cardno in business in Seaforth for more than 100 years. , - The Cardno Block centrally located on Seaforth's Main Street for 90 years is a reminder of traditional service and satisfaction which has been 'built up through the ktrs and which continues to be our guiding' principal. 44 _Keeping Pate '.With Progress. ' Headquarters for General Electric ranges, refrigerators, freezers, TV's, radioswash- ers,1 and dryers, as well as small applian- ces. McKillop crusher plant where stone is crushed into various sizes, sand is classified and both are wash- ed read; for delivery to vIeet construction demands throughout the area. • FRANK 'KLING:LTD. • .CONTRACTING ONE - HEATING la- PLUMBING ELECTRICAL INSTALLATIONS ,GENERAL ELECTRIC APPLIANCES 40 44 ,r 0. 4. .4 )