Ameliasburgh brings a traditional family fair experience

This young pair received a first place ribbon as winners of the open costume category in the horse show.

Story and photos by Sharon Harrison
Offering a traditional family-friendly fall experience, Saturday marked the County’s third and final fair for the season with an early and cool start for those who joined the parade to Ameliasburgh’s event.

The day soon warmed-up though, creating perfect September weather in which to enjoy the 170th version of the fair, with the theme of, “It’s pumpkin season!”

There was lots to do at the Roblin Lake Park, featuring animals, live music, the craft show, inflatable fun for the little ones (including an inflatable obstacle course), some juggling antics, boats to steer, exhibits galore to admire, and much more.

For those interested in equines, the morning brought several hours of horse shows and events in the horse ring, with an impressive number of horses of all sizes (including a few minis) and their capable and often skillful riders.

Horsey events concluded on a silly, but fun note, with the humorous open costume category with horse and rider creatively dressed-up, followed by an equally amusing game of musical tires.

Livestock filled the early afternoon with the cattle show, dairy show, beef show and heifers among them. And for those looking for something smaller and maybe cuter, the petting zoo entertained the little ones especially for most of the afternoon, as they interacted with and also feed sheep, ducks, goats and pigs – all relatively small in size so as not to overwhelm young visitors.

Live musical entertainment came in the form of performances by acoustic musician Brad Gibson, who shared some of his alternative country tunes, and also the Barn Bandits through the afternoon. Earlier in the day folks were entertained by the Faire Maidens choir.

Kids were invited to enjoy the inflatables, face painting, twisted balloon creations, and a scavenger hunt, as well.

Juggling machetes and doing dangerous-looking acrobatic performances captured the crowd’s attention as Rockabilly Joe did a number of different tricks and balancing acts, whether with balls or hats or sharp objects, wowing his audience.

Many of the judged exhibits could be found inside the barn with a great array of different entries, from plants and flowers, to youth art, to produce, to woodworking, even eggs and unusual teapots.

The craft show with local artisans could be found here too, along with a silent auction, book sale, with market vendors and food vendors both inside and outside of the barn.

Inside the town hall were the tastiest of the judged exhibits with baked goods, such as cakes, pies, cookies and breads, preserves too, as well as a great range of home crafts.

And for those intrigued by radio-controlled model boats, young and old got to try out a small boat in an oversized paddling pool. Some of the professionals made the task look easy as they had fun with a few bigger boats as they zipped about creating a wake on the pool’s otherwise calm surface making conditions a bit challenging, but also more fun.

The Quinte Model Shipwrights had some members on hand who were happy to chat, tell folks about what they do, and were happy to hand off the controller to even the youngest children to have a go at driving a boat. The group’s members have a common interest in model shipbuilding and maritime history and while they have some experts in the group, they also have many novices, with boats of all sizes, from the tiniest to some impressive sized models.

The Ameliasburgh Heritage Village was also open visitors viewed the Canadian-built 18-foot Gordie Corliss flywheel, which was in operation.

Joining in the fun were the Quinte Flywheels group which also had some operating steam models on display.

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