With some sketchy weather earlier on Friday May 27th, it was feared that Mother Nature may not cooperate for the plans of the Ag Society and the much anticipated Country Connections Spring Fair. Thankfully, the skies cleared the two-day event turned into a huge hit.
The Chestermere Agricultural Society held their Country Connections Spring Fair on Friday May 27th and Saturday May 28th and there was something for everyone. “You name it, we had it at Country Connections! Food trucks, indoor marketplace, outdoor Alberta Approved farmers’ market, fire works, a stampede breakfast, quilt displays, rabbit judging competition, kids zone with bouncy castles and a sand pit and other fun activities, archery and target shooting, water sports such as kayaking and canoeing, power boat tours of the lake, duck herding show, pony rides and a campfire with s’mores and hot dog roasting. There were crafts and an interactive farm safety display. You could even try your hand at taking a jet pack ride hovering over the water with the prairie pirates or walk on water in a giant plastic bubble”, said Andrea Fleming.
In years past, this event was typically held earlier in the spring and at the Chestermere Recreation Centre, but this year, the event was moved to Camp Chestermere. Fleming explained, “We wanted to try and make Country Connections more unique instead of just a smaller version of the Country Fair by offering a new venue and some different activities. We also decided it was time to support some of the other fabulous organizations in Chestermere. Events like these are extremely important for building community spirit and forging new relationships within our community. Plus it’s just a fun thing to do on a weekend”.
As Fleming mentioned, this was a packed event that had all sorts of activities and vendors, but events like these are only possible by amazing donors and volunteers. “The Alberta Northern Spirit Foundation was our only donor. Thank you so much! We would like to send out a big thank you to Camp Chestermere, who went above and beyond to make this a great event. We would also like to thank our volunteers. Without them, events like this would not be possible”, adds Fleming.
With the spring fair now wrapped but the Ag Society have their sights set on other exciting upcoming events. “The Ag society has some big plans in the works.
We just kicked off our second season of our Alberta Approved Farmers’ Market. We have a stellar vendor line up this year. We invite everyone to join us every Saturday from now until October 1st at the Chestermere Public Library parking lot from 9:30 am – 2:00pm to get their fruits, veggies and much more.
The Fall Fair is also on the horizon. It is booked for September 9th and 10th at the Rec Centre. We are always looking for volunteers to help make these events successful. If you are interested in helping out in any way, please email chestermereAGsociety@gmail.com. We are also in the initial stages of starting up a fairly unique 4-H program: bee keeping. We currently have two hives and hope to get young people up and running with their own hives by next year,” says Fleming.
