Merrickville: scenes from a rural Ontario fair
Local farmers showing their bulls at the Merrickville Fair. It may seem odd to urban people, but it’s serious business to the contestants, and there’s no bull about it! Photo by James Morgan
When midsummer arrives, fair season begins in eastern Ontario. The weekends from now until Canadian Thanksgiving (October 10) are full of celebrations of farm and country life in towns big and small across the region. Some fairs, in communities like Navan and Carp are huge and bring in big crowds, while others are tiny and attract mostly local residents. Last Saturday, in between heavy rain showers, I strolled around the small fair in Merrickville. It’s a historic old village on the Rideau River and canal north of Prescott and Brockville. Best known for its blockhouse fort, stone buildings, and artisans, there’s also a small fairground on one of the back streets by the canal. Most agricultural fairs in Ontario started in the 19th Century as a way of bringing the community together to celebrate and showcase products and skills practiced by farmers and artisans. Merrickville was founded 222 years ago in 1794 and the fair has been running for 178 of those years. Here are a few of the amusing things I saw on my walk around the fair.
The spud of love. This first prize-winning heart-shaped potato really stood out among the various vegetables, baked goods, and flowers, and sewing that had been entered in competitions. Photo by James Morgan
In a time where it seems like young people are less interested in farm and country life, scenes like this show up and challenge that notion. Here a young farmer receives a first prize ribbon for his entry in the cattle competition. Presenting the ribbon is the Grenville County Queen of the Furrow. Plowmen’s associations in every county across Ontario hold a Queen of the Furrow competition each year. Photo by James Morgan
Even the smallest fairs manage to have a few midway rides and carnival games. Merrickville is 400 miles/640 km by car from the Atlantic Ocean and New York City, but there was a kids ride named after the mythical king of the sea featuring boats with NYPD and US Coast Guard lettering on them. Photo by James Morgan
Antique tractor and machinery displays are a big part of many rural fairs, but things had to get done inside the house too. These antique washing machines and butter churns are owned by local collector Sheridan Coates. He laughed when I suggested he open a laundromat. Photo by James Morgan
These are not antique garden tractors! They are half-size reproduction models made by Garry Wilson of Lunenburg, near Cornwall. Note the half-size threshing machine in the background. Photo by James Morgan
