1946 – 2026 Watching Steinbach Grow: Eighty Hanover Ag Fairs follow shaky start

The first attempt at launching an annual agricultural exhibition for Steinbach and the surrounding farming community in the RM of Hanover was anything but a resounding success. The fair was one of the two most memorable events of 1932, for completely different reasons. That was the year the Pietenpol airplane flew and the agricultural fair flopped.

While Steinbach was basking in the reflective glory of the successful flight of the first airplane built in the community, fair organizers were shaking their heads at the lack of interest in their latest venture.

In fact, it turned out so badly, the Steinbach Board of Trade, which sponsored the poorly attended 1932 agricultural exhibition, lost all enthusiasm to make another attempt for the next 14 years.

But the post-war boom, which launched many of the town’s businesses, rallied the troops, so to speak, and together with the newly formed Hanover Agricultural Society, the Hanover Fair was officially launched Sept. 20, 1946.

Members of the newly formed Hanover Agricultural Society were seriously worried by two days of incessant rain leading up to fair day. The good news was that the farming community would get the day off from haying. The bad news was that the rain may discourage exhibitors from attending the fair. By 10 a.m. of fair day there were still hardly any signs of life on the grounds.

Then the picture changed and suddenly the grounds were humming with activity. The 4-H calf clubs started to move in, members of the Agricultural Society were busy pitching a tent, loaned to them by the Kiwanis Club of Winnipeg, and spirits of all were lifted by the sight of a man attempting to catch a pig, which had broken out of a crate and was enjoying temporary freedom on the grounds.

The Kiwanis Club was the biggest single booster of that first fair, with a voluntary donation of $150 for special awards in addition to providing a large tent for exhibits. There was a prize of $15 for a “good cow” and two bags of laying mash for the best pen of four pullets.

The biggest group of participants at the 1946 fair turned out to be the boys’ and girls’ calf club, with nine 4-H clubs in attendance and over 100 calves entered.

With all the rain leading up to the fair, garden exhibits were non-existent and the 4-H seed clubs had only a small display, and two poultry clubs failed to show up at all. Officials of the fair board were disappointed by the lack of interest in the exhibition of potatoes and poultry.

But that was about the only disappointment, for attendance at the 1946 Hanover Fair was estimated between 1,200 and 1,500.

A special feature of that first fair gave farmers and town residents alike, the opportunity for a close-up view of the latest in agricultural equipment. For in 1946, the Manitoba Sugar Company introduced a remarkable machine, which was described as a “beet-lifter-topper-windrower-combine”. The Hanover Fair was one of the first places it was on display.

Today, the tradition of a long parade of 4-Hers on horseback, business floats and farm machinery through the community of Grunthal to the fair grounds continues to be part and parcel of the Hanover Agricultural Fair.