Strathclair Fair returns for its 137th year

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This article was published 15/07/2025 (254 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

STRATHCLAIR — The memory of some late residents of Strathclair lives on through an artisan woodworker who showcased his finished pieces at the local fair on Tuesday.

Harold Hogg brought his works to Strathclair Fair on Tuesday and displayed his woodcrafted “intarsia” technique portraits of his friends. Hogg told the Sun that he has created several portraits of friends who have since passed away, but he still spends time with them every once in a while.

“When I’m having a bad day, I go downstairs and sit with my friends,” said Hogg. “I go down and have a drink with my friends.”

He joked that he still remembers the drinks that his friends liked, and he pours one from time to time.

Several of those portraits hung at his booth this year.

The annual Strathclair Fair returned for its 137th year at the local fairgrounds this week. It continues another tradition of the annual Milk Run, which brings fairs to communities in the Westman area.

Events held in the community Tuesday included kids’ activities like laser tag, bouncy castles and mini-golf, as well as competitions on horseback and in cattle showing. There were hundreds in attendance.

Another local showcasing her work was Char Wilcox, who is a tarot card reader. She provided the Sun with a demonstration reading that began with the draw of the tarot “devil” card. Wilcox explained that she encounters lots of skeptics in the area, but she said she aims for a therapeutic conversation that helps clients navigate change in their lives and heal.

The annual Milk Run has now passed through Oak River and Strathclair. It is scheduled to continue today in Shoal Lake and then tomorrow in Hamiota. It resumes Friday in Harding and finishes Saturday in Oak Lake.

Hogg told the Sun that he spends about two weeks of work creating each intarsia portrait.

The first step is for the person to send him a photo, Hogg said. He then sketches it to plot all the lines of the face, and traces the face onto pieces of wood. The pieces are cut from different types of wood and modelled to fit tightly together, where they are glued at different depths.

One portrait on display Tuesday was Fraser Moffat. Moffat was a resident of Strathclair who passed away recently, and his wife paid a visit to the woodworking booth to see the likeness.

Hogg said he spends at least two weeks working on each portrait. He combines different types of wood like maple, oak and walnut to get different colours on the face, he said.

The pieces sell for $300.

He also makes art from slices of tree trunks, where he works with a pen to burn lines into the wood. Some of the wood pieces come from wood he cuts down with his own hands, he said.

“I go out in the spring and I cut a tree down, sand ’em, do everything, right to the finished products,” he said.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com