The Ashcroft and District Fall Fair will be returning in September, thanks to a local family that stepped in at the eleventh hour to save it.
Prior to the Fall Fair's AGM on May 27, the Desert Mesa Club — which took over running the fair in 2017, but cancelled that year's event due to the impacts of the Elephant Hill wildfire — announced that the club would be passing the torch to a new organizer for 2024.
“Over the past few years, the Desert Mesa Club had stepped in to operate the Fall Fair when the previous society could not find enough volunteers or members,” said organizer Kat Chatten in May. “We think we did a very good job at keeping the event going and providing a valuable experience for the community.
”This is your opportunity to step forward and take on director roles within the organization. Whether you have fresh ideas, organizational skills, or a passion for community events, your involvement is crucial in ensuring the Fall Fair continues to thrive this year and many more to come.”
Longtime Ashcroft resident Deb Tuohey was at the May AGM with several members of her family who also live in the area. She says that they went to the meeting because they didn't want to see the Fall Fair fold, and the result was that they came away as the new organizers.
"It was a five-minute-long meeting," says Tuohey, "the shortest AGM I've ever attended. And we were handed it."
"We" is Tuohey; her sister Rayla Reid; Tuohey's daughter Kelsey Lysyshyn; Reid's daughter Nicole Rouble; and Reid's daughter-in-law Danielle Nelson. "Between us all we decided we could do it," says Tuohey. "We've all participated in the Fall Fair for many years; one year we won the award for Best Aggregate Family.
"And it's such an important event for the community. The whole community participates."
They found that they had been left with a very minimal amount of money in the bank. No grants had been applied for, and the application period for grants had long since passed, so they realized they were basically starting from scratch.
With a relatively small budget to work with, the group realized that this year's fair would have to go back to the basics. However, they immediately began getting a wonderful response as the news spread.
"It's been very positive," says Tuohey. "We have lists of volunteers, and lots of entertainment lined up. The 4-H Club kids will be there with animals, and the Ashcroft Farmers' Market will be at the arena that day. There will be food trucks and face-painting, vendors, balloon animal-making, a lollipop pull for kids, a silent auction during the fair and a live one after, and vendors."
There will also be some "old-fashioned" games and competitions, including a zucchini race, a nail driving contest, corn shucking, and a tug-of-war ("Home Hardware has already donated the rope," says Tuohey). Second Time Around has donated $2,000, and letters have gone out to local businesses and organizations to ask for sponsorships and donations.
There will also be a chance for people to enter their arts, crafts, produce, flowers, baked goods, fabric items, and much more in a wide variety of categories for all age groups. Tuohey says that a booklet outlining all the categories is being printed and will soon be available from many businesses in Ashcroft, Cache Creek, Clinton, and Spences Bridge: "The fair is for everyone in the region, not just Ashcroft."
The Ashcroft Fall Fair began life in 1888 as the Exhibition of the Inland Agriculture Association, with the first fair being held in Kamloops. In 1889 the fall fair moved to Ashcroft, and it quickly became an important part of the town’s social calendar. At the 1897 fair, brass bands came from Kamloops and Lillooet, and the 1917 fair raised more than $2,600 (about $63,000 in today’s money) for the Red Cross’s war efforts.
Attendance at the fair has been declining in recent years, however. Some 1,000 people coming through the doors in 2012; a number that had dwindled to about 500 by 2015. In addition to 2017, the fair was also cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We're thinking really positive," says Tuohey. "It's a good family event for people of all ages, and we hope to have a lot of exhibits and entries, but if we don't then we'll just have fun.
"We're positive that we can run the Fall Fair. It might have to be a bit smaller this year, but we want to build it back up to what it once was."
The Ashcroft and District Fall Fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 8 at the Drylands Arena in Ashcroft. You can find out more by visiting the Ashcroft & District Fall Fair Facebook page, and anyone interested in being a vendor or sponsor can email ashcroftdistrictfallfair@gmail.com.
