Royal Winter Fair Exhibitors Honoured

With a menu of Island food products, the 1997 exhibitors at the Royal Winter Fair from Prince Edward Island celebrated their achievements at the Culinary Institute of Canada on Wednesday evening. The dinner was hosted by Agriculture and Forestry minister Eric Hammill.

A total of 65 exhibitors were in attendance, displaying their prize ribbons and plaques. Island exhibitors made an exceptional showing at this year's Royal in the crop, livestock, poultry and preserve competitions. Some of the top exhibitors included the Jewell Family of York with an International championship in seed potatoes; Stuart and Robert Vessey with a championship in tablestock potatoes; George and Norman Boswall with the top sire in the Ayrshire show; and three young brothers from Kingston, Robert, Mark and Alan Holmes won first, second and third prizes in the commercial yearling heifer classes. Other Island exhibitors also placed close to the top in their respective competitions.

"Prince Edward Island has demonstrated that the quality of its agricultural products is among the best in all of Canada," said Mr. Hammill. "Our Island exhibitors deserve to be commended for their efforts in representing this province in national competitions. I congratulate them for their achievements and for their roles as ambassadors for our province and its agriculture industry."

The number of exhibitors at this year's Royal was up significantly over the previous year.