What does the Richmond Fair Mean to You?
submitted by David Brown, Past-President & Member of the Richmond Agricultural Society
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]The Richmond Fair turns 175 years old this year! What a milestone for our village. Ottawa is fortunate enough to have five Fair’s within the City, Richmond has been around the longest. Country fairs used to be the place for farmers to gather once a year to compete with their livestock and crops, see their friends and neighbours and enjoy a ride on the midway. 175 years later, this has not changed. The rides are bigger, and the village has moved away from agriculture acting as the largest employer, but residents still come to the Fair to see their neighbours, enjoy the livestock shows, enter homecraft projects and to enjoy the friendly atmosphere absent in so many communities today.
So what does the Richmond Fair mean to me?
I have been around the Richmond Fair for 28 years. I’ve ridden the rides, showed cows in 4-H, received my volunteer hours in order to graduate from South Carleton High School and been a volunteer for the past 19 years. I was even lucky enough to have my picture taken in the parade when I was four years old during the Fair’s 151st year, a photo that still hangs in the fair office today. Having a connection with my community, where I can come and enjoy the fair food, the evening dances, see friends that I might not have seen since the last Fair, but more than that, to be able to say that I have had the opportunity to volunteer to give back to Richmond. That is what the Fair means to me.
The generations of volunteers before me worked hard every year to provide my generation with a Fair. I am proud to be continuing this tradition, so my friend’s and their children have an annual fair to enjoy.
So what does the Richmond Fair mean to you? We want to know!
Send us an email or write in telling us what the Fair means to you for the chance to win two admissions tickets! The deadline for submissions is Tuesday, September 17th at 5:00 pm.
richmondfair@sympatico.ca or Richmond Agricultural Society Box 1210, Richmond ON, K0A 2Z0
