Countdown Begins

1. Sleep in a bit. Don’t get to the grounds until 6:10 a.m.
2. The countdown begins
3. The cinnamon buns come out of the oven in 20 minutes.
4. Reason it is okay to eat one, afterall, it is the last day of the Fair.

Day 6. Almost done. There is a feeling of excitement in the air as we prepare for the last day. As much as we all enjoy doing this, it will good to get home.

Susan Spiropoulos rolled by this morning when I was writing and we had a little visit. She had to bring something heavy from the office down to this part of the Keystone Centre and couldn’t find a dolly. “That way when I want to visit, I have somewhere to sit down.” Susan is great. Not only is she gorgeous, but a ton of fun. I won’t see her now until the next event which is Livestock Expo in early November. (Yes, that is Evil Esther Fyk tempting Susan with her cinnamon bun samples!)

I’ve made a good connection with Jillian Ray from Grunthal. She has been working for both Dairy and for Beef this week. She has show cattle and has offered to bring a cow-calf pair to the Red River Ex. This makes my job easier on two counts – not only do I not have to worry about finding suitable animals but I also have a worker. Jillian is helping me this morning get the pen clean. The cow and calf are getting ready to go home. They are more fidgety than usual – it’s almost as if they can sense it’s the last day too.
Janice and I are almost giddy when the show opens. We remind ourselves not to watch the clock and to just have a fun day. In previous years when things started to get boring we found ways to amuse ourselves. Last year, we counted the number of Crocs that came through. I was hoping to convince Amanda Kopeechuk, who was working with me, that yes these sandals ARE comfortable.
We’ve done an informal analysis on stroller quality but have forgotten the results.
This year we are trying to guess a person’s profession based on their looks. Then I strike up a conversation to find out which one of us is right. I got this idea from Jay Leno’s “Judgemental Bastard.” It’s a real hoot. They take a tv camera onto the street and Steve Schirripa from the Sopranos watches people, guesses a few obscure things about them and then asks them questions on camera. He’s right 98% of the time. Our perceptions are not that accurate, but a few times we’ve been bang on.

This was fun. The family featured on our consumer display came by so I got a shot of them. The Beswithericks are from near MacGregor. They are young, enthusiastic and great spokespeople for our industry.Bob from Dairy is losing his voice. He has only two more milking demonstrations to do. There is a lot of dust in the air from the grains display next to us. My throat is not sore but my voice is as scratchy as everyone else’s. Everyone who comes through loves the milking demonstration. It is a highlight of the show and have of the reason is because Bob is just so darned entertaining.Val comes by in the early afternoon asking how we like our coffee. She gets back a half hour later after making a run to Tim Horton’s. with a box of the good stuff. I'm so excited my shot is out of focus.

Well that’s it for this year. It won’t be long and preparations will begin for “Touch the Farm” at the Red River Ex. That display will open June 13 – 22nd in Winnipeg. See you all there!