Friday, October 7, 2022 3 Brooklin Town Crier Heber Down's 600 acres of farmland along Highway 7, west of Baldwin Street, was once the site of the International Plowing Match, North America's largest outdoor rural agricultural exhibition. An estimated 40,000 people attended the trade event daily. The five-day match, a blending of farming and industry, was officially opened by the Honourable William (Bill) Goodfellow, Minister of Agriculture (1956-1961). Some of the acreage was where the first Canadian Conservation Day took place seven years before. Each match, organized and run by the Ontario Plowmen's Association, takes years of planning and months of labour-intensive preparation and was first held in Ontario at Toronto's Sunnybrook Farm. When the first plowing match began in 1913, all the work was carried out with single-furrow horsedrawn plows. No classes were dedicated to tractors. By 1916, their influence had grown so much that the number of horse drawn plows and tractors was nearly balanced. But at the Brooklin match, only 35 teams of horses competed, out-plowed by 150 tractors. In a total of 300 acres, different classes of plowing took part in various fields. Classes included the number of furrows, antique plowing, and 4H or youth plowing. Match director Roy Shaver, who welcomed the 700 participants, came from a long line of plowmen. He was an accomplished one himself and had even served as President of the Ontario Plowmen's Association in 1950. Among the 1956 participants were 12-year old Bobby Forster of Blackwater, as the youngest contestant and Gail Orde of Peterborough, the only female competitor. The much coveted Silver Plow competed for by plowmen across Canada went to Hugh Baird of Blackwater. Although visitors lined up to watch competitors plow fields, the main attraction was Tent City, where exhibitors showcased their products to the public. The city, set up just 500 yards from Heber's house, had a series of streets created for visitors to walk through to see the exhibits. Tractors and wagons carried visitors from the 200 acre parking lot to and from different areas of the site. Service roads were built for staff and had hydro poles to provide power to the city. They were also used by the exhibitors to provide access to their sites. All the streets and service roads were numbered but the avenues, accessible to both vehicles and pedestrians, ran vertically to the streets and were named after major sponsors of the IPM. Two city-sized blocks of land included food tents, several miles of water mains fed with water hauled in by trucks, washrooms, and a detachment of the OPP. The Brooklin branch of the Women's Institute offered cups of tea and a place to rest weary feet. A twenty-acre display of Massey Harris and John Deere farm equipment was laid out on the north end of the city. Even though Tent City caused major damage to fields, and years afterwards it was still difficult to break through the hard packed soil, nothing could overshadow the excitement generated in the days of the 1956 International Plowing Match when it was held When the International Plowing Match came to town By Jennifer Hudgins #1 Realtor in All of Durham Region!* Brooklin is Tanya Tierney Country! *Based on RE Stats Inc. Data for Toronto MLS Volume Sold Jan to Dec 2021* Call or Text: 905.706.3131 office@tanyatierneyteam.com 49 Baldwin St. Brooklin 4 Fitzpatrick Crt, Brooklin 21 Matthewson Pl, Brooklin 107 Strandmore Cir, Brooklin 93 Raglan Rd W, Oshawa 2 Farmingdale St, Brooklin 15 Burning Springs Pl, Brooklin Coming Soon! Coming Soon! New Listing! New Listing! New Listing! New Listing! Coming Soon! The Tanya Tierney Team Scares Off MS Haunted House! Saturday, October 22nd, 3-7pm 45 Cassels Rd E. 905.655.6200 www.brooklineyecare.ca