It was the 110th year for the Cape Breton Farmers Exhibition in North Sydney, N.S. To put that into perspective, during the exhibition’s first summer in the community, Alexander Graham Bell was still living down the highway near Baddeck, N.S. “It’s kind of been my thing my whole life,” said 15-year-old Karlie Peters on Saturday. “I was put on a horse for the first time when I was 12 hours old.” Peters has had her horse, Val, since she was three years old. Together, they have been coming to the Exhibition for as long as she can remember. “I like how many people come every year and the crowds are just better,” said Peters. “Everybody is cheering for you; it makes the horses hyper and the horses just want to do their job more.” Ten-year-old Ava Wainman has been coming to The Ex since she was a toddler, and she came this year with her two horses to compete. “I just like racing,” said Wainman. “It’s my favourite hobby I do, and I have done it for eight years.” The Ex didn’t make it to 110 years without running into a few challenges along the way. “Five years ago, we were in danger of losing this facility,” said Donnie MacNeil, chair of the Cape Breton Exhibition Society. Now, MacNeil said the event may have set a new attendance record for a single day on Friday and the hope was they might have more than 20,000 people through the gates by the end of the weekend. “There is always a feeling of nostalgia when people come to this place,” MacNeil said, when asked what has kept people coming back for generations. “They come home from away. They meet their friends. This is always a meeting place and we’re just trying to make it bigger and better every year for them.” For Junior Peinsznski, that nostalgia that MacNeil talked about is also a family tradition. “We used to come over here in the ’50s and early ‘60s,” he said. “My father used to come here with his milk cows.” This weekend, the senior was there with his granddaughter and her horse. “It means a lot,” he said. “It means a lot coming back and hopefully she will bring her child. Maybe it will be another generation coming back.” For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
