Where most fair-goers just see a bench, Jordan Sime sees a point of pride.
The 11-year-old has spent the past three days along with nearly 200 other volunteers getting ready for the 102 nd Hymers Fall Fair. Wrapping hay bales, getting the roasting pit going and hauling benches around a fair ground may not seem like the ideal weekend but for Jordan, it's been an amazing time even after a rainy Thursday that soaked the volunteers.
"I wanted to do it because it's a good cause," he said. "I helped set up a bunch of stuff and now everyone's enjoying it. That just makes me feel really satisfied."
Jordan's been having so much fun he even started recruiting several friends like 12-year-old Matthew Magnuson to come along.
"It's nice to be helpful," Matthew said. "I'm happy to make them happy."
This is the duo's first year volunteering, all thanks to Jordan's grandmother Margaret Duncan. For her, it's great to see the next generation give back.
"It means they want to do something for somebody else," Duncan said.
A heritage of family volunteers is part of what makes the fair what it is Hymers Agricultural Society president Barry Woodbeck said.
Watching Jordan and Matthew put in a hard day's work at the fair, Woodbeck sees that its future is in good hands, as it has been for more than a century.
"I think it's been passed down from generation to generation," he said. "Father to son, mother to daughter and so on."
"We can't run a fair without them."
It's also part of the reason people keep coming back by the thousands every year. With no rides and exhibits that have been there from day one, it's just a grassroots country fair Woodbeck said.
"To younger people it's something new. To older people it's something to reminisce about," he said.
That said, there is a new addition to the fair this year as they expanded the ring to make way for horse jumping, a huge draw Sunday afternoon.
"We're very proud of that," Woodbeck said.
The fair continues Monday.
