“Then and Now”

Celebrating farming on the island for over 125 years

         When Albert Menzies became the first president of the new Pender Island Farmers’ Institute in 1899, it was the first island-wide organization on Pender Island. 

The province was also new, becoming the sixth province in 1871, the year John Tod pre-empted land on South Pender Island.  As years passed, newcomers trickled into the Gulf Islands, established farms, often inter-marrying with native women and building community while farming and growing their families.  Many of the same names are familiar today – Auchterlonie, Grimmer, Spalding, MacDonald, Brackett, Hope, Buckley, Higgs, Georgeson, and more.  The early farmers on Pender Island not only worked hard, but they also worked smart and were widely known for their innovation, taking advantage of the benefits of the institute to buy premium breeding stock, seeds, and equipment together.  It wasn’t long before the ships passing by stopped for shipments of apples, cream, and purebred Jersey cows.

It was in 1897 that the BC Farmers’ Institute movement was started with 2 institutes and a membership of 73, the idea being that the many scattered communities in the Province might be linked together by an organization for their common good – under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture, they were trained, educated, and at the same time the farmers cooperated, buying many necessities and enabling them to market their produce. By 1900 there were 20 institutes (one of them Pender Island’s), with over 1,000 members. Today there are 40 institutes.

The Pender Island Farmers’ Institute has continued to support our farmers through the years – starting the fall fair in 1932, the farmers’ market in 1978, a food hub in 2020 – and will continue in the years to come.

  The Pender Islands’ first Fall Fair was held in 1932 when the population was about 400. The fair had a budget of $100 with 50 cents as the admission fee for a family! There were over 600 entries that year, and prizes included 48 pounds of flour, a side of bacon and a gallon of paint. Money prizes were generous for the time; one of the entrants reportedly took a vacation with his $15 winnings!
          In 1942 the Fair was discontinued, and operating monies invested in War Savings Certificates. It was revived in 1962 when a renewed interest emerged in returning to the land. The Fair was again discontinued in 2020 for three long years due to a pandemic, but it was time in 2023 to get “Back to the Future!” In 2024 we are reflecting on the last 125 years, and looking forward as well.
          Originally sponsored by the Farmers’ Institute and Women’s Institute, recent fairs have also been supported by many Island groups and businesses. The budget and the entries are greater, and the attendance is larger than in the early years of the Fair. However, the Fair still retains its rural atmosphere and will continue to be a good example of the community cooperation and enterprise first begun by our elders many years ago.

Photos courtesy Davy Rippner, Leathersmithe.com