A Day At The Fair

The 103rd Annual Priddis & Millarville Fair

 

. . . . desperately late, she frantically rushed into the infield and . . . .

. . . . had a second place ribbon at the end . . . . 

. . . . and when the clouds started to clear, it was time for the parade . . . .

. . . . . with lots of waves to the crowd . . . .

. . . . . and local 4-H canine club members were showing off their charges . . . .

. . . . and old tractors – some with new paint – are the norm . . . .

. . . . . there’s always a petting zoo . . . . where a little helper hands a goose to an even smaller patron . . . .

. . . . . with everyone eager for their turn . . . .

. . . . Kid’s World had mother’s rolling their children through all the fun . . .

. . . . . with bounces at every turn . . . .

. . . . and squirts emerging . . . .

. . . . . from the oddest places . . .

. . . . there was a trumpeter’s rallying call to the next event . . . .

One long-time exhibitor described the county Fair as not a place where young people learned to win, but rather as the place they learned to lose gracefully. . . .

There was a big crowd joining Amy Webb (left) for the Cow To Latte competition between a team from the internationally syndicated television series “Heartland,” which is filmed at the Race Track, and a team of local media.

Amber Marshall, “Amy” on Heartland, gives her best shot at cow milking as organizor Paul Rishaug cheers her on . . .

. . . . while the cow’s rear-end rivetted the attention of this little girl . . . .

But it was the media team with Mike McLean, a ringer with a dairy cow, which ended up throttling Grandpa Jack (Shaun Johnston) and the Heartland team. Unexpectedly, Mr. Johnston admitted “I’ve milked many a cow in my day, just not in the last 20 years or so” who served as his team’s runner while Mr. McLean, who served as the milker for the CHRB team, is a fifth generation rancher and manager of the Bar U Historic Ranch as well as a CHRB on-air personality.

. . . . but all’s well that ends well . . . . the miniature cow trophy will look good shared between CHRB in High River and the Okotoks Western Wheel. Left to right, Micheal Wienberg, executive producer, Heartland, Mike McLean of CHRB Radio in High River, Shaun Johnson, Grandpa Jack on Heartland, John Barlow, editor of the Western Wheel, Amber Marshall, Amy on Heartland and Jody Seeley of Sun Country radio in High River.

Freshly sheared wool is set upon by these ladies, eager to turn it into product in only a few hours . . .

Tongue hanging out in concentration, a young wrangler plots a precision swing, although oddly, considering his impending need for accuracy, spending much of his rope-swinging time looking directly into the eyes of the cameraman instead of at his target . . . . .

. . . . . . while some chose to relax and take it all in . . . . .

. . . and for hard-working volunteers like Candice Depass, organizor of “Kid’s World,” the start of the day was the beginning of the end of months of anxious preparation.

. . . . and no Fair is complete without an antique auto show . . . .

. . . . or rooster winners . . . .

. . . . or a quilt auction . . . .

. . . . while the exhibition barn overflowed with crafts, produce, grasses, chickens, ducks . . . .

. . . . and always those coveted ribbons . . . .

. . . . . but the question riveting everyone’s attention through to the final moments of the Fair was finally answered with a bang as Fair Chairman Bill Powell and Millaville Racing & Agricultural Society President John Dakers join Paul Teskey (centre) in astonishment as they realize the now legendary Millie The Massey’s astonishingly successful raffle has been won by . . . .

. . . . an ebullient Myrna McKay . . . . . or at least the name of the guy she wrote down on the ticket whom she has unlimited power over apparently. Myrna, acting as self-declared agent for the winner, quickly struck a deal donating Millie  to “Heartland,” where the 60 year-old rusting but still functional Massey Harris 44 tractor will be used as a set prop for the internationally syndicated show, then donated back to the Fair. Several hundred people stayed until the end of the Fair to see the draw, an indication of Millie’s appeal.

. . . . and Capt. Riel Erickson, who started the year as a local heroine (a Millarville native) but was a local villian by mid-summer, finally got her chance to take a ride on Millie although ultimately denied the opportunity to personally use the rusting tractor for target practice by F-18 Hornets and other NATO fighters at the Air Weapons Range at CFB Cold Lake.

. . . . and was back in the role of local heroine by the end of the day, filling in the gaps of her brief interlude on The Dark Side for local media Mike McLean and John Barlow. Capt. Erickson’s gracious participation served as a catalyst in the Millie narrative, eventually bringing about a remarkable revival of a grand agricultural Fair more than a century old that had been cancelled amid much controversy in March only to be revived by a new MRAS Board and Fair Committee. The Fair ended up with a record number of entries, more than doubled normal attendance and probably established a record profit, a stunning reversal of fortunes spanning only a few months in duration. Millie the Massey served as the unlikely rallying point for the community and her raffle raised $10,000, half of which went to the Alberta Farm Safety Centre and half to the Racing Society/Fair but, beyond that, the publicity generated by Millie was priceless.

As such, few could deny the 2010 Priddis & Millarville Fair will be forever linked to Millie The Massey.