The extreme preliminaries are over. The regular preliminaries are about to begin.
The International Plowing match 2018 edition is now well in the planning stages. The site plan is planned, much of the land under contract and the process of gathering the committees that will put it together is beginning.
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We've been talking about the International Plowing Match 2018 for about two years already.
Lead ups too it. Can Chatham-Kent put together a good bid and then, about a year ago, the go-ahead from the Ontario Plowmen's Association.
We know this much. The match itself will be just to the east, well north-east if you lay down a compass rose, of Pain Court. Arguably the heart of agriculture in an area that is the very centre of agriculture.
At this point there are calls for service for various committees. And it is important those call be answered. There is need to start planning for the things that have to be in place several years in advance. It takes time to test the recipes for the cookbook.
The group needs shirts and hats and other items to sell at upcoming matches not just the 2018 one, and that means they have to be designed and produced.
But there is a bigger picture here. Yes, this is about plowing. About agri-tourism. But there is a bit more. There will be somewhere around a hundred thousand people visit the tented city. But they won't just visit the tented city.
Chatham-Kent will be under a lot of scrutiny. People who go to every match will be comparing it to others. People who only go to this one will be watching for what goes right and what goes wrong.
Typically International Plowing Matches also double as a showcase for the community. There are huge opportunities all of the community to showcase itself.
It is a time for not only agriculture to step forward but for all of the community to showcase it'self. Hosting a hundred thousand people is a huge risk and a huge opportunity.
Thankfully the Chatham-Kent Plowmen's Association is up to the challenge. But count me among the optimists. Other areas see the advantages. So can we...
It was nice to see a lot of diverse interests come forward to ask what they can do to help. There is a lot they can do and there is a lot you can do.
The match itself will happen and it will happen smoothly. The bigger opportunity is to be seen as a great host community.
It can be done. It's up to us all.
