Simple Home Crafts and Fall Fairs

As a boy I always enjoyed going to the Royal Easter Show in Sydney, when the "country comes to town" for a week or more of animal, country skills, crafts and produce competitions and displays. Growing up in the city, I never really saw myself as more than a willing observer in the life of the exhibitors, but moving to the Kootenays has made another change in our lifestyle that was previously unexpected.

Pass Creek Fall Fair

This weekend we enjoyed some country fun at the Pass Creek Fall Fair. It was great to see so many people out and about enjoying the sunshine. We entered a number of categories, (myself, Robyn and Eden), entering 15 items. From this fifteen, we received 4 first places, 4 second places, and 2 thirds. We still have no idea if we have a shot at the family aggregate award, but regardless, we had fun preparing our produce and crafts. See below for some images from the day…

The Importance of Agricultural Shows

Fall fairs or agricultural shows have been around for at least a hundred years, and are often the main social event in a town, region or state for people involved in agriculture. These events also allow those skilled in farming, homesteading and homeskills to display these important skills to the public - not as a novelty of another world - but as the skills required for basic survival in the country, or in the future, as the case may be. Seeing blacksmithing, horsemanship, produce, preserves, poultry, and handicrafts practiced gives me a sense of hope for the future of the Kootenays. While most of us still wear clothes and eat food made or grown many thousands of miles away from us, it is reasuring that there are people here who care enough about the preserving of these skills and in some cases the reviving of old skills. If you are reading this in a feedreader or email and can’t see the photos, click here.

If you enjoyed this post, why not try these ones:

• Pass Creek Fall Fair
• Random Linkage 9 December 2007
• Locally Grown in the Kootenays
• An Opinion on Life in the Country
• The SPIN Garden and Zoning Bylaws