» W- Mama

An account of one such school fair in Annandale on September 21, 1920, was made available to us:

“We all went to the school fair. I laughed more this evening than I did in the last ten years. Emery Blackett won the pie eating race. About ten boys lay on their bellies with their hands behind their backs a liberal helping of pie on a plate before each one of them. Every boy had his mouth open waiting for the ‘Go’."

Also at these fairs after all the judging was done, a number of sporting events were held. These included free running races - different age groups, three-legged races, and sack races. Competitions were also open to teachers, parents and spectators. The winners of a few of these events one year were: Teacher’s Race — Margaret MacCormack first, and Alice Morrow second; School Girls under eleven — Stella Howlett first, Emily Underhay second in young ladies race; School Girls over eleven — Matilda Campbell first. The Fat Man’s Race saw Will MacLean placing first, Charlie Stead second, and James MacDonald (Red House) third.

Rumor has it that sometimes there would be hard feelings over the school fairs. The parents of some children would help them with their cooking, knitting, or carpentry entries for example and it wasn’t fair competition for those students who completed projects on their own.

It was thought that the government probably helped out a little towards prizes. Ribbons were awarded for a lot of the entries but a purse of money was given for the best calf. One resident, Bernice McFarlane, received $5.00 one 'year for first prize for her calf, and that was considered a lot of money in those days.

We haven’t been able to determine the reason, but around the late 1940’s these school fairs came to an end.

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