Orillia Fall Fair officials felt the turn in the weather helped bring out visitors to this year's annual event held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at ODAS Park.
“The fair turned out great this year,” said Bob Bowles, president of the Orillia and District Agricultural Association. “The weather was too cool to go to the beach and too hot to stay indoors, so people came out.”
The big draws, he said, were the demolition derby, tractor and truck pulls.
“We’re trying always to make it better for the public,” added Bowles. “We’re almost to the point where we can’t change much.”
The fair has something for everyone from families to teens, he said, pointing to the midway, bouncy castle, axe throwing, and various food vendors, which were among the many attractions of the fair.
Another staple of the three-day fair was the heavy horse show. "We hope to increase the entries for that (next year),” he said.
“Horse have been shown at fall fairs ever since there have been fall fairs,” said Jamie Strachan, chairperson of the horse show. “The horse work on the farms, but this is an opportunity for farmers to show off their animals.”
This is also an opportunity for people to see horses hitched to carriages, said the Oro-Medonte resident. That’s not something commonly seen.
The different breeds that were shown included Clydesdales and Belgian Points, said Strachan, who noted judges are looking for the horse that represents its breed the best.
Among other repeat events at the fair were the various contests such as the baby contest, singing contest and the competition for Orillia Fall Fair junior and senior ambassadors.
Katarina Pautsch, who was one of the few contestants for the senior title, was delighted to have been given the opportunity to represent the fair at other fairs across the province.
“It’s an honour,” said the Oro-Medonte resident. “It’s pretty cool. I’d seen ambassadors at other fairs but I had never thought I would be one.”
Conversations with her friend, who was last year’s ambassador, led Pautsch to try this year.
Pautsch spent Saturday participating in the 4-H Calf Show, which is right up her alley as a fair ambassador, said the 17-year-old.
“I work on an Ayrshire farm, and I’ve been in 4-H for six years now,” said Pautsch. “I also did a co-op placement with North Simcoe Veterinarian Service.”
Winning the title has given her the chance to interact with a wide variety of people and to represent the area at the Canadian National Exhibition next year.
“It’s a lot of fun so far,” said Pautsch. “I’ll get to go to a lot of events and I get to promote agriculture to other people and that’s something I already like doing.”
While she roamed around the fair grounds mingling with people, participants for the singing competition crooned to audiences gathered in the main building.
Grace Clayton, who scored second place in the youth singing contest, was hoping to impact people through her singing.
“I hope it shows people you don’t have to come from a lot of money or a talented family to do something,” said the 15-year-old.
Samantha Windover, of Orillia, won the adult singing competition.
“It feels pretty awesome,” she said. “I still get nervous even though I have a lot of experience singing.”
Windover has now won the singing competition both as a youth and adult.
“It’s not for the money,” said Windover, waving the cheque she had just received. “It’s more for the older crowd, because I sing older stuff. I like to bring memories and joy to them. They don’t know any of the new stuff.”
When Shirley McCron and Jackie Horne took over organizing the singing competition, they were concerned about how well attended it would be.
“I’m very pleased how it all turned out,” said McCron, adding they get most people registering at the last minute to perform.
“We’re going to review it to look at a way to encourage people to pre-register,” she said.
Another contest that was reviewed and changed for this year was the baby contest. Instead of taking entries based on age groups, this year submissions were accepted for four different categories: best smile, craziest hair, best country look, and chubbiest cheeks.
The winners were announced at noon Sunday. Paislee Hummel, of Kawartha Lakes, charmed voters to win best smile title. Rylynn Norris, of Severn Township, was voted winner of the craziest hair category. Adalynn Fielding, also of Severn, rocked the country look, and Kohlson Stewart, of Orillia, took the award for the chubbiest cheeks.
Other competitions held Sunday at the fair included rabbit shows, Western Games, rooster contests, and mini pedal tractor pulls.
