The Agricultural Society was first called the Balmer Island Fair, and later the Stewartville Fair. On September 25th, 1867 the McNab Agricultural Society held an annual exhibition in Arnprior.

Between 1896 and 1910 the McNab Agricultural Society did not receive any government grants and may have been dormant. In 1910 the fair was moved to Stewarton and the McNab Agricultural Society was re-organized as the Arnprior Agricultural Society with 120 members. After World War II, Stewarton was annexed by Arnprior, and the annual event continues today as the Arnprior Fair.

I would like to briefly reflect on our 2016 fair — Mother Nature did not do any favours for us, from extreme heat, to extreme rainfall we were dealt a devastating blow that left us financially shaken. Since then, we have as a closely knitted group reorganized and made many tough decisions on how to continue to bring an annual Fair to Arnprior.

Our board of dedicated Directors have come together as one, and brought you another edition of the Arnprior Fair, your Country Fair. We have music, midway, horses, agricultural exhibits as well as the Province’s most successful and longest running Demolition Derby, this year with over $16,000 in payout prizes!

I cannot express enough about our Directors who give up hours of their personal time to bring you this year’s Fair, so, thank you for attending and enjoy your day at the FAIR.

Happy Birthday 150 Canada!

Jeff Desarmia
Arnprior Agricultural Society President