Oscar Brokenshire’s Memories of the Fenelon Fair

By Belinda Wilson

Originally Published in the North Kawartha Times, June 11, 1985

Everyone loves the fair! Kids especially get a great thrill from going to the fair, and eating candy floss, going on the rides and just generally enjoying everything that a fair has to offer. It is interesting to know that kids were responsible for the re-creation of the Fenelon Fair, as Oscar Brokenshire, a long-time participant in the Agricultural Society, explained.

It seems that the one-day Fenelon Fair was originally held on Highway 121 in the front acres of the field where the fairgrounds are now established. The property was never owned by the Fair Board, it was just loaned to them for the few days it took to set up and hold the fair each year.

When the property ownership changed hands, and the new owners objected to the Fair Board using the property, the Fair ceased to exist for the time being. At about the same time the School Fair was gaining popularity, and children from all the “little red schoolhouses” in the district gathered in the Market Square (the site of the Post Office) and exhibited their livestock and agricultural projects. Each spring, the children chose whether they wished to grow vegetables, or seed grains or whatever, and the seeds were sent down from the Agricultural Office in Lindsay for them to grow. And each fall, they were able to show off their hard work, and perhaps win a prize.

In the early 1950s, Mac Murchison started a 4H Club in the Glenarm Road area, and got these children involved with the School Fair too. By this time, participation in the little fair had outgrown the space in Market Square, and a new site had to be found. Rotary Park became the place for the fair, and the children would have a parade up the main street to the park.

Popularity grew and grew, and soon a full-fledged fair had grown out of the School Fair. Each year, Rotary Park (now Russ Baptiste Ball Park) was the scene of Fenelon’s Fair. Because of the intended use of the Park as a ball field, care had to be taken not to ruin the surface, horses couldn’t be shown, because their shoes would have wreaked havoc on the soft turf.

By the mid-1960s, with the Fair once again becoming a serious proposition, a new home had to be found for it. The new owner of the original Fair Ground, Graham Everett, was quite receptive to the idea of the Fair once again being held there. And so, once again, visitors driving down the hill into Fenelon Falls in mid-August could see Fenelon’s Fair running full steam.

The old race-track, which had been built many years before, was now covered over, although Mr. Brokenshire tells me that you can still see the outline of it in the field. Things were still not settled for the Fenelon Fair. The property was once again sold, with the new owners interested in commercial development. 20 acres, however, was given to Fenelon Township, and the Fair Board has the use of the property for the Fair, which has now grown into a three-day affair, with tractor pulls, midway, large exhibits, plus many more attractions.

Now that the land is essentially theirs, the Fair Board has worked long and hard, clearing trees, landscaping, erecting an exhibition building and livestock area. “Before, you felt like you could lose it all at any time, so there wasn’t much sense in doing a lot,” Mr. Brokenshire said. He credited many people with the growing success of the fair and noted the local service clubs have certainly done their part in making things work.

The Fair Grounds are used for the Antique Car Shows, and other functions, and with the feeling of permanency, are turning into a fine location for large exhibitions. Mr. Brokenshire says that the Fair Board is making many plans for the future, in terms of improvements, because they no longer have to start from the beginning each year. With a solid base, and lots of participation, the Fenelon Fair promises to get bigger and better as time goes on.