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Port Hope & District Agricultural Society
President's Report
176th Annual General Meeting - January 16, 2008
At last year's annual meeting we recognized that the Board
of Directors had much work to do to follow up on the momentum
created by the 175th Anniversary celebrations of 2006. I
am delighted to report that your 2007 Board embraced the
challenge and had a most successful year.
In a departure from tradition, this year's President's Report
was largely a visual record of the activities of the past
year. You will find a selection of the AGM photos on the
website. As you view the photos, please understand that none
of this would have been possible without the planning, preparation,
and participation throughout the Fair of many volunteers.
We thank each and everyone, and also gratefully acknowledge
the support of our many sponsors and advertisers, the
Municipality of Port Hope and the Province of Ontario through
the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Our 2007 theme "Family Fun" gave lots of scope
for creative programming and much was accomplished in 2007
to position the agricultural life of this community not only
as a past glory but also as a contemporary way of life.
Milestones in 2007 included the following
A fresh contemporary look to our printed materials
A web site - www.PortHopeFair.com
An Agricultural Education program for 120 Grade 3 students
from Port Hope schools
Attendance of 14,500 in spite of Friday evening's rain and
Saturday being cool
Exceptional programming- there was always something special
happening throughout our very clean grounds and at the outdoor
stage
A redesigned South Field which looked great, attracted more
visitors and created parking space on Saturday
Greater awareness and use of Saturday's Shuttle Bus (200
riders)
Top notch administration - our Secretary-Treasurer, Fair
Manager and each "Director in charge"
Outstanding School & 4H Displays and a remarkable display
of quilts and rugs
The 30th Anniversary Show n' Shine Car Show with over 150
participants
A donation of $8,000 to the Municipality of Port Hope, thus
reducing our outstanding pledge to the Town Park Redevelopment
to $30,000
And…again we ended the year in the black!
What impresses me most is that this Board of Directors is
never willing to stay with the status quo. New ideas are
always welcomed and considered; leadership and resources
are sought to implement change. 2008 will feature an Ambassador
Program for young people - this will complement the focus
on children's programming of the last two years. We will
also be back to basics with an "A is for apple" theme.
It has been an honour to serve as President. Thank you for
your support.
Joan Tooke, President
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