This week, the Gazette once again distributes the Prince Edward Agricultural Society’s annual Fair Prize Book, not just to the usual 500 or so dedicated contest entrants, but to every home and business in the County.

Up until 2019, potential Picton Fair exhibitors picked up the annual Fair Book at the Gazette office on Picton Main. 

But then Covid hit. The Picton Fair was closed for two years. Longtime Gazette publisher Jean Morrison died after 45 years at the helm. Her family shuttered the newspaper office and put it up for sale.

When the Fair resumed in 2023, a variety of businesses, including Picton Home Hardware, Thorne’s Variety, and Royal LePage offered to hand out the Fair Book, but it was confusing. Nobody knew where to get it. Of 600 copies printed that year, only half were distributed. 

Plus, it was suddenly a lot more expensive. For the Fair Board, as for the Gazette, printing costs increased during the pandemic and never went back down. 

Then the summit occurred. In 2024, reps from the Agricultural Society met with the Gazette team. We decided a special issue Gazette would carry the Picton Fair Prize Book as an insert. 

It was a bold undertaking. Never mind 600 copies. 14,500 copies would be delivered across the County, reaching over 30,000 readers in the second week of July.

The Ag Society was worried. Overkill? Maybe. But the Gazette’s advertising, design, and print capabilities made it a risk the Fair Board was able to take. By adding the Fair Book to a regular print run, the paper could absorb some of the costs. Hopefully, the Fair Book’s regular advertisers would appreciate the increase in exposure. 

All the Agricultural Society had to do was agree and hold its breath.

The result was overwhelming. The increased reach resulted in over 100 new exhibitors at last year’s Fair, many from the far reaches of the County. Consecon, Rednersville, Carrying Place. The Ag Society heard comments like, “we never knew you could enter in so many different categories.” “We had time to get our exhibits ready for the Fair.” And, best of all, “it gave my kids time to make crafts or start projects over the summer.” There were over 500 entries in the kids’ categories alone. 

I am sure there are many more out there who, like me, looked through the Fair Book and thought about trying something out sometime. 

This may be your year. 

The Fair Book is a cornucopia of competitions, classes, categories, and prizes. Something for everyone, and two months to prepare. This year, the Fair runs the weekend of September 5, 6, and 7. 

But even if you are not quite ready to enter an exhibit — a prize yearling calf, a basket of perfect, polished crabapples, or a precious bouquet of carefully tended dahlias — the Fair Book offers something perhaps more important. It’s a guide to how to enjoy the Fair. To appreciate the care that goes into every single competition, by every contestant, in every class and category.

Take the miniature horse show. Perhaps not entering your own miniature horse, just attending. The Fair Book teaches you what to look for, and how to appreciate it. There are miniature mares and geldings on halters, to start. Then there is the miniature-horse-pulling-a-two-wheeled cart competition, and the miniature horse scurry event — the little horses pull a small cart around a racecourse made of cones. There’s miniature horse jumping, and, the one I will not be missing, the miniature horse musical chairs competition. 

I’d never have known.

Maybe you are thinking of contributing some baked goods. Always a winner at the Fair. How about the Christmas in September competition? You can enter mincemeat pies, fruitcakes, shortbreads, gingerbreads and Christmas candy. A way to enjoy what is yet to come, one of life’s subtle pleasures. 

If you pour copious amounts of rum or whiskey all over your fruitcakes, they will not only keep until Christmas but be extra delicious. 

The Youth in the Kitchen competitions include a prize for “best trail mix.” I like that. A lot. I used to think trail mix had to be some definite thing. But it doesn’t. The competition, however, is only open to 6–8-year-olds. Perhaps it might be expanded. I know plenty of grownups who pride themselves on their granola. (Not naming any names, but Anne’s is the best. Sorry, John.) 

I note the Festival of Flowers is open to amateurs only; store- bought arrangements are not allowed. Fair is fair, after all. That said, in the bread competition, if you are handy with your bread machine, you can enter a machine-made loaf. I think that’s incredibly kind. 

As for poultry, there are competitions for chickens of every description, including silkie bantams, and endless varieties of the other feathered fowl: geese, cornish hens, turkeys, and ducks. Not to mention pheasants, peacocks, and quail. 

The only thing missing is swans. As we all know, they cannot stand to lose. 

Then there’s the “poultry and pets” class. But I’m seeing a theme. Once again, the pets competition is just for the kids, who are invited to show off their rabbits, bantams, roosters, chickens, ducks, turkeys, or anything else they would like. 

Really this is not fair. Big people have their favourites, too.

The Pet Valu “Mutt” Show has it right: open to all. There’s even a prize, not just for the youngest exhibitor, but for the most senior. The categories are also great: smallest dog, biggest dog, longest ears, shortest ears, curliest fur. Longest tail, shortest tail, and, my personal favourite, best owner and dog combo in costumes! There’s a prize for both kids and adults in this category. A show not to be missed! 

The Youth Exhibitor section, which is open to kids 3-15, includes art, creative writing, photography, and crafts. My favourite art category last year was the diorama, which attracted really detailed entries. There’s also that perennial favourite, the popsicle stick sculpture, as well as wind chimes, home-made fridge magnets, a collection of items from nature displayed in a box, and a Christmas tree ornament. 

Reading the Fair Book is taking part in the Fair. Even if you choose not to enter a single competition, this time, it teaches you what they are, and how much care goes into every single entry, from four cookies on a plate, to the giant vegetable contest. Never mind the really tough ones, for beef cattle, dairy cows, horses, or driving a matched team. 

Finally, there’s the Baby Show. That one just makes you feel sorry for the judges. 

See you at the Fair!

[This week’s Gazette publishes the 16-page Picton Fair Book. As always, you can look at the print edition on our press reader. You can also read the Fair Book at the Prince Edward Agricultural Society website, linked here.]