The excitement from the weekend announcement spilled over into the Chatham-Kent council chambers on Monday, as council celebrated C-K winning the bid for the 2018 International Plowing Match.
“I heard the hype after, said Carl Sterling, organizer of the bid. “ It was extremely good comments. I hope we can do a good impression for Chatham-Kent.”
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South Kent Coun. Karen Herman said in 1979 when Chatham-Kent last hosted the event, more than 127,000 people attended – the second highest total in history.
She added there are many economic spin-offs by hosting the event, as millions of dollars gets injected into the community.
“When this comes, this is going to be very significant to our community, business and all,” she said.
Herman said council had agreed to provide $100,000 for the event, if the bid received approval.
South Kent Coun. Frank Vercouteren said the event will be positive for C-K.
“It brought back some good memories,” he said.
Vercouteren also challenged the organizers to strive once again for the record in attendance, which was just broken a few years ago.
Mayor Hope praised the Sterlings for their work on the bid.
“Chatham-Kent was unanimous,” he said. “There is a lot of work to be done.”
A committee is set to be formed for the event in the near future.
