This weekend should have been the 125th anniversary of the Rainy River Valley Agricultural Society Fall Fair. That designation will hold off for one more year due to Covid. Similarly this should have been the 30th anniversary of the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship. It too was cancelled one year for Covid.
I wonder if the organizers of that first fair in 1900 would have envisioned it lasting for over a century. I suspect that the first organizers of the Canadian Bass Championship hoped that it would become an annual event and grow. And to both the organizers of the fair and the bass tournament, congratulations go out to making sure both continue to exist.
The Emo Fair has grown and changed over time. Originally it was mostly agriculture where district farmers and their wives brought the best of their livestock. I remember wandering under the old grandstand and marveling at the various species of chickens with ribbons hung from their cages. Inside one of the buildings you could admire the quality of the oats grown or the beans or the peas or other fresh produce from district gardens.
There was a day devoted strictly to dairy herds. There was also a day focused on beef cattle. And in-between sows and piglets were found along with goats and work horses.
Not to be outdone, a building was filled with cakes, pies, bread and cookies all competing for ribbons. Quilts, dresses, woolen sweaters and scarves competed for prizes too.
From across the district residents came, renewed friendships and shared stories of their families. The fair eventually included carnival rides, and the 4-H booth served up the first corn of the season and their burgers. In the afternoon, music was heard in the grandstands, often competing for time with sulky races and later grandstand shows and more recently stock car racing. The fair led by volunteers has kept people in mind.
It all began with volunteers who had a vision. Similarly the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship began with volunteers. As I looked across the district, volunteers created the 120th anniversary of the incorporation of the Town of Rainy River. Volunteers in Rainy River created the Rainy River Walleye Tournament and Rainy River Days.
In Emo volunteers have worked together to create Emo Spring Fever Days and Holly Days and the whole district comes together to create and run the annual fall fair
In Fort Frances volunteers have created Tour de Fort bringing entertainment to Fort Frances through the winter months and a spinoff of Children’s entertainment series.
Across the district the eleven first nations each hold a summer pow wow. Hundreds of dancers perform, and each community commits to feeding all the participants and spectators.
Without the hundreds of volunteers who work countless hours preparing for the events and the several hundred volunteers who put aside a full weekend from sunrise through to the small hours of the morning, our lives would be much poorer. All those activities which run every month of the year enrich us. Take the time to say thank you to a volunteer this weekend.
