With less than a week to go before Vermilion’s biggest—and many would say best—event of the year, over 100 volunteers gathered at 9 a.m. on Saturday, July 20 at the Vermilion Agricultural Society’s fairgrounds for a work bee lasting into the afternoon.
In the northeast corner of the grounds, members of the Vermilion 4-H Sheep Club helped shovel wood shavings into pens that had been set into place by club parents. A crew of volunteers who had just shown up that day willing to work where tasked with the enormous job of repainting the railings white, which they did cheerily. “We just showed up and asked what they needed,” said Kate Gilberg, who credits her own volunteer involvement to her older kids: in years prior, they would come with their dad when their mom had to stay home to take care of the younger children. Now they all volunteer together.
A “hydration team” brought hot and cold beverages around to volunteers, keeping them cool and hydrated on the sunny day made hazy by light smoke.
Over at the equine barns, a small team worked on replacing boards on the stalls, while others worked on moving the jump standards—the pairs of stands used to hold up rails for showjumping horses. The Ag Society has twenty of these jump standards, which J. R. Robson School art and shop students constructed and painted based off of the Ag Society’s fair-based ideas. Billi Walton-Ronning from Camrose has a history of designing the fair’s jump courses, which takes a few hours on the Wednesday before the fair. “They all say that when Billy does the course, it’s amazing,” raved the volunteers.
The Light Horse Committee of the Ag Society is strong, and the fair boasts events in junior, senior, gymkhana, dressage, and other equine classes. “We’re always busy [over the course of the three days of the fair and the days prior] and always looking for volunteers,” said Dallis Franke, co-chair of the Light Horse Committee. “We’re trying to attract the youth; it has kind of dwindled down since COVID,” she continued.
Improvements to the riding ring and a new shavings bin will make the facilities more user-friendly. There is also a new scale house and platform for the beef scale, and a replanking and expansion of the announcer’s stand that will better meet the needs of rodeos and gymkhanas.
Arguably the most iconic accessibility feature of the Vermilion Fair are our beloved peoplemovers, which shuttle people of all ages around the grounds. Iron Goose Metal Works constructed three new and improved peoplemovers to replace the old ones. With the assistance of a few volunteers at the work bee, they were completed and made ready for operation. Narrower than the previous generation, these have four-wheel steering that enables them to take tight corners around the ring road and are able to hook together.
The Ag Society was also able to build a brand-new cooler through the help of a fiscal donation. The cooler will help facilitate the concessions and Barley Bin as well as serve as cold storage.
In the weeks leading up to the fair, one of the more startling changes many in the community have noted was the removal of seven large hybrid poplars lining the outside of the chuckwagons’ track between the washrooms and Old MacDonald’s Barn. Ag Society President Justin Clark explained that the trees had been experiencing progressive decline and root rot over the past few years, and were either dying or already dead. Storms earlier in the season had caused branches to break off, leaving the possibility that a broken branch lodged in a tree could fall on a fair-goer.
The difficult decision to remove these shade providers was not one that was made lightly, but the Ag Society is moving forward with succession planning that involves the planting of new trees. These will be the first planted since the ones just removed were planted several decades ago. “We have a vision; it’s just going to look worse before it looks better,” said Clark. Lloyd Rumbolt’s team from Lloyd’s Limbs has been chipping in with their machinery and labour to help bring the dead and dying trees down to make room for a new generation of trees that we can all be proud to help plant and watch grow.
The new lawnmower racing track will see its second major performance at the fair, following its inaugural appearance at the third annual Gears and Cheers event the Sunday after Father’s Day. Races will run again there in September, so keep an eye on the Ag Society’s social media for dates.
New food vendors, repaired crossings, old tractors brought in by the CASE IH Chapter 38 Collectors Club, and the tractor pull being expanded from one day to two all add to the ever-improving event. The names listed here represent just a small portion of the individuals who have come together to labour in love for this community.
As Clark shared on a recent Facebook post, “I don’t feel like I fully captured my sincere appreciation for the people around me who are making this happen—every year I’m so humbled by the efforts, support, and collaboration our community offers. We hope to see everyone at our 118th fair—thank you for attending, sponsoring, volunteering, or however you support the efforts of so many people around me are putting into this event, we are truly surrounded by so many unsung heroes. This year’s fair, as every year prior, is the result of over a year of collaboration and planning by countless individuals to pull off an incredible event.”
We can’t wait to see you all there!
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