If public response is any indication, Chatham-Kent’s turn to host the International Plowing Match and Rural Expo is already on its way to being a success.
Rob Sterling of the Chatham-Kent Plowmen’s Association said despite the fact that the event won’t take place until 2018, there are already nearly three dozen committee members involved and another 200 who have stepped forward as volunteers.
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“It’s a great response, just the kind we were hoping for,” he said. “The plowing match is a great opportunity to showcase our local agricultural community.”
Rob and his father Carl have been joined by chairmen Darrin Canniff and Leon Leclair who will oversee the five-day event in September of that year.
“In addition to being council members, Darrin and Leon are lifelong local residents who know and appreciate our contributions to agriculture,” he said.
The event will take place in the former Dover Township near Pain Court, not far from Leclair’s farm.
The site will be home to the IPM’s famous “tented city” at which the more than 100,000 expected guests and exhibitors will gather to celebrate all things agriculture.
The last time the event was held locally was 1979 and that year’s chairman was Frank Vercouteren who is lending his expertise.
Rob Sterling said local officials travelled to a meeting in Cobourg on the weekend at which officials from this year’s IPM as well as those slated for 2016 and 2017 discussed the event.
“There’s a real sense of helping each other,” he said. “People talk about what worked and what didn’t and give each other as much support as they can.”
One of the features of the event will be a IPM cookbook being assembled by Deb Hawkins.
