Feature Article August 7, 2002
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110th fair celebrates community and agricultureby Jeff GreenWhile most everything in the world has been turned upside down, sideways, and flipped over in the past 110 years, the Parham Fair has remained true to its traditions. Muriel Villatta, who chairs the Fair Committee, says that looking at accounts of the early years of the fair she finds many of the same family names as are prevalent today. She also recounts how a neighbour has gotten a hold of an 8mm film taken at the 1926 edition of the fair, which must have been the 33rd Parham Fair, which the neighbour says looks the same as todays, except for the newer cars.
While the agricultural base in the Parham area has been eroded with the demise of the subsistence farm, participants from South Frontenac and Lennox and Addington have picked up the slack in recent years. This years fair will again centre on horses and horsemanship. Annie Bianco-Ellett, a big hit last year and the 2002 Overall Cowboy Mounted Shooting Champion, will be appearing again along with local shooters. There will also be a horse draw and a heavy horse show. The fair also includes a cattle and poultry show, a kids sports program, and entertainment by the Old Tyme Fiddlers, A Gospel Sing, and Red Rose Express.
Naturally, tradition is paramount in a 110 year old event, and the Parham Agricultural Society, which sponsors many of the trophies handed out at the fair, has decided to begin renaming trophies to honour names from the fairs history. This year the High Points Games Horse trophy is being renamed the Jim Chambers Memorial Trophy, recognizing the late Mr. Chambers proficiency in the event, which he won many times. In a non-traditional way of celebrating tradition, Phillip Smith has been busy, in conjunction with the Land O Lakes Communications Network (LOLCS) developing a website devoted to the history of the Parham Fair. The website will be launched in the near future.
Muriel Villatta describes the Parham Fair as a time when everyone comes out to see friends and neighbours they might not have seen all year.
