Aberfoyle Fall Fair plows forward despite volunteer shortage

ABERFOYLE – People gathered in Puslinch for the annual fall fair last weekend, with entertainment including zucchini races, wrestling, a petting farm, axe throwing and bouncy castles.

There was a horse show throughout the day on Sept. 6, and live music in the afternoon and early evening.

People competed in pickleball tournaments;  antique, ATV and garden tractor pulls; children’s races; and a stuffed animal contest.

Kids also enjoyed a family dance party, magic show and an agricultural awareness scavenger hunt.

Agricultural awareness and promotion is a big goal of fair organizers, director Joanne Holt told the Advertiser.

She said she hopes country fairs give people a greater understanding of how food and other goods get to their tables.

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That goes beyond how food is grown, she noted, and includes cooking, preserving, sewing “and all sorts of things.”

She also hopes the fall fair encourages people to shop local to support area farms.

Asked what she was looking forward to most as the fair kicked off on Friday evening, Holt said “big crowds and good weather.”

She said once the antique tractor pull kicked off locals would start making their way over to the fair grounds as “the noise and smells always brings them in.”

And once they arrive, she was confident they’d enjoy the wrestling by Independent Pro Wrestling, which she said would be “amazing.”

It seemed she was right, as the bleachers filled up to watch the tractor pull and crowds gathered and cheered enthusiastically during the wrestling matches.

Fair organizers struggled this year with a lack of volunteers, and are always looking for new members, noted fair president Vinnie Klimkosz.

He said they were working with a “skeleton crew of maybe 20 people who show up to meetings.”

The Aberfoyle Fall Fair isn’t as large as other Wellington County fairs, and Holt tells people, “If you want to see it grow, join in and volunteer.”