The Edam Fall Fair celebrated it's 20th anniversary and added a new class for the event.
On Friday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m. the nine cow with heifer calf pairs were on display and the turnout was better than hoped with 81 ballots being cast. A 20 dollar bill gave each participant the chance to rank their top five, with a spot to indicate which heifer calf they would like to take home, should their ballot be the one drawn out at the end of the evening.
After some thought on the part of the 81 who cast ballots, it was decided the grand champion pair was the Angus first calf heifer (approximately 1,100 pounds) that brought in a 735 pound heifer calf that had been born March 29. Jullion Brothers entered the pair.
Reserve champion went to Tyler Farms, Darren Tyler of Cut Knife, Simmental/Hereford first calf heifer and her 740 pound heifer calf that had been born Feb. 21. Third went to Dwayne Kobes' Angus cross pair, fourth went to Bar Crossroads, Steve Harty of Edam, Simmental/Hereford with a Charolais cross calf and fifth was taken by Grant Lodge Farms Ltd., John Grant of Edam, with his Simmental pair.
Debbie Blanchette was the lucky one whose ballot was drawn and she chose to take home the heifer from the Simmental/Hereford pair belonging to Roach Ranching, Darryl Roach of Edam.
Friday evening wrapped up with a social sponsored by Valley Ford Sales with Annette Blaquiere in charge of preparation. A cake with 20 years inscribed on it was surrounded by the original board members that were in attendance for a photo opportunity. Missing from the photo was Byron Merkosky, who had been REDA representative 20 years ago and was instrumental in getting the financing to get the fall fair started and was a major player for the first three years.
Saturday's activities began at 7 a.m. with a pancake breakfast, sponsored by the Canadian Angus Association, and prepared and served by the Edam/Turtle River Fire Association. A beef on a bun lunch was prepared and served by the Edam First Responders and sponsored by The Canadian Hereford Association at 11a.m. The annual craft/trade show started at 10 a.m. with an excellent turnout both by contributors and those who came out to check out the goods.
The cattle show got underway shortly after 9:30 a.m. with judge Harvey Welter of Saskatoon and ring man, Corey McFarlane, taking on the jobs at hand. With Henri Blaquiere and Denis Jullion on the sound system, the first class into the ring was the Rancher's Choice Steer, with 16 entries. Coming out on top with the grand champion was Bar Crossroads Ranch, Steve Harty of Edam, with reserve going to Tyler Farms of Cut Knife. Third place was given to the entry of Horse Hill Cattle and Land, Andy Russett of Edam and fourth went to Kobes Brothers of Edam.
The next class to be judged was Prospect Steer with only five entries. Grand champion was the entry of John Grant, reserve to Brett Jullion, third went to Dwayne Kobes, fourth to Adam Jullion and fifth to the second entry for Dwayne Kobes, all of Edam.
Rancher's Choice Heifer was another large class with eighteen entries. Grand champion went to Bill LaClare of Edam, reserve to Doug Marjoram of Speers, third to Gerald Latendresse of Edam and fourth to Lone Spruce Ranching, Charlie Blaquiere and sons of Edam.
Prospect Heifer, only three entered, with grand champion going to Rebecca Kobes, second to Adam Jullion and third to John Grant, all of Edam.
The pens of three open heifers, 20 pens, were judged next and although all were of high quality, uniformity was the key and made the difference in being placed or sent back to the barn. The grand champion pen belonged to Duane McCaffrey, reserve to Dusty Creek Ranch, Don Cole, third to Roach Ranching, Darryl Roach, all of Edam and fourth place went to Borderline Contracting, Keith and Dallas Johnston of Provost. The entry in this class by Duane, JoAnn and Dean McCaffrey (Angus X Simmental) heifers were donated to the twinning project. The price of $1,050 each that these heifers brought went directly to the rink's funds. Thanks to the McCaffrey family.
Next class of the day was the pens of five open heifers, 13 entries. Grand champion was awarded to Roach Ranching, reserve was the pen entered by Lone Spruce Ranching, third place went to Duane McCaffrey, all of Edam, and fourth place was taken by Denise Boggust and Steve Harty, of Paynton and Edam.
In the pens of bred heifers, the first class to show was the pens of three, with five entries. Grand champion was Tyler Farms of Cut Knife, reserve went to Treacle Creek Farms Ltd, Brad Cole, of Edam, third was awarded to Scott Macnab of Mervin, fourth was the pen entered by Jean Cole and fifth was Robert Blanchette's pen, both of Edam.
There were only three entries for the pens of 5 and the grand champion was Bar Crossroads Ranch, Reserve to Windmill Stock Farms and third to Konrad Seabrook of Spruce Lake.
Last but certainly not least we come to the pens of three purebred bulls, for show only. Grand champion was taken by the only pen of Charolais bulls entered and owned by Serhienko/Voegeli Charolais of Maymont, Reserve went to Little Willow Creek Ranch, Blaine Harland of Frenchman Butte, third went to out of province pen owned by Westgold Farms, Ken Gilbert of Minburn, Alta., while fourth went to Grant Lodge Farms Ltd. of Edam, these bulls were all Simmental.
The sale started at 2 p.m. with Kramer Auctions Ltd at the helm. The Innovation Credit Union ladies handled the paperwork this year. Averages are as follows; the heifers from the cow/calf pairs - $970.55, steers - $959.76, single heifers - $820.71, pens of heifers - $839.55, pens of bred heifers - $1411.88. There were seven calves from the "Buy a cow, Board a cow" program that brought in a total of $4,935 to go towards the twinning project.
The bred heifer raffle, with the was contributed by Stuart Cattle Station of Edam, was won this year by John Nichols who chose to take the cash of $1, 200.00. Other prize winners were Skip McGowan and Jim Pulyk, $100, and Raymond Thom, $50.
Just prior to the sale of the prospect steers, David Latendresse presented Cory Bloder of Unity with a $500 cheque. Cory had bought a prospect steer at the Fall Fair in 2009 and went on to show earn grand champion in a regional 4-H show. Both Cory and his sister, Ashley, purchased prospect animals at the show this year and we wish them luck showing their steer and heifer in their 4-H shows next June.
Several contributor prizes were given out during the show and were won by Tony and Kristine Siegel, Rebecca Kobes, Tyler Farms, Borderline Contracting, Roach Ranching, Joe Cole, Edwin Wall, Dusty Creek Ranch, Doug Marjoram, Wally LaClare and Bill LaClare. There were also ID profile certificates drawn among the purebred bull contributors;Winners were Tyler Farms, Double P Angus, Double F Cattle Co. and Curry Angus Farms Ltd.
That wraps it up for another year at the Edam Fall Fair.
