Purple Grove news

Congratulations to the directors of Lucknow Fall Fair for another great fair day! People have commented on the number of exhibitors in the peewee and invitational beef classes and how much they enjoyed the show. They wonder how exhibitors manage their animals in the show ring, especially in the heat! It was great to see so many entries and antique tractors in the parade! Congratulations, also, to Graham Howard, the new Lucknow Fall Fair ambassador!

Congratulations and thank you to all who participated in the many Terry Fox Runs and Walks over past weekend! It was a great day to be out and so many people appreciate your commitment to supporting cancer research.

We are happy to celebrate with those who have birthdays in September: Arnie Clifford, Bob Forester who is 80, Diane McCulloch, Donna Bridge and Ed Franken.

Congratulations to couples celebrating wedding anniversaries recently: Isabel and Keith Carter, 67 years; Lynda and Al Jaynes, 55 years; Dianne and Wilfred Gamble, 57 years; Elaine and John Shantz, 56 years; and Todd and Tammy Thompson, 15 years!

We want to extend our sympathy to the families of Jean McGlynn of Teeswater, Erva Verheye of Kincardine, Edithe Cayley, formerly of Teeswater, and other families in the area who are grieving at this time.

Jim and Fran Farrell enjoyed a trip to Manitoulin last week, visiting with friends and touring the island. It is very interesting to read the agricultural history of Manitoulin as it once provided much of the turkey for Thanksgiving and Christmas, to much of Ontario and into the nearby United States! It also boasted a large sheep population in the 1930s.
At one time, there were three creameries on the island and a number of grain elevators and flour mills. Now, the main economic activities are tourism and agriculture with hay and wheat being the main crops, along with soybeans, canola and some corn. Most credit the good yields to the rain they got in June and there are some pretty nice cattle up there too! The roads are great, people are friendly and the harvest is coming along well. The Chi-Cheemaun also has a great display of its 50th anniversary in operation and the history of the ferry business from Tobermory to South Baymouth. A relaxing trip up and back seeing the fall colours coming on!

Looking forward to the Ripley-Huron Fall Fair, Sept. 27-29, and seeing the bale and business displays going up. Be sure to get your exhibits ready and you can bring them in Thursday evening and Friday morning till 11:30 a.m. Set-up is Monday evening for the hall. See you at the fair!