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Independent & Free Press, Wednesday, September 12, 2007 3 Georgetown fair draws 6,000 ANDREA LEFEBVRE Special to The IFP The cows were mooing, the derby cars smashing and the chainsaws roaring this past weekend as the 161st annual Georgetown Fall Fair took over the Fairgrounds. The event, hosted by the Georgetown Agricultural Society, featured a mixture of new and traditional attractions like horse and cattle shows, local entertainers, a midway and a lumberjack show. Approximately 6,000 people were expected to attend the fair this year, although John Nurse says some people may have stayed away because of the wild weather. "On Friday we had some rain-- what farmers call a `shirt-wetter,'" said Nurse, the president of the agricultural society. "The wind was enough to scare you. We thought the tents were going to blow away!" Fortunately, all the tents remained safely attached to the ground and Saturday dawned warm and sunny. The fair closed on Sunday under cloudy skies and chilly temperatures. Despite the crazy weather, people came from far and wide to check out the attractions at this year's fair. Mike Blued, a former Georgetown resident who now lives in Alberta, came to the fair with his nephew, Marshall. The two enjoyed the fair for very different reasons. "The best part for me was hanging out with my nephew," said Mike. Eight-year-old Marshall Blued had other ideas. "I like the bumper cars and the bouncy castle," he said. The midway proved to be popular with the younger crowd. "The rides were my favourite," said Megan Tuck, 10. "I liked the Himalaya and the Avalanche." The adults, on the other hand, seemed to like the agricultural exhibits and demonstrations the most. "I really like the cows," said Noreen Krupica, who came from Toronto to attend the fair. "I liked the milking demonstration and learning about the different types of milk." Although the midway and the agricultural exhibits are big attractions at the fair, Nurse says the biggest draw is always Saturday night's demolition derby. For the last six years, Mandy Gerbrandt has come to the fair on Saturday night to catch the derby. She wouldn't even let her own wedding shower get in the way of her tradition. This year, she and a group of friends came straight from her luau-themed bridal shower, still dressed in plastic grass skirts and cloth leis, to watch the derby. "We like seeing the cars crash," said Julie Pennycook, one of the wedding shower attendees. The newest adrenaline-filled attraction at this year's fair was the West Coast Lumberjack Show, which featured four lumberjacks using axes, chainsaws and toe picks to compete against each other in events like tree climbing, log rolling and axe throwing. "We took a big chance hiring the lumberjack competition," said Nurse. "It was the most expensive act for us. We didn't know if it would bring enough people to the fair to pay for it." It seems like the agricultural society's gamble paid off. "It was great," said Doug Faubert. "It's something different." In between the lumberjack show, the demolition derby and the midway, Nurse says he hopes that people got to see the exhibits and competitions. That is the goal of the Georgetown Fall Fair: to bring agricultural awareness to an urban environment. "We mingle the stuff we want them to see with fun stuff, like the demo derby," he said with a laugh. "It's like Mary Poppins: a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down." Above: Brianna Nixon leads sixmonth-old Rosalea Wispers Jay in the Conformation Junior Calf class. Left: Makayla Goudie of Acton enjoys the swing rider on the midway. Below: Davis Newman, 3, of Rockwood found the fall fair can mean for a tiring day. Photos by Jon Borgstrom Lack of water puts $11.5M library expansion project on the shelf Continued from pg. 1 coming as quickly as expected. As well, Halton Region says in order for more development to occur improvements must be made to both communities' water purification and wastewater plants. All will require a huge cash outlay. "There is a growing uncertainty in the minds of senior management with respect to the timelines for those projects ... and the pace of growth is now uncertain in light of the servicing questions before the municipality and the region right now," said Planning Director Bruce MacLean. Without the certainty of the water, there's no certainty of development revenues coming to Town coffers. In DeSousa's worst-case scenario during his presentation, the predicted DCs, which has been the basis of the Town's capital forecast (2009-2016), would be cut in half. That amounts to close to $29 million in DCs that had been expected to help pay for roads, fire services, recreation and parks and library facilities. DeSousa said without the DCs to help fund new facilities, the Town would have to rely on depleting reserves, go into debt or raise taxes. age in this Town, said Jackson, a DeSousa will report back to longtime resident. council after the two fire stations "This Town is growing. are tendered on a financial Brampton is coming in from the amount that could be available in east and Milton coming from the the short-term to pay for immedisouth and those communities ate improvements to library and have found water sources (Big Cultural Centre. Pipe water from Lake Ontario) "Clearly as has been indicated and maybe this town is coming this evening there is a level of disto that juncture." appointment," said Jay Jackson, Several councillors strived to JAY chair of the Halton Hills Library assure the packed public gallery JACKSON Board in an interview after the that this project would not meeting. "But on the positive side, remain locked in an architect's we're elated that plans are still in a go-ahead drawer. fashion; the clarity is when." "We're all disappointed we can't just He said the board's next step would seek move forward tomorrow, ...but we are still clarification on timelines and the short-term fully committed to these projects," said and long-term improvements. Ward 4 Councillor John Duncan, who "There's nothing wrong with delay if it's added that the Town would also be looking based on sound rationale," he said. "I didn't at other financial alternatives such as private hear a definite `there is no more water in funding and fundraising. Halton Hills'. There are some `maybes' and "It's important we understand that this is `what ifs'. So clearly Town staff have done a slowing down. It's a process of finding their due diligence by cautioning council more money without going into debt, about maybes down the road, so I'm just putting more burdens on our ratepayers. ... concerned we're delaying on `maybes' and There is light at the end of the tunnel and it's not `for certain'." not an ongoing train." There's nothing new about a water short"We don't want anyone going away thinking this is a dead project," agreed Ward 4 Councillor Bob Inglis, who had only learned just that morning about the water situation. He suggested there was a silver lining in the news: time to allow the arts groups to contribute more design comments on the John Elliott Theatre part of the renovation and time to find suitable alternative space during the time when the Centre is closed for renovation. Unaware of the pending change of plans, Georgetown Little Theatre and Globe Musical Productions made a presentation at the special meeting. The groups are worried about the financial impact on their already cash-strapped groups should the John Elliott Theatre be closed during construction. They asked the Town to seek a suitable alternative. In a letter to council, Cultural Centre neighbour Barry Timleck upset about proposed windows and a third storey overlooking his backyard, threatened a lawsuit, unless the Town bought his property. Architect John Knox, in his presentation, said the windows will be made of glass block and the third storey, which is built within the original roofline, would be set back from the edge. 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