Fall Fair keeps fun in Gleichen

Times Reporter

 

The 26th annual Gleichen Fall Fair takes place from August 20 to 22, with most of the fun and excitement taking place on Saturday the 21. The day will be filled with fun for the whole family from morning until night. Gleichen is also celebrating its 100th year as a town. 

“It became a town on May 6 of 1910. That’s what we’re celebrating, is the fact that Gleichen has been a town since 1910,” said Gleichen resident Doris Lindman. Gleichen was incorporated as a village in the 1890’s and as a town in 1910. It dissolved to hamlet status under the jurisdiction of Wheatland County in 1998. 

Saturday will start with a pancake breakfast at 8 a.m. At 9 a.m. the official reopening of the campground will be taking place and both M.P Kevin Sorensen and MLA Arno Doerkson will be attending.  

The parade starts at 10 a.m. and people can expect it to be as good as, if not better than, in the past. 

“We’re hoping to have 75 (entries) or so like we did last year,” said Alice Booth, a councillor for Wheatland County and an organizer of the parade.  

This will be the second year for the bed derby. Last year there were four entries and Booth said they are at six so far this year. 

“Years ago, for fun, people used to make up a bed and get somebody into the bed and four people would push it and they would race to see who could get to the finish line first,” said Booth. “It was one of the things they used to do in Gleichen years ago, so we brought it back to put some fun back into people’s lives.”

The beds aren’t being judged on time or distance. There are five people per bed. One person lies in the bed dressed up in old-fashioned garb, or whatever they would like, and there are two people at the back of the bed and two people at the front of it. 

Participants will have to maneuver around pylons or other items instead of going straight down the street and each team will be collecting a poker hand. At the end a judge will figure out who has the best poker hand.  

Gordon Stewart, president of the Gleichen Agricultural Society, brought in jousting this year, which takes place at 1:30 p.m. 

The Fall Fair has another added treat this year to help commemorate its 100th year as a town. 

“We’re doing heavy horse pulls, that’s as close as we can get to our old history,” said Lindman.  The heavy horse pulls take place at 3:30 p.m. The horses, draft horses, will be pulling two logs with planks nailed across and some weight on them. 

“This use to be a real big event many years ago, these type of horses used to pull around machinery,” said Lindman. 

The car show will have the usual antique cars, new cars and motorbikes. It will also have antique farm tractors brought in and there will be a hubcap tossing contest. The people instead of judges decide the winners of most of the events. People are given a sheet to mark what they think of cars in different categories, they also make comments about the bed derby and other events taking place. 

“That’s what we’re looking at is getting the people involved to say what they like, because that’s what makes the fair,” said Booth. The Ag grounds is where most of the activity will be, though the rodeo, which starts at 6 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night, will be held at the Wilsons grounds just outside of Gleichen. For anyone who still has energy left at the end of the day, there will be a dance at 9 p.m.