Cheadle Christmas Fair and Toy Show offers country atmosphere

Times Contributor 

 

Here was your opportunity to escape the hustle and bustle of the crowded shopping centres and city streets on a winter Saturday. Why not seize the chance?

The snow was falling lightly during the early morning. The chill in the air signalled winter had come to stay. However, inside of the Cheadle Community Hall on Dec. 8 was a warm, cozy, potpourri-scented atmosphere of the Second Annual Christmas Fair and Toy Show, only a five-minute drive west of Strathmore.

“People always like the country setting,” said Yvonne David, organizer. “It’s their chance to escape the city.”

The community hall featured about 30 display tables set up in a horseshoe layout. And those tables featured a little bit of everything: scented candles, scrap-booking projects, Native Canadian crafts, and of course, farm toys.

Don Risky, Farm Country Toys, travelled 200 km south from Lacombe to set up and sell his inventory. 

“I’ve had a steady crowd of buyers and tire-kickers,” he said at Saturday noon, a few hours after the doors opened.

Risky was also promoting a new Massey-Harris Collector’s Association. 

“We just started up,” he said. The fledgling group already has 20 members under their slogan of “Collecting and Preserving Part of Canada’s Agriculture History.”

Don Lamont, who builds mini-barns at nearby Langdon, stopped by Risky’s table and they began discussing farm toys. Among other items, Lamont purchased an International Harvester cookie jar, which featured a farm scene. 

“My wife will like it,” he chuckled, suggesting it may be her Christmas gift. 

Lamont had been out hauling hay when he took a break to pull into the Hall’s parking lot. “I always like these farm toys,” he confessed.

Yvonne David was happy with the turn-out of sellers and buyers. 

“We had to turn away vendors,” she said, noting she rented display space at $30/table. “And out traffic is so much better than last year.” 

David charged $3/adult admission at the door. Her sellers came from near and far: Leduc, Three Hills, Gleichen, Calgary, and close-by Strathmore, to name a few places.