A Historical Year for the Mannville Parade and Fair

A Historical Year for the Mannville Parade and Fair

Emily Mailhot Reporter – Vegreville News Advertiser

It was a weekend for the history books in Mannville from August 16-17 this year, with a Fair, tournament, and more meeting the Co-op’s 100th-anniversary celebration.

Fair Committee member Alice Stafinski expressed how important to the community the fair can be, and how happy she was that they were able to include the Co-op’s milestone in the special weekend. “We would normally have a Saturday night meal but the 100th anniversary party on Friday night took that spot so nicely. The meal was great and the attendance was good…even though there were a few complaints that the other dinner was canceled. Change is always difficult, but things are different every year.”

The Fair Committee, which is a branch of the Mannville Agricultural Society oversees the fair organizations each year. The committee coordinates the activities, and directs other community organizations to make sure everybody is in charge of something. Also responsible for volunteers, make sure they’ve got enough of them.

“We do get a grant for the fair activities,” explained Stafinski, “But we need to have one activity that’s agriculture-based. The Bench Show falls under that quality, and so does the Pig Chase.”

Over the years we’ve expanded to have a lot more activities for children, so we try to keep the admission rates low so that families can afford to attend even with extra costs. This year’s children’s events included bouncy houses, a petting zoo, and portions of the Bench Show. “Bench show exhibits were down a bit last year, but we were really pleased this year to see the number of entries,” said Stafinski. “Thanks to word of mouth from the new board members and as they focused more on children’s activities the word spread and people got involved. I’d hate to see us lose that part of the fair because that’s how we started, just Gymkhana and the Bench Show.”

The Antique Tractor show ‘n shine competition drew a crowd for the second year running, and Stafinski says she thinks it will continue along with the other festivities. To accommodate for the fact that most of the activities are taking place at the golf course this year, a shuttle bus was commissioned to help seniors get to and from the fair activities, but there is still some question of whether a location out of town is accessible to everyone in the community.

At the Pancake Breakfast to kickoff a long day of parading, slo-pitch playing, and exploring other activities, Historical Society President Lilian Konieczny said she was happy to see so many people out. Around 200 people attended, which is very good attendance in comparison to other years. It seemed as though everyone came down for the Pancakes, sausages, and fried eggs served by volunteers. The breakfast was a fundraiser for the Historical Society’s costs in keeping both the Telephone Museum and the Regional Museum open. To keep the lights, power, (no heat because of expenses), and staff salaries for the two students on staff this year to help manage the museums. “People who stopped at the pancake breakfast should also go to the museums to enjoy the benefits of what they are supporting this summer,” Konieczny suggested.