The Pontiac Agriculture Society held its annual general meeting on Thursday night. The meeting was held in-person at the Shawville Arena and was attended by about 30 people.

During the proceedings, the society elected its board of . . .

directors who will oversee the organization and planning of this year’s Shawville Fair.

Vaughan Bastien was elected as the president of the board by acclamation.

“We’re going to go back to the old style,” said Bastien about his thoughts about how the fair is going to go this year. “The QR codes are gone so we don’t have to worry about that and our entertainment is going to be bigger and better.”

Planning for this year’s fair will begin next Thursday, where the board will meet and start to lay out how they’re going to bring the fair back to its former glory.

During the hour and 15-minute-long meeting, the society also overviewed last year’s fair, which struggled due to COVID-19 restrictions. This smaller fair came off the events of 2020, where the fair had to be skipped entirely.

The 2021 fair lost about $64,000, but after accounting for grant money from the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ), it actually lost $14,681, according to Tyler McCann, financial officer for the society.

Rules around vaccine passports were mentioned as the main reason for the financial losses of 2021’s fair.

“Given what happened with the government, the rules and the situation we were in, it’s not a bad result,” said McCann about last year’s losses.

McCann went on to say that directors should keep the financial situation of the society in mind for this year’s fair.

However, spirits were high about what’s to come.

“Our expectation is that we are going to put on an excellent fair,” said Mavis Hanna, one of the longest serving members of the board and one of the members elected to the vice-president-at-large positions.

“We got a good strong board with lots of energy and lots of people want to get out there again,” said Elwyn Lang, one of the board members chosen that evening.

This year’s Shawville Fair is scheduled for Sept. 1 to 5.

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