Donald Teuma-Castelletti
SHAWVILLE Sept. 1, 2018
Being my second year covering the Shawville Fair, I had an idea of what to expect, from the animals through to the music and food. What I didn’t anticipate was just how much I’d experience and in just so many short hours.
The Saturday of the fair is jam-packed with tons going on and writing that even seems to be an understatement.
For me, it started a bit groggy but nothing a shower and some coffee couldn’t fix, thankfully, as I had much to do.
I began at the outdoor ring as it was the first place I saw where there was a sizable crowd forming. Exhibitors trotted out massive horses across various categories, coaxing them along as a judge studied them carefully.
The horses, nervous with the unfamiliar surroundings, required extra attention. Trainers often needed to calm them as they started to stand on their hind legs, saying, ‘easy, easy’ to help with their efforts.
The crowd always gasped at this point, fearing for the safety of the people showing the horses.
As there were no reports of the animals running amok at the fair, it’s safe to say the exhibitors are quite talented at their jobs.
I’d return to this ring periodically throughout the day, as the horse show was an all-day affair. An exciting moment arrived later in the afternoon when miniature horses were attached to carriages, pulling it and the humans atop around the ring. Both comical in nature and entertaining, it remains a sight I did not expect to see and greatly enjoyed.
From there, I made my way into the arena where the regional 4-H show was taking place. Where ice lay only a few months ago now sat dirt, lots of it, and animal excrement would soon be joining all of it.
At first I was bewildered. Not by the dirt, or the animals and their exhibitors, but by the judge. As I stood watching this woman, Kerry Alexander, inspecting the morning’s Holsteins, my confusion only grew.
She had all these hand signals, simple enough but to someone who just waltzed into the arena, unsure of what to expect, it looked like she was giving instructions as a baseball coach, to her pitcher.
All the while, the children, of course, knew exactly what they were doing. They led their animals around in a circle and lined them up accordingly when necessary. They took the vocal feedback from Alexander on their posture, eye contact and other elements of showmanship seriously, no doubt encouraged by the way she delivered her judgment individually. In the showings I had seen, she gave precise criticism and praise in a warm voice, shifting seamlessly from working as a judge to acting as a mentor to the kids.
Catching up with Alexander in the evening, before she began judging the Holstein show, she took a few minutes to explain what all was happening in these competitions, as well as what it takes to become a judge.
She explained that it takes 11 years to attain her position and that even then there is still more to do.
“You go to shows and get a positive rapport in the industry from these shows,” she said.
Alexander explained that the cows are judged on five components in Canada, with the udder being the most important aspect since these are the milking cows.
She also explained the terms showmanship, where the exhibitor is judged, and conformation, when the animal is critiqued. This was something 4-Her Willis Egan had clarified to me earlier in the afternoon, allowing me to be a bit more in the know when I spoke with the judge.
Egan, who has shown seven Holsteins with his family’s Elmside View farm, provided more insight into what it is that competitors are doing in the showmanship category. As an exhibitor, you have to look at a judge while maintaining a steady walking rhythm with the calf, holding your own head high and leading an animal that is often twice or three times your size.
It’s something that requires practice everyday, although I was surprised to learn that Egan only needed an hour each day with the calf. The way these kids had control over their animals, I had assumed it would require more attention than that.
Egan had been working with his cow for four months ahead of the fair and said that training begins with walking them in a rope halter before graduating them into a chain one.
While he and his many companions at the fair were well-prepared for the competitions, there was one batch of kids just getting their first taste of 4-H life as they took part in the peewee show.
In this noontime show at the arena, little ones, partnered with a parent or mentor, parade their animal around the rink much like the older kids. With a wide-eyed look of wonder as they took in everything around them, the peewee competitors brought the ‘aww’ factor to the day as they were often coaxed along by their guide, especially with the youngest ones.
Some had a good bit of practice, like Morgan Tracey, who took home a trophy for dairy showmanship in the peewee category. Having had two months of practice, she was relieved to find the calf calm come Saturday.
“I thought she was going to be jumpy, but she wasn’t,” said Tracey.
Warren Sally, on the other hand, was a great example of just winging it. He declared proudly that he had not practiced for the peewee show at all and still came out a winner, claiming the Western Quebec Fluid Milk Producers Association Trophy for Champion Dairy Pee-Wee Showman.
Once the peewees had wrapped up, I decided it was time to be acquainted with animals that I’m much more familiar with at the pet show. Held in front of the seniors’ tent, kids brought out their beloved four-legged creatures to enter in a wide variety of categories.
This show proved quickly to have the more unruly bunch of animals, as girls held tight to rabbits that only wanted to explore their new surroundings and dogs proved more interested in seeing what everyone was getting up to. The only pet that didn’t try to make an obvious break for it was the lone bearded dragon, who was always scooped up into their owner’s arms.
Pets were tested on their best tricks, measured for longest nose and ears, and more, with the young owners beaming as they showed off their furry companions.
After this, I decided to make my way into the agri-awareness barn, where a wide assortment of activities took place all day long. My foray into this began with an agri-magic show, complete with magician Dan Steep turning Louis Marchildon into a cow with the help of 4-Her Dryden Frobel, before I got a crash course in beekeeping.
Martin Schultz, of Clarendon’s Martin Schultz Apiaries, led this discussion, first explaining what he does and then showing off the tools of the trade and answering questions.
He detailed how the bee traps work, how honey is collected safely and how they survive the winter to an audience of adults who appeared glued to his talk. One aspect the crowd reacted to, both in curiosity and a bit of disgust, was Schultz’s description of finding other animals in bee hives. Sometimes crickets, mice and even snakes make it in where they are soon stung to death and mummified by the honey, decomposing slowly.
Schultz said his beekeeping talks and demos have piqued the public’s interest as bees continue to pop up in the news. He likes to educate the public in an attempt to diffuse the common fear of the insect, by showing people that bees aren’t super aggressive so as to dissuade them from wanting to kill bees on-sight.
Soon after the bees wrapped up, Lindsay Howard brought her field to table talk into the barn. Her talk, she detailed, was meant to bridge the gap that consumers don’t see when they purchase that produce or loaf of bread from the grocery store.
With this last lesson from Howard just an abridged preview of her talk, I was off to continue exploring the fair. After getting my fill of education for the day, it was time to let my brain recharge while attending the varying shows at the children’s stage.
First up was Nathaniel Rankin’s magic and juggling, which had the kids really fired up with his level of energy, while the parents enjoyed his off-the-cuff remarks he made in reaction to some of the volunteers for the show. This was followed by the ever-exciting exotic animal show from the Keepers, before Tex the Comedy Cowboy brought his own brand of fire-eating, wise-cracking antics to the stage.
All of that was only interrupted by a brief detour to Kyle Bertrand’s tent, when he revved up a chainsaw to demo how he goes about making his carvings. At the 5 p.m. show he was effortlessly carving out a bear with a crowd quickly forming to watch in disbelief as the animal quickly emerged from what had just been a simple log.
Of course, I also took in as much music as I could starting with Rainwater Whiskey in the evening, within the beer tent. The country twang was permeated with a sharp edge as the band got the party going, ahead of the night’s lead performances.
Before those shows began, I did have to make one last stop into the arena, to catch some of the evening’s Holstein show. Here Alexander was back at it, now judging the cows for their own qualities in the conformation.
This event started with a moment of silence in memory of Grant Caldwell, who passed suddenly just the previous week. Attention was also brought to one of the competitors that evening, Alex Mayhew, on becoming the first male ambassador to the fair. He was presented with a belt displaying various 4-H symbols in place of flowers.
Finally, I raced back to the main stage to catch the night’s lead musical acts, Brea Lawrenson and Meghan Patrick. Lawrenson had the crowd plenty warmed up for the night as she brandished her acoustic guitar and lots of energy onstage.
Patrick, taking the stage at 9 p.m., continued to feed off that energy as her powerful voice beckoned more folks to join the crowd. Coming off a series of wins at different country music award shows, Patrick delivered just what was promised with her country songs of love and heartache.
All in all, I probably experienced just a quarter of everything going on that Saturday. This attempt to sum up one day definitely falls short – I didn’t detail every note of music I enjoyed as I ran about or the enticing smells of greasy meats drifting out from the many food trucks. I didn’t get to ride any of the midway and could only admire the brave souls that did so, as I grew queasy just looking at the height or speed of some of the attractions.
There were many more demonstrations that took place throughout the fairgrounds, and plenty more for me to learn about all of the animals being shown in the various shows. Still, for what little time I had available to me, I’d say I got a good taste of what the Shawville Fair is all about.
