Attendance at the Harrow Fair remains the same year after year but the number of urban visitors are growing, said local dairy farmer Sherry Wright.
Rides, parades, live entertainment and countless vendors can be found at most typical fairs. Wright said it’s the farming, livestock and agriculture characteristic that has kept the Harrow Fair running for 160 years.
Pony shows, cattle judging, tractor pulls, rooster crowing contests and lawn tractor races are a few of the many fun rural activities found at the fair year after year.
But Wright said it’s more than just entertaining the newcomers, it’s educating.
“Urban and rural are very, very separate entities,” said Wright, a dairy farm educator.
Nina Poublon, 4, from Kingsville, has fun on the Monkey Mayhem ride at the 160th Harrow Fair, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
She had more than 600 kids attend to her Come Milk a Cow booth on Friday, eager to learn how to milk cattle on a life-sized fiberglass cow.
“Kids kept coming back, asking questions and wanting to learn more,” she said. “There were a lot of new faces.”
Dave Yurke, co-owner of Yurke Sales and Services, has been attending the Harrow Fair for more than 25 years. He’s noticed more “city folk” attending the fair, and the numbers keep growing, he said.
“Mass majority of people, they are so far away from the farm they don’t know what the tools do or are used for,” Yurke said as he prepared his tractors for the parade.
He said without the farming and livestock component, the fair would have failed long ago.
Many Windsor-Essex residents lined the streets for the parade Saturday, as young farmers from the 4-H club were showing off cattle in the show ring. Hundreds of people stood and watched the smiling, new-generation farmers walk the cattle in a fence-off area.
Siren the Rescue Dog gets swarmed by kids during the parade at the 160th Harrow Fair in downtown Harrow, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Kaitlyn Wright, president of the 4-H dairy club, said it’s important to keep kids involved in farming.
“We have to keep educating people because that is the way we’re going to survive,” said the 20-year-old dairy farmer.
Sherry said 30 years ago there were 55 dairy farms in Windsor-Essex, now there are 11.
She has been travelling from various schools throughout Windsor-Essex, teaching junior kindergarten to university students the importance of dairy farms. On average, she does 200 presentations a year.
“City and county is very segregated now,” she said. “Farming is so expensive, if it’s not handed down generation to generation nobody can afford it.”
Colin Glover, 6, left, and his brother, Kyle Glover, 4, feed a horse carrots during the parade at the 160th Harrow Fair in downtown Harrow, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Parkwood Gospel Temple pastor Mark Hazzard attends the fair every year. It has become a family tradition for his wife, children and grandchildren, but it’s also a way for him to revisit his roots.
Hazzard grew up on a farm and his father sold farm machinery. He said people are so caught up on daily routine nowadays it’s hard for them to connect with their heritages.
“We are all directly connected to farming,” he said. “We eat. These people produce our food. It doesn’t come from a Superstore.”
Local farmer Chris Pollard said people have no clue.
His farm has been in the family since 1911. Now in its fifth generation, he encourages the younger generations to get away from the city and learn more about farming. Growing up, he used to count hundreds of farms in the township, now it’s less than a dozen.
“This 4-H club is important for kids, farming and the Harrow Fair,” he said.
The club, with members from nine to 21 years old, learns about a selected topic through hands-on activities and mentorship. They help tend to farmland or raise a calf of their own.
“It’s taught us teamwork, leadership and responsibility,” Kaitlyn said.
jboyce@windsorstar.com or on Twitter @BoyceWillBBoyce
The Harrow Hawk, from Harrow District High School, entertains the crowd during the parade at the 160th Harrow Fair, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
A large crowd fills the stands for the tractor pull competition at the 160th Harrow Fair, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Large industrial farming equipment is paraded through downtown Harrow during the parade at the 160th Harrow Fair, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Students from Harrow District High School entertain the crowd on a float during the parade at the 160th Harrow Fair, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
An antique tractor makes its way through downtown Harrow during the parade at the 160th Harrow Fair, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Elvis makes an appearance during the parade at the 160th Harrow Fair in downtown Harrow, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
A bear and a bee-keeper from Sun Parlor Honey entertain the crowd during the parade at the 160th Harrow Fair in downtown Harrow, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
A woman carries the Canadian flag on horseback as she rides with the Camoes Portuguese Club of Harrow during the parade at the 160th Harrow Fair in downtown Harrow, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
Twin brothers, Joseph, left, and George Compton, 1, from Belle River, watch the parade from their red wagon at the 160th Harrow Fair in downtown Harrow, Saturday, August 30, 2014. (DAX MELMER/The Windsor Star)
