Connie Tabbert
Editor
COBDEN — The sounds of laughter filled the air, screams of joy could be heard throughout the midway and the ringing of bells as fair goers won prizes could be heard. The titillating smell of candy floss, beaver tails, French fries and barbecued hamburgers wafted through the air. The cattle mooing, horses neighing and sheep baaaaaing could be heard from the different areas of the fairgrounds.
Yes, all the sounds and smells of another successful Cobden Fair, even if the weatherman did cause some issues, noted Cobden Agricultural Society president Stewart McBride.
There was a small crowd on Friday because there was the threat of rain hanging in the air, he said. However, Saturday’s attendance more than made up for it, he added. Sunday, while the weather wasn’t an issue, there was a small crowd.
“We need something at the fair to draw more people on Sunday,” Mr. McBride said. “We need some suggestions, maybe some affordable entertainment.”
Just under 6,000 people paid to enter the fair throughout the three days. Friday’s attendance was 1,083 followed by Saturday with 4,339 and 520 on Sunday. If you compare the last five years, it has been up and down, with 6,611 in 2010, which included Thursday night followed by 5,834 in 2011, 6,006 in 2012 and 5,670 last year.
While the demolition derby is a big draw Saturday evening, there was an even bigger draw with the first ever combine demolition derby, he said.
“People from a distance came to see it,” he said. “It really brought people to the area. It was good for the economy.”
There were four combines this year, as it was the inaugural session and it was an opportunity to see how it went over with the crowd, he said.
“We already know how to drive the combine,” Mr. McBride said.
Jim Ness, who organizes the demolition derby organized this year’s combine demolition derby. There were 36 vehicles entered in the mini and large car demolition derbies.
The four combines were all donated and were at least 10 years old and not really being used, Mr. Ness said. John Felix Cull of John’s Repair Service, just west of Cobden, was the mechanic who got the machines operational, he said.
“It went well for the first year,” Mr. Ness said. “We planted a seed and hopefully we’ll get more combines for the derby next year. If we get the right numbers, we might even do the (combine demolition) derby on Friday night.”
The drivers were Paul McBride, Dan Clendinning, Thomas Corrigan and Terry Clemmer. The farms that donated the combines were McBride Farms of Cobden, Pleasant Way Farms of Shawville, Quebec, Sunny Hill Farm of Pembroke and Spruce Brier Farm of Westmeath.
To learn about the combine demolition derby, Mr. Ness and Mr. Cull went to VanKleek Hill to check out their derby. That derby started with four combines and now has 12, he said.
Driver Paul McBride said it was different driving a combine in a demolition derby. While driving in the field, it’s important to take care, he said.
“Treating it that way (in a demolition derby) was fun,” he said. “I knew no one would get hurt.”
A cumbersome vehicle, Paul said while the hits didn’t look hard to the crowd, you could certainly feel them while sitting in the driver’s seat.
He noted anyone who can drive a standard vehicle can drive a combine in a demolition derby.
He agrees this type of derby was a draw for the fair. He’s hopeful more combines will be entered in next year’s demolition derby. While his combine did sustain some damage, he said, “My combine still runs. I’ll be back next year. It would be nice if there were more.”
If there were eight that would be great, because four would make a heat, so there could be a finale as well.
His father Stewart agreed, saying, “There are a lot of old combines around.”
However, he cautioned anyone who wants to participate not to put too much money into them, since they are only going to get smashed up.
Mr. McBride said it’s important to bring new ideas to the fair, because people want to see new things.
While the agricultural aspect of the Cobden Fair will never cease, he would like to see an educational aspect of it added. It would be nice if there were a section of the barn with a variety of animals people could get up close with. However, Mr. McBride cautioned, with that type of set-up, there is a liability issue. Some of the cattle are very large and if someone were to even just get stepped on, there can be some serious injuries, he explained.
“People might not realize the danger,” he said.
Throughout the weekend, the agricultural shows included 4-H and adults participating in rabbit agility, Holstein and beef cattle shows, sheep show and horse show. There was also the dog agility show.
The exhibit hall was filled with a variety of exhibits from youth and adult and the midway provided entertainment for many as well.
As for the weekend’s entertainment, Mr. McBride said only positive comments were made to him.
“The blue grass band Friday night was a big hit, and they were from Renfrew,” he said.
The entertainment is all local, Mr. McBride noted. It costs upwards of $15,000 to provide entertainment throughout the weekend, he noted.
The only negative he knows about the entertainment is the listening audience, because if they want to remain close to the stage, they do not have shade from the blistering sun. There has been some discussion of getting rid of the bleachers and using pop-up tent-like structures, which would provide cover, even in rain.
The three home-cooked meals were well received, he said. Saturday night they ran out of beef, so left-over pork from Friday night was served.
Monday at noon, volunteers working at the fairgrounds were treated to a delicious meal of left-overs from the suppers, which included ham, baked beans, potatoes and a variety of vegetables and desserts.
While it didn’t rain throughout the weekend, the ground was quite soggy and spongey from Thursday’s rain, which dumped about three inches, he said. It was unfortunate, but necessary, to cancel the heavy horse show Sunday afternoon, he said.
Revel Stewart, who is in charge of that event, said, “the weatherman played havoc” with the heavy horse show as well as the horse draw Friday night.
The horse ring is used as the demolition derby pit and there were ruts throughout, he said.
Sunday morning the line classes of the heavy and miniature horses were held, but in the afternoon, it was just the miniature horse show.
Mr. Stewart doesn’t remember the horse show ever being cancelled before, but it might have been.
The decision to cancel Sunday afternoon’s show was made by the exhibitors and the committee, he said.
“If an expensive horse is injured or a carriage damaged, that would be horrible,” Mr. Stewart said.
A large part of the Cobden Fair is the sponsorship, Mr. McBride said. And this sponsorship can be in the form of money, a person’s time or food.
“They are all a big part of it, we depend on that support,” he said. “The fair can’t carry itself. The people do what they can to help to keep it going and we are very thankful for that.”
This is Mr. McBride’s fifth time as president of the Cobden Agricultural Society, which operates the fair. He first took the reins in 1979 and 1980 and then 2012, 2013 and this year.
“No one wants to be responsible for organizing it and keeping everything going and focused,” he said. “When there are problems, you look for the president to solve them.”
However, he added, it’s something he grew up with, considering he is the fourth generation to be involved with the fair, noting his father, Clarence, who just recently passed away, was a president as was his grandfather. His great-grandfather was a director but never a president.
Planning for next year’s fair began Tuesday night, which was the first meeting of the society since the fair.
