Wow, what a great Fall Fair! The weather was gorgeous on the day of the 64th Annual Bella Coola Fall Fair and lots of people came out to enjoy the day. The Board of Directors was so pleased with the good turnout and would like to thank everyone who helped to make the event possible.
We would like to thank the Bella Coola Community Forest and Hans and Caroline Granander for hosting and organizing the Logger Sports, Melinda Mack and friends for putting on the Bingo, BC Hydro employees for the Horseshoe Tournament, Dayna Chapman and the Ag Society for the Soup Cook Off, Fred Sorenson and the Bella Coola Fire Department for running the train, and Alex Boileau and the Outdoor Ed students for running the Dunk Tank.
All the kids games were run by volunteers and we say a huge thank you to them all, and thank you to the cooks who kept everyone’s tummies happy all day. Thanks to Ilma Matthews for coordinating the exhibits and to all the people for their lovely entries, and thanks also to the judges this year for all their headscratching and deliberating and writing.
We were happy to see more entries this year. If you were one of those people who went in to look at the exhibits and thought, “Gee, I should have entered because I have some really nice stuff too,” then remember for next year. Plant one flower for you and one for the fair, one jar of preserves for you and one for the fair. Friendly competition like that is a lot of fun.
Thanks to the RCMP Detachment for coming out and mingling with the community and introducing themselves. We would like to welcome the new officers to Bella Coola. Thanks to the volunteers working the entry gate and token window, and thanks to Barney Kern for the dumpsters and the strong men who helped set up.
Thanks to June Vosburgh, Jim Hiltz and Lily Pederson for doing all the weed eating. Door prizes were donated by local businesses. Ace Hardware donated a patio set which was one by Tanis Shedden, Kopas Store donated a $50 gift certificate which was won by Cathy Robson, Dragonfly Studio donated a $20 gift certificate which was won by Ginger. Totem Sawmills donated a picnic table to the Logger Sports which was won by Renee Andy. Also, Dean Mecham was at the fair working on a chainsaw carving throughout the day, which he donated at the end. It was a lovely carved feather – thank you Dean!
Thanks to Leah Jones for leading the singing of “Oh Canada” which officially opened the fair. The parade was really fun to see; all the kids and horses looked great in their bug costumes. A big thanks to Sunder Green, Maggie Eckhert, Rose Clark, and Jennifer Becerra for organizing the costume workshop both on Saturday and at the fair. The kids really enjoyed it and the near thing was that almost all the supplies were secondhand either found at the thrift store or the free store at the landfill. That was a great way to use up odds and ends!
We would like to commend Fred on his quick thinking when the train engine became unusable. He used his SUV (Super Useful Vehicle) to pull the train! So many people were involved in making this event happen and we hope we haven’t forgotten to thank anyone. We look forward to another great Fair next year!
The winner of the Bella Coola Sustainable Agriculture Society’s local soup cook off was Nicole Birnstengel with her Carrot Curry Cream Soup. All contestants had to include a minimum of 50 percent local ingredients. The other soups entered were BBQ Salmon, Broccoli and Cheddar, and Onion soup. A big thank you to the entrants Nicole Birnstengel, Marlene King and Denise Hall. Your soups were also amazing and many commented that it was a very difficult choice!
Big thanks to the volunteers who helped set-up, clean-up, served and tallied votes: Liz Howard, Ted Campbell, Greg Sayers, and Faith Fontaine. What a great team! Good job everyone!
