When the crowds descend on the Farmers’ Institute grounds for the Salt Spring Fall Fair next weekend, it will be hard for them not to notice some changes.
Improving and adding to the amenities at the Rainbow Road acreage has been a focus for the past year or more — and it shows.
“It’s been a really good, productive year,” said Friends of the Farmers’ Institute (FOFI) member Carol Walde as she and her colleague Pam Fetherston scrubbed and powerwashed the vendor booths on the institute grounds during a regular Tuesday morning work session Aug. 19.
“It’s bit by bit, but we’re really getting a lot done,” said Walde. “We’ve completely finished painting the whole inside of the main building, so that was a huge one,” especially since that includes the bathrooms and bathroom floors. A local painting contractor will take care of the ceilings. New lighting was also installed in the exhibition hall, Walde said.
The picnic tables and music area benches have been repainted, she said, as has much of the fencing, some of which is new. Last Tuesday the institute sawmill was in operation as Farmers’ Institute directors Merv Walde, Graham Lorimer and Dolores Bender-Graves cut and stacked more future fence pieces.
Brad Bompas was working on what is likely the most noticeable change on site: a future shed for the institute’s collection of tractors and other vintage farm equipment located in the vacant spot between the blacksmiths’ forge and former spinning mill.
“It’s the first new building in years,” said Fall Fair committee chair and FOFI member Gail Temmel, noting it was made possible by a Salt Spring Island Foundation grant, as was the new pollinator garden underway, an area adjacent to the hall covered in black plastic at present. The demonstration garden will be an educational resource for farmers, gardeners and students and marks the beginning of a program to “green” the property in other ways.
Some preliminary removal of blackberries and ditch rehab has begun, said Temmel, with the aim of better managing the water that goes through the property due to its location in the Mount Erskine watershed.
Fall Fair Zucchini 500 racers and spectators will also notice a change as the tracks will be housed in a 32-foot-long culvert.
Also new this year is a 12-foot by 12-foot misting station set up by the 4-H barn, prompted by last year’s searing heat, especially on the Saturday of Fall Fair weekend.
As for the general site clean-up, Temmel said a number of people have volunteered their time to make it happen.
“I walk around and I make lists of what needs to be done, and I have a whiteboard up in the office with a list on it,” she explained. “People come in and they see what’s there, and they go, ‘Okay, how much time have I got? What do I feel like doing?’ And it works. And hopefully by the Fall Fair, it’ll look neat and tidy and clean, and people will appreciate it.”
Even the fruit trees in the picnic table area have received some much-needed TLC.
As introduced last year, the fair’s main entrance gate will be further up Rainbow Road, with the paved road reserved for staff, accessible parking and the horse trailers.
Saturday, Aug. 30 is the deadline for submitting general entry forms for the Sept. 6-7 fair. That can be done online at ssifi.org/fall-fair-entries or by dropping printed entry forms and cash fees off at Foxglove Farm and Garden, Island Savings or the Ganges Visitor Centre. Entry fees per category are $1 for juniors and $2 for adults.
See the Fall Fair Catalogue link at ssifi.org or get a hard copy at the three entry spots and the Driftwood office. This year’s fun theme is Not Baaad in Plaid.
More volunteers are needed to make the fair run smoothly.
“As of last Tuesday, we still needed over 65 bodies between the gates and indoor monitors and extra hands the week before for whatever needs doing.”
People can sign up at ssifi.org or by emailing contact@ssifi.org or gmtemmel@shaw.ca.