The Maryfield Ag Society first introduced a fair to Maryfield in 1915. Today, 99 years later, it has continued to succeed. Through rain or shine, the resilience of the Ag Society and the community at large is evident upon arrival.
The Maryfield Fair was held on Thursday, July 24, where large crowds gathered around the numerous activities found at the fairgrounds and inside the rink.
It was a less than perfect start to the day with rain and wind threatening to remain after dampening the grounds. Organizers were already bringing the carnival activities inside, but as the community showed their resolve to not let Mother Nature ruin their day, the rain soon stopped.
The day remained overcast, but everything meant to be outside was eventually placed there as the warmth of the day could soon be felt.
A pancake breakfast was held in the morning to kick off the celebrations which was quickly followed by the beginning of the horse show. Though horses have been involved in the fair since the beginning, it was the first year for the Annual Maryfield and District Hunter Jumper Show. Organizers of this new feature, Jaida Adamson and Jill Humphries were happy with the interest in their event at the fair.
"We had about 15 entries, the weather did keep a few away," Adamson explained. "We're happy with the turn out for our first one and hopefully next year is a little bigger. We'll try to keep going as long as there's interest."
Adamson and Humphries both explained that the interest shown this year is very encouraging and hope to perpetuate the love of riding through lessons to those wanting to learn.
Many around the course found themselves exclaiming how wonderful it was for youth to have this option as many do jump or are interested in it.
The regular horse show held during the fair, which is a part of the Man-Sask Border Circuit (MSBC) was held inside the rink. The MSBC was hosted in a total of 10 communities this year and is always well attended in Maryfield. This year 42 entered, but weather did mean some entries decided not to participate.
Overall those in charge of this horse show were happy with the turn out as numbers were up from the year before and many new entries were there to participate as well.
This year's judge was Terri Smith of Elkhorn, MB, who watched and made the difficult decisions regarding winners of each class. Classes ranged from showmanship to Western and English riding to a small gymkhana.
Year end awards for the circuit were awarded for Youth Showmanship, Halter, English Pleasure, Jr. Horse Training Class, and Barrel Racing.
The curling rink then housed the indoor exhibits ranging from field products and garden goods to flowers, household art, sewing, crocheting, crafts, photos, baking, canning, school work, and more.
One of the judges this year was Myrtle Chambers who has had training in judging these variety of goods.
"If we didn't have the fair you wouldn't get to see how talented people are!" Chambers explained.
Chambers would like to see two things in the future though, more people taking up judging and other schools encouraging students to submit schoolwork.
Other exciting events included the annual tailgate sale, a carnival, a presentation for youth by the Science Centre, a chili cook off, and much more.
Freda Hill, secretary for the Maryfield Ag Society, has been involved with them since 1998 and says the fact that the fair has been able to reach 99 years is a testament to the commitment and community spirit of those living in Maryfield and the surrounding area.
Hill went on to explain that there was a group of youth who stepped forward and organized the carnival games being held including Kelly Kay, Rachel Erickson, and Kian Sweeting.
These games included ring toss, spray away, can knock down, plinko, bean bag toss, noodle throw, and a crowd favourite, the dunk tank.
After 99 years, the fair has also joined Facebook with Emma Furnival's help and can be found through searching Facebook for Maryfield Fair. This, Hill, explained was very helpful in getting word out about the event.
During lunch time was a chili cook-off was organized by Janet Lemon. The cook-off had people bringing their best recipes in a crock pot to be tasted by those who paid $2, becoming judges and being entered to win a prize draw.
The chili cook-off was another first for the fair, which keeps their line-up of activities fresh each year while continuing to pay homage to its roots through the time-honoured horse show and indoor exhibits.
"We usually try something different every year," Hill stated. "This year the hunter/jumper competition is one of those and we hope that it will continue and bring in more people and more interest."
Another one of the changing features included a custom knife work demonstration and display by Brandon Gray of Moosomin. Gray first picked up forgery skills in grade 10 from his high school shop teacher. He stopped for about seven years and then decided three years ago to take it up again.
Gray has had the opportunity to make a variety of items including: "kitchen knives, hunting and filleting knives, and tomahawks."
"I sell some of them locally, but the majority I sell online and mostly in Canada," Gray explained.
His works can be found from sea to sea with people from British Columbia to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick purchasing them.
With his grandparents still living in Maryfield, Gray was happy to attend the fair and showcase his abilities by forging a tomahawk on the fairgrounds as a demonstration.
"It will be a tomahawk," Gray laughed as he looked back to his forge. "It started as an old ball-peen hammer, then I took off the handle and welded it to a shaft. The knives all start as pure quality steel though."
Though this was the first demonstration attending an event, Gray enjoyed himself and was consistently surrounded by people interested in his work.
People were intrigued as Gray heated up the hammer head, then pounded it out, heated it, and continued the cycle until what had once been a ball-peen hammer was flattened into the head of a tomahawk.
Many were impressed and very pleased with the demonstration as they continued to check on Gray's progress throughout the day.
Overall the 99th annual Maryfield Fair was a great success once again and the Maryfield Ag Society is already looking to next year with the centennial celebrations just around the corner.
