FOREST – Heading to the fairgrounds here Sunday was like taking a step back in time – for two reasons.
The Western Ontario Steam Thresher’s Association’s weekend-long event featured dozens of pieces of farm machinery from more than a century ago, and the size of the crowds that came out were similar to the pre-pandemic days.
“It has been a very good weekend,” Doug Hamilton, the association’s vice-president, said Sunday. “The weather’s been beautiful. The beer tent sales were really good.
“Everybody’s been friendly.”
Hamilton said it’s hard to gauge how many people came through the gates – entry fees Friday and Saturday were $10 while Sunday was by donation – but it started with a bang during Friday night’s tractor pull.
“I couldn’t see through the tent. I could not see through the crowd, there was so many people here,” said Hamilton, from the Thedford area. “Ten (minutes to 8 pm) Friday night the bleachers were full. You could not find a seat on the bleachers.”
Patterns came from Sarnia-Lambton, Chatham-Kent and across Southwestern Ontario.
After being canceled in 2020, the event was held in 2021, but with restrictions that were in place at the time. The Crowds this weekend were similar to pre-pandemic years such as 2016 and 2018.
“If not better,” Hamilton said.
The association, the oldest club of its kind in Ontario, aims to preserve and honor the region’s agricultural heritage, according to its website. Its first steam engine show was hosted in August 1957.
The show has moved around the region over the decades but settled into Forest about 15 years ago, a member said.
The association, which has a couple hundred registered members from across the region, is a non-profit that donates money to other local organizations.
“Everybody that helps gets something,” Hamilton said. “It’s good all the way around for the community.”