CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Aug. 22, 2018
On Wednesday, The Equity caught up with Pontiac Agricultural Society President Stacey Howard to discuss new attractions for this year and to go over some of her favourite fair memories.
One of the new things for this year is the addition of official Shawville Fair apparel, which will be for sale in the Homecraft Building.
A returning favourite is the Classic Car Show on Monday, that Howard says has blown up in popularity since director Lucy Kingsbury took over.
“When Lucy took it over they had something like 30 cars and now it’s over 200 and it’s probably more this year,” she said. “We physically run out of room on our grounds.”
She explained that this year, the fair would be rolling out a new kind of bracelet that is fabric instead of plastic and features a barcode.
“These are just for the weekend passes,” Howard explained. “With the data we’re going to get from these wristbands, we’re going to know what time people are actually flowing through our gates, so we’ll be able to plan better and have our shows timed to when they’re coming.”

In addition, fair officials will be able to keep track of attendees in real time, right down to their point of entry. They discovered the technology through their online ticketing company and decided the data could be useful to analyze for future years.
“Also, say gate three is really busy, it sends me an alert on my phone, and we can tweet out that gate three is really busy but the main gate is clear sailing, head down there,” she said. “We can channel people that way, get them in quicker.”
Also new this year, debit cards will be accepted at all the gates, a move that Howard said was pretty key.
“We had to do that this year because nobody carries cash anymore,” she said.
She said the Fair Board works hard, in conjunction with a host of other community volunteers to set up, keep everything running smoothly and clean up the grounds when it’s all over.
She added that anyone looking to volunteer their time can fill out a form by clicking on the volunteer button at shawvillefair.ca. Plenty of positions and time slots are available, from the beer tent, to the various livestock shows and manning the gates.
Though Howard has helped out with a host of different activities during her many years on the board, her heart remains with the dairy show.
“My favourite show of the whole thing is the 4H PeeWee show, when you have the little ones come out and they’re so excited to get that red ribbon,” she said. “I love to see the smile on people’s faces. That’s the highlight of my whole weekend.”
She begins by taking entries in July and August, topping out at about 60 head of cattle this year. The show opened its competition to farmers from further abroad this year.
“Traditionally, it was called the West Quebec Regional Show, but since our numbers dipped below the 60 level, we gave up our show and opened it up to Ontario,” she said. “So we have another group of dairy farmers that we can draw from to get our numbers up. I have a few entries from guys over there, so it should be good.”
When asked about her favourite memory from the fair, Howard said she had a lot to choose from, especially when her kids were showing animals. One example, which exemplified the event’s moniker as the Valley’s most family friendly fair, came to her mind.
“We had a 4H alumni show for the 100th anniversary of the 4H. My son had brought out his Jersey cow, she was actually out here for the milking demonstrations,” she said. “Bob Younge, [fellow Fair Board director] Rick Younge’s father, wanted to participate in the show, and they had Jerseys many, many years ago. He wanted a calf bad, but I said, ‘What about a cow, Ryan has his Jersey out here.’ His eyes lit up, I tell you. He took her in the ring and we have pictures and he’s just proud as punch. That was a great, great day.”