No one asked me about the Horse pull at the Bath Fall Fair

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.

Not the Bath Horse pull, but the same set up
 

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.