The Land O' Lakes Lions are having a fundraising golf tournament for all on Saturday, September 19 at Hunter's Creek Golf Course, Cloyne. Registration 11:30am for shotgun start at 12:30pm. Money raised will help sustain different community programs such as Pine Meadow Nursing Home, Swim Club, Food Bank, Drop-in, Bingo, Santa's parade and many others. The few Lions of your community have been working hard almost every day to secure funding for different programs. We would like you to help us by coming out for a day of friendship, fun golf with numerous donated prizes, games, music, dinner, dance and auction; all for $45 per person, guests (dinner/dance only) $20. The best is that you don't have to excel at golf. Some of us will make sure you come out a winner, OK, at least feeling like one! So please come out and support our Lions who support your community. We guarantee that you'll want to return next year. Call Debbie at 613-336-8502 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as soon as possible to book. If you are unable to participate, financial donations are welcome by contacting us at the same addresses. Golf carts can be reserved by calling 613-336-2587.

Lovers and growers of the ever popular “Stinky Rose” (a.k.a. garlic) descended on the Verona Lions grounds for their annual garlic festival on Sept. 5, which this year included 55 vendors offering up everything garlic, from seeds, single and braided bulbs to flavorful spreads, jellies, and much more. The event attracted upwards of 1500 visitors, who wasted no time in sampling and loading up on the bounty of vendors from as far afield as Manitoulin Island and London, Ontario, though local growers from Kingston, Bath, Verona, Harrowsmith, and Enterprise made up the majority of vendors.

The annual event is run by the Verona Lions and has become increasingly popular over the years and as always, numerous growers competed in the Eastern Ontario Garlic Awards at the festival. The judge this year was Ann Babcock of Harrowsmith, a long-time Ontario Horticultural Association qualified judge. She was assisted by Heather Lebeau of Carleton Place.

Bill Kirby of Harrowsmith, who specializes in a rarer variety of garlic called Yugoslavian Gold, won the overall champion award and was presented the $100 prize donated by the NFU's Local 316. Kirby is one of the only growers of that variety in Eastern Ontario, which he described as “a beautiful bulb that grows to a large size and tastes fabulous both raw and cooked. It has a potent flavour due to its high level of allicin, the compound in garlic directly associated with its health benefits.”

Denis Craigen of Newburg, who has been growing organic garlic for family and friends for five years, participated for the first time this year. He won the second place reserve champion trophy and its $50 prize donated by Local Family Farms in Verona. His selections included varieties of Siberian Fire, Red Russian, Artichoke, Music and two Rocambole varieties. He said his win this year will likely see him return at next year’s festival.

Local garlic guru Paul Pospisil, editor of The Garlic News, Canada's only newsletter solely devoted to everything garlic, spoke at the event on the subject of cooking and storing garlic. “I often speak on how to grow garlic and since everyone these days seems to know how to grow it, I decided to speak this year about cooking with garlic because not everyone knows how to eat garlic”.

He said that the entire garlic plant is edible including its early spring leaves, which he said, “are delicious in salads, omelets.” He mentioned of course the edible scapes and the bulbs, but also the smaller white roots of the plant, which contain lots of oil and are also very flavorful.

Asked about the challenges to growers, Pospisil said this year's growing season was one of the worst. “A late spring robbed the garlic of three weeks of growing time, which resulted overall in smaller, shorter, plants with fewer leaves and generally smaller bulbs.” Then a subsequent cold period with frost also set back the plants, as did the later heat waves in the season. Rain and heat at harvest time also posed problems and created fungal diseases that resulted in crop loss. As a result, the bounty this year was overall smaller than usual, but that did not seem to affect the crowds and sales at this year’s festival, where growers were selling their harvest hand over fist. Those wanting a taste of Bill Kirby's winning Yugoslavian Gold can visit his farm at 625 Colebrook Road near Harrowsmith.

The first annual Sharbot Lake Farmers Market Butter Tart Challenge was held

on Sept. 5. It was a sweet farewell to summer and a taste of the cooler baking season ahead.

Out of a total of 15 entries the winner of the Tastiest Butter Tart In Town medallion and $50 grand prize was Jocelyn Harpell of Jossy’s Chill and Grill. Jocelyn credits her mother Annabell Hill (pictured) for the family recipe and shares the 2015 title with her. Jossy’s used to sell Rising Bun butter tarts but since they are no longer available, Annabell and Jocelyn have been making their own while they prepare their vegetable-based gravy for other dishes. “And they’ve just gone viral” said Jocelyn Tuesday morning.

The certificate and crown are already posted above the delicious morsels that you can try for yourself at Jossy’s on Highway 7. The crown will be passed on to next year’s winner.

Second place was awarded to Molly Ducharme and third place went to Glenys Bender. They each received a litre and a half-litre of Conboy’s maple syrup respectively.

Each tart was quartered, and given to the judges. The Butter Tart boys and Butter tart girl served the remainders to the audience members and market-goers.

The panel of butter tart experts included Ludwig Ratzinger, professional pastry chef and chocolatier. He acted as head judge in the event of any disputes. Alongside him was Megan McKenzie of Seed to Sausage, which sells artisanal cured meats and specialty foods.

Cerridwyn-Cox Henderson, intern gardener and market vendor with Good Golly Gardens brought a youthful appetite as well as vast experience of pie eating to the judges’ table. Victor Heese was pleased to be asked to be a judge for the event. The councilor for Central Frontenac said, “It’s my duty to over-indulge.” Rounding out the judges' table was local beekeeper Virgil Garett with over 78 years of sweetness under his belt.

“I understand that the judges' gastronomic enthusiasm waned somewhere between the 8th and 10th tarts, but they soldiered on through the 15th”, said co-organizer and Sharbot Lake Market manager, Mary de Bassecourt.

De Bassecourt and fellow organizer, local chef and food enthusiast Andrea Duggan would like to thank everyone who submitted their entries, as well as Hazuki Heese who tallied the scores; Donna Laroque for her poster design; the Butter Tart Boys James and Ryan Howlett, sons of vendor Rustic Roots Farm; and the Butter Tart Girl Izabella Giroux.

The Sharbot Lake Farmers Market will continue to run every Saturday 9am to 1pm until Thanksgiving.

Garlic enthusiasts will be pleased to know that a brand new book titled “Ontario Garlic: The Story from Farm to Festival”, published by The History Press in July, 2015 is now available for those interested in how attitudes towards the stinky bulb have changed.

Toronto author Peter McClusky spent a year and a half digging deep into hundreds of years of archival material to write the book, which explains how garlic arrived in Ontario, and how the attitude towards it has drastically changed over the years. He cites the changes as the result of changing immigration laws in Canada in the 1970s. “At that time people arrived in Ontario, brought their cooking with them and with that... their love of garlic. Up until then we were a mostly Anglo-population with an Anglo appreciation of garlic that was not only very conservative but actually quite negative”.

McClusky gives examples of these negative attitudes in the book. One was taken from the minutes of a teachers' meeting from a school near Sudbury in 1928 where the teachers there were considering if they should be allowed to send children home who smelled of garlic and who in the end decided to do so.

In another example he tells of a woman he interviewed who lived on a farm in small town in Ontario in the 1940s, whose parents were Ukrainian and how she loved to put on a dress and sing. Her one and only opportunity to do so was at her Sunday school but the Sunday school teacher told her she could do so only if she stopped eating garlic. “Imagine what kind of attitude that would put in this little girl's mind and the mind of her parents.”

In the book McClusky looks back further to 10,000 years ago and explains how garlic came from central Asia. He describes how it arrived here and how it was both popular and reviled at the same time. The big turnaround came, as previously mentioned, in the 1970s. “As people in Ontario became exposed to new cuisine from other parts of the world, they realized that this cuisine often included garlic as an ingredient and so their attitudes began to change”.

McClusky also cites changing attitudes towards garlic using a sociological and anthropological perspective and in the book explains that certain experiments show how human taste actually works. “What we think of the taste of something can often be quite different from its real taste and this occurs often from a negative association we may have or may have inherited.”

McClusky, who is from Toronto, had a booth at this year's Verona Garlic Festival and was selling and signing copies of his book. He has been growing garlic near Toronto since 2009, has interned on a farm, and also founded and runs the Toronto Garlic Festival, now in its fifth year. He said he is interested in promoting not only Ontario garlic but also other locally grown produce in the province. “People should get away from only thinking about the price of locally grown food and consider more how good it tastes and how is it is being grown by farmers right in their own back yard”.

McClusky definitely did his homework in his effort to arrive at “a deep understanding of garlic.” He interviewed 150 people for the book, including farmers, chefs, gardeners, older residents, and scientists. The book also includes maps, illustrations plus 40 recipes, many by famed Ontario chefs, with more obscure recipes that include desserts like ice cream and brownies. As well it has tips on growing garlic and information about its medicinal qualities. McClusky said he is very excited about the positive response he is getting to the book, which he said is likely due to the fact that he wanted to write a book that he himself would like to buy and read. The book is available in book stores and online at Indigo and Amazon.

Attendance reaches target of 10,000

It took the efforts of a committee of volunteers, the Township of South Frontenac, Frontenac County staffers Alison Vandervelde and Anne Marie Young, co-ordinators Pam Morey and Dan Bell, and hundreds of volunteers on the grounds to produce a relaxed, happy, and engaged crowd at the Frontenac County weekend-long 150th Anniversary Celebration.

The long range planning that helped make that happen started with the upgrades that were done to Centennial Park to turn it into a mixed-use facility that is as suitable for a soccer tournament or a high school football game as it is for a fair or large exhibition. This involved clearing a swath of land for parking, paving walkways, upgrading the stage/picnic area, etc. All of this work was taken on by the township over the last 18 months, and was done with accessibility needs in mind thanks to the efforts of Neil Allan, who consults with the township and sits on the county accessibility committee as well.

The planning for the event itself has been underway for a couple of years, but it was over the last six or seven months that all of the detailed work was done, the musicians booked, the vendors sought and secured, etc.

By the time Friday (August 28) rolled around, tents were going up around the grounds; cordoned-off areas had been set up for kids who would be playing on the bouncy castles and for adults at the “saloon”; the re-enactors had set up their camp; and the dignitaries were gathered for the opening ceremonies.

Any illusion that the proceedings would be dry and formal were dispelled when Central Frontenac Town Crier Paddy O'Connor enlisted the audience’s participation in calling out “O-yeah”.

This was followed by the raising of the Canadian flag and Heather Bell singing O Canada.

The MC for the ceremony was Phil Leonard, former mayor of Portland and South Frontenac Townships and County Warden on several occasions as well. Leonard also sat on the 150th anniversary committee. He introduced a number of speakers, including: South Frontenac Mayor Ron Vandewal, Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson, MPs Scott Reid and Ted Hsu, MPPs Randy Hillier and Sophie Kiwala, North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins, culminating in remarks by Dennis Doyle, the Mayor of Frontenac Islands and Warden of the County.

The speeches were, for the most part, brief, and in keeping with the tone that had been set early for the event, relatively irreverent. Among the other dignitaries at the event were a number of former wardens of Frontenac County, including 95-year-old Don Lee, Jack Moreland, Bill MacDonald, Bill Lake, Barbara Sproule, Phil Leonard, Ron Sleeth, Janet Gutowski, and Jim Vanden Hoek.

The ceremonies having been dispensed with, it was time to let loose, and the saloon was a destination for politicians - a fitting location considering that the county and townships used to hold their meetings in pubs in the 1800s.

Following the showing of a family movie, a fireworks spectacle ended the opening night of the festival.

Saturday was a busy, busy day. A parade started it off, and with the Frontenac Plowing Match underway across the road, thousands enjoyed the sunshine and a full schedule of events. Over 5,000 people streamed into the park throughout the day, enjoying free admission and entertainment from a host of musicians, a strongman competition, and a short skirmish by the Brockville Infantry Company of 1862.

On Saturday night, the Golden Links Hall hosted a Heritage Ball, where about half the audience was dressed in 1860s vintage clothing. This was a challenge because not only did the band Soul Survivors keep the R&B hits coming all night to keep the dance floor full, but the evening was more than a bit warm for wool suits and layered dresses.

Sunday, the final day of the event was a bit more low key than Saturday, although the park remained busy.

The Brockville Infantry, who had been camping on site throughout the weekend, finally had their chance to put on a full re-enactment. The Fenians, Irish descended former Americans who raided Canada in order to pressure England to pull out of Ireland, lost the battle to a squadron of Red Coats and the Brockville Infantry amid gun and cannon fire. The Fenian raids took place around the time that Frontenac County was founded, and they were the last time any attacks on Canada were launched from US soil.

About an hour after the re-enactment, the closing ceremonies got underway. As the public left, the vendors, food trucks, and volunteers began to clean up, leaving Harrowsmith Centennial Park in pristine condition, a fitting legacy project for the 150th anniversary.

Furry, four footed, four wheeled, and 4H are just some of the family-friendly words that brought plenty of smiles and loads of laughter to the participants and guests at one of the oldest old-fashioned fairs in these parts.

With this year's theme of sheep and goats, there was no shortage of four-footed animals to behold with numerous riders, and junior and senior 4H Club members competing in a number of animal classes that included the horse show, as well as calf, sheep, swine, poultry, fowl and rabbits classes.

Not to be missed were the horse and pony pulls and new this year was a special rabbit agility demonstration put on by members of the 4H rabbit club of Lanark under the direction of Bev Sevard, coordinator and rabbit and sheep leader for the 4H Club of Lanark. The demonstration involved the rabbits being led on leashes by their owners through an assortment of ramps, hoops, and teeter-totters. The rabbit owners spent six weeks practicing for the demonstration, which was one of their achievements. 4H beef leader Julie Dawson said the fair gives the young 4H beef members who participated a chance to learn and show their animals and is a reward for the hours and hours of time they put in leading up to the event.

As always the zucchini races were a major attraction for youngsters and oldsters alike. Wayne Wesley, who founded the race, which has been steadily growing in popularity year after year, manned the starting line and said he was thrilled to see the 40 entries this year, the most ever.

A stellar line up of live musical entertainment took place on the outdoor stage, including Hermann Amberger, Tony Leduc, Jessica Wedden, Fiddlers & Friends, and Tony Davy and Cathy Battison. The out buildings on the grounds were overflowing with a colorful bounty of produce, baked goods, comestibles, a huge assortment of arts and crafts comprising hundreds of exhibits. A vendors' alley also showcased many interesting exhibits that included alpacas from Silent Valley Alpaca near Ompah, a petting zoo courtesy of West Wind Petting Farm of Westport, and psychic readings by Marilyn of Kingston. Guests of all ages took part in numerous games. and prizes were awarded to the oldest and youngest guests, the farthest traveled, the longest married couple and more. The owners of the Fall River Restaurant in Maberly prepared the delicious dinner hour meal. Congratulations to the Maberly Agricultural Society and to all the coordinators , volunteers and donors who work so hard to continue to make the Maberly Fair such a treasured and worthwhile event.

Each soccer season is very gratifying for our committee members. We put a lot of effort into planning and coordinating and are rewarded when we finally get to see the kids on the fields playing. We have seen the players develop their skills over the years and it is amazing that this sport continues to be available to the kids in our area.

Some of our members have been involved and volunteering their time for over 10 years. With changing personal commitments, some of us will not be able to continue to volunteer in the capacity that we have been and new members are needed. Without new volunteers, Central Frontenac soccer will not be able to continue for the 2016 season. If your child loves the sport of soccer, you need to think about volunteering. There are various positions and tasks including chair, secretary, treasurer, referee coordinator, media liaison, and more. A committee like this works best with many members doing small parts to divide and share the work. The committee meets a few times each year to sort out positions, to plan, and to assign tasks and goals. We will be holding a wrap-up meeting on September 16 at 7pm at the Medical Centre, lower level, in Sharbot Lake. If you want to see soccer available for your children next year, come out to get more information and show your interest in continuing the sport of soccer in our community.

For questions or to volunteer, contact Lynette Whan, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., (613)279-2366 or message us on the Central Frontenac Soccer Facebook group.

2015 Central Frontenac Soccer Association members: Lindsay Beattie, Liz Bigelow, Niki Putnam, Lynette Whan

The Oso Recreation Committee has started the ball - or in this case “the puck” - rolling to establish an outdoor ice rink in Sharbot Lake.

In 2011, the Sharbot Lake Snow Rider’s Club presented the Oso Recreation Committee with a $10,000 donation earmarked for an outdoor ice rink in Sharbot Lake. From that time the Oso Recreation Committee, in working with the township, searched many viable locations for a suitable ice rink location - one that was easily accessible and centrally located to be used by the most people. A multi-use location was the best option for this project and viability of the rink. The location selected and approved by town council was the Oliver Scott Memorial Park in Sharbot Lake. The park now houses a ball field with existing lighting, a washroom facility that is slated for replacement this year and a canteen. This location is also in close proximity to the Granite Ridge Education Centre. Most children in Central and North Frontenac will attend this school and have access to this rink. The rink is also located in the village of Sharbot Lake, making this easily accessible as most people in the area come to Sharbot Lake to shop, bank, seek medical attention, and so much more.

At a meeting held last week, the group discussed at length the “next steps” for the rink project and also listened to some great direction on the area in question from Jeremy Neven, the township’s chief building official. Dave Willis, Oso recreation committee chair, has done a lot of the initial leg work with the support of his committee to get this project in motion. The committee is now focusing on geotechnical studies, rink design and, most importantly, fund raising.

On September 12, there will be the first in a series of OPEN MIC afternoons held at Oso Hall. All proceeds will be going to the construction of the ice rink. Admission to the hall will be by donation and light refreshments will be available for purchase. Our house band will consist of local musicians Adam Lake, Kevin Merrigan, Justin Riddell and Jim MacPherson, better known as “The Ice Rink Pickers”. These lads will open the afternoon and supply the base music for our local musicians to showcase their talents. The open mic will be run by sign up, with each performer having the opportunity to sing two or three songs. We encourage everyone, young and not so young, to come and enjoy an afternoon of music and friendship and help us make this project a success. If you have any questions, contact Lesley Merrigan at 613-279-3144.

North Frontenac Mayor Ron Higgins paid tribute to members of the previous North Frontenac Council at the unveiling of a long-awaited cenotaph for the Township of North Frontenac at the Clarendon-Miller Hall Park on Saturday morning (August 22).

The unveiling of the cenotaph was followed immediately by the dedication of a plaque and a red maple tree in honour of former mayor, Bud Clayton. Before Clayton died suddenly almost exactly a year ago, he had presided over the council that funded and planned the construction of the cenotaph.

The project was spearheaded by Councilor Gerry Martin, who brought the idea forward early in the term of the last council. With the help of a committee made up of Eileen Fleiler, Cor Bakelaar, Bob Kenny, Wayne Good and Gerry Martin, and the grant writing efforts of township staffer Cory Klatt, the project was approved last fall and was constructed this spring and summer.

In a telephone interview on Monday (August 24) Gerry Martin reflected on how the project developed.

“Wayne [Councilor Wayne Good] and I talked about how North Frontenac needed a Cenotaph, and when we approached Bud Clayton about it he said he would do whatever he could. So we went to Council and started working on it.”

A committee was formed, and Council committed $30,000 towards the project, over two years, which turned out not to be enough money for the project. The township applied and received notice of approval for a federal grant that would have covered the cost.

“Then we got a letter from them saying that the program had been cancelled, which was pretty disappointing, to say the least. Fortunately, Cory Klatt determined that we could use Federal Gas Tax money for this kind of infrastructure, and Frontenac County was able to help us out,” he said.

The cenotaph, which was constructed with the help of Derek Maschke, was designed by Martin. It includes elements going as far back as the Boer War, with a focus on the two World Wars and the Korean War as well.

“Not many people know this but there was even a training ground in North Frontenac during World War 1. A local regiment trained in Plevna all one winter and went overseas after that,” Martin said.

The dedication ceremony was conducted by the president of the Northbrook Legion, Branch 328, Mike Powley Jr., aided by Padre Harry Adringa.

“Let us pause to think reverently of those of our comrades who by sea, by land and in the air, laid down their lives for their sovereign and country. Their sacrifice will ever inspire us to labour on, to the end that those who survive and need our aid may be assured of assistance, and that the country in which we live, and for which they died may ever be worthy of the sacrifice they made. During the silence, we will remember our fallen comrades and those who have passed on since we last gathered together,” Powley said at the start of the ceremony.

After the dedication of the cenotaph, attention turned to a spot close to the cenotaph where a young red maple has been planted.

Ron Higgins and his wife Wendy introduced Jackie Clayton, Bud Clayton's widow, and dedicated a plaque at the base of the tree, which reads “In Loving Memory of Our Dedicated and Community Oriented Former Mayor Bud Clayton – who touched so many hearts and brought laughter to those who knew him.

North Frontenac Mayor 2010 – 2014 – 'We shall forever cherish his memory'”

Clayton was the sitting warden of Frontenac County in 2014, and was attending a conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario in London on August 17, 2014 when he collapsed suddenly. He died two weeks later, on September 1.

In his final year on Frontenac County Council, he made use of the political skills he honed over the years in North Frontenac and his personal relationships with other councilors to bring stability to the county. When he first entered municipal politics in 2004 he was known for speaking his mind and proposing ideas as they came to him. While he never lost that spontaneity, it became tempered by the realities of serving as mayor and warden, and he employed his new-found diplomatic skills to great effect during his tenure as county deputy warden in 2013, and warden in 2014.

For Jackie and his friends and family, Bud is remembered as a man who was as quick with a helping hand as he was with a joke.

Earlier this year, Kingston Frontenac Public Health also honoured him for his service on their board with a bench outside their offices on Portsmouth Avenue.

There was a third ceremony at the Clar-Mill Park on Saturday, a ribbon cutting at the new play structure, which was built using monies raised locally, along with a $10,000 grant from Hydro One, as well as some money from the township. Before cutting the ribbon, Cory Klatt invited all the kids in the audience to use the structure while the ribbon was being cut, and after a bit of prodding a few kids came forward, followed soon by all the rest. Even some adults thought they would step forward, but stopped themselves.

“There's still a swing available” said Cory Klatt. The adults laughed, but stayed put.

Jocelyn Lemke was among the ribbon cutters. She was the parent who brought a petition to Council a couple of years ago complaining about the lack of recreational facilities for children and asking for a play structure.

“She did not just show up with a petition,” said Gerry Martin, “she had already talked to the businesses in Plevna and had them on board to support it financially. She had done her homework.”

Reflecting on all of the projects that came together at the Clar-Mil Hall on Saturday, Martin said he was pleased with the turnout, and also pleased that all of the effort over a number of years has resulted in a park that will be a community asset for years.

There is a 250 metre walking path that defines the new Clar-Mill Park, which encompasses the play structure, the cenotaph and the memorial to Bud Clayton. The land it is located on had been scrub/marshland, but with some drainage and reclamation work it has been reclaimed for recreational and ceremonial use.

The Friday night horse pull is a signature event at the Parham Fair, and this year was no exception. Long before the demolition derby or even the midway were part of the fair, the horse pull filled the stands.

It is a mesmerizing sight: the horses champing at the bit as their owners pull them back before they simultaneously drop the clasp in place, loosen the reins and jump out of the way as the horses bolt forward and begin pulling on thousands of pounds of concrete slabs stacked on a sleigh that is almost embedded in the soft, brown earth.

And of the people behind the horses, who feed and train and live with the horses year round, the king of them all in the Godfrey/Parham area has to be Bill Lee. Bill has won the horse pull countless times, and when he is not working on his own team he helps less experienced horsemen handle their horses.

He not only participates in the Parham Fair each year, but at other fairs too, as well as in the annual Christmas parades. Also, when any charity or organization needs a team of horses for wagon rides, Bill has always been the one they call.

About a month ago, Bill Lee suffered a serious accident while training his horses. He lost an eye and his face and body are battered. It was hard to imagine the Parham Fair Horse Pull without him, but thankfully that did not happen. Although he wasn't in the pull, he nevertheless made it to the fair, having almost forced his way out of Kingston General Hospital earlier in the week. He sat in a lawn chair next to his car by the announcer’s booth at the main ring, and visited with dozens of friends while shouting encouragement to the teams throughout the light and heavy horse pulls.

There were a dozen teams in the heavy horse pull this year, more than have participated in many years. Over $2,500 was raised on Friday night to help Bill out. Some of that money came from the fair board, which donated $1 from each Friday night admission fee. The Teamsters (Ottawa Valley Horse Pull Association) donated $900 and the rest of the money came from passing the bucket at the fair.

Other highlights on Friday night included the cowboy/cowgirl contest, and a performance by the Old Habits, followed by HD Supply.

Saturday was Family Day at this year's fair, and through a combination of new features - no charge for all of the events aside from midway rides, all-day fixed price passes to the midway, and brilliant weather - the fair was packed with kids this year.

One of the highlights was the Critter Corral, which was put together by Sasha Baillargeon of 4th Lake Road.

“It was really something,” said Fair Board President Wendy Parliament. “The old chicken barn was set up as a farm playground that was packed with animals. The kids went in there and didn't want to come out.”

Aside from the corral, there was a sheep shearing demonstration, a robotic cow from the Ontario Dairy Association that people could milk, and country games all afternoon.

“We are focusing on hands-on events for kids and families, and keeping the price down, and it seems to be working,” said Parliament.

This year, Sunday saw the return of the Demolition Derby to the Parham Fair.

When the derby did not take place last year because there weren't enough volunteers around with skills and strength to prepare for and put on a derby, some of the perennial participants missed it. So, they came forward and were instrumental in bringing it back.

“Dustin and Alan Kehoe and Spencer Robinson stepped in and put machinery and manpower to work and we had 19 cars, all local, in the derby this year, which was a great success,” said Parliament.

The fair has taken a turn towards local entertainers as well; Shawn McCullough and One Busted Ego were the headline bands on Saturday night.

Wendy Parliament said that over 60 volunteers, working anywhere from one hour to four full days, made the fair a success this year. The fair has also broken even this year and in a month or so, organising for the 2016 (124th) edition will start up.

Anyone who is interested in getting involved in some aspect of the fair is encouraged to go to parhamfair.ca and click on the contact link.