Community comes together for 63rd Ameliasburgh Fall Fair

Who needs midway rides when you can make your own fun in giant bubbles.

Story and photos by Olivia Timm
The sun shone on the 63rd annual Ameliasburgh Fall Fair on the weekend bringing with it a burst of country fun for visitors of all ages.

The fair kicked off with a parade along the main street and into the fairgrounds where the theme “From Sea to Sea” was celebrated in honour of Canada’s 150th birthday this year.

Councillor Steve Ferguson, speaking at the opening ceremonies on behalf of Mayor Robert Quaiff, said the Ameliasburgh fair is a great example of bringing the community together.

“There are homecomings, there are displays of agricultural roots. There are displays of our produce, our crops and it is wonderful these opportunities exist where people can coalesce and have a great time.”

While a special Canada 150 celebration evening of dancing in the street was followed by fireworks over the water, the attempt to add a new attraction of a small midway for children did not come to fruition.

Jan Knightingale, who has been the fair board chair for the past three years, said Ameliasburgh was turned down by companies because of size constraints.

“Everybody we contacted were not interested, so unfortunately it isn’t happening,” she said. “If they had a bigger market, they went there instead. This is a country fair, so we would never do [a big midway] as the main focus, but we were hoping to have some jumping castles and things like that.”

Prince Edward Hastings MPP Todd Smith was asked to officially open the fair.

“It is always great to be out at these fall fairs. We were in Milford a few weeks ago, and I’ve been at fall fairs around the County for the last several weeks as we celebrate the harvest and look forward to Thanksgiving weekend,” he said. “We acknowledge how important the agriculture industry is to our province. It is the number one sector as far as the economy goes now, and we thank you for the work that you do … It is farmers that feed cities.”

There was a moment of silence at the opening ceremony to remember volunteer Eric Bandy, who passed away earlier this year.

Following the ceremony, as per tradition, the Volunteer Firefighters Association cooked up burgers and members from the Rednersville Women’s Institute were selling delicious pies of many flavours, one of the most popular being pear.

Marjorie Bedford and her great-niece Brynn Peck were at the table with bright smiles and Bedford said she has volunteered at the fair for many years and is happy to do so.

The cotton candy machine was also popular this year as a fundraiser for the Storehouse Foodbank in Wellington.

Another new addition to the fair was Consecon artist Janet Battaglio who was contacted by the Ameliasburgh Recreation Committee to show her banners – designed and painted by groups and individuals to be posted around Consecon.

Country fun at the Ameliasburgh Fair involved meeting and viewing various animals.

Troy Kewley with one of his pet weasels.

Battaglio said the committee has asked if the residents of Ameliasburgh would be interested in creating their own banners to commemorate their town as well. She brought samples of the artwork and a sign-up sheet in hopes that people would show their interest.

“Come see what we do, and see if your town would look more fun with some hand-painted banners.”

Children and adults were kept busy with activities and visits to the petting zoo. Troy Kewley, of Ameliasburgh, volunteers each year with the petting zoo, and says he and his brother enjoy helping out.

While sitting in a cage watching over two pet weasels, he pointed out some new ducks and raccoons that joined in for this year’s fair.

Knightingale said the need for volunteers is great. Meetings are held the third Thursday of the month at the Ameliasburgh Town Hall at 7:15 p.m. Everybody welcome.