Excerpt
The Nimkus Fall Fair proved a huge success. Even some of the
town matrons relented at the last minute, or at least before it was
too late to enter their exhibits. Most of them grew flowers and vegetable
gardens, and they could not pass up the chance to compete
against the farm women.
But this year, not only the town matrons participated. Miss Carrington
entered her crocheted doilies and embroidered pillow case
as well as a couple of jars of Saskatoon preserves. She also agreed to
be a judge for some of the exhibits, a prestigious job that had always
been reserved for two or more of the business men’s wives, or town
women from Bradshaw.
Millie Osborne was not to be outdone, either. She had worked all
through the previous winter and most of the spring, knitting socks
and sweaters. Her grown sons had laughed at her, asking if she was
trying to get in with the high mucky-mucks around town. But Millie
would not be discouraged.
“After all,” she told her boys, “Mr. Carson says I have to support
the Association now that I’m an Ag member.”
“Aw, Maw,” they chided, “you can’t compete with the biddies who
live in this town. They’ve been doing this stuff for years.”
“You mind your own business, you louts,” Millie said. “My things
will look just as nice and tidy as any others on display.” And they
did, as her boys were forced to admit when they saw them next to
other exhibits on the day of the fair.
Pong, the laundryman, did not have anything to exhibit but
he worked tirelessly all day, as well as the evening before the fair,
helping to set up booths, carrying and fetching, happy just to be of
service to Will and Missy Ben.
Holding the clipboard that had once been Will’s responsibility,
Sarah looked around her at the people gathered on the fair grounds.
Many greeted her with a nod or a cheery, “Good day, Mrs. Fielding,”
or, from the less reserved ones, “Hi there, Sarah, how’s it going?”
Was it her imagination or were there actually more people than
there had been last year? She saw Mrs. Thompson leading little David
McNeill by the hand, and walked over to them.
“I see you have your hands full for the day,” Sarah said, bending
to give David a hug.
Manolis Aligizakis 