Tom Henihan
Express Staff
Harmon Valley Ag Society and Northern Sunrise County present the 37th annual Harmon Valley Fall Fair on August 17, beginning at 1pm.
The Saturday afternoon event offers a broad variety of activities and promises to be a fun occasion with something to interest just about everyone.
Wagon rides, car show, bouncy castle, mini golf, horse gymkhana and a bench fair are among over a dozen presentations and activities the free event will have on offer.
The bench show is a major feature of the Harmon Valley Fall Fair as it presents an extensive and diverse selection of artisan items, arts, crafts, and homemade goods.
“We are the largest, rural bench show of northern Alberta’s Ag societies,” says Fall Fair organizer Cory Hogbin. “We have everything from kids to seniors. Some of the categories are houseplants, baking, canning and preserving, handicraft, knitting, photography, hobby house and cut flowers. Last year, for the bench show alone we had 500 entries.”
Anyone with work to exhibit in the bench show must submit those items on Friday August 16 between 5pm to 9pm.
However, those participating in the horse gymkhana can register for that event when they arrive at the fair.
“For the Gymkhana, we set up a little obstacle course down at the arena so you can bring your own horse and put it through the obstacle course,” says Hogbin. “There are some small prizes but the Gymkhana is mostly for fun.”
There are also other activities such as pony rides, axe throwing, logrolling, reptiles and Edmonton based magician and ventriloquist called “The Joe Show.”
Having spent well over a decade performing, this versatile entertainer developed “The Joe Show,” into a fulltime program. The Joe Show has featured on national TV, and among the numerous events and organizations for which he has performed are the Edmonton Valley Zoo, Galaxy Land, Suncor, St. Albert International Children’s Festival, YMCA and the City of Edmonton New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Following the $8 chilly supper at 5.30pm, local auctioneer Brent Nixon will conduct the live auction for many of the works on display at the bench show that people donate.
The annual auction raised money for a scholarship that the Fall Fair organizers hand out annually.
Along with the generosity of the bench show participants who donate their works to the auction, bidding tends to be generous also as people like to contribute to the scholarship.
“We have one lady who makes famous lemon meringue pie and poppy seed cake and usually her pies and cakes go for $80 to $100 at the live auction,” says Hogbin.
The Harmon Valley Ag Society is located approximately 23 minutes southeast of Peace River, Twp rd 822 and Range Road 192. Directions to Harmon Valley Community Hall are accessible on Google maps.
