In the sunshine, at the parade

On hearing the honks of the fire engines and seeing the flashing lights, she started yelling gibberish and pointing, very much caught up in the excitement. And so was I. I don't think I've missed more than one street parade in the past 35 years, and each one has been special.

When the Shriners came by with their little motorized train, it was the first time a train has been seen in Caledonia since CN pulled out in 1983. My little passenger was beside herself. It looked just like one in her favourite book, and she talked and waved non-stop.

Last year, one of the big floats in the parade was a replica of the North Queens Elementary School, which had burned to the ground several days before. This year the dominant theme was the upcoming Tent Dwellers celebration, with both the Region of Queens and Kejimkujik's floats highlighting that event.

The weather gods were kind to the exhibition this year – at least until the writing of this column – and people turned out in droves to stroll the grounds, look at the exhibits and sample the treats. In the main building, built in 1886 and the oldest exhibition building in the province, all of the exhibits were downstairs this year, as the upper floor stairs have been difficult for people to negotiate.

The fairgrounds kitchen was run by Charlie and Pat Armstrong, of barbecue fame, and true to form, they put on a giant pig roast on Wednesday. A lot of people had to be helped from the tables after they went through the line, serving themselves all manner of side dishes before arriving at the porker itself, grilled to perfection, where slabs of succulent pork were lowered to their plates. Mine were draped over a mound of honey garlic ribs, everybody's favourite.

It was good to see so many young people on the grounds, with a lot of teenagers walking around, hugging each other. There were many younger ones, too. I took in a session at the outdoor riding ring, where young people put their horses (and mules) through their paces. The mule rider, Mallory Maxwell, won the wheelbarrow event, although it had to be redone after one of the riders fell while getting off her horse.

I also really liked the 4-H exhibit, in the new building housing concessions. There are a lot of energetic young people around the community, and active older people helping them out. A number of houses in the community have sold recently, with young families moving in.

Looking at the rows of campers and trailers, the horse and ox barns, the round pavilion where fiddle music could be heard, the young girls vying for the title of queen of the fair, the harvest vegetables on display, the photos and art in the main building, the horse and ox pulls in the main arena – looking at all of this, I was grateful that so many volunteers spend so much time putting on this event.

EastLink letters

The eagerly awaited letters from EastLink have begun arriving in the mailboxes of the people who once were served high speed internet by TDC Broadband. Some people in the area are already up and running with high speed, but not I, since (I gather) one of the modules on the tower that I point at needs to be replaced. It's that kind of glitch that EastLink is correcting before it officially starts up the service.

In any case, the letter, signed by EastLink CEO’s Lee Bragg and Dan McKeen, is addressed to former TDC customers who already have equipment in their homes designed to receive the high-speed signal. It says that EastLink will be activating customers who have the module installed on their premises on a trial basis, "so that we can complete testing and configure the system to EastLink's network." People were asked to call 530-3500 in order to sign up for the trial.

The good news for others who were not part of the TDC system and who want high speed internet is that once the trial has been completed, pricing established and a billing system set up, new orders for service within the TDC coverage area will be accepted.

- Tom Sheppard can be reached at twsheppard@gmail.com