It was
Labour Day, 1959 and excitement was in the air. No, it was not with the
children, but with the men. They were
off to Bath Fall fair, for the Horse Pull, and Minnie and Molly were
pulling. But the best thing? Brenda and I were attending as well.
Minnie and
Molly were the family draft horses, dapple greys and getting on in years. Well technically the horses belonged to my
Grandfather Nelson Rogers, but as we lived on or about the farm the children
had claimed the horses as theirs, like wise for Brenda.
Our families
were all of the Pentecost persuasion and did not believe in fairs, horse pulls,
wagering and a host of other minor sins.
My father, Talmage Vail, believed in sin, but his first love was sport. I cannot remember who persuaded Grampy to
enter the team. Perhaps the farmers had been scouted for many farms were now
worked by tractors and the draft horse teams were diminishing.
I can remember
my Father and Grandfather perched on the lumber pile idly chewing on pieces of
hay while the visitor paced back and forth, smoking and extolling the merits of
horse pulls. I dodged around the
perimeter picking up bits of conversation.
After a bit
I ran to the house to inform my mother and grandmother that “Minnie and Molly
are going to the Bath Fall Fair and Daddy and Grampy too”!
Well!! Their
response was negative to say the least.
“They gamble
on those horse pulls”, said my Mother.
“They have
boot leg booze”, said Grammy.
“The Catholics
have a canteen,” Mother again (and in our teachings they would surely be
serving up unholy food)!
I cannot
remember all their reasons to disagree but they ended with; “We do not go to
worldly fairs!” I was determined to go.
Soon it was
the day before the fair, Grampy drove the team up to the Fairgrounds, about six
miles from the farm. All teams had to be
registered the night before and watched to ensure they were not tampered with. Okay
horsemen, how does one tamper with a horse?
I am not sure who spent the night with Minnie and Molly but in my mind’s
eye I can see myself setting in the front seat of Father’s pickup bouncing
along between Talmage and Nelson. How
did I arrange that? I am not sure but I
was very good at getting what I wanted, I craved new experiences and I was adept
at staying out of trouble.
How Uncle
Earle and Brenda happened to attend, that is another story. Brenda reports that her family had always attended the Bath Fall Fair, with siblings and parents, long before we moved back from BC. Maybe it was the Hartley influence, but it was not a forbidden outing in Earle & Effie's house. In fact, we all looked forward to it, Dad included. We all loved the fair, with the rides, food stands, and animals (me - not so much the animals!).
After several days of talking about horse
pulling and wagering either Daddy or Grampy came up with the idea of having
their own man to scrutinize the situation.
There was no one who would be better than Uncle Earle! Uncle Earle could have been a policeman, a
big man with a big voice he took no guff.
Grampy walked down to Madeline’s to make the call; we were not “on the
phone”. I am not sure how Nelson
persuaded him to come; Nelson, Tally and Earle were an unholy trinity, but Earle would be the eyes and ears for the pull.
We arrived
at the fairground and paid our entrances, Earle, Dad and Grampy were exempt(as they were working the Horse Pull), Brenda
and I as well, we were under twelve. Uncle
Earle gave Brenda and I some coin and admonished us to listen for the
announcement for the team’s class.
And there we
were, two little girls standing out in our prim dresses amid a sea of dungarees,
alone in the wonders of what was the sinful fall fair. The grounds for the fair was a good size. The
big swing was front and center, there were three booths on each side a bare piece of ground in the middle and the horse pull area and barn at the back. It did not take long to check out the booths;
on the right side were the Protestant canteen, burgers, and potato salad. Next came the pie booth and the
last was for games. On the left was the
Catholic canteen, hot dogs and pieces of tourtiere (of course we had no
knowledge of this delicacy) and two booths for games. The swing did not start until later and about the time the Lions Club would begin to boil corn. I am sure I purchased some to eat; I am
equally sure Brenda did not.
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Not the Bath Horse pull, but the same set up
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We soon
drifted up to the pull area and watched in amazement as the horses were weighed. There was a special tape used to measure the
circumference of each horse’s girth. All
too soon the pull began. I could see why
my Mother had not wanted me to attend; farmers over loaded their drags from the
beginning then whipped the poor horse. Harnesses and whiffletrees were broken;
Horses rose on their hind legs and whinnied.
Brenda and I crept farther and farther away.
Then it was time for the Roger’s Team; Minnie and Molly were
lead out with my father holding the reins; Grampy Nelson was at the horses head
seeming to talk to them. They started
out with just the base weight on the drag (the weighs were cement blocks, I am
unsure of the poundage) and added more in a gradual manner. Soon the team were stepping away under my
father’s coaxing of “come on pull, come on pull...” and Grampy’s praise of “You
are good girls, you are good girls”. I
would like to tell you that they won in their class. Or the writer in me would have Uncle Earle
shutting the race down due to wagering. But I remember none of that.
It was the swing that held my interest. As soon as it started Brenda and I were
riders, seated in what was little more than rubber slings, held by chains. The
swing started slowly, this was fun; it picked up, we were lifted off the ground
and the speed increased. Not so much fun.
Then the speed increased, the swings went faster and higher and faster and
higher! Now that I was up I was terrified!
I shut my eyes; I had a death grip on the chains. I endured the ride.
When it was over and
we were slowing down I looked at Brenda, her eyes were shining and she had coin
in her hand “We are going again”. And so
we did. By the second or third or fourth
time I actually enjoyed it. I have a
mental picture of being on those swings watching the fireworks, which were set
off after dark. I think time has blurred my memories and I did not see those fireworks until years later when I was a teen.
This is a tale that could use some additions; I have no
memories after watching Minnie and Molly pull and Brenda and I on the swing. I
do know that my Grandfather Nelson Rogers lived five more years and attended
the fair; I know that my father went as well for the horse pull. I
usually could be found bouncing between the men in my life as we jolted along
in Dad’s Half ton. I am not sure if Uncle
Earle or Brenda ever re attended, they moved to Lindsay some thirty miles away. I do
know that Talmage was the first to eat from the Catholic canteen; tourtiere
which he dissed as “meat pie”. And
Nelson loved the pie stand. And me; I
waited impatiently each summer for the Bath Fall Fair so I could go on the
swing.
However, no one asked me about the horse pull.
Please contact me if you have any relevant photos or information and I will add.