KEMPTVILLE – It’s more than just an agricultural exhibit – it’s a celebration of rural life, and the biggest of its kind in North America.

Thousands of people flocked to Kemptville Campus Wednesday morning and the opening ceremony for the 103rd International Plowing Match and Rural Expo (IPM).

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Considered North America’s largest agricultural fair, the event is in town until Saturday and aims to be a celebration of the area’s agricultural roots and rural living.

Nancy Peckford, mayor of North Grenville, said they managed to get 1,100 volunteers to help make sure the event runs smoothly. She is grateful so many people stepped up to help because she expects “tens of thousands” of visitors over the course of the week.

“This is a wonderful honour for our community,” said Peckford.

“North Grenville is a brilliant blend of urban and rural, and what better way to celebrate our evolution as a growing community than being the host of the 103rd International Plowing Match?”

The IPM’s opening events and welcome ceremonies took place a day later than originally planned after Tuesday was deemed a National Day of Mourning for Queen Elizabeth II.

Hundreds of vendors were set up in the Tented City Wednesday, along with educational activities for students, and rural exhibitors throughout.

There will also be plowing competitions, live entertainment, helicopter rides, as well as the Dodge Ram Rodeo and the Canadian Cowgirls Precision Drill Team. The Canadian Armed Forces Skyhawks Parachute Team cancelled its performance Wednesday afternoon “due to equipment failure,” organizers said.

Varied as the events may be, country living is the central focus of everything offered at the fair.

“It’s a rural event. It’s about country people. It’s about who we are in North Grenville and all across the province,” said John Vanthof, MPP for Timiskaming-Cochrane.

Vanthof, a dairy farmer and former board member for the IPM, said he understands the difficulty of organizing and executing an event of this magnitude.

“To build a city for a week, and then tear it down – if you think about it, it’s kind of crazy. But that’s what country people do. That’s who we are. To celebrate what we are. To bring people here to show what we are.”

This is the first time Grenville County is hosting the IPM, and it is the biggest event the municipality has ever hosted, organizers said. The last time the event came to Leeds and Grenville was in 2007, when it took place near Crosby, in Rideau Lakes Township. Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes MPP Steve Clark said Wednesday he was involved with that IPM when it came to the area, and he was happy to see many of the same local families taking part this year.

“One of the most satisfying things I see as the local MPP is I see some of the sons and the daughters of those volunteers that were with me in 2007, now involved in North Grenville,” said Clark.

“The traditions are alive and well in this community and I just want to thank the local committee for all their work.”

Harry Bennett, chairman of the local IPM organizing committee, said the board has worked tirelessly to pull the event off and has relied on the community to make it happen.

“It’s normally about a three-year process to organize a plowing match,” Bennett said.

“Because of COVID, we organized this basically in about a year.”

Peckford said hosting the IPM has been a dream since 2020, and added it was an opportunity to build on the solid foundation they have with hundreds of acres of woodlands, crop lands, greenhouses, and a sugar bush on the campus grounds.

“For our community, the International Plowing Match is a crucial step in forging a bold future for these 626 acres of former Kemptville College lands,” she said.

The weather was sunny and warm for the opening ceremony Wednesday, but dark clouds loomed as the weather can be unpredictable this time of year.

But the organizers weren’t worried either way.

“What’s IPM without some mud?” said Bennett.

The United People of Canada, a controversial group that has occupied the former St. Brigid’s church for the past three months, has been ordered out of the historic Lowertown building by an Ottawa judge.

City police say “certain drivers have decided to ignore” signs saying part of Wellington Street is closed to unauthorized traffic, but one motorist won’t be able to ignore officers turning up at their door.

The Ottawa Police Service said this week it had received 14 complaints involving municipal election campaign signs since Sept. 9

It’s the summer’s last weekend and it was off to a pleasant start Saturday for just hanging around.

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