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2 - Orono Weekly Times 1937 - 2012 · Celebrating 75 Years Subscriptions $42.86 + $2.14 GST = $45.00 per year. No Refunds. Publishing 48 issues annually at the office of publication. "We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund for our publishing activities." Wednesday, September 12, 2012 ORONO WEEKLY TIMES - 5310 Main St., P.O. Box 209, Orono, ON L0B 1M0 E-mail: oronotimes@rogers.com or Phone/Fax: 905-983-5301 www.oronoweeklytimes.com Publisher/Editor Margaret Zwart Production and Display Advertising - Roxanne Johnston Classified/Sports The Orono Weekly Times welcomes letters to the editor on subjects of interest to our readers. Opinions expressed to the editor and articles are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Orono Weekly times. Letters must be signed and contain the address and phone number of the writer. Any letter considered unsuitable will not be acknowledged or returned. We reserve the right to edit for length, libel and slander. If your retail or classified ad appears for the first time, please check carefully. Notice of an error must be given before the next issue goes to print. The Orono Weekly Times will not be responsible for the loss or damage of such items. 160 years of traditon We now have 160 years of celebrating rural traditions at the Orono Fair behind us. And what a Fair it was! Despite threats of unsettled weather created by remnants of tropical storms, for the most part the weather was great for a fair. On Saturday morning it looked like the rain would never let up, it dampened the parade considerably, but by the middle of the afternoon, the precipitation stopped and quick work on the track made it dry enough to hold the antique tractor pull. While the skies looked like they could release a major downpour all Friday afternoon and evening, not a drop of rain fell and the weather was delightfully warm but humid for the big Emerson Drive concert in the horse ring that night. The band's spirited concert of country rock music before a very appreciative audience made for a magical night at the Fair. The rain Saturday morning meant that many of the parade entries did not show up. There was still a respectable showing of participants either riding or walking including some of our aging veterans who marched with the Legion. The parade route had to be lengthened this year due to the weather. Instead of entering the fairgrounds from Park Street, the parade had to go one block further south and enter the grounds from Station Street to avoid the section of track in front of the grandstands which was under water. This was the first year that the school parade was scrapped. For years the local school children would parade their colours marching through town entering the fairgrounds en masse for a day of activities and agriculture education. Organizers claim that the grade seven and eight students were less than enthusiastic about participating in the parade so in deference to these students they decided not to hold the school parade. The school parade was always well received in the community, especially downtown Orono; it signalled to those shoppers who just happened to be in the village on the Friday of the Fair that we do things differently here in Orono. Despite the message of disinterest (normal code of conduct for this age group) organizers received from the teens, from our many years of covering the Fair, these students were the loudest and most colourful in their expression of school spirit by the time they entered the fairgrounds. Friday was the day Minister of National Defence, Peter MacKay and his wife were passing through the riding and stopped in at the Orono Fair to support Erin O'Toole the Conservative candidate in the as yet to be announce by-election to fill the seat vacated by former Minister of International Co-operation, Bev Oda who resigned on July 31st after eight years as member of parliament for the Durham riding amid numerous lavish spending scandals. MacKay seemed genuinely interested in the exhibits he visited at the Fair. He spent quite a bit of time talking with Darlene Read who had a booth inside the arena where she had on display many of the items her gang of volunteers makes to send to Third World countries. She refused to sell him one of the hand knitted bears that was on display in her booth prior to being sent overseas to a needy child in the countries served by the mission. She did however allow MacKay to put a high bid on another bear in the silent auction she was holding, and was delighted when he told her he would take it with him on his next trip to Afghanistan and send back a picture of the recipient child holding the bear. Darlene had no idea she was speaking with the Minister of National Defence until after he left her booth. One of the judges of the school exhibits told the Times that the quality of the work on display this year was exceptionally fine as were the 4H exhibits in the agriculture building. Unfortunately a number of the craft exhibits were down this year. Notably there were fewer quilts this year, and the baking entries were also down, not a single loaf of homemade bread was entered this year. While the Fair purports to celebrate 160 years of rural traditions very few of the same traditions exist today. Where many of the items exhibited in those early fairs were the best examples of items routinely made in the home, and were staples of daily life, we now buy rather than make most of what we consume and use in the home. The culinary arts section of the fair reflects our leisure time crafts rather than household staples. Any successful long standing organization learns how to blend the old and the new; respecting the group's historical roots while introducing new aspects to keep the event from getting stale. The 160th Orono Fair was such an event, and we look forward to the 161st edition. Orono - A great place to live To The Editor: I have lived in Orono for 46 years and loved every minute of it; in fact, I am one of Orono's biggest supporters. I am so proud of the events we have, especially "The Fair." Anyone who knows me though, knows that I am one of those people who like to live in the past (you know ­ everything was better in the fifties and sixties) and when I heard of the plans for this year's fair I was very skeptical. Imagine, $20 to get into the fair for Friday night ­ "It will never go." Thanks goodness I wasn't on the Fair Board, because after attending the concert on Friday evening, (not saying that I'm a big fan of that kind of music) my hat goes off to all the Fair Board members. I've never seen such a crowd at the Fair. It was wonderful seeing all the young people there. Of course I have no idea how the finances will be, (as I'm writing this it is Saturday and pouring with rain), but, whether we make money or not, it was great bringing this new aspect to the Fair ­ combining the old with the new. I know next year I'm going to enter the exhibits again to help keep the old part going. A great big thank you to all of you who entered this year. Orono is certainly a great place to live. Beryl Clark, Orono (The old school secretary) P.S. Next year may I suggest Lawrence Welk for the band? Looking Back... Gleaned from past editions of the Orono Weekly Times 25 Years Ago... The piglettes are taking to oreo cookies. Although the four Piglettes in training for the Orono Fair Preakness first turned up their noses to Oreo Cookies they have now aquired the taste and speed around the track for a treat. According to Ann Dreslinski a special event is to be held on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PM when the Preakness Piglettes will be sponsored in a race by the Orono Post Office, the Great Pine Ridge Kinsmen, the Orono D.B.I.A. and Clarke Museum and Archives. Possible a few hi-jinks in this event? tition which was won by a group of local singers known as the "Country Four: This group, a male quartette, sang their way to victory over seventeen other numbers. Those in the quartette are Messrs. Donald Staples, Merril Brown, Glenn Allin and Jack Allin. The judges awarded second place to Carol Greenham of Bowmanville for her act of flaming Baton Twirling. Tina Kozub of Newcastle for her artistry in LOOKINGBACK see page 3 50 Years Ago.... No single feature of the area received more favourable comment than did the amateur show which was held before the grandstand at the fairgrounds on Saturday evening. In this show 17 excellent acts were presented in the compe-