Everybody loves a parade.
It’s an often-used phrase that no one knows where it came from but one that often rings true, most people do love a parade.
And if you change the worde parade to fair the phrase is equally true — most people do love a fair.
Luckily for us, we don’t have to choose because Barrhead’s annual fair, Blue Heron Fair Days, includes a parade and a whole lot more.
This weekend the Barrhead Agricultural Society has done its utmost to provide the community a weekend chalked full of entertainment.
In the upcoming pages, you will read about just a few of the attractions the Ag. Society has planned.
Unfortunately, we did not have space or time to write stories about them all, but needless to say, we are confident that there is something that will appeal to you all.
Not that we want to single one over the other, but two events we are most excited about are the Superdogs and the Bootbash. For others, their showcase event might be playing a virtual reality game or attempting to solve the clues in Da’ Vinci’s workshop as part of the mobile escape room, or attending the beef or horse show.
Regardless of the event or activity that tickles your fancy the most, the most important thing is that you go.
The Ag. Society and other groups give countless volunteer hours so we can enjoy ourselves and for the betterment of the community.
However, it isn’t a given that that the Ag. Society will continue to host these events. On top of the real issue of volunteer burnout, there are other considerations, the biggest is financial.
There are costs to bringing in the type of talents and features the Ag. Society has brought in and on any given year there is no guarantee Fair Days are going to be successful.
Often the line between profitability and going in debt is razor-thin. Sometimes a business or a not-for-profit organization can do everything right and still falling on the wrong side of the ledger.
Take last year for example, where an afternoon of bad weather threatened to undo all society’s good work. Society president and Blue Heron rodeo announcer Randy Schmidt recalled looking up into the stands Sunday afternoon and seeing less than 50 people.
We can imagine what a sinking feeling it must have been knowing the society’s financial well-being was taking a significant hit.
Of course today we know that everything turned out OK and the society lived to put on future events, albeit with a smaller bank account.
But under different circumstances, who knows?
Why tempt fate. Support the Ag. Society and your community and go to the fair. We’ll see you there.
