PROVIDENCE BAY—The Providence Bay Agricultural Society and its army of volunteers are all smiles this week after yet another successful Providence Bay Fair that saw over 5,000 visitors streaming through the gates during the three-day event.
Dawn Dawson, Providence Bay Fair board secretary, explained that the cool, and sometimes damp, weather didn’t scare away the crowds, specifically on Friday evening and Sunday.
Friday night’s annual Ambassador of the Fair pageant saw Gore Bay’s Bridgette McDonald named Ambassador of the Providence Bay Fair with Spring Bay’s Sarah Orford named First Princess. The contestants all gave speeches on a topic of their choice with Kayla McFarlane sharing all of the wonderful things Manitoulin has to offer, including culture and beauty, Faith Beaudin giving a history of the Providence Bay Fair, Trisha McCauley speaking on success and reaching one’s goals, Sarah Orford spoke about her hero brothers Bruce and Rodney, Bridgette McDonald on the Misery Bay Provincial Park (where she works as a summer student) and Abigail Taibossigai talked about the role the fair has played in her childhood memory, encouraging fairgoers to take in all of Manitoulin’s historical events.
“The judges had a very tough competition, they all did a really good job,” said organizer Karlene Scott.
Winners of the junior king and queen contest were Autumn Davey and Tieran Noble-Stone.
The theme for this year’s parade was ‘Something Funny Happened on the Way to the Fair,’ and it was obvious that much fun was had with it, from aliens threatening to eat parade-goers to fair queens from days gone by, in drag, the parade was a major success. Congratulations to Bill and Carol Dewar for their entry, taking Judges’ Choice. The Manitoulin Secondary School Drama Club won for best club or organization, best commercial entry was one by Mindemoya Home Hardware with the Dewar family also taking top honours for individual theme.
The annual livestock judging on Saturday, with judge Neil Tarlton representing the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association, saw the Verboom and Martin children wrack in the blue ribbons for best dairy and beef calves, respectively. This was a crowd favourite, especially for urbanites who had plenty of questions for those in the know.
The family entertainment trio of VogelJoy had kids and adults alike swaying and clapping to their infectious tunes in the arena, as did the participants in Manitoulin Idol. There were five idols named in the songster contest, including Veronica (8-10), Kieran Harper (11-13), Kaitlyn Thibault (14-15), Katie Harper (16-19) and Richard Janiski (adult). For those who missed the contest, the winners came back Sunday afternoon for another great performance.
“Manitoulin Idol was so well attended and so fantastic,” said Ms. Scott, who noted that the audience was also blessed to have well-known singers Carole Gilmore and Elwood Lewis take to the stage for a few songs over the weekend. “We were so honoured to have them.”
“It’s been lots of fun,” said Fair Ambassador Bridgette. “I got to be a judge for Manitoulin Idol, so I thank Karlene (Scott, organizer) for that. And I got to help with the turtle races too.”
Bridgette said the attention, especially from little girls who loved to point her out, has been a treat. She said she is looking forward to next summer’s adventure of attending the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto where she will participate as the Manitoulin representative at the Ambassador of the Fairs contest.
“It was a very successful, fun event,” said Ms. Dawson. “Everyone appreciated the family-oriented events. The entertainment was very well received. We had lots of positive comment about the quality of entertainment.”
As a special, unexpected treat, Mark Ideson, a 2014 Paralympic Games gold medal curler, was spotted in the crowd by Ms. Dawson on Saturday (after she heard rumours that he would be on Manitoulin) and he was invited to come back the following day to speak to an audience in the arena by organizer Lyle Dewar, which he did, giving a rousing speech and sticking around for photos too.
