Getting the I’s dotted and T’s crossed for the fair

This is only her second year as Secretary for the Agriculture Society here, but Maureen Murphy says she's getting things organized the way she likes them. "That's the way I do things," she said, pulling stacks of paper, files, envelopes and whatever else a methodical person might need to bring order and meticulous records to the books.

Murphy comes by all this discipline naturally. More than 20 years as a registered nurse, sometimes in administration, other times in various nursing units such as intensive care, developing organizational talents and attention to detail has been a lifelong habit for her.

But there’s a jolly side to this Irish character. Twinkling eyes and hearty laughter smooths difficult situations and good humour reigns most of the time in the renovated secretary's office. "We use computer programs now, developed by the government to ease the workload of paperwork that used to be the norm," she explained. There are still folks around who remember the tiresome tasks of registering exhibitors' entries, writing by hand name tags and exhibitor numbers, preparing judges record books, making sure they are returned and properly filled out, keeping the ledgers up to date and accurate and finally, looking over each entry to figure out if an exhibitor has won any prize money.

Most of the local county fairs use a program called Expo Assist, a computerized formula designed to ease the workload, "but I prepare each exhibitor an envelope containing his paperwork including passes, helpers' passes, where his or her space is reserved for animals and campers, and whatever other information an exhibitor might need. That's all done by hand as entries come in, so you can imagine that's also quite a challenge which the computer program doesn't include."

Murphy seems unphased by all the questions and queries as exhibitors drop in with their personal requests and needs. "Making sure everyone is happy with the space allotted to them, they have hydro and water to their camper and, when necessary a tack room where horse equipment can be safely stored over the weekend is a lesson in public relations," she said.

With entries in dairy and beef cattle higher than last year, making sure there's enough space is a challenge. "We've nearly 125 Holsteins registered, a larger than ever Jersey show and Ayrshires as well - the dairy barn will be full." It seems as though exhibitors are making an effort to make this last of the E.T fairs bigger than ever. Entries are up in several departments with garden produce over the top with its numbers and varieties.

Beauce Carnaval will begin to pull in Tuesday, exhibitors start as early as Wednesday, poultry, waterfowl, pigeons and rabbits should be in place by Thursday morning. Monday it was preparation day in the dairy and beef barns. There were stalls to clean and rebuild with fresh bedding, water bowls to clean and check, hydro, lighting and ventilation set up and improved if possible, chicken cages in the poultry house to clean and disinfect, tables and display shelves to set up in the main building - the last minute tasks seem unending. The arena seats were washed and the showring watered by Monday afternoon - there was grading and gravelling needed on some roads and walkways. And through all this, concessionaires were arriving, looking for their allotted space, ready to also set up their equipment, ready to cook up a storm for the thousands who normally come to the fair. Attendance on a sunny weekend can hover around 12 to 15,000 but organizers are hoping the demolition derby will bring those numbers up a bit with a bit of nice weather Sunday afternoon.

"All in all, we've had a good team, and that includes a number of volunteers who have been coming out to help for weeks now," Murphy said. "You know, without all the volunteers, we just couldn't be ready for a fair. We are so grateful for their help they give so generously. And of course, we have sponsors too and they make special events possible. Actually, I think we're almost ready. All we need now is a comfortable weekend, sunny but not too warm and, if it must rain, only at night," she said, that Irish laugh echoing behind me as I head for the car.

Maureen Murphy, getting the paperwork done. "Now I know what I'm doing," she says, scurrying from one stack of papers to another." Last year, my first, was a crash course on the paperwork side of a county fair. There's lots more to it than most people realize!"