More than 300 people will volunteer at the Battlefords Agricultural Society's 127th annual Northwest Territorial Days this week. Doug Dunlop, 67, has been one of those volunteers for about 45 years.
Volunteering has been a large part of Dunlop's life, growing up on a farm in rural Battleford to the west of town. He is a third-generation retired farmer who worked the same land his grandfather homesteaded when he immigrated to Saskatchewan from England as one of the Barr colonists in 1903. He ended up primarily farming grain, but he also had a cattle, hog and chicken operation when he was younger. When the farm moved away from cattle, it transformed into a small feedlot before exclusively farming grain. Dunlop says some of his favourite times at the farm came during the harvest.
"You weren't working by yourself," he says. "You had a group of people around you mostly. It's a bit more fun than being out there all by yourself, staring at the sky."
Dunlop also worked at Table Mountain Regional Park for 24 years, working at the rental shop, the bar and snowmaking. He also performed maintenance during the fall prior to the resort opening for the season.
During that time, Dunlop still managed to find time to help out within the community, volunteering at local events. He was part of the community's local hall board, which put on events like dances and potluck suppers. He says people were able to come and go from the board.
"You might be on for three or four years and then you might be off for a couple years and then back on again. That's just part of living in the country. You did those things. They had to be done by somebody."
Dunlop started volunteering at the fair as part of the livestock exhibitions.
"One of my neighbours was involved and I kind of started with the bull sale committee," he says. "They used to have a regional bull sale here. That's how I got into it. He put my name forward and I went. I liked it and got to know a few of the guys."
Since then, the bull sale committee was removed from the fair, but there are always things for Dunlop to be involved in. He says the fair has changed since he first started volunteering, with the focus shifting from agriculture to entertainment. When acknowledging the change, he adds it isn't a bad thing. "It's just a different way of doing things."
The fair still has the traditional agricultural exhibits and the hall exhibits, like needlework, baking and horticulture, but the numbers of entrants are shrinking each year. Things like the machinery shows are not there because many of the companies are big enough to host their own appreciation days. They also used to host a cattle show, but it has been cancelled.
"It's too expensive for them to travel around on the circuit and there's so many other ways of advertising their wares, like television, newspapers, magazines or the Internet."
Over the years, Dunlop found other ways to bring these types of events to the Battlefords. He and his friend started the Agri-Mex Farm, Trade and Home Show, which was held for the 29th time this past April and is now a "mainstay" of the Ag Society's schedule of events.
"We felt there was a need for a show like that here. So, we did it and it's continued to be a success."
However, one of his other ideas did not become as successful. About 35 years ago, Dunlop started another show called Beef is the Business. The show had partners, one of which was the Department of Agriculture, and guest speakers revolving around the business of cattle. It was primarily for housing and buildings for cattle, medicine and other livestock needs. The show lasted only two or three years, as Dunlop recalls, before it "fizzled out."
"Some things seem to come together and stay for the long haul," says Dunlop. "Some things you'll try that you think are such a great thing and a year or two later and they're by the wayside. People don't want it or they don't support it or whatever. You got to cull those out and got to go with the good ones."
Dunlop has extensive experience with picking the good ones as he's been on the executive committee or on the board of directors for about 40 of those 45 years, and is currently serving a two-year term on the board. While he was a farmer, Dunlop says you don't have to be one to become an Ag Society member.
"Everybody kind of believes if you're not a farmer, there's nothing in it for you," he says. "That's totally untrue. The first Ag Society was formed by the business people of Battleford. It had nothing to do with the farmers. The farmers were brought in to see if they would participate, but it was the town's business people of the day that actually started it."
As a member of the Ag Society, he has made friends throughout Canada while attending conventions in the past on the organization's behalf.
"They're life-long friends, but you see them once a year. Met lots of people and been to lots of places through that. It's been quite the experience to see how the people live."
He regularly attended two conventions. One was the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions. The primary convention he attended was the Western Canada fairs convention, which focused on Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. He says the conventions were useful as everyone seemed to have the same problems.
"They have parking problems, gate problems and you have all kinds of stuff that everybody has. You just share those. Somebody comes up with something that is a little different and works for them well then some of the others would try to initiate those, too."
With the attendance of people from Toronto, Vancouver and Edmonton, he realized everyone can have the same problem, with the bigger cities being "on a different magnitude."
Dunlop will use this experience when he volunteers at the fair again this year. One of his primary roles will be the pony wagons. He'll also be the midway liaison, which means he handles any problems between the midway operators and the attendees of the fair. He says he doesn't know if they've ever had a complaint and has become friends with the owners of the midway as they have been working at the fair for 25 to 30 years.
However, as a volunteer, he knows that he will do whatever needs to be done, whether that means building a quick fence or grabbing a two-by-four if someone asks for it. He says there would be no way to run the fair without the work that volunteers put into the week.
"There's just no way you could ever afford to pay people to come and do what these people do," Dunlop says. "And [they have] expertise in what they do. Like, the groups that come and put the heavy horse show up. They know what they're doing. They're actively involved. Most of them own heavy horses. They know where to find the judges and how to go about it all. Same with the other shows that go on."
Dunlop says that he thinks the volunteers are willing to do so not only for their own self-satisfaction, but also for the feeling of contribution. He also recognizes that the number of people volunteering has been declining.
"If you don't have volunteers in a community, you're not going to have a community for long. And unfortunately, that's the way we're headed."
He recognizes the hard work of people in the community, but knows the numbers are shrinking. He says when he was a member of the Kinsmen, there were at least 60 members and they were all active in the community. However, that group has almost gone "by-the-by" now. And, according to Dunlop, the problem isn't exclusive to North Battleford. It's throughout small-town Saskatchewan.
"There probably isn't a town that you go in that there isn't a service club that's put the ball diamond in, a little park or something."
He added that if people don't keep programs like the Kinsmen going, eventually you would not have any of those things in the community.
"Just get involved in the town. There's so many things like the Kinsmen, the Lions, Kiwanis. They're all great organizations. They do a lot of work for the town. People don't realize that, I don't think they do."
With the fair, Dunlop says it's a great value in his mind. An attendee can see all of the shows by paying only the fee at the gate. He hopes the fair can continue happening for years to come as he says "every community needs something." He adds many people benefit from having the fair, such as church groups, the air cadets, schools and other organizations. The Ag Society also hires groups for garbage clean up during the event, adding money to their yearly budgets. Dunlop says events like the Northwest Territorial Days need to continue as they are part of "our heritage."
"It's our heritage to have these kinds of things. There's too many of them that are drying up in communities around the country. It's not good for the communities, I believe."
