Published in The BANAR May 1994
In about a month’s time, another edition of the Blackburn Fun Fair will be underway. This year is the 23rd year of the Fun Fair. In this month’s column, I draw from a history of the Fun Fair which was originally prepared in 1984 for the BANAR.
The Blackburn Fun Fair began in 1971 through the dedicated efforts of Lois Kemp and Eleanor McQuarrie. The event, intially held at Glen OgiMe School, was a great success, bringing in over $1,000. In the following year the Fun Fair expanded to an all day event. The weather was incredibly bad, yet 90% of Hamlet residents turned out and $5,000 was raised to start development of Bearbrook Park. In 1974 the auction and Bavarian Garden were added. Money raised was then used to help finance Bearbrook Pool and the tennis courts. In 1976, the parade through the Hamlet became part of the annual tradition. In 1978 the Fun Fair was moved to Bearbrook Park, a most appropriate location because much of the park had been funded by the proceeds of past Fun Fairs. This was also the year that the concept of share values was introduced, whereby the proceeds from the fair are allocated to the various non-profit groups which organize the events.
In the early 1980s, the fair was expanded to its current Friday evening/all day Saturday format (One exception to this was in 1985 when the fair was scaled back to one day – in order to reduce the burden of organizing the event. For that year it was named Blackburn Fun Day). The Fun Fair continues to be a key event in the community offering a wide range of activities for the family, including the Teen Dance, Entertainment in the Park, Fireworks, Adult Supper Dance and Pancake Breakfast to name a few. That the Fun Fair is an effective means of bringing residents of the community together cannot be denied. However, the role of the Hamlet’s businesses cannot be overlooked. Their financial support and participation are an integral component of the Fun Fair contributing to its continued success.
Organizing work for the 1994 Fun Fair has begun, but getting this year’s event underway has not been without problems. Volunteers for the director positions have been hard to find and a coordinator was not recruited until the end of March, 1994, leaving little time to get the fair organized. Despite this year’s setbacks, organizing work is underway and the residents of Blackburn Hamlet can look forward to two days of low cost, family fun during the weekend of June 3 and 4.
Michael Martin
BCA Publicity Director