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All Things Millarville Racetrack & Agricultural Society

The 103rd Annual Priddis & Millarville Fair

An elegant lady rides an elegant side saddle at the 103rd Annual Priddis & Millarville Fair . . . .

. . . . . but that didn't mean everything about the Fair was elegant . . .

. . . . . as the pie-eating contest ended very inelegantly . . . .

Desperately late, she frantically rushed into the infield for the Dressed-Up Horse competition and . . . .

. . . . . had a second place ribbon at the end of the day . . . .

When the clouds started to clear, it was time for the parade . . . .

. . . . with plenty of waves to the crowd . . . .

. . . . where the local 4-H Canine club were showing off their charges . . .

. . . . and old tractors - some even painted - are the norm . . .

The petting zoo was hugely popular with young and old alike, the only place where a little helper would hand a goose to an even smaller patron . . .

The Pet Show was occasionally weirdly awesome . . .

. . . . with everyone eager for their turn

Kid's World had mother's rolling their kids through all the fun . . . .

. . . . with bounces at every turn . . .

. . . . and squirts emerging . . .

. . . . from the oddest places . . .

There was a trumpeter calling for a rally . . . .

One lifelong Fair exhibitor once described the county Fair as a place where young people learned not how to win, but rather how to lose with grace . . . . .

There was a big crowd for the Cow to Latte competition between a team from the television series Heartland and a team of local media.

Amber Marshall, lead actress of Heartland was gung-ho for milking a cow with Cow To Latte organizor Paul Rishaug providing support Ms. Marshall is well-used to animals having worked as a veterinary assistant in the past.

. . . . . while the cow's rear-end riveted the attention of this little girl . . . .

But it was the media team with Mike McLean, a ringer with a dairy cow, which ended up throttling Grandpa Jack (Shaun Johnston) and the Heartland team. Unexpectedly, Mr. Johnston admitted "I've milked many a cow in my day, just not in the last 20 years or so" who served as his team's runner while Mr. McLean, who served as the milker for the CHRB team, is a fifth generation rancher and manager of the Bar U Historic Ranch as well as a CHRB on-air personality.

. . . . but all's well that ends well . . . . the miniature cow trophy will look good shared between CHRB in High River and the Okotoks Western Wheel. Left to right, Micheal Wienberg, executive producer, Heartland, Mike McLean of CHRB Radio in High River, Shaun Johnson, Grandpa Jack on Heartland, John Barlow, editor of the Western Wheel, Amber Marshall, Amy on Heartland and Jody Seeley of Sun Country radio in High River.

He may have lost the day but the TV hunks always end up with the pretty girls in the end . . . .

Freshly sheared wool is set upon by these ladies, eager to turn it into product in only a few hours

Tongue hanging out in concentration, a young wrangler plots a precision swing, although oddly, considering his impending need for accuracy, spending much of his rope-swinging time looking directly into the eyes of the cameraman instead of at his target . . . . .

. . . . while others took the time to sit and simply take it all in . . .

. . . . and for hard-working volunteers like Candice Depass, organizor of "Kid's World," the start of the day was the beginning of the end of months of anxious preparation.

. . . . and no Fair is complete without an antique auto show . . . .

. . . . . or rooster winners . . .

. . . . or a quilt auction . . .

. . . . while the exhibition barn overflowed with crafts, produce, grasses, chickens, ducks . . . .

. . . . and always those coveted ribbons . . . . . . .

. . . . . but the question riveting everyone's attention through to the final moments of the Fair was finally answered with a bang as Fair Chairman Bill Powell and Millaville Racing & Agricultural Society President John Dakers join Paul Teskey (centre) in astonishment as they realize the now legendary Millie The Massey's astonishingly successful raffle has been won by . . . .

. . . . an ebullient Myrna McKay . . . . . or at least the name of the guy she wrote down on the ticket whom she has unlimited power over apparently. Myrna, acting as self-declared agent for the winner, quickly struck a deal donating Millie to "Heartland," where the 60 year-old rusting but still functional tractor will be used as a set prop for the internationally syndicated show, then donated back to the Fair. Several hundred people stayed until the end of the Fair to see the draw, an indication of Millie's appeal.

. . . . and Capt. Riel Erickson, who started the year as a local heroine (a Millarville native) but was a local villian by mid-summer, finally got her chance to take a ride on Millie although ultimately denied the opportunity to personally use the rusting tractor for target practice by F-18 Hornets and other NATO fighters at the Air Weapons Range at CFB Cold Lake.

. . . . and was back in the role of local heroine by the end of the day, filling in the gaps of her brief interlude on The Dark Side for local media Mike McLean and John Barlow. Capt. Erickson's gracious participation served as a catalyst in the Millie narrative, eventually bringing about a remarkable revival of a grand agricultural Fair more than a century old that had been cancelled amid much controversy in March only to be revived by a new MRAS Board and Fair Committee. The Fair ended up with a record number of entries, more than doubled normal attendance and probably established a record profit, a stunning reversal of fortunes spanning only a few months in duration. Millie the Massey served as the unlikely rallying point for the community and her raffle raised $10,000, half of which went to the Alberta Farm Safety Centre and half to the Racing Society/Fair but, beyond that, the publicity generated by Millie was priceless.

As such, few could deny the 2010 Priddis & Millarville Fair will be forever linked to Millie The Massey.

Millarville Rodeo 2010

The Wild Horse Race was very aptly named, these gents trying to tame their quarry as another fellow in the background is getting thoroughly thrashed in his own struggle to the death as the 14th Annual Millarville Rodeo opened with a bang.