Film documents farming, fair history in Parham area

Craig Bakay | Aug 23, 2017

One of the more pleasant surprises at this year’s Parham Fair, its 125th edition, was tucked away into a back corner of The Palace. There, among the prize string beans, slices of pie and various craft goods, Wendy Parliament was premiering her documentary series On the Farm, Looking to the Past — Looking to the Future.
At 2 ½ hours plus, the 3-disk documentary covers a lot of history, not only of the Parham Fair, but of the Parham area, and farming in general, as told by several generations of farmers along Wagarville and Long Lake Roads (augmented by a short trip north of Hwy 7 to Conboy’s Maple Syrup).

Parliament lucked out a bit in that the Benn and the Goodfellow families had quite a number of home movies. That got her thinking . . .
“About two years ago, the Benns (Roy and Joanne) showed me some footage from the ’30s to the ’60s,” she said. “I was going to put in some titles for them but as we were talking, I realized — there’s a story there.”
The next thing you know, Parliament, her camera and her tripod were off on an adventure that included 25 interviews, 20 of which were on-camera.
“As I was talking to people, I realized that for many of the older generation, farming was very much a lifestyle choice,” she said. “Their kids ate good food and while they may not have had a lot of things, they had a good life.
“With the younger generations of farmers, it turns out it’s the same thing.

“They may have a little more environmental aspect to it, but they wanted to know what was in the food their children were eating and again, there are things they may miss out on, but they have a good life.”
Parham’s own Shawn McCullough wrote the opening music for the documentary — a song called We Had Everything, and it kinda says it all.
“In just this one little area, you can get beef, lamb, pork, goat, rabbits and several kinds of poultry,” she said. “There are vegetables that literally will serve you all year round as well as wool, maple syrup, honey, lumber, and even goats for pets. “And horses, lots of horses.”

The historical footage is quite captivating, and locals will probably recognize family, friends and ancestors (where else can you see footage of horseman Bill Lee as a 10-year-old?). And the interviews contain both historical anecdotes as well as contemporary farming insight.
“Fred Lloyd told me about raising horses that people ate, and for dog food,” she said. “I had no idea.”
On the Farm (DVD format) is available at the Parham General Store, $10, with proceeds going to the Fair Board.

As if to underline the theme of renewal in Parliament’s film, the fair itself flourished this year under a new board that came on in January. Although they faced the inevitable challenges, including a much diminished midway due to a mishap faced by Gable brothers, the midway provider, and threats of rain on Saturday, Fair Board Chair Sharon Shepherd said afterwards that the board and volunteers came out of the fair enthused and ready to start planning Parham Fair number 126 on August 18 and 19, 2018.

“The rain held off on Saturday and the children so enjoyed the old fashioned fair games, the animals, and the show by Magoo that the midway was not missed at all. And the stands were full for the horse pull. Attendance was up by over 50 over last year on Saturday, and the Demolition Derby drew over 500 adults on Sunday and was extremely well run by Mitch Cox. It was a great fair this year,” she said.
The 125 year old fair is still embracing its past as it takes on its future.
Imagine the driverless demolition derby in 2046, when the fair will be run by the kids who were playing egg toss and winning the three legged race last Saturday.