Well we heard lots of moos, oinks, clucking and naaays from the exhibits and lots of WHEEEEES from the kids as they went flying through the air at the midway at the 2012 Stratford Fall Fair. “Raising Your Roots” was the theme for this year's fair and boy did we enjoy it. It was on for 4 days – starting on the Thursday -- and if you went on the Thursday, admission was free! But free admission always gets people out and excited about the fair. Plus Thursday night, there was a family Barb-be-que! There were all sorts of things going on such as the Homecraft and School exhibits and contests, a pie auction, Livestock Show, Demolition Derby, demonstrations of cow milking and sheep shearing, antique tractor display, a Tug of War, a midway and so many other events. This year celebrated Stratford’s 171st Fall Fair – what a history this Fair must have gone through. Just think what would have been at the fair even 100 years ago, let alone 171!
Let me tell you, that for a small town – this midway was not small at all. Besides the obligatory rides where you come off with your head going round and round and your hair standing on end, they also had game tosses, popcorn and cotton candy! Now what fair wouldn’t be complete without gobs of cotton candy sticking to your face and hair!
Miniature Horse
Our favourite section was the Livestock Show. There were goats with the cutest baby goats, great big horses and little miniature horses, one huge pig and her babies, some great big cows, chickens and bunnies. You could get right in with the baby goats (you could tell the children that were raised on a farm as they just jumped right in the pen and started grabbing the little goats). We being raised in the big city and are now getting climatized to the farm life, went a little slower. We pet the baby goats from outside the pens but did hold the most adorable bunnies.
We also went to the Homecraft and School Fair – or as I would call it “best in show” and saw everything from award-winning quilts, baked goods, funniest vegetable faces, flower arrangements, and home grown vegetables. These people worked really hard at preparing their submission, were very creative and took great pride in their accomplishments of growing the strangest this or the biggest that, or baking the best pie, cookies, or whatever the category was that you wanted to try out for! In order to compete, you need to carefully review the different categories as well as how to present the product. For example, under the Vegetable category, there are so many individual categories such as: beans, beets (globe vs cylindrical), brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots (small vs long), corn, cucumber, garlic (must have 3 bulbs), Kohlrabi, onions (for winter storage vs red), parsnips, peppers, potatoes (red, white, or with most eyes), pumpkin (for pie-making, or largest squash), Swiss Chard (3 leaves in water), tomatoes (cherry with stem, green with stem or red with stem), and zucchini (suitable for slicing vs the longest grown).
So let’s see how many of you can recognize something that is grown in the farmers’ fields here in Perth County? Here is a picture of a prize-winning item that is grown here in Perth County. Can anyone identify what it is? (Sorry about the poor quality of the picture -- one of the animals breathed on the camera lens and a few pics are out of focus.)
We only attended the fair one day but I think next year we will try and go for longer and see more of the fair. (Too bad so many great events are all happening the same weekend -- but that's autumn in the country!) I think the sheep shearing and milking demonstrations would be great fun to watch.
Great job by all the organizers, contestants and congratulations to all the winners of the 2012 Stratford Fall Fair! Hope to see you all again next year! Oh and by the way – in case you couldn’t recognize the item grown – it is a soya bean stalk! You sure could have fooled me – but I really had no idea where soy comes from! But I am sure that you can guess that I am a city girl – but am learning more things about the farming community here in Perth County!
Great job by all the organizers, contestants and congratulations to all the winners of the 2012 Stratford Fall Fair! Hope to see you all again next year! Oh and by the way – in case you couldn’t recognize the item grown – it is a soya bean stalk! You sure could have fooled me – but I really had no idea where soy comes from! But I am sure that you can guess that I am a city girl – but am learning more things about the farming community here in Perth County!
Cheers for now from my friends and I at the Stratford Fall Fair!
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