4-H at the Eastern Nova Scotia Exhibition
For more than a century, 4-H has been helping young people build confidence, leadership, and lifelong skills through hands-on learning. Guided by the 4-H motto, “Learn to Do by Doing,” members develop knowledge in agriculture, animals, the environment, life skills, leadership, and countless other project areas while creating friendships that last a lifetime.
The Eastern Nova Scotia Exhibition has proudly partnered with 4-H for generations, providing a place where members can showcase their hard work, develop public speaking and showmanship skills, and celebrate their accomplishments. For many local youth, exhibiting at the ENSE is a highlight of the 4-H year and a tradition shared by families across generations.
More than just a youth organization, 4-H strengthens our rural communities by encouraging volunteerism, responsibility, teamwork, and a passion for agriculture. The skills learned through 4-H extend far beyond the show ring, helping young people become confident leaders, engaged citizens, and the future of our communities. We are proud to support and celebrate our 4-H members each year at the Eastern Nova Scotia Exhibition.
Early History of the Fall Fair
In Antigonish, it is not very well known that the fall fair and the Antigonish Highland Games were, once upon a time, the same event. It is also not very well known, in any case, that there had been cattle drives from the upland areas to the harbour for many decades in the 19th century.
In the Highlands of Scotland prior to the immigration here, the main economic activity was cattle rearing for beef with drives occuring from the Highlands to market centres such as Crieff, Stirling and Falkirk on the edge of the Highlands. The routes of these drives can still be followed. Thus, thousands of animals and hundreds of Highlanders who had brought them down would be collected in these areas with cash due to the sale have the animals. The original highland games in Scotland sponsored by the Highland Society of London (a collection of chiefs of clans living in London) sponsored the original piping competitions at these events. Over the years, the events have become separated and have now become the Inverness Gathering An and the Royal Highland and island agricultural exhibition in Edinburgh.
In Antigonish the same thing happened. The original Antigonish Highland Games took place in October, 1863 had a place called Apple Tree Island which was on the delta of the Wright’s River and the Brierley Brooke.
The Whiddens where the chief buyers of cattle and had a store at the junction of the Main Street and the beginning of West Street. When they were ready to buy cattle, eight flags would be raised above the store and within several days the entire county would know. This is a remarkable state of affairs in the 1850s and 1860s when one considers that is very difficult to get everybody in the county aware of anything these days. Once the flag had been raised, cattle drives would start on Maple Ridge, Browns Mountain, the Keppoch, Middleton and Black Avon driving cattle along the river banks towards fields at Antigonish Landing where the cattle would end in large corrals waiting to be loaded onto schooners at the Wharf at Antigonish Landing or in Bayfield for transport to the South Coast of Newfoundland. Apple Tree Island’s present location is obscure due to changes in the layout of the Wright’s River but is thought to have been approximately along Saint Andrew St. where MacGillivray’s car dealership is located. Historically, there were two bridges over the rivers at the east end of town with Columbus Field being one of the river beds. Where the harbor was much deeper at that point and schooners of 15 foot draft could be brought up to the pier at Antigonish Landing. Because many families had been paid cash for their cattle, there was an air of festival in the town and it was decided to link the games to the end of the cattle drive. According to Albert Whidden, the last cattle drive in and Antigonish took place around 1910 and became extinct due to the Crow Rate Subsidy on Western Beef which made it cheaper to buy Western Beef then that produced here.
Prior to that, the games had separated from the fair and had moved to the hill where StFX is at present as many of the games were used to raise funds for Saint Ninian Cathedral. Traditionally these games took place in August after the haymaking was finished and the fall chores had not yet begun.