The fair board invited 12 presenters in agriculture, like farmers, to speak on alpaca, beef, chickens and eggs, ostrich, and llamas. They also included the paramedics, fire fighters and the museum. At the end of the tour they all met up in the shade of the beer tent and got to watch a magic show.

“So it just brings them to the fair. They walk all over the fairgrounds and apparently they’ve had a lot of fun. So that’s what we wanted,” said Kelly King, one of the organizers.

On the tour, the kids stopped to talk to the different presenters to learn how they operate and what they do. The Equity talked to Jared Hamilton who operates Jolly Eggs Farm with his wife Holly.

He brought in eggs and a chicken for his demonstration and talked to the kids about the industry, what it takes to raise chickens and where their food comes from.

“We live this every day, we see these chickens every day, but it’s something that the kids probably have never seen or if they have it’s not very often. So to have them here with their friends and classmates to get to see an actual live chicken. It’s such a cool experience for them, to see their expressions and then to try to educate them as best as we can about their food and where it comes from, that’s what it’s about,” said Hamilton.

For his first time presenting at the Shawville Fair, Hamilton said it was a blast to see the kids and get to answer all their questions.

Coming from Willow Lane Alpacas, Laird and Gayle Graham gave a presentation about what an alpaca is like and allowed the kids to touch the animal so they can feel how soft and how warm their fibre is.

A frequently asked question is whether or not alpacs spit, and contrary to what people may know, alpacas spit but not at people whereas their cousin llamas spit to protect themselves, said Laird and Gayle Graham.

“It’s well organized. The kids are great, and the groups came with a number of helpers. It’s just wonderful, that kids were excited,” said Gayle.

Mountainview and Homegrown Garden Centre owner, Lindsay Hamilton, who also runs it with her brother Jared, was there giving a presentation on turf.

“While we don’t have cows and horses, we do grow a product and that’s turf and also veggies,” said Lindsay.

She spoke to the kids about the importance of turf and the environment, how many seeds are in a pound (which is 1.2 million seeds per pound) and that it takes 150 pounds to grow one acre of turf. They also got to play a guessing game to see who knew their seeds.

“I usually get their heads to lay down on the turf to make sure that they feel how cool it is. And then I remind them that we have to feed it and it’s full of chicken manure,” laughed Lindsay.

This event is held every year on Friday morning said Kendal Lang, director of the program, who highlighted that it gives kids who don’t normally come to the fair to experience it and get to walk around the whole fairground while learning about agriculture.

“They can learn about agriculture because some kids only come to the fair for the midway you know, so they then come and they learn all the different things about agriculture,” said Lang.

Lindsay Hamilton playing a game with the kids to see how many know their seed names.

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