BEST FEATURE PAGE

BEST FEATURE PAGE
18 • Pontiac Journal du Pontiac • 2011 / 09 / 07
SHAWVILLE – Exhibits, animal shows, food,
entertainment, steer auction, fireman's challenge, midway and demolition derby – though
just a sampling of what can be found at the
Shawville Fair – close to 40,000 people took in
as much of this as possible during the
September 1–5 of “Bringing the community
together for 155 years”.
Approaching this five-day assignment as a
‘walking tour’, I entered the gates Thursday
afternoon, though a quieter time for events, the
warm day still brought out the people.
“I've always thought the best weekend of the
year is the Shawville Fair,” remarked President
Rick Younge during the opening ceremonies
that evening in the arena, “followed only by
Christmas.”
Rolly Armitage was the special guest of honour
having had the title of longest serving past
president for 55 years. Armitage declared the
fair open with the cutting of the ribbon held by
Younge and Shawville Fair Ambassador
Hayley Campbell.
While this was going on inside, outside there
was a much larger gathering of people to watch
the truck and tractor pulls that continued past
midnight.
Friday brought on hot and humid weather. The
morning was for the 550 kids from schools in
Shawville, Otter Lake, Quyon, Calumet Island
and Campbell's Bay. The presentations were
about apples, agriculture, dairy, logs and what
comes from farms.
Throughout the day I meandered through the
agricultural tent behind the arena to see the
sheep, goats, and cows and find out - how much
milk can a cow produce in a day? Or how much
hay can a beef cow can eat in a day?
The outside arena had the heavy horse show,
where Harry Dale of Shawville was awarded
the best of all breeds in the category,
Champion of Champions. I then cooled off in
the exhibition hall to admire the winning quilts, knitting, wine, paintings,
photography, baking and woodworking.
2011 / 09 / 07 • Pontiac Journal du Pontiac • 19
Next-door in the agricultural hall was Todd
Kline’s winning pumpkin, weighing in at 591.8
pounds. There also, was a diversity of outlets,
such as for the Gongshow Gear and the
Canadian Haunting & Paranormal Society.
My path led me to the arena where the flower
display was set up in the lobby. Inside, the
arena was full of activities for most of day. The
4-H showed beef, dairy, chickens and rabbits. 4H member Emily Simms explained what the
judges were looking for, “It's about showmanship: how you present your animal; and confirmation: the looks.” Later in the evening, Jerry
Barber took first prize in the Maine Anjou
open show for adults.
The arena stands were full in the evening to
watch another heavy show: seven, six-hitch
horses followed by the steer auction. For the
second year, Brett Mackechnie’s steer won the
Grand Champion. Josh Greenshield’s showed
the Reserve Grand Champion and both sold at
$5 a pound for 1,300 pounds each.
The two bands Streamer and Honeymoon
Suite saw the crowd grow by the hour. This
year’s new alcohol serving regulations made
for quicker and shorter line-ups while the ‘beer
tent’ still overflowed with people.
Saturday was even hotter and more humid,
with more people on the grounds than the previous days. The midway was packed and the
concession stands were busy. The morning
events consisted of the western horse, heavy
horse and 4-H and the pet shows.
In the afternoon, the Pontiac Clergy
Association and Domenic D'Arcy took the
main stage. The cattle shows continued into the
evening with Charolais, Simmental, Angus and
Holstein.
Roadhouse and Dean Brody took the main
stage in the evening. A brief rainfall put a
damper to the end of Brody's concert as many
of the listeners took cover. Streamer finished
the night by rocking out the music in a jampacked beer tent.
Despite a rainy start to Sunday, the events went
on as usual. The weather likely contributed to a
slight dip in crowd numbers, as that day was
usually always the busiest for the Fair.
The morning had a light horse show and a
horse pull, along with the Zucchini races. The
afternoon was full of entertainment of the
musical variety from Fred Ducharme and the
Ninth Line, Arnprior McNab Pipes & Drums
and Robin Averill.
The stands were full for the team penning that
evening. The crowd cheered on the riders as
they tried to herd three cows into a pen on the
other end of the arena.
On the main stage and the beer tent, the crowd
got their money's worth in music. Memories of
Conway Twitty sang country oldies for an hour
and a half. Then Corb Lund and the Hurtin'
Albertans played for a solid two hours before
calling it a night. Rain fell at the end of Lund’s
set, but the music continued under the beer
tent with the Mick Armitage Band rocking till
one in the morning.
The Pontiac Fireman's Challenge, the Antique
Vehicle Show and the Demolition Derby were
the main attractions for Monday. The derby
especially, is a constant favourite of fans.
For five days, the Shawville Fair was the centre
of the universe for the newcomers and the
returnees, the exhibitors, the farmers, the workers, and the musicians. Each one has a story to
tell about the Fair; mine was an assignment –
with lots of fun tossed in.
The final word is left to a very hoarse sounding
Rick Younge at 7pm Monday night. “This was
all only possible thanks to the support of the
volunteers, the clubs, the sponsors, and the
directors.”
LS
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SC
by Scott Campbell
SC
LS
BZ
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PONTIAC JOURNAL DU PONTIAC
Stellar layout except for headline font choice.
THE GLEANER
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THE LOW DOWN TO HULL & BACK NEWS
A solid third-place finish.
Page 14
•
Missed placing first by the
narrowest of margins.
“Tight contest between the
top three entries, which stood
apart from the pack. Attention to detail and overall eyeappeal were the deciding factors.” - Kevin Anderson
Sept. 21 - Sept. 27, 2011
Sept. 21 - Sept. 27, 2011
Page 15
Hwy 5 crews pulverizing Hills on way to Wakeeld
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Page 8 - 2011 QCNA Newspaper Awards • Friday May 18, 2012
••
Stone crusher Manager Jean-Pierre Tremblay presses buttons while controller the large stone crusher. The
Hwy 5 extension will use over 400,000 tons of crushed stone for things like drainage and foundation work.
By Trevor Greenway
How many times have you
driven the 105 south of Wakefield, wondering what all those
huge trucks and heavy machinery are doing?
Answering the big question is easy: they are building a
highway, but on a more detailed
note, how are they building it?
How many trucks are being
used, how many rocks are being
crushed and how many mountains are being blown up?
Many people have been wondering where the new highway
will exactly go, most of them
unable to visualize such a grand
project.
The Low Down took a cruise
along the future highway corridor with Jean Marcel Charron, a
staffer with Couillard Construction, the company building the
$162-million highway, to get a
more detailed understanding of
how such a big project is being
realized.
From dynamite blast-hole
drillers to bridge-builders and
workers who break rocks all day,
the extension of Hwy A5 is no
small feat.
The project involves scores
of workers all co-ordinated to
meet specific deadlines, millions
of dollars worth of equipment
and a large Gatineau Hills canvas that will be “unrecognizable” in two years.
The highway is upon us and
it’s taking shape rapidly.
“By the end of next year,
there won’t be much left,” says
Charron, pointing at the onceimposing hill slowly being
chipped away across from Morrison’s Quarry in Chelsea.
“You won’t be able to recognize it. It will all be flat.”
A commercial driller digs multiple holes into a large rock ridge across from
Morrison’s Quarry for dynamite blasting. While Couillard wasn’t sure exactly
how much dynamite will be used to blow up this and the other rock outcrops, they did say it was “a lot.” This entire area below will be completely
leveled come next spring.
Trevor Greenway photo
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Crews work at building the Cross Loop Road overpass and exit. Cross Loop Road will
slightly be realigned for the project.
Trevor Greenway photo
Above: a crusher spits out stones for the highway project.
Trevor Greenway photo
Below: This entire hill will be completely blown up by next spring.
Judge: Kevin Anderson, Regional Managing Editor, Kapuskasing Northern Times, Kapuskasing, ON• Number of entries in the Best Feature Page category: 11
Marshall • Maruska Aerial Images
photo. www.aerialphotographs.ca