P.E.I. beef and dairy teams celebrate the return of 'the Royal'
CBC
It has been three years since the last Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, and 4-H competitors from P.E.I. are excited to see the return of 'the Royal,' as it is known informally.
For Grace Hughes, 21, from Kelly's Cross, P.E.I., this is one last opportunity to compete as a member of the Island's dairy team, after 14 years in 4-H.
"My father grew up in Ontario, and he used to take the train into Toronto to go check out the Royal Winter Fair so I guess that's where our love for the Royal started as a family," Hughes said.
"2015 was the first year my younger brother and I actually made the P.E.I. dairy team to go to Toronto for the fair. So that's where it all started for us."
"I've made a lot of friends through 4-H throughout the years, and a lot of them live in Ontario and will be there. So it's just really special to me," Hughes said.
"As soon as you get up there, it's just like, wow, I'm here. I can't believe it. It's just a really, really good feeling."
Hughes said 4-H groups were forced to pivot during the COVID-19 pandemic, as most in-person events were cancelled.
"We had one show — it was an online show where we had to take a couple of pictures of our 4-H calf and a video and submit that. So that was an interesting experience," Hughes said.
"But I'm pretty glad that we were still able to continue, because if we just stopped then a lot of kids would just never come back."
"All of us who have been really, really involved, we just stuck with it."
Hughes took a two-year diploma program in dairy business management at the Dalhousie Faculty of Agriculture in Truro.
She now works as a dairy herdsperson at a nearby farm.
"I'm very passionate about dairy cows. It's my whole life. I base everything around cows. If you ask anybody, they will tell you that."
Hughes said she wants to continue in 4-H as a leader with the North River club, and as the leader for the dairy project.
P.E.I.'s Public Schools Branch is looking for 50 substitute bus drivers, and it'll be recruiting at three job fairs on Saturday, June 8. The job fairs are located at the Atlantic Superstore in Montague, Royalty Crossing in Charlottetown, and the bus parking lot of Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside. All three run from 9 a.m. until noon. Dave Gillis, the director of transportation and risk management for the Public Schools Branch, said the number of substitute drivers they're hiring isn't unusual. "We are always looking for more. Our drivers tend to have an older demographic," he said.