Life is Pretty Damn Interesting: It's a Bonding Experience

1. Get to the grounds at 5:45 a.m.
2. Tease the Dairy Guys that I was in first
3. Tease them again
4. Reward myself with a cinnamon bun

Day 3. I’ve informally surveyed the folks I work with here and I think it takes a certain type of person to spend a whole week at the Fair.
Technically we aren’t “carnies” but we do hang around and try to draw people into our booths. Our approach is much quieter, however, we let the animals do the work for us. Kids like anything baby. Baby calves. Baby lambs. Baby chicks. Baby pigs. And eggs. You’d be surprised how fascinated kids are by the fact that eggs come out of a chicken’s bum. Well, I suppose it isn’t actually the bum, but you know what I mean.

Another difference between us and the typical carnival worker is that none of have a snake tattoo that runs from our wrist to our neck. And we don’t rip people off. We give away our prizes. Pig squeaky toys. Cow tattoos. Sheep pencils. Chick zipper pulls. Egg key rings. You’d be surprised how people go for this stuff.

And most of us have respectable day jobs. We are a motley group of commodity professionals who love what we do. I call them my second family. Here we are, and a brief description of what we do:

That's me, back row left. Sarah Lewis is beside me. She and her family raise sheep and pigs near Elkhorn. Marilyn Warkentin is a volunteer with the Manitoba Equine Association. Val Simoens is the Field Services Technician with the Manitoba Chicken Producers. Beside her in the bright yellow vest is Katherine Hebert. She is the Extension Specialist with the Manitoba Egg Producers. The tall fellow in the back is Miles Beaudin, the Swine Program Specialist with Manitoba Pork. The young lady in the red vest is Clare Robinson. She is a dairy farmer from Steinbach and a volunteer at the dairy booth. I'm going to skip over the two men between Katherine and Clare, saving them for last.

Bottom row: Austin Donohoe is a volunteer at the dairy booth. He's a student from Steinbach. Janice Lawrence is my partner in crime. She is a caterer from Argyle who also writes the weekly column about her community for the Stonewall Argus and Teulon Times. Beside her is Hayden Lewis and his sister, Bethany (note the bunny ears - no doubt mom Sarah will be pleased). Beside Bethany is Lisa Wiens, a grade 11 student from Grunthal who volunteers at the dairy display; and Jillian Ray a beef producer from Grunthal who spent time volunteering in the Dairy booth and in the cattle display.

The two men in the back are Leo Leclair and Bob Crowe. Leo is our Fearless Leader. A retired dairy farmer, he coordinates the display for the Dairy Farmers of Manitoba. He is in Program Promotion and Client Services with the Federal Financial Income Development Program. He and his wife, Solange, live at Letellier.
Bob Crowe is the Barn Boss. Explaining everything that Bob has done in his life reads like a grocery list, so I'll try and make it brief. Right now he is a Dairy Rep with Alta Genetics, a guard at the Dauphin Correctional Centre, the bus driver for the Grandview Comets hockey team and for fun, he volunteers as an auctioneer for charity events. Bob and his wife, Marilyn, own and operate Secord-Crowe greenhouses in Dauphin. Both Leo and Bob have been involved with the Fairs since "Thru the Farm Gate" and "Touch the Farm" originated, approximately nine years ago.

So here we are. Oh yeah, and I can't forget Sherry Baumaug. She is the Ag Awareness Chair and a Director with the Fair Board in Brandon. She is our go-to girl. When she's no