County Fair

Summer would be incomplete without a county fair, and so far we had not had a chance to take in one of the local fairs. It seems that every time we wanted to go to a far something else got in the way. Well today we made up for lost opportunity and took in a day at the Prince County Exposition. This exposition has been an annual event since 1926, and it is exactly what you would expect from a county fair. Yesterday was the judging of all the home economic contests. The baking, sewing, knitting, cooking, gardening, farming competitions had all taken place, so we had the chance to wander through the various halls looking at all the goods. Now I know that some of you are probably chuckling a bit at the idea of strolling through the exhibition of crops, but I tell you, if you have horses, finding out who won the hay contest is very important. It is also nice that you have the chance of taking a close look at the hay, and it was definitely a cut above. Since the contestants name and address were on the entry slip identifying the hay, we wrote it all down and will be calling soon to place an order.

Today, the focus of the fair was on the livestock competition, so we got to take in the farm animal judging as well as the horse show. It was cute to see all the 4-H kids competing. The afternoon held the delight of another horse pull, always a very good time, and then the evening had the best of all, a live concert by a local group, ‘The Grass Mountain Hobos’.

The Grass Mountain Hobos are all local lads who have been playing together for over 10 years, and their work has paid off in the form of an East Coast Music Association Bluegrass Album of the Year. They play bluegrass music in a way that makes even those with an allergy to such music have a good time. In watching them play I am reminded of my favorite bands Brave Combo, in that these guys are exceptional musicians, and enjoy their craft as much as the audience does. I recommend them unapologetically as a must listen album. So take a moment and head over the their website and listen to a little joy from Prince Edward Island .

The Festival of Lights

The rain delayed the festival one week from the original date, but the promise of a good time, glorious weather and fireworks made the delay worthwhile. One of the summer activities on Prince Edward Island is the local festival. Every town seems to have a festival that celebrates the distinctive quality of that region. For Tignish, it is the Irish Moss and for O’Leary, the Potato Blossom and so on.

Northport has the Aquatic Days with the Festival of Lights, and it celebrates the fisherman. The festival includes the blessing of the fleet, lobster boat races, the fisherman skills contest, and then the Festival of Lights. The Festival of Lights is a competition wherein each fisherman decorates his boat with lights and after dusk, all of the boats line up and parade past the wharf. The boats are judged and a winner is selected. Afterward, the firework display from the end of the wharf concludes the evening. Nancy and I had been invited to help David decorate his boat then head out with him for the competition.

Every year, David comes up with a theme, and the theme for the boat this year was the Canada Games. We gathered to prepare the boat for the big event. It began with the lights, over everything. The team taped lights along the gunwale, the cabin, and then the assorted ‘games’ items. We brought a basketball hoop and decorated it with lights, a kayak secured to the side of the boat, and a bike that was secured to the top of the cabin. Everything had lights and was wired back to a generator in the rear of the boat. In the center, a podium was created on which the athletes stood. The Christmas lights looked good, but the problem was going to be the people and mobile props (basketball, tennis balls, paddles, and medals). For these items, and the athletes themselves, we affixed numerous glow-sticks to make things stand out.

It was a big effort, but it paid off in the end as ‘Pass me Knot’ took first prize in the parade of lights. It was interesting for Nancy and me as we sat watching the fireworks. It gave us pause to reflect on just how different this July was from the one a year earlier. It reminds us of the adventures had, and yet to come. For more photos of the festival and preparation, head over to the Flickr site (click on one of the pictures to the right).

Just a horse Crazy Couple

The Danny Ellsworth Memorial Horse Pull

Most people are crazy about something; it is just a matter of figuring out the thing that you seem nuts about. In my case, it is horses, anything about horses. With this in mind Nancy and I found us sitting in the rain watching draft horses pull huge amounts of weight. It was not a planned event, mind you, but rather one of those serendipitous things you run across in life if you are looking.

It started innocently enough with a drive to Tignish to see if the Co-Op store was open so we could look for a desk for Nancy. Well, it was Sunday, and since Tignish is predominantly Catholic, the stores in town were all closed up tight. As we drove through town, we noticed that there were hand-lettered signs indicating a horse pull was taking place in town. We followed the signs and wound our way back past the park, and onto someone’s farm where we found the event. It was the first annual Danny Ellsworth Memorial Horse Pull. It seems Mr. Ellsworth was mad about horse pulls and so after his death, the Island Horse Pullers Association decided to have an event in his honor.

Now, for those of you that have never been to a horse pull (as we ourselves had not been prior to today), it is a fairly simple process. The goal is to pull a specific weight for a distance of 72 inches (6 feet). You have two attempts at each weight, and during each attempt you can pull once (i.e. the horses can pull forward once, but once they step back, the pull is complete). To mark the distance to be pulled, a six foot chain is fixed to the back of the sled with a pin that holds down a spring loaded flag on one end and a stake on the other. The judge drives the stack into the ground, and once the sled has moved past the length of the chain, the pin comes out and the flag pops up indicating the completion of the pull. The teamster who is driving the horses has to keep them straight so that they do not get disqualified for leaving the track, and the hitcher has to make sure that the metal hitch gets properly placed on the sled at the start of the pull.

It all sounds easy enough, but as we sat there watching, it became apparent that it was not as easy as it appeared. The horses are all very excited about getting to pull, and as the driver is trying to position them near the sled so the hitcher can attach them to the sled, these horses are getting more and more worked up. Some of the teamsters were able to calm their horses and allow things to proceed with ease and grace, others seemed like one step short of total chaos. Once attached, the driver sounded off and the horses start to pull for all they are worth. Mind you, some of these horses were pulling two to three times their combined weight. It was impressive!

Even more impressive was the fact that each of these horses was turned out neatly, well cared for, and excited about the job at hand. The drivers seemed to have the best interest of the horses at heart as several bowed out of competition if their horses had seemed to struggle with a particular weight class. As we arrived, the weight being pulled was 5200 pounds (20 cement blocks at 200 pounds each on a sled that weighed 1200 pounds), and the winning horse from the mid-weight class pulled 8000 pounds 68.5 inches and the team of horses weighed in at 3190 pounds.

We watched, enthralled, for a full two hours until the event was complete. It was magnificent to see these horses at work, and for a couple of horse crazy people, it was a little slice of heaven. To see all of the photos, click on the scrolling photos to the right.