Milk Run fair series now underway

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The Milk Run fair series continues today in Oak River before it hits the road to five other towns in the week.

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The Milk Run fair series continues today in Oak River before it hits the road to five other towns in the week.

The annual event has entered day two as the Oak River Agricultural Fair will start with a free pancake breakfast this morning, followed by agricultural shows. The event at the Oak River Memorial Rink and Fairgrounds has kicked off a Westman tradition called the Milk Run, which is a series of fairs across a 160-kilometre route.

The Oak River fair will continue today at 7 a.m. with a free pancake breakfast until 9 a.m., giving way to agricultural shows and a car show at 1 p.m.

A group of kids wait to compete in the pairs class during the light horse show at the 136th Annual Strathclair Ag Society Fair in 2024. The fair is returning this week as part of the annual “Milk Run.” (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)

A group of kids wait to compete in the pairs class during the light horse show at the 136th Annual Strathclair Ag Society Fair in 2024. The fair is returning this week as part of the annual “Milk Run.” (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)

When the Oak River event wraps up this evening, it will not be long before the planned start for Strathclair on Tuesday morning. There will similarly be agricultural shows, kids activities, live entertainment, a parade and a dinner planned.

The series will continue in Shoal Lake, Hamiota, Harding and Oak Lake this week as each community holds its own fair. Extra activities like radio-controlled car racing, Mario Kart tournaments, comedy magic shows, parades, children’s activities, lawn tractor pulls, beer gardens and ball games are planned. July 19 will be the end of the tour, in Oak Lake.

The fairs bring life to small areas of Westman, and the organizers in Oak River emphasized the need for people to get involved. In the fair booklet for Oak River, organizers wrote that various events are open, but rely on people to compete in those shows for cattle, floral arrangements, vegetables, horses, fruit or baking.

“You, the exhibitor, are vital to our fair,” the booklet reads. “Without exhibitors we cannot function effectively. We invite you to participate.”

The events are building momentum again in the fourth year back since the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many things, the Milk Run was shut down during the pandemic. The event restarted in 2022, bringing people back to the fairs to celebrate their communities again.

Tanis Podobni, fair secretary for Oak Lake, told Wendy King for Westman This Week that the events are important for the area. That sentiment was also held by secretaries from other fairs in the region.

“The community fairs are a vital part of our agricultural and community history,” Podobni said. “For some, the fair weekend is the one time of year that they return ‘home’ to visit and reconnect.”

Linda Wilson, fair secretary at the Hamiota Agricultural Society, said the name “Milk Run” may have different origins. The secretary said it was related to rushing cattle around.

“It was called the milk run because every night the farmers had to go home to milk their cows and then they got back the next day to the next fair,” Wilson said earlier this month speaking with King. “Whether that’s true or not, I have no idea. And there’s nobody that’s going to prove it, one way or the other.”

The Strathclair fair begins on July 15, leading into Shoal Lake’s fair on July 16, Hamiota’s fair on July 17, Harding’s fair on July 18, and the final fair in Oak Lake on the 19th. Each fair is a tradition for its community more than 100 years old.

»cmcdowell@brandonsun.com, with files from Wendy King

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