#8 – July 8, 1999

Home at last
The first Fall Fair in 1910 was opened by Martin Burrell, MP, with 1001 entries. The early fairs were held in the old skating rink located where What About Bob’s is now situated.
Swine and poultry clubs exhibited at the fair with competitions in livestock categories. In the early years fruit growing was big in the valley, so competitions with the growers were common. The fair disappeared after about 1933 during the depression and by 1954 work had begun to resurrect the fair. Wilbur Bannert and his truck, along with other voluteers, cut and brought lodgepole pine poles from the North Fork down to Firemen’s Park, what is now Industrial Park. Later the Fall Fair moved to the Arena in West Grand Forks, but since there was no accomodation for the animals, the livestock competitions that were big at the old Fire-men’s Park were eliminated. The fair moved to Broad-acres Farms in 1995 and has been there since.

fall fair float

Parade of ’97 – Photo courtesy of Fall Fair Society


An item that has been on the agenda for quite some time now was to find a permanent home for the Grand Forks Fall Fair. A place they can call their own.
In a letter to the Grand Forks and District Fall Fair Society, dated June 23, 1999, the City of Grand Forks wrote:
Dear Sirs: At their Regular Meeting on Monday, June 21, 1999, Council for the City of Grand Forks designated property in the west end of Grand Forks, commonly referred to as Parcel Z, Plan 28940, as “Commnity Use”.

fall fair map

I wish to further advise that Council has approved this site for the use of the Grand Forks Fall Fair Society and other stakeholders. The property is currently included within the A.L.R., however is due to be released as soon as the City and the Agricultural Land Commission make the appropriate arrangements.
Council at their June 21st meeting also resolved to facilitate a public meeting to determine stakeholders and to identifiy an action plan for the development of a future community use facility. The City will certainly appreciate your participation and input at this meeting, the detail of which will be advertised shortly.
I am hopeful that this is good news to the Society who have been patiently working with the City to secure a site for the Fall Fair.

watermellon eating contest

The watermelon eating contest of ’96 – Photo courtesy of Fall Fair Society


In order to find out a little bit more about this new home, the OpenMinder contacted Rob Letkemann, president of the Grand Forks and District Fall Fair Society, to ask him about the site aquisition and this year’s Fall Fair.
OM: How long have you been involved in the Fall Fair Society?
Rob Letkemann: This will be my 5th year, I believe.
OM: I understand the Fall Fair is about to acquire a new location?
Rob: Yes, at the city council meeting of June 21st, council suggested that we go through the Agricultural Land Commission to get permission to have Parcel Z removed from the A.L.R. for Fall Fair purposes and other community use. There are 21 acres altogether.
OM: Will the Fair be held at the new location this year?
Rob: No, it will be held at Broadacres again. There are still too many things to be taken care of for the new site to be used.
OM: How many days is the Fall Fair this year?
Rob: This year it will be a one-day affair, with some things happening on Friday night as well. There will be a barbeque and a jam session happening.
OM: Do you have a date set for it?
Rob: September 11th.
OM: Even though the Fair itself takes only one day, I guess there is a lot of time involved in the actual preparation and planning?
Rob: Oh yes, we start planning around March.
OM: How many people are involved in the Fall Fair?
We have about 24 board members right now plus numerous volunteers around the Fall Fair time. I think we probably have over 100 people.

fall fair horticulture

Display of “96- Photo courtesy of Fall Fair Society
OM: Does the Fall Fair have different themes each year?
Rob: Yes, we do. Of course, it is based around agriculture, but this year has been designated as the “year of the older person” by the government, so this year we’d like to recognize the older people, especially those that have put so much work into the fairs over the past 89 years. We would not have a Fair if it wasn’t for many of the older people.
OM: I understand that there are organizations that rate fairs. Is our Fall Fair being rated?
Rob: Yes, we are a member of the B.C. Fairs Association and there is a “judge” that goes around to various fairs and all fairs are given so many points for their educational contents, the displays, they are also catagorized by how many people are attending. We have been lacking in some areas, education being one of them, participation from the animal section another. Over the years, Grand Forks has declined from an agricultural area leaning more towards forestry. With farmers decreasing the size of their herds, even getting rid of cattle, it’s harder to encourage people to bring those animals to the fair.
OM: There is a rumour that there will be no parade happening this year?
Rob: That is correct, there will be no parade this year, unless somebody from the community would take the initiative to organize it. The firemen have been organizing it in the past, and they are discouraged by the lack of participation of the community.
OM: Is anyone else joining you on this land parcel?
Rob: That will be determined in the next public meeting.
The 4 H are definitely involved, the Grand Forks Shooters. We’ve had interest from the Barnstormers, a model airplane club, also there is a youth group that would like to get involved.
OM: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Rob: One thing I would like to say is that I really admire those who have gone before us in trying to obtain a permanent home for the Fall Fair, not just that but for keeping the fair alive! What I would like to also stress is that this new land issue is not strictly a Fall Fair thing. Even though the Fall Fair was instrumental in aquiring this piece of land from the City, it is for community purposes.

Ask the Man

Question to Mayor Brian Taylor: With talk of expansion of the City and the natural population growth that is happening in Grand Forks, does it make sense to look into our own police force?

Answer from Brian Taylor: Yes, I think that Grand Forks having its own police force makes a lot of sense. There are pro’s and con’s, but it seems to me that even though it is not up to city council to interpret the criminal code, the city could place expectations as to how the day-to-day policing work is done. For example, the city could ask for more patrols in certain high incident areas at specific times of the day or ask that patrols take place on foot or on a bicycle. A city police force can be asked to enforce bylaws that are made by the city, or to participate in policing public events. It would be a major decision for the city, and cost considerations would have to play a part in any policing plan.
I think the part I find most attractive is that a Grand Forks Police Force could be made up of individuals that truly become part of your community. The community policing model is one where the officers remain long-term in the job, would know people by name, and would respond in the context of that knowledge.
We have in the past few years had the fortune of having some fine RCMP stationed in our community, however, the time has arrived for Grand Forks to consider all its policing options.
Canada Day at Gyro Park!
Even the sporadic cloud bursts didn’t stop those hardy souls intent on celebrating Canada Day, Grand Forks style. With a multicultural microcosm of Canada here in Grand Forks Mayor Taylor’s opening speech set the tone for the last Canada Day Celebration of the Millenium.
Is it true…
…that one dog year equals seven human years?
Not exactly. Several improved formulas have been suggested. Here’s one of them:
First dog year = 21 human years
each later dog year = 4 human years
So, if you have a 7 year old dog, it’s 21 + (6×4) = 45 in human years. In the prime of life, in other words. A 10 year old dog is 57 in human years, and a 15 year old dog 105.

$5 Million for Smart Communities
by John Greaves
Call for Letters of Intent
Announced on June 5, 1999, the Smart Communities Demonstration Projects initiative is a nation-wide competition designed to select one “world-class” Smart Communities Demonstration Project in each province, one in the North and one in an Aboriginal community. Selected projects will receive financial support of up to $5 million over three years to support their Smart Communities vision. They will also gain valuable experience and knowledge by networking with other selected Demonstration Projects as well as national and international recognition for their accomplishments.
Some of the benefits would be:
Money: up to 5 million dollars over 3 years for our project.
We would gain experience and knowledge by networking with the other project communities. We would achieve international recognition as part of Canada’s Smart Communities. It would help to build partnerships with businesses, governments and international organizations And of course it would give economic benefits and an improved quality of life for members of the community.
What do we need to do to apply? What are the requirements?
1. We need to be a single municipality or a regional municipality or group of geographically close municipalities that are already using information and communication technologies in new and innovative ways.
2. We need to identify a community-based, not-for-profit Corporation that can be our sponsoring organization.
3. We need to submit a letter of intent clearly outlining our vision of the future and our current use of, and strategy for using, information and communication technologies to achieve our vision. There is an outline for this letter and we just need to fill in the blanks. This letter is due the beginning of August.
4. To be selected we must demonstrate that we are or we can enhance the community by providing smart services. Smart services enhance the community by enabling it to meet business and personal challenges through the use of information and communication technologies. Smart services are informative, innovative, interactive and international in scope.
5. We must have smart infrastructure in place. The majority of our citizens must have access to it. We should have a technology plan in place.
6. We must have a successful track record of establishing and sustaining public/private partnerships.
7. We must have a qualified and experienced project leader to launch and deliver the project. (We really need someone to fill this spot, any volunteers?) There are lots of people out in the community willing to help, but we need that leader.
There is a comprehensive outline for the letter of intent as well as lots of further information downloadable from http://smartcommunities.ic.gc.ca
This project is too important to let it get away. Our community could easily meet the qualifications of participation all we need to do is go for it.
Boundary Area visitors or residents be sure to visit http://www.sunshinecable.com/~jgreaves
Join the discussion.

Nutrition Mythology
by Sam Okamoto
North American women are encouraged to increase their calcium intake in order to prevent osteoporosis. But in China, where the average daily calcium intake is half what it is in North America, there is little evidence that this disease is a problem. I would like to know why.
According to the study’s principal American investigator, T. Colin Campbell, China is a living laboratory for studying dietary patterns, unparalleled anywhere else in the world. From 1983 to 1988, American and Chinese researchers collected information from 6,500 Chinese adults in representative countries, including areas with unusually high and unusually low mortality rates. Dietary practices and lifestyle characteristics were recorded and completed with factors contributing to cancers, heart and metabolic diseases, and a variety of infectious diseases. Hundreds of food samples were collected and analyzed; surveyors obtained blood samples and lifestyle information from participants.
Campbell is a Cornell University nutritional biochemist who contributed to the National Academy of Science 1983 landmark report, “Diet, nutrition and cancer.”
He believes the Chinese diet holds a key to unraveling many of the contradictory and confusing notions held today about how diet and nutrition affect our health.
He also says, “What we’re finding out is going to upset a lot of the nutrition mythology of the West.” The study, a joint effort involving Cornell, the Chinese Academies of Preventive Medicine and Medical Science, and Oxford University in England, could challenge our beliefs about protein, calcium, weight control, cholesterol levels, dietary fiber and vitamin requirements. It also provides evidence on how Western dietary influences affect Chinese disease patterns. “As people move to a more Western diet, high in animal products and therefore high in protein and fat, their risk for all the disease of affluence increases,” he says.
Campbell speculates that the key may be protein. “There’s very good evidence that the greater the protein intake, the greater the excretion of calcium,” he says. Americans consume, on average, about 50% more protein daily than the Chinese.
In addition, about three-quarters of our calcium comes from dairy products although low fat dairy products are increasingly available, many North Americans still consume high fat dairy products such as whole milk and cheddar cheese. Even low fat dairy products are high in protein. For the Chinese, the lion’s share of calcium most likely comes from green leafy vegetables and whole grain cereals.
Although the effects of high-protein diets are difficult to separate from those of high-fat diets, various experimental animal studies suggest that protein might promote tumor growth as well as osteoporosis.
At the Cornell experiment, for example, rats were exposed to aflatoxin, a carcinogen found in moldy corn and peanuts. One week later, after the aflatoxin cleared from their tissues, the rats were put on either high or low meat protein diets. The high protein diet group showed more early signs of liver cancer than the low protein group. When the high fat protein diets were switched to a low animal protein diet, then the liver cancer symptoms stopped. Campbell says, “Apart from known effects of saturated fats, we now know from animal and human studies that animal protein increases serum cholesterol.” About three-quarters of the protein intake for North Americans come from animals, while less than one-tenth of Chinese protein is from animal sources.
Good news, bad news
A doctor approaches his patient who’s lying in a hospital bed and tells him, “I have some good news and some bad news.”
“All right,” says the patient. “What’s the bad news?”
“I’m afraid we’ve amputated the wrong leg.”
“My God! That’s terrible! What’s the good news?”
“Well,” says the doctor cheerfully, “your other leg is getting better.”

Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous Earth (also known as fossil shell flour) is composed of the fossilized remains of freshwater diatoms. Diatoms are microscopic single-celled organisms found in all bodies of water. There they absorb silica and other minerals from the water to make protective shells for themselves. When they die, their bodies are deposited on the lake floors where their shells eventually become fossils.
When Diatomaceous Earth is viewed under an electron microscope, the unique structure of the diatom’s shell becomes apparent. The shell can be in a variety of different shapes and are decorated with grooves and pits that provide a large surface area for the absorption of moisture and toxins.
It is a natural form of pest control as well as internal
parasite control for animals. When an animal consumes rations treated with DE, internal parasites are affected in the same way as caterpillars and other soft-bodied creatures – their outer skin is lacerated, prompting a loss of body fluids which is fatal. Some even remains in the manure, where it inhibits the growth of fly larvae. The non- toxic form of silica enhances the absorbtion of calcium required for strong bones and healthy connective tissue.
Do not feed it to livestock unless it is labelled as Food Chemical Codex grade that designates it as a quality food-grade product.
Some forms of Diatomaceous Earth contain impurities and are not safe for animal consumption.
Diatomaceous Earth is a supplement and should not replace a proper mineral supplementation program. For more information contact your local supplier of animal mineral mixes and supplements.

Is it true elephants never forget?
Maybe. An experiment was done many years ago by a professor in Germany. He taught an elephant to choose between two wooden boxes, one marked with a square, the other with a circle. The box with the square had food in it, the other one didn’t.
It took the elephant 330 tries before it figured out that “square” meant “food”. Once it got the idea, though, things went a lot quicker. Soon the professor could put any two markings on the boxes. The elephant would experiment a few times, figure out which sign meant “food”, then pick the right box from then on. Big deal, you say? The professor came back a year later and tested the elephant again using the old markings – circles, squares, and so on. Amazingly enough, the elephant still remembered which markings were the signs for food. That’s why elephants are so popular in the circus. It may take them a while to learn the act, but once they’ve got it, they’ve got it for good.