By KATHRYN FRASER

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On September 3rd the Peel-Dufferin Plowmen's Association hosted its 99th Plowing Match at the Drummearl Farm. 

After dealing with what President of the Peel-Dufferin Plowmen's Association Glen Early called a “once in a generation storm” the night before, many members of the community and even participants from outside of the Peel-Dufferin area gathered to attend the event. 

Despite having a few small hiccups in the beginning with tractors getting stuck, the weather dried up and the event was able to go on as originally planned. 

With a total of 25 tractors taking their places at 9:30 a.m. and plowing to their hearts content until they broke for lunch at about 11:30 a.m., spectators were given the opportunity to wander the fields and watch as participants raced to see who could plow the most. 

The Queen of the Furrow event was then held where the contestants were invited to give speeches and answer rapid-fire questions. 

Beth Wallace, despite being the only contestant, gave it her all and impressed the crowd with her speech and was crown Queen of the Furrow by last year's Queen, Victoria Kolb. 

“It was amazing to be crowned Queen, says Wallace. “I love chatting to people and I am excited to see where this year will take me and who I get to meet.”

Beth has been a past junior and senior ambassador for the Shelburne Fair and said she was excited and grateful to have been given the opportunity to become this year's Queen of the Furrow. 

As part of the Queen of the Furrow event, Wallace also had the opportunity to plough with a tractor, which was very new to her as she has only ploughed with horses in the past. 

“I told the gentleman who was explaining it to me, I said, ‘I've done this with horses,' and he goes, “Oh, gosh. you got it, then. It'll be waiting,” says Wallace. “It was so easy compared to the horses and the horses – you've got two minds that want to do different things. Whereas a tractor, you're the only one. You're in charge”. 

Many incumbent Council members and candidates were also present during the event to show their support, and all got the chance to compete at the Mayors Invitational, which was won by Orangeville Mayor Lisa Post.

Early says that one of his favourite parts of the event was seeing Post accept her trophy and she even mentioned that the trophy was going to be placed on her mantle in the mayor's office. 

“Seeing the smile on Lisa's face told me she really appreciated being able to attend and being able to plow to win the trophy,” says Early. 

Reflecting on the event, Early says he is grateful for all the support that the community has shown over the years by attending the events even after a day of disastrous weather the day before. 

“It reminded me that we must not take these long-standing community, traditional get-togethers, for lack of a better word, for granted. They need to be cherished. In our case, we're the current caretakers of this celebration, which started way back in 1925, so, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised that the people were going to come out and support, even after a once-in-a-generation storm, but it was sure a relief to see it,” says Early. “As a small personal note, at this event, there were several sixth-generation family members in attendance walking the same ground that their ancestors worked with horses, so many, many years ago. In today's world, that needs to be considered as special.”

Early also noted that this event would not have been made possible without the sponsors, such as Hambly insurance brokers, ALUS Peel, Peel Rural Water Quality Program, Equipment Ontario, Vaderstad and Kubota equipment and volunteers that were at the event. 

“Events like this don't happen without the support of the volunteers and directors, all the local folks, everybody pulling the right direction, especially after the horrible weather the previous day,” says Early. 

At the end of the event the Peel-Dufferin Plowmen's Association announced the winners of each match:

Class 1A – Horses- Jointer Plow 

1st – Terry Linton

2nd – John Dekroon 

3rd - Scott Thomas 

4th - Ashlynne Harquail 

Class 1B – Horses- Sulky Plow 

1st – Steve Bickle 

Class 2 – Tractors – Mounted Plows. Utility Open 

1st – Greg Timbers 

2nd – Ken Ferguson 

3rd – Ryan Wright 

4th - Harry Humphrey 

5th – Colin French 

Class 5 – Antique Trail Plow. Open.

1st – Ken Clarke 

2nd - Richard Pepper 

3rd - John Robinson 

4th - Kent Robinson 

5th - Bert Speirs 

Class 6 – Antique Mounted Plow 

1st – Ken O'Brien 

2nd – Keith Wright

3rd – Fred Richardson

4th  – Roy Wright 

Class 10 – OPEN 1

1st – Paul Johnston 

2nd - Jonathan Gray

Special Awards 

Royal Bank of Canada – Trophy – Best plowed land by a Peel or Dufferin resident – Ryan Wright 

Paul Dean Memorial Special – Ken Clarke 

Peel-Dufferin Horse Special – Steve Bickle 

Peel-Dufferin Tractor Special – Richard Pepper

Looking to the future, Early says he is excited to see what the 100th annual Peel-Dufferin Plowmen's tournament has in store.