Abbotsford Agri-fair

Now that was LONG weekend! For me, the weekend started on Thursday night with my first shift as a volunteer security guard at the Abbotsford Agri-fair. I volunteered at the fair in 1997 and 1998 (according to my resume) and had a wonderful time. I've always wanted to get back to it but because it's so close to my birthday and I'm usually away on the long weekend, nine years have slipped by without me making it back. This year on of the organizers at the Berrybeat Festival was in charge of security at Agri-fair and asked for my help. I knew it would be a good opportunity to get involved again so I agreed. I'm glad I did but man am I tired! I "worked" Thursday and Sunday from 6-10pm and Monday from 10am-2pm. Please excuse the rather unflattering self portrait. I was telling people all weekend about how they gave me a freakishly bright orange shirt (it says "Volunteer Security" on the back) and a radio and called me a security guard so I had to take a picture.

Friday Meredith wanted to go to the fair just to see it so we went together. She bought a cowboy hat and we visited a few of the animals before heading over to the rodeo for most of the evening. Kristal Barret, a local singer who actually graduated just one year after me from the same highschool, sang the anthems (American and Canadian). The Mighty Fraser Bud Pro Rodeo includes seven events: ladies barrel racing, tie down roping, bareback bronc riding, team roping, saddle bronc riding, steer wrestling, and bull riding.


The funny thing was when I did my shift Sunday night, I was stationed at the rodeo again! (for crowd control) so I got to see it twice! Friday night we stayed until after the fireworks but my camera batteries decided to die so I didn't get any pictures of them.

Sunday night Chris Janz was on the mainstage. I only caught a few minutes of his set but it was nice to hear him again. The midway is a very popular attraction at the fair. I patrolled it a lot while I was on duty and took pictures when I was off.

The West Coast Logging Show made a return appearance. One of my duties was "catching axes" as my supervisor liked to call it. During the show two volunteer security guards stood behind the stage and kept people away just in case a stray axe missed it's mark. They never did but it was fun to say that was why we were there :)

Monday I was stationed in a corner of the fairgrounds watching for fence jumpers. It was a rather boring spot but someone had to do the job. My arms got fried as did the back of my ears. Other then that I fared pretty well. After my shift I hung around for awhile and took in some of the shows that I had missed. Jack Jackson on the main stage, the Rodeo Riders (who did their drills to Dierks Bentley's "Long Trip Alone" cd), and the Avatar Circus Project. Eight amazing young men and women who did "Circ de Soleil" type acrobatics. Very cool. By most accounts this was a highly successful Agri-fair and I was glad to be a part of it again.