School fairs, picnics were highlights of the school year

Today’s Creemore history story is taken from my book, Creemore Bids You Welcome. I have been working on this book for years, have rewritten it three times but never got around to publishing it. Rather than hiding away all those hours of research I might as well get the stories out there. The account of the 1918 flu epidemic in August, and the building of the new school in September are also from this book. The years covered in these stories are from 1900 to 1930.
Three school activities brightened up the year then: The school fair, the school picnic and the Christmas concert. Stories about the Christmas concert are for another day. First we will have a look at the school fair and the school picnic.
Of all the days in the school year the school fair was the most exciting. This event brought stirring activity to the streets, the school grounds, the arena and the park. The first school fair in Creemore was Saturday, Oct. 10, 1914.
As the name implies, the school fair was designed for school children and on that day teachers, children, relatives and friends from all the little schools in the south half of Nottawasaga Township converged in Creemore.
The origin of the fair goes back to the first decade of the twentieth century when the Ontario government appointed agricultural representative to be situated throughout the rural areas. These men were trained in the latest agricultural methods and were expected to help farmers increase their efficiency and productivity. The representatives were having trouble getting the trust of the farmers. Frank C. Hart came up with the idea of involving farm children in growing small plots of crops. In that way he could visit the farms and get acquainted with the farmers.
The first school fair was held at Riverside School south of the city of Galt in the fall of 1909. The agricultural representative was the main organizer of the event with some help from inspectors, teachers and sometimes pupils themselves. Free seeds were distributed in the spring and over the summer the representative visited the farms, discussed the success of the plot and awarded prizes. This practice did not continue. Eventually the entries at the fair were grown without free seeds or help from the agricultural representative.
In this area the first school fair was held at Duntroon in 1913 and included schools in the northern part of Nottawasaga Township. As it was a success it was adopted for Creemore in 1914. Prizes would be awarded for colts, chickens, grain, corn, roots, potatoes, collections of weeds, weed seeds, insects, essays, baking and sewing.
A report in The Creemore Star following the fair indicated that the fair was a “gratifying success” although the school board was reprimanded for not taking much interest. The prizewinners were listed indicating a healthy interest.
The exhibition of farm products was only a part of the fair’s program. There were races for the various age groups and a showing of young animals by young showmen. The big event of the afternoon was the parade, which went from the school to the park on Edward Street. The children were trained how to march and it became the tradition for the pupils to be costumed. Prizes were awarded for the school with the best showing. Creemore was censored again in 1918 with the comment, “The first school in the procession was Creemore and we are sorry to say, they made a very poor showing. They had neither director nor teacher to guide them. It was a case of turn them out and they’ll go themselves. As far as the children were concerned they did the best they knew how, but the blame was on the public school teachers for not looking after them.”
In 1927 things had improved for the three rooms of Creemore School. “Room one under Miss Duff dressed to represent the Queen of Hearts; Room two, The Fathers of Confederation; Room three, Canada’s Diamond Jubilee. On their banner they showed the old school of 1916 and the new one of 1927 (built in 1917).
The enthusiasm for the school fair continued for many years. Finally in the 1960s after the small rural schools were closed and the children bussed to the central school in Creemore the last school fair was held.
No record of the first school picnic was found but in 1930 there was a report that one was held at Sunset Point Park in Collingwood. All the schools found their way there on a Saturday afternoon in June. Races were held with winners receiving cash prizes that were mostly spent on candy and ice cream at the refreshment booth. Ball games between the schools were held but the best of these was played in the late evening between a picked team from the rival villages of Avening and Dunedin. “The Dunedin line-up contained more names famous in ball circles but they were given a real scare when the boys from the plains evened the score in the last inning but the Dunedin boys bagging a run in their last turn to bat.”

Helen Blackburn is a retired teacher, avid gardener and a long-time contributor to the Creemore Echo. She writes about local history.