Chris Lowrey
SHAWVILLE Sept. 2, 2017
A bright, sunny sky greeted Shawville Fair attendees on Saturday morning as the gates opened and they streamed into the grounds.
The third day of the fair featured all kinds of events and shows to entertain adults and children alike.
The day started off with the regional 4-H show that was held inside of the Shawville Arena.
Meanwhile, a couple hundred people packed the grandstands at the outdoor ring for the heavy horse show.

Another big draw was the Holstein cattle show on Saturday night as people filled the arena for the event.
As the Holstein show was getting underway, the crowds were flowing through the gates to get ready for the night’s musical acts: Cory Marquardt and Cold Creek County, who kept the crowd warm despite the dropping temperatures.
Winners for the 4-H Beef
Confirmation category.

Angus Senior Yearling: Skylar Moore
Charolais Calf: Sydney Ferguson
Charolais Sr. Yearling: Tyson Black
Crossbred Calf: William Orr
Crossbred Junior Yearling: James Orr
Hereford Senior Yearling: Rebecca Hamilton
Simmental Calf: Sadie Ferguson
Simmental Senior Yearling: Tyler Tubman

Winners of the 4-H Beef
Showmanship category.

Peewee Beef Showmanship (age 6-8): Ben Judd
Novice Beef Showmanship (age 9-11): Sadie Ferguson
Junior Beef Showmanship (age 12-14): Ryan Lang
Intermediate Beef Showmanship (age 15-17): Tyler Tubman
Senior Beef Showmanship (age 18-25): Matt Massey
Grand Champion Beef Showperson: Tyler Tubman
Reserve Champion Beef Showperson: Ryan Lang

Winners of the 4-H Small Animal Confirmation category.

Rabbit: James Orr
Poultry: Alex Mayhew
Sheep: Mason Vereyken
Goat: Penelope Lamontagne

Winners of the 4-H Small Animal
Showmanship category.

Rabbit: Laura Mayhew
Poultry: Alex Mayhew
Sheep: Amy Sheppard
Goats: Reese Rusenstrom

The competition was judged by Justin Crowley, who was back for his second straight appearance as the judge for the regional 4-H show.
“You rarely ever get to judge a show twice,” Crowley said. “So that’s an honour.”
Crowley, who lives in Peterborough, just finished stints as the judge at the Cobden and Vankleek Hill Fairs.
When he watches the showmen during the competition, Crowley said he’s looking for a few things.
“You want to see how the calf responds to the showman, how they move the calf around the ring and you’re looking at who’s making the least amount of faults,” he said.
Crowley also listed the types of things judges look for in the confirmation category. Mainly, he said the bone structure and mammary system are the most important traits.
“We’re judging animals to be profitable and productive for the farmer,” Crowley said. “That’s how shows came to be, they wanted to breed the best genetics.”
Crowley, who comes from a family of dairy farmers, has big shoes to fill. His father was a judge at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto – one of the biggest agricultural fairs in the country.
“I can’t say I’ll get there, but I have fun with this,” he said.
He said the most enjoyable part of participating in 4-H competitions is watching the camaraderie of the participants.
“Being in 4-H builds character,” Crowley said. “It’s a social event too. I’m 27 and still have friends from my 4-H days. It’s kind of like going to camp.”
Heavy Horse Show
The large crowd that occupied the grandstands beside the outdoor ring indicated that one of the more popular events at the fair was taking place on Saturday.
With more than 60 events in the horse show, the organizers ran a tight ship ensuring that each group was in and out of the ring as quickly as possible.
The Heavy Horse Show got underway in the late morning as several youngsters demonstrated their showmanship skills as they competed for the Mavis Hanna trophy in the Junior Showmanship competition.
The youngsters were judged by Dan Barron, who grew up around Percheron horses on his family farm in Kettleby, Ont.
Barron said that when it comes to showmanship, he’s looking for the competitors to demonstrate a degree of control over their animal. When it comes to confirmation, it’s all about the appearance of the horse.
“For confirmation you want to have them look nice,” he said. “They have to be steady, they can’t be running all over the place.”
In the afternoon, the crowds swelled as the miniature Six-Horse Hitch event got underway. The winner of the event was the team from Cedar Ridge Ranch.
The event was sponsored by Erin Dittburner, the Ottawa Valley Commercial Association, Gaetan’s Chip Stand, Hardy Plants and Wayne and Susan Tubman.
The next event was the one that many of the spectators – and even the judge – were most looking forward to: the North American Six-Horse Hitch Classic Series.
After the miniature horses left the ring, the crowd waited in anticipation for their larger counterparts to take their place.
After a couple of minutes, a large cloud of dust and vibrations that made their way through the ground and deep into your chest indicated that the show was about to start.
The huge wagons were pulled by six equally massive horses whose harnesses jingled as the wagon drivers gracefully guided the teams into the ring and began trotting around.
Even at a relatively tame pace, the strides of the horses sent a thunderous roar through the ground and kicked huge clouds of dust into the air – evoking images of a scene out of a Western epic.
As they trotted around the ring, Barron kept a close eye on each team. Eventually, all five teams pulled into the middle of the ring as the judges began their inspections. In the end, the winner was Grier Percherons from Lansdowne, Ont.
Agri-Awareness Tent
Meanwhile, over at the Agri-Awareness tent, all kinds of demonstrations were going on to help inform the masses about life on a farm.
The Agri-Awareness tent had events going all weekend, but needed a quick replacement for the Saturday sheep shearing demonstration as the usual exhibitor was at a wedding.
“My name is Dougal and I’ve come all the way from Scotland to shear sheep for you,” said Dougal Rattray from the Quebec Farmers Association (QFA). “Actually, I’m from Wakefield.”
Rattray was giving farm safety demonstrations throughout the weekend but volunteered for the sheep shearing event when a replacement was needed.
“I’m not a professional,” Rattray said. “She won’t look brilliant at the end but at least she won’t have her fleece on,” referring to the sheep that sat snugly between his legs.
Although he hasn’t had much practice recently when it comes to shearing sheep, Rattray does have a background that came in handy.
“I used to be a shepherd in Scotland,” he said.
Although Rattray had little practice, he did a pretty decent job ensuring the sheep went back to the pen feeling cooler than before. During the demonstration, Rattray emphasized the importance of holding the sheep properly so that it remains docile enough for the shearer to do his job.
At one point, the blade and comb on the clippers he was using fell off, forcing him to control the sheep while getting a screwdriver to put the clippers back together.
The demonstration was part of an initiative launched by the QFA to try and bridge the gap between farmers and consumers.
The initiative is funded by MAPAQ and Canadian Heritage and is part of a show called “Where does our food come from?”
“Many people are two generations removed from their food source,” Rattray said, referring to the increasing population of urban areas relative to rural ones over the last 100 years.
“Where does our food come from?” will host three events in Shawville this fall, three events in the Wakefield area and two events in the Laurentians.
Rattray said that the initiative is meant to educate those who don’t really know what farmers do, and how farming impacts their life.
“Farmers receive a lot of criticism,” Rattray said. “If consumers have a greater idea of the reality of producing food, they’d be less critical.”
The Agri-Awareness tent also featured Agri-Music with Markus, a show that is meant to educate youngsters about agriculture.
A lineup out the front door of the lower beef barn indicated that the free face painting station was a hit for the families in attendance as well.
For those who were waiting for the next demonstration or show to start, a sandbox with all kinds of toy tractors was set up for kids to get their hands dirty.
Holstein Show
As the sun went down, the lights went up in the arena for the Holstein show on Saturday night.
The event kicked off with a rendition of “O Canada” by Alexandra Butler and Katie Skerkowski.
A couple of locals came away with wins as Bonnieshade Farm won the Junior Herd class in both the exhibitor and breeder classes.
Christopher Tracy of Double-G Farms won the Junior Heifer class as well.
Musical Acts
As the Holstein Show got underway in the arena, country music fans were filing into the fairgrounds in anticipation of both Cory Marquardt and Cold Creek County.

Marquardt kicked off the show, appropriately, with “Don’t Count Saturday Night” which got the crowd into a festive mood.
He followed that up with “Smartphone,” his first song on Canadian country radio.
Many in the crowd – especially those pressed against the security barricade at the front – screamed at the top of their lungs, which seemed to bring a smile to the face of the country rocker.
After a quick hour-long set, Marquardt gave the crowd a final salute and made way for the night’s headliners: Cold Creek County.
Just after 9:30, the house lights went down and the music went up as Cold Creek County came on the stage to a round of raucous applause.
The band quickly tore through several of their more popular hits for an extremely receptive crowd.
As they got underway, the fairgrounds quickly filled up with people. The outskirts of the main stage were jammed as the area immediately in front of the stage had been filled up with lawn chairs, which limited the movement of those in the crowd.
That crush of people moved into the beer tent after Cold Creek County wrapped up their set just before 11 p.m.
For the remainder of the night, the crowds in the beer tent were treated to some classic country music and rock and roll from the Ramblin’ Valley Band.