Country fair fun in Dalhousie

BY SARA KEDDY

Kings County Register

Oodles to see, oodles to do.

That’s how long-time fair goer and volunteer Barbie Baker-Dykens describes the East Dalhousie Fair.

“It’s just an old-fashioned country fair,” she says. “It’s just a lot of fun.”

The fun starts in the weeks ahead of the last Saturday of the summer that’s not Labour Day weekend - this year, August 25. Year-round residents and hundreds of cottage families start in on the odd jobs that make the fair possible.

Last week, the work crews were at the hall putting the back stairs and ramp back on the building after some renovations. They were also tackling the grounds: mowing, levelling and cleaning up the outdoor buildings used as canteens and games booths.

The calling crews were on the phone and door-to-door gathering everything from prizes for bingo to parade entries to food donations for the canteens and the day’s dinner and supper.

“The week ahead, we’ll be peeling potatoes and carrots - it seems there are about 40 people in the kitchen!” Baker-Dykens says.

The fair is the main fundraiser for the community, which maintains its hall and the fire truck building across the road. There is something going on almost every day of the week at the hall, year-round, from cards to flea markets to crafts to special events.

Baker-Dykens, a Lake Torment resident, has been coming to the fair almost 30 years, and this year is organizing the 2 p.m. parade.

“I’ve had some calls - the walkers will show up on the hill, the floaters will show up, the bikes will be there. Last year was one of our best.”

It’s short and sweet, with community lakes often challenging residents to come up with zany and often hilarious floats. Kids throw on costumes or decorate their bicycles, and they’re good to go, too.

The day gets an early start with the flea market in the morning, and the exhibits building is open first thing showing off residents’ crafts, garden produce, baked goods, schoolwork, plants and more.

The noon meal - roast beef dinner - is followed by the start of the horse and ox pulls, the parade at 2 p.m., games of chance and the outdoor canteens and ice cream, Bob Bellingham’s Tools with Tales, bingo, a frog jumping contest at 4 p.m.

There is musical entertainment all afternoon and into the evening, beginning at 1 p.m. with Barss Corner’s Darren Arsenault. Throughout the day, Brandon Foster, Steve Brittain, The Lake Family, Roger and Sheila Bolivar, Big Boots Langille and Country Jam are on stage.

The evening meal is a baked bean and salad plate.

Anything left uneaten - breads, pies, pots of salad and beans - goes on the auction block at 7 p.m. - with great results from a very competitive - and community-minded - crowd.