A Day at the County Fair


It may not be the Calgary Stampede or the Canadian National Exhibition, but our local county fair suits me just fine. And, besides, it was "Senior's Day", so we got in for six bucks!

How great is it to be able to set out from home and drive through beautiful countryside on uncrowded (although somewhat bumpy) back roads, to arrive an hour later to the laid back atmosphere of the Queen's County Fair in the charming village of Gagetown on the Saint John River? http://www.villageofgagetown.ca/

We began our tour of the fair grounds with exhibits of art work, photographs and 4H club projects and then on to view the baking competition and displays of locally grown produce, flowers, quilts, knitting and so on.




No country fair, however is complete without the "BIGGEST PUMPKIN" competition - all 680 lbs.!


The excitement heats up!


In the center of the fairgrounds is a large "show ring" with a covered seating area. When we finished our tour of the above displays, a horse competition was going on in the ring. We spent some time checking out the buildings that housed various animals (chickens, oxen, sheep, etc.) and then settled in the shady seating to watch the draught horse competition.






After a few competitors went through their paces, I soon learned that the gentleman in the photo above, measuring tape and notebook in hand, was a very important person in this event. Each horse team and wagon had to back up around this post, getting as close as possible without touching it. Kind of like parallel parking!


We had a front row seat and at first I thought that the driver was loosing control of his team. There was a lot of "geeing" and "hawing" and the horses seemed to be doing some kind of sideways cha cha. Eventually I figured out that he was getting them to back up the wagon around the post! Smart animals!

This is my husband Ross's cousin in this event. Notice that the "important guy" is not far away keeping notes!


Lots more "stars" waiting in the wings!

In a couple of hours we had pretty much covered the fair grounds, with the exception of the rides. (Since there were no senior's discounts there we decided to skip them lol!) However, there was a full schedule of events and entertainment for the rest of the weekend and lots more stars waiting in the wings! 
These pretty ponies are waiting for their next event in their very own gussied up stalls. Talk about pampered starlets!

All in all, it was a great day at the fair! 

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