All are welcome to the Wainfleet Fall Fair
By Luke Edwards
This year’s Wainfleet Fall Fair was a chance for those new to the area to learn a little about farm life, or for those long time residents to reconnect.
There was a little bit of both as this year’s fair returned last month. With three days of fun, visitors streamed through the arena, hung out with animals, or enjoyed the music, food and activities throughout.
It was the first time out to the fair for Emily Hicks, who recently moved to Welland. And it was a great learning experience for her.
“I’m from Toronto so I’ve never really seen farm life,” she said, shortly after petting a couple of farm animals on display.
“I love the small town vibes.”
Others, like Raelynn Darnay and her family, have made the fair an annual tradition. Young Raelynn tried her hand at curling with a special setup from the Welland Curling Club, though she also had her eyes on another activity.
“The bouncy castle,” she quickly declared, when asked what her favourite part of the fair was.
The fair marked a bit of a bittersweet weekend for Jes Kumar, who has spent the past year as Wainfleet’s first official fair ambassador.
“I loved it,” she said of the experience.
From promoting Wainfleet, to visiting other fairs and meeting new people, Kumar said it was a busy but incredible time. Even a slight hiccup while she competed in the ambassador competition at the Canadian National Exhibition didn’t dampen the experience.
Ambassadors could choose to have their presentations be considered for the ambassador competition, or simply present and not be judged. Kumar was eager to be a part of the competition, but some mixup had organizers thinking otherwise.
Still, she said she thoroughly enjoyed everything about being an ambassador. Meeting other ambassadors showed Kumar both how different and how similar farming communities are in Ontario. She met so many people who had such varied backgrounds, much like herself. Kumar grew up in a rural community in India before her family moved to Canada.
Others she met had other unique stories, though she said they also shared a similar passion for farming.
“I made some life long friends,” she said.
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