This weekend was our Salt Spring Island Fall Fair, and our families 5th fair.  4 years ago we attended the fair knowing nothing about the event, or the island. We had just over here 2 weeks earlier and were still finding our way around.  We popped into the fair for a few hours with our kids and it secured our love for Salt Spring Island. There were farm animals, a canned goods competition , and grade 12 students running the kids games.

It felt like where we would have grown up, had we grown up in a small farming town 40 years ago.  We had a glimpse of the place we wanted to raise our kids, and thankfully were.

It was a farm town fair with family values, and great food.

We stood there, having not planned well to attend our first fair, and dreamed of the day we could join our friends in the beer garden, listen to the music and let our kids run free in this small fair.

Now, 4 fairs later, we are there.  Our kids have photos on the wall, goats in the livestock barn and baking in the competition.  They spend the weekend getting dirty, running in packs with their friends and spending all their extra coins on the games and rides.

Hubby and I hit the beer garden and drank local wine and cold beer, chatting with friends in the sunshine.  We were able to witness our children being part of a community, see the years we have spent here spread out over 2 days of fun.

Each year we participate in the fair we feel a stronger sense of community and a greater purpose for the event.  We learn more about homesteading, canning and the arts, and our kids are inspired to explore these things more and more.  They are able to be recognized for attempting to make jams and jellies, cookies and crumbles. They got feedback on their photos, and talked to adults and kids alike about their livestock.  It gave them a forum to display and be proud of their work.

One of our winning photos

Another year, and another Fall Fair has gone by, and we feel appreciate of the place we have chosen to live and the community we are a part of.