There were so many great entries in the various competitions displayed in the Lila Fawcett exhibit building during the 2024 South Mountain Fair, it was difficult to know where to start. Tinkess Photo

SOUTH MOUNTAIN – This year the South Mountain Fair reached the grand old age of 132 years. What is it about this small community in North Dundas that has allowed them to not only support a fair for that length of time, but to also enable it to grow and year after year attract people from all walks of life?

One thing anyone who visits South Mountain to attend the fair or any other community event for that matter will quickly notice is that there is a very strong base of volunteers who are ready and willing to help make every event a success. Any organization, to develop any degree of longevity, must rely on volunteers to make things work. In South Mountain, that isn’t a problem.

The fair opened on Thurs., Aug.15 with a “Special Friends” feature which allowed people with disabilities access to the fairgrounds from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. prior to the public being allowed access.

At 3:30 p.m. the grounds were opened to the public. At 5:00 p.m. the midway opened, followed by the beer garden at 6:00 p.m. The opening day’s big event, the Demolition Derby started at 7:00 p.m.

Friday is the first full day of the fair, and with that comes the collection and display of entries in the various categories in the exhibit hall, along with poultry judging. On what was a warm, but sunny day crowds flowed in throughout the day, with the heaviest concentration passing through the gates in the early evening, to ensure getting a good seat for the very popular truck pull.

There were several different classes in the truck pull, including the half-ton class, ¾ ton class and even highway tractors, The crowd, which filled the stands, were ready to be entertained and they weren’t disappointed. The half-ton’s put on a very competitive show, to get things started, with Christian Ouellette finishing first with a distance of 261 feet, Mel Smallman coming second with a distance of 255 feet and Richard Chartrand coming in third with a distance of 243.9 feet.

There were also two musical attractions in the entertainment tent. Tim and the Glory Boys performed from 8:00 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. when they turned things over to The Country Lads.

Weather began to be a concern on Saturday but didn’t become much of an issue until later in the day. Things are always relatively dry under the show tent, and Dundas County 4-H Dairy Achievement Day went ahead without a hitch. Several different shows performed throughout the day, leading up to Black Creek Rodeo presenting the Kioti South Mountain Rodeo at 6:00 p.m.

The day wrapped up with musical entertainment by Owen Riegling at 8:30 p.m. and The Derringers.

Rain overnight which continued into Sunday morning had a detrimental effect on the final day of the Fair. There was the problem of mud everywhere, which led to the cancellation of the tractor pull as well as the saddle, harness and miniature horse show.

Anytime you plan an event which relies on the weather conditions, all you can do is hope, and in most cases three out of four days is pretty good. Even with intermittent rain and a sea of mud, there were still people who were enjoying the midway (there were no lineups), watching the Dundas County 4-H Beef Achievement Day, calf roping and barrel racing,  the Kioti South Mountain Rodeo presented by the Black Creek Rodeo, and several entertainment options throughout the day, not to mention the selection of fair food that had been available from day one.

The day wrapped up with music from The Plowboys followed by New Generation Leahy. By 6:00 p.m. it was time to put another successful South Mountain Fair into the history books and look forward to 2025 and the 133 edition of the Fair.