ARTHUR – The air was crisp and the wind blustery, but the sun shone warmly upon the 2025 Arthur Fall Fair.
Youth proudly showed their livestock in 4H shows; crafters, growers, bakers and other creatives displayed their work in the hall; children played; adults chatted; and memories were harvested at the 169th annual fair, which took place Sept. 4 to 7.
Mikayla Humphrey was crowned 2025-26 ambassador during the fair on Sunday.
Fair representative Lianne Kaminski spoke with the Community News the day after the fair ended, while dismantling and returning equipment.
She said official numbers are not yet in, but she feels the turnout was comparable to previous years and overall, the fair was “great.
“We had lots of activities, that’s for sure,” she said, and the “weather was great.”
While there was a little rain on Sunday, Kaminski said that just encouraged people to spend more time inside checking out exhibits in the halls, so it really wasn’t an issue.
She heard positive feedback from fair attendees, who particularly appreciated the reduced rates for playing on inflatables as well as the expanded agricultural education tent.
New this year was a Party Safari exotic animal attraction, which Kaminski said was very popular with guests of all ages: “from two-year-olds to the grandparents … It went over very well.”
Heather Rosegaar, who was volunteering in the youth palace during the fair, along with her two daughters, said she’s been helping out with the Arthur Fall Fair for about five years.
She’s hopeful that more people will sign up to volunteer next year as there’s always a need for more help.
Many of the regular volunteers are over 70, she said, which means there’s a particular need for people to step up for some of the heavy lifting, literally.
High school students can use volunteer time with the fair towards the hours needed for graduation, she noted.
Asked what motivates her to volunteer, Rosegaar grinned and said, “Because I love it … My husband loves it too. It’s something we can do together.”
Kaminski agreed there is a need for more help, noting there has been a “dramatic change in trying to recruit new volunteers” since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We can all see and feel the community is growing, but we are not growing in our membership or volunteers,” she said.
“We want to continue to be able to provide all these activities for these communities … but it’s getting very difficult to maintain this growth when we don’t have the volunteer base. For sure we would like to have some more volunteers to help share the workload.”
Kaminski said volunteering is worth the effort, because while “you won’t get paid with money, our hearts are very full at the end of the fair day.”
Volunteers often come with their families, she said, including multiple generations, with children, parents and grandparents all pitching in, which is an opportunity for families to strengthen bonds.
“It’s really all about coming together and bringing the community together and hopefully fostering happy memories,” she said.
“Bringing families together, bringing friends together, that’s what we get out of it. A lot of joy.”
