For her final year as chair, it was not a surprise that at this year's Relay for Life opening ceremonies, which took place on June 20 at the Parham fairgrounds, Lesley Merrigan called Tonya Eastman to the stage and dedicated the 2015 Relay to Eastman's mother, Claire Macfarlane, whom Merrigan called the First Lady of the North and Central Frontenac Relay for Life.

Together they unfurled a banner recognizing Claire for her efforts as the Parham relay's founder and the person who inspired Merrigan to take the torch and run with it. Merrigan has led the charge with much poise and dedication over her four years as chair. This year's relay was her first since Claire passed away just one month ago on May 20, and it was an emotional one for Lesley.

The relay took place under sunny skies and a total of 15 teams and 152 participants took part. Past relays were all-night events that took place from dusk to dawn. This was the first 12-hour relay and it proved to be a moving and memorable one, with a stellar line up of local musicians entertaining the relayers and a number of fun activities that took place.

Emceed by Jim MacPherson and Lindsay Fox, the opening ceremonies included a number of guest speakers. Central Frontenac Mayor, Frances Smith, spoke, saying how small communities are making a huge contribution to cancer research and support for local residents.

Penny Cota was this year's survivor speaker and following her speech a mass of yellow-shirted survivors took to the field, making the first lap to the sounds of Shawn McCullough's original and fitting tune titled “Fight”.

Doug Kane, unit manager at the Kingston Lennox and Addington Canadian Cancer Society (CCS), thanked the participants and explained exactly how the funds raised stay in the local community and fund prevention programs and screening, advocacy programs, information services, peer support and transportation services. He cited statistics like the fact that in 2014 in Frontenac Lennox and Addington, the CCS funded over 5600 trips for cancer patients, covering 157,000kms.

Chris O'Callahan, senior investigator with the National Cancer Institute of Canada, a research and clinical trials group based out of Queens University in Kingston and a national scientific research program of the Canadian Cancer Society, spoke in depth about his organization's work, which includes trials of new drugs, new surgeries and new treatments and how these trials that run nationally and internationally are helping to make advances in cancer research and survivor outcomes.

While this year will be Merrigan's last as chair, she was quick to add that her days of helping are definitely not over. She thanked the participants and the sponsors and said that this community continues to “blow her away with their overwhelming support and generosity for this event”.

This year's Relay raised $45,200, and including this year’s total, since 2007 the North and Central Frontenac Relay for Life has raised over $452,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society.

The 2015 Relay For Life is just around the corner. Currently, we have 149 participants registered on 15 teams ready to hit the track on June 20 at noon. The day will start with campsite set-up from 8 until 10:30am and we are hoping to get underway with our opening ceremonies at 11:45am. We have an extensive lineup of talented musicians throughout the 12-hour day as well as a volleyball tourney, games, vendors, Relay Swag, and information.

After introductions and formalities, Our Survivor Lap will begin in the infield. If you haven’t registered and are a survivor, please do so by contacting Sarah Sauve 613-484-6479 or Lesley Merrigan at 613-483-1839. A Survivor is considered to be anyone who has ever been diagnosed with cancer no matter what kind, when or where it was located. If you have ever heard the words “You have cancer”, you are a survivor and we would love to have you come celebrate with us. We will be having a special strawberry social for the survivors following opening ceremonies.

Holding this event during daylight hours will mean a few changes to how we do business. Luminaries will still be sold and decorated and placed around the track. However, our luminary ceremony will not be held until dusk, so we encourage spectators to stick around for that or return to the site to participate. The luminary ceremony is the most moving ceremony of the evening and is a chance for us to remember all those whose battles have ended and honour those that are continuing their cancer fight. Parking for ALL vehicles will be at the old school site in Parham, accessible from Long Lake Road. We do encourage spectators and family and friends to come and join us. Spectator bracelets can be purchased at the gate for $10 each. There will be food available from the Anglican and United Churches as well as numerous vendors in attendance. Our silent auction, which is always a great hit, will be held most of the day as it is going to be done lottery style this year. If you would like to donate an item to our auction, please bring it with you to the event or contact Lesley Merrigan or Connie McLellan.

We hope that you can come and fight cancer with us at the largest fundraiser to make the biggest impact on the Canadian Cancer Society’s mission to eradicate cancer and support those living with the disease. In 2014 the Kingston Frontenac Lennox & Addington Unit office drove over 150,000 kilometres to ensure cancer patients made it to their treatments and appointments. Millions of clinical trials are performed across the country but we also have numerous groundbreaking research projects happening right in Kingston that are funded by Relay For Life donor dollars! Your support and your dollars DO support those in our area. If you are already registered as a participant, thank you for accepting the baton. If you are a volunteer, thank you for your commitment. If you are free on June 20, join our area cancer survivors and community members in making cancer history.  

Mel Good likes to say that he was born on Parham Fair Day, September 7, 1920, and “that was the only fair that I have missed
since then.”
Mel ended up sitting on the fair board for 50 years and for many of those years he was the MC of the fair.
“I never told any off-colour jokes,” he said, “but I did tell some corny ones, you know, like 'after you sit on them planks for a couple
of years your pants get sore'; that sort of thing.”
He remembers a time when the fair was something that people spent the entire summer waiting for, and when there wasn't a lot of money around to spend at the fair.
“One of the most important things I ever did as a director of the fair was to talk the fair board into making the fair free for children
under 12,” he recalls.
He got the idea after noticing a young girl sitting on the fence at the edge of the fair one hot sunny fair day in the 1940s.
“She had come down all the way from Sharbot Lake. I don't know how she got there, but at the end of the day I realised that she didn't have a quarter to get in. She just sat swinging on the fence all day, listening to the music. I don't think she even had anything to eat...I pushed that motion on them and they fought it a bit, but finally they went for it. The next year attendance at the fair doubled, so people said it hadn't been that bad an idea
after all.”
Before Mel's father bought a farm property near Parham in 1916 and began raising cattle and running a mixed farm, the Goods had been working as loggers, for some of the major lumber barons of the 19th century, such as HG Rathbun and John Booth.
But Mel was raised on the farm. He remembers blowing the whistle to call the men to lunch when he was five years old, and he kept a herd of Simmental cattle until about 15 years ago.
“I sold them for an average of a thousand bucks, which was pretty good because right after that the mad cow came in and they weren't worth half that. Still it was better than when I was a kid. We used to sell 10 to 12 a year for about $10 each, and those were 800 lb. animals."
One March day in 1930 when he was nine, he was gathering sap with his father when they heard a plane.
“It was a foggy day, desperately foggy, I remember. I was helping my dad make a sleigh that we used for gathering the sap. We heard a plane overhead and heard the motor shut off three times and then a big crash. We ran out there and saw the wreck. There was 22 inches of ice out on the lake and the
tail end of the plane was all you could see of the plane; it was standing straight up in the ice. I got a glimpse of the two men inside the plane but their bodies were badly mangled and they were clearly dead. Seeing that really made an impression on me, and it showed me that there are a lot of rough spots in this world. It was a sad day for sure.”
When Mel was 20 he started working in the shipyards in Kingston, and he remembers it was steady, hard work but the workers were considered crucial to the war effort.
“I went to see about enlisting, and they said I was qualified but that I should go back to the shipyard where I could do more good.”
In 1946, Mel returned to Parham to take care of his mother, keep up the family farm and to purchase the general store in Parham. With his wife Doris and her sister Jean he ran Good's store for 53 years until selling it to Hope Stinchcombe in 2009. Not only did they run the store, they also ran the post office and the train station for 25 years.
"We sold a lot of feed over the years, and a lot of everything that people needed. If there was something we didn't have, we could get it."
They also gave credit, as many stores did in those years.
“Most people were pretty good, but there were always some who took advantage,” he recalls. “One lady ran up $500 and then phoned over the next month looking to start another line of credit. But we kept good records.”
One thing that Mel remembers is the numbers and prices of products, what he sold things for and what they cost him, and most importantly, how much he made and how much work he had to do to make it. Over the years, that understanding of the value of things has stood him in good stead, and ensured his prosperity even as Parham became less and less of a center of commerce.
“When we had the train station and the truck traffic and all the farms were going strong, Parham was pretty busy, but the store kept us going all the way until the day we sold it, I can tell you that.”
He also understood the value of real estate. The farm, which is 500 acres and has a significant amount of frontage on Long Lake, is still entirely in the Good name.
“There were lots of people who sold waterfront lots for $200 in the 40s and 50s, which was a lot of money back then, but I told them they were selling off their most valuable thing for money that would be gone in a year. I still have all the value in the waterfront here.”
The other thing that he has always done, and continues to do now, is collect and preserve artifacts from the past. Whether it is the wing of that plane that went down on Long Lake in 1930, which Hope Stinchcombe found in the store three years ago when she was re-doing the floors, or a crosscut saw from the late 1890s, which he donated to Central Frontenac Township and now hangs in the township office, to records from the past and all kinds of tools from the 18th and early 19th centuries, he has collected it all.
He also has a story to tell about most of the items. He is pretty spry at 95 and is hoping to live longer than his mother did. She made it to 102.

Long before Mary Howes had established herself as a major force in local and regional organisations, she was a young girl from Tichborne who had been raised in a great aunt and uncle's house, near the rail station.

After high school she went to Toronto to work, living at another aunt's house, but she did not like it very much.

“I didn't like it because I was a country girl, not a city girl,” she recalls now, from the house in Parham that she has lived in since 1952.

She would take the train home every weekend from Toronto, but her days in Toronto ended when one evening at the Parham Fair, she met the man she would end up marrying. “I met Glen for the first time at the dance at the Parham Fair in 1950. We knew of each other of course, but that was our first meeting,” she said.

The dances at the fair were held in the Palace, where all the fair entries are set out during the day. She does not recall who the band was led by that night, although she remembers that the band that played at her wedding was led by Bill Hannah.

There was one problem in the romance between Glen Howes and Mary Sweetman, however. She was from Tichborne and he was from Parham. Tichborne and Parham were opponents in those days, both in hockey and in baseball, and there was always a question of where Mary's loyalties lay.

“Nobody in Parham wanted me to marry Glen; they were rival towns,” she said, although she did add that it was not that intense a rivalry, “Nothing like Romeo and Juliet, but it was something people talked about.”

Tichborne was founded in the late 1860s or early 1870s. The K&P rail line came in 1872. It is thought that the name Tichborne was brought by a Mr. Lunscombe, who was an engineer with Canadian Pacific.

Later there was a mine in the vicinity, the Eagle Lake Iron Mine, which at one time employed 100 people. The mine closed in 1902. (information courtesy of County of 1000 Lakes)

When Mary Howes was growing up in Tichborne in the 1930s, it was very much a railway town, as the K&P rail station, known as Parham Station at one time and later Tichborne Junction, was located there, as well as the “main line” station for the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Located on the same piece of land that the CPR still uses just east of Road 38, the CPR had a full station in Tichborne in the 1930s, which handled passenger and freight traffic.

Mary remembers that the CPR building was always very well maintained, and “there were flowers planted along the walkways where people came off the train.”

Mary was raised within metres of the train tracks, and her family ran the coal loading operation at Tichborne.

“The coal was being brought in on coal cars loading into the chutes near the station, and the coal would be dumped into the hoppers of the trains,” she said. As far as Mary knows, the Tichborne station was the only coal loading depot between Toronto and Montreal.

“The men would always come home covered in coal dust. It was quite a job for my great aunt to wash the clothes out each day,” she said.

Although she was very young, Mary remembers the people who rode the rails in the 1900s, trying to get to somewhere better than where they came from. “We didn't call them hobos or anything back then; they were just people who were looking for some help, and we always had enough to share with one or two."

In the '40s, she remembers handing out apples to the people who were on the trains that were headed towards Fort Henry, filled with immigrants who were being interred because they had the bad fortune to come from one of the countries that was on the other side of the conflict.

“We didn't know who they were or where they were going, but they asked for apples and we gave them apples,” she recalls.

When she was young, Tichborne boasted three stores, two hotels, a bank, as well as a school, and there were a number of cheese factories in the vicinity.

When Mary married Glen Howes in 1952 and moved to Parham, she was moving to a larger town, the agricultural hub of Hinchinbrooke Township.

“It had three garages, a blacksmith, hotels, stores, and was a very busy place,” she recalls.

Glen worked in one of the garages, Simonett's, which later moved to Sharbot Lake. He and Mary had five children, four boys and a girl, with the youngest two being twin boys. When the children were grown she worked in maintenance for the school board, first in Parham and later on at Sharbot Lake High School, where she worked for 20 years.

As well, she became very, very active as a volunteer, where she has made a mark. Not only was she the president of the Women's Institute on several occasions, but also of the United Church Women as well as being involved with the Parham Happy Travelers and the Parham Fair.

She is perhaps best known, however, for 20 years of work with the Cancer Society. “The cancer society was very good to me when my brother was dying and I knew I had to volunteer with them” she said.

Her first job was as a canvasser during the door-to-door campaign each April. That progressed to being a canvass organiser in the villages around her home.

“I used to run 100 canvassers in the region,” she said, “which kept me busy for three months, getting ready in February and March and canvassing month in April.”

The trick to keeping canvassers happy was to limit their responsibility to 10 houses or so. “People were happy to do their family and neighbours, I never had a lot of trouble finding canvassers.”

Eventually, Mary became involved with the executive of the Cancer Society Regional office based in Kingston, serving in a number of roles, including that of president. The region extends from Trenton to Prescott and includes the rural areas to the north of the 401 throughout that vast territory.

“I spent a lot of time on the road, to Kingston all the time and further yet quite often,” she said.

In recognition of her high standard of volunteer effort, she was one of the first recipients of the Central Frontenac Volunteer of the Year award for Hinchinbrooke District and she also received a Jubilee award a couple of years ago.

Although she says she has turned lazy in her old age, she has been actively involved in the push to turn the former Hinchinbrooke School into a community centre for Central Frontenac.

“We do need some place to gather in this part of the township, and the school is sitting there empty,” she said.

If she can help bring that about, maybe she will finally be accepted in Parham after living there for 63 years, even if she is a Tichborne girl.

Jon Roberts from Hydro One's Kingston office presented $10,000 to the Hinchinbrooke District Recreation Committee and Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith on Tuesday. The money comes from the Hydro One Power Play granting program, and will help pay for a play structure in Parham.

“We operate equipment in almost every town in Ontario,” said Roberts, "and all of our employees ... are committed to making Hydro One a good corporate citizen. Hydro One invests in our communities to build and maintain safe, healthy places for healthy, active lifestyles.”

Power Play is a granting program that was established by Hydro One in 2008 to support and enhance sports and recreation facilities in Ontario.

The Hinchinbrooke Recreation Committee has raised $10,000 on their own towards the project, and there is $15,000 in the draft 2015 township budget as well. With the additional $10,000 from the Power Play grant, the committee is now planning to purchase a $33,000 play structure and spend a further $2,000 on either wood chips or sand to go under the new structure.

The township public works department as well as Rec. Committee volunteers will be doing site preparation in the spring as soon as the ground is ready to be worked. The entire project has been costed out at $35,000 in cash, plus up to $15,000 in volunteer and township labour.

“On behalf of the Township of Central Frontenac, I want to congratulate the Hinchinbrooke Recreation Committee for all their hard work and many hours of fundraising in order to provide new playground equipment to be placed at the ball field in Parham,” said Mayor Frances Smith.

Caption – (L to R) Jon Roberts from Hydro One; Mayor Frances Smith; Bob Teal of the Hinchinbrooke Rec. Committee; and Barrie Stanbury from Hydro One posing with a ceremonial $10,000 Power Play Cheque at the Central Frontenac Township office on February 24.

At the kick off event for this year's 2015 North and Central Frontenac Relay for Life, which took place at the Sharbot Lake Legion on January 23, long-time chair Lesley Merrigan announced that it would be her final year heading up the event.

Merrigan, who has been part of the relay for eight years and chair for the last four, said that it is time for a change in leadership. “Every good thing needs to be refreshed and people in the community here need an opportunity to take the event to a new height. For that reason I think that it's time for a new leader to step in.”

Merrigan credited her long-time leadership team for making the event such a success, which over its eight-year history has raised close to half a million dollars for the Canadian Cancer Society. “As chair you get all of the glory but it is the leadership team, which has changed very little over my four years as chair, that have made the event such a success.” Merrigan stressed that her stepping down is no way a sad thing and she looks forward to seeing a new, fresh face take up the cause.

Nine new teams signed up at the kick off on Friday night, making a total of 13 committed teams for this year's relay. Organizers are hoping for 20 teams to participate. Merrigan admitted that that will be a challenge since a number of survivors who have relayed for years unfortunately lost their battles with cancer this past year.

With that in mind Merrigan added that the event is the perfect place to be for those who have lost loved ones to the disease. “Cancer and the loss of loved ones is often not an easy thing to come to terms with but it is often the sadness, the anger and the frustration that that drives us and so many others to take part.” Merrigan is putting out the call to past relayers, especially in the north, to join up this year and said that she may be able to arrange transportation for them.

Though this will be Merrigan's last year as chair, she is putting as much into this relay as she has in the past and has already announced some interesting changes for the 2015. Instead of commencing on Friday night and running straight through until Saturday morning, the relay will begin in Parham on Saturday, June 20 at noon and run until midnight that same day. A lot of participants have found that relaying overnight is difficult, can interfere with work and can be exhausting, and Merigan said, "The hope is that more relayers will take part and we believe that the time change will make it easier for youngsters and older participants.”

Merrigan said that more daylight hours at the event will also allow for more activities to take place that otherwise might not have been possible. The luminary ceremony, which is one of the most emotional and visually beautiful happenings at the Relay will continue, and as one of the final events of the evening will make for a very emotional ending. Also new this year will be a great line up of local bands, and new activities, which will be announced as plans unfold.

Merrigan said that she is stepping down as chair with no regrets at all and she plans to continue volunteering in the community.

As far as her advice to a new leader, she said that they should have no fear. “When you are doing something community based in this community you cannot fail. This is an important cause and because of that there will always be people who want to support you.”

Merrigan will be available to mentor the incoming chair and she stressed that the role presents a great opportunity to fulfill the need to give back to the community. “I have seen so many people come to Relay as a way to express all of the mixed feelings that go along with experiencing cancer. The event gives permission to people to demonstrate and experience their emotions in ways that normally they would not and to do so with people who are experiencing the same feelings. I feel very privileged to have been a part of that over the years.”

For more information about the relay or if you are interested in chairing next year's event contact Lesley Merrigan at 613-279-3144 or Christine Teal at 613-375-6525. You can also visit www.relayforlife.ca

By Lesley Merrigan

The days are getting longer, the weather is getting warmer and there is a buzz of planning for summer fun. This year, Summer Solstice is also the same weekend as the Relay For Life, which will be held in Parham on June 20. That is why the Relay Leadership team has decided to adopt a Solstice theme. We will be celebrating everything that summer is about in decoration and costume. We will be focusing on summer sun safety as it plays a critical role in cancer prevention as well as physical activity for total body health.

Summer is a time of planting and regrowth and starting fresh. It’s a time of water, and sun and beaches and fun. Our hope is that you come and celebrate survivors and remember the cancer warriors who have not survived. It is time to join the fight! Our 2015 goal is to have at least 20 teams of 7 + folks.

The Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay For Life has been the largest fundraising event for the fight against cancer. It was estimated that in 2014, there will be 191,300 new cases of cancer reported in Canada. Two out of every 5 people in Canada will get some form of cancer in their lifetime. And thanks in part to 75 + years of research, service and support offered by the Canadian Cancer Society, 63% of these patients will survive longer than five years. We have played a role in making this possible. Our community has supported our relay through business and personal donations, team fundraisers, and committee fundraisers, which do come back to our community. The transportation service “Wheels of Hope” has allowed cancer patients access to transportation to and from their treatment centers throughout our area. From Northbrook to Maberly, from Plevna to Odessa and all the places in-between, our unit office and all other unit offices are committed to helping and supporting anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer. Every year, donor dollars help support the important work of researchers, some as close as Kingston, to finding new cures and treatment methods.

Cancer has touched all of our lives. Having been involved with this event now since 2008, I have seen and heard numerous stories of cancer journeys. Some of them have broken my heart. But some of them have motivated me to fight harder. Some stories have allowed me to see the progress that we are making through research and how the Canadian Cancer Society has supported people right here at home. The Relay For Life is more than just a fundraiser. It is a community of people coming together to fight back against cancer. No matter your story, please consider joining our mission to eradicate cancer and support those living with cancer. Registration will be after the weekly Friday night dinner at the Royal Canadian Legion #425, Sharbot Lake on January 23. And don’t forget…..

“Wherever you go, no matter the weather, always bring your own sunshine” ~ Anthony J. D’Angelo  

Locals and tourists took advantage of the sunny weekend weather to take in the sights and sounds of two traditional fairs that are both long past their 100th birthdays.

On August 23 the 132^nd annual Maberly Fair saw hundreds of visitors pass through the gates at the Maberly fairgrounds for their one-day fair, whose theme this year was Poultry. Sparking off the day's events was the parade in which participants competed for multiple prizes, all donated by area businesses. The zucchini races as usual attracted a boisterous mob of onlookers who watched close to 40 zucchini car creators send their vehicles careening down the track created especially for the popular event. Spread out on site were a plethora of exhibits and live animals including the light horse events, the heavy and light horse draws, 4H Club live animal displays and demonstrations, a petting zoo, plus hundreds of traditional class competitions in the fair's main hall, as well as a vendors' alley complete with a psychic giving readings. The children's games drew a motley crew of all ages and the outdoor stage area offered up a plethora of top-notch local entertainment for music lovers. For those who worked up an appetite, delicious fair food could be had at a reasonable price.

Early in the day local musician Tony Leduc was presented with a brand new accessible van that was purchased through generous community donations. Fred Barrett, president of the Maberly Agricultural Society for his second consecutive year, was pleased with the turnout and said the aim of the fair is to bring the farming folk and city dwellers together to share in the agricultural history and traditions of the local community. “The original purpose of the fair was to spread farming knowledge and that still happens to some degree today. But other non-farmers also love to attend as well, especially people who have gardens and who make things like honey and maple syrup and who like to see how their products stand up. Today the fair is more about bringing the community together to celebrate, visit and have some fun since for many, the meetings that happen here often only happen once a year.”

Barrett also mentioned that this year the society acquired a new lawn mower so that volunteers are now able to cut the over 100 acres of property themselves, which is a big money saver for the society.

The 122nd Parham Fair took place on Friday and Saturday at the Parham fairgrounds and though one day shorter this year it offered up the majority of popular events that continue to attract visitors. The midway is as always a huge draw for youngsters, as are the more traditional horse draws that took place in the main ring on a well attended Friday night opening.

Photo: winning big at “Wacky Water” at the 122^nd annual Parham Fair l-r Michelle Miatello, Julian Miatello, and Clayton Wade of Kingston

It wasn't possible this year to hold the Sunday demolition derby, so the fair organizers opted to overhaul the main ring, replacing all of old sand with new sand and offering up new events like the demonstrations by the Tiny Hooves Miniature Horse Club who “celebrate the versatility of miniature horses”. Their demonstrations included jumping, cart driving, halter classes and an obstacle course with 11 participants taking part.

The main hall was filled with every kind of competitive class and one could spend hours there taking it all in. Numerous other activities were set up on site including a petting zoo, and contests for kids plus wagon rides and much more. This year organizers chose to highlight local entertainers. Up and coming local rockers HD Supply entertained on the main stage on Saturday afternoon and Shawn McCullough and bother Dave attracted a very sizable and appreciative crowd for the Saturday night closing show.

I spoke with Wendy Parliament, co-president of Parham Agricultural Society this year, who said that due to high insurance costs the society decided to bring the fair back to its more traditional roots. While the decision was a tough one Parliament said she and her team decided to make the fair more interactive for families and visitors of all ages and events in the back corral this year included interactive and educational demonstrations by local farrier Jeff Atkinson, sheep shearing demos by Ross Creighton, old plough demonstrations by Fred Lloyd and an antique farm tool display, log sawing demos and contests headed up by Boyd Tryon.

Parliament said that the focus of the fair this year was to celebrate rural life. “We tired to look at what kinds of hobbies and interests local people here have and wanted to highlight that.” With that in mind vendors were not charged to set up a booth and show off their locally made wares.

While local fairs these days are having a challenge to make ends meet, it is encouraging to see these two local agricultural societies making what they feel are necessary changes in order to keep the fairs alive. Hats off to them and to all of the volunteers who continue to put a traditional and agricultural focus on these special annual events, which attract so many visitors.

Photos-

2133- 

2135 Fiddlers and friends entertained at the 132nd annual Maberly Fair

2172 members of the Tiny Hooves miniature Horse Club Wilma Vanwyngaarden, Tina England and Sheila Cook

2228- riding high at the 122 annual Parham Fair l-r,

Kayla Tyo, Hailey McNutt, and Rachel Duggan

2229  with game wrangler Neil

This year's Parham Fair promises to be a showcase for local agricultural, horticultural and artisan businesses and hobbyists alike. Pick up your membership for the Parham Agricultural Society at any Parham merchant or at Asselstine's Hardware in Verona. Then check out the more than 200 competitions to enter to showcase your own work! You can try your hand at displaying your garden's bounty from flowers, herbs, pumpkins to preserves. Enter the baking contests - there are categories for all ages. Try your hand at crafts - homemade calendars, gift baskets, puppets, scrapbooking, woodcrafts, sewing, knitting, crocheting and quilting. Looking for some summer projects for your kids? There are children's crafts, baking, writing and art competitions ranging from preschool to high school student groups. Not feeling up to sharing your own work? Enjoy touring the Palace displays of all of these contests and then tour the many craft and display booths featuring local businesses and artisans on the fairgrounds. Opportunities to participate don't end there. You can also enter the Cattle Show, the Horse Draw, or the Pet Show. This year's Country Fair Games have expanded to include the adult hay bale rolling, nail hammering and log sawing contests. The annual favourites, egg toss and pie eating, will be sure to draw both competitors and delighted audiences.

Admission to the grounds is $5/day; 12 years & under free; Saturday Ride-All-Day bracelets are $20 in advance at local merchants, Jo & Marg's, Parham General Store, Asselstine Hardware (bracelets are $30 if purchased on the fair weekend) Check it all out at www.parhamfair.ca!

Members of the Parham Happy Travelers seniors group, which has boasts 32 members, 22 of whom are active, held their annual BBQ, bake sale and flea market event to raise funds for their annual trip. The destination has yet to be determined but the trip will take place sometime this fall. The group meets regularly on the third Wednesday of the month at the Parham Free Methodist Church from noon until 2pm and one need not be a senior to attend the meetings or join the group.