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Ag Society reports mainly good year despite challenges

Dec 15, 2018 | 7:00 AM

Despite some reduced sponsorship funding due to a sluggish economy, the Battlefords Agricultural Society is reporting a mainly good year for 2018.

The society held its annual general meeting on Dec. 12, covering the fiscal year running from Oct. 1, 2017 to Sept. 30, 2018.

General Manager Jocelyn Ritchie said sponsorship dollars in particular were down unfortunately. 

“It was a rough year for us, to be honest,” she said, adding that the downturn in the economy this past year had an impact.

Nonetheless, the Ag Society reported the North Battleford Northwest Territorial Days event turned around good numbers overall this year.

Last year a separate midway that operated outside the Frontier Centre mall in July 2017 had an impact on the Ag Society’s exhibition and midway sales, Ritchie said. But, this year that was not an issue since the other midway didn’t return, which Ritchie said helped the Ag Society.    

“Our numbers were up for both (exhibition) attendance and the midway,” Ritchie said, adding the event reached about the 18,000 mark for admission numbers.

Some of the attractions this year included the Super Dogs show as well as a trapeze act, which helped attract visitors to the fair.

For the chuckwagon racing this year the attendance was fairly good, however one day was lost due to rain which impacted numbers. 

Ritchie said for 2019 she is optimistic for positive results since North Battleford will have the first races in the circuit. 

She added as a boon, the first female Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association (CPCA) member Amber L’Heureux will make her debut here at the end of May, which will likely attract more spectators to the show. 

As well, the City of North Battleford agreed to continue its agreement to allow the Ag Society to lease the exhibition grounds land again for another five years. While Ritchie appreciates having the lease renewed, she mentioned she would like to see a longer-term lease in effect. She also hopes to see a clause removed from the contract that indicates either party has the right to withdraw from the contract with six months’ notice. 

Ritchie is encouraging more people to become members of the Battlefords Agricultural Society. She said since the society is part of the larger provincial organization it is able to access funding. However, to keep in good standing it also needs to keep up its membership numbers. The local Ag Society needs to have at least 100 members to keep its status.

“That’s why we are always looking for new members, or past members to renew their membership. If you are not a member of the Ag Society, think about it,” Ritchie said. “We have a great group here. We are always looking for more volunteers though, and members.”

 

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

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