Over 30 Past Queens Gather at the IPM in Elgin

It's hard to believe that the 2010 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo shut its gates a week ago. An incredible army of volunteers, committed thousands of hours to plan, organize, erect and then tear down the week-long event outside St. Thomas.

The first Ontario Queen of the Furrow, Lynda Prong tries her hand an plowing 50 years after her crowning, at the 2010 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo.

Thursday, September 23 was Queen of the Furrow day, with the 2011 Queen of the Furrow contestants speaking on the main stage in the morning, and the past Queens gathering for a luncheon and social in the afternoon.

Over 30 past Ontario Queen of the Furrows attended the event. We snapped a commemorative photo, which you will find in the book, and shared some memories and laughs as each queen took the microphone to reflect on her 'reign'. The stories of cars, duties, travel and fun gave everyone a chance to glimpse how the program has changed. It was also an opportunity for many to express a heartfelt 'thank you' to the Ontario Plowmen's Association for their continuing support of the Queen of the Furrow Program.

Past Ontario Queens of the Furrow attend the 50th Ontario Queen of the Furrow Crowning Banquet at the St. Thomas Airport Hanger on Thursday, September 23, 2010.

Look for these stories and more in the soon-to-be completed book!

Ontario Queen of the Furrow Book Soon Available

It's been nine months since we started the endeavour to collect photos and stories to compile into a book to honour 50th year of the Ontario Queen of the Furrow program.

I suppose we could have blogged this entire process, but honestly, I don't know if anyone would have been interested enough to read. I can say with certaintyy, there would have been many digital pleas for pictures and stories. There would have been even more posts of frustration aimed at scanners, computers and all software photo and design-related.

However, we also could have posted about the wonderful stories we've heard. Also, the fabulous people who have repeated offered encouragement and appreciation for this enormous task. Or the incredibly beautiful photos we have come across, like this favourite of mine, which shows 1970-71 Queen of the Furrow, Mary (Dolson) Schlappy adjusting a plow.

Of course, if we blogged all of this, we'd give away the wonderful content you will find in our book. So now, we're excited to share with you the fruition of all this hard work. In the coming weeks, we'll bring you the finished book, complete with photos and stories from the 50th Queen of the Furrow competition at the 2010 IPM.

You will also be able to purchase the book through this blog at a hopefully soon-to-be-launched date.