Haying in the 30’s preparing for thousands

A blast from the farming past.

That’s the idea of the annual Haying in the 30’s event, which is a weekend experience for campers to see what farming was truly like in the 1930s.

“We’re hoping it will be bigger and better than ever,” said Haying in the 30’s Cancer Support Society president Martin Naundorf.

“We’re getting a lot of emails and a lot of phone calls from people who have never been here. So hopefully, we’re expecting between four and 5000 people.

That would exceed their max amount of visitors in previous years of 3,500-4,000 people.

The entire weekend is free to camp, all they ask is that if you’re able, to provide a donation at their booth.

Since 1999, the August long weekend has been one designated for this event, which raises money for cancer patients. Throughout the years, they have helped 6600 cancer patients and handed out $5.5 million in assistance. 

A staggering achievement that began with humble beginnings.

Edgar Corbiere founded the group in 1999 after seeing a convoy of six beautiful covered wagons being pulled by horses with flashy harnesses.

From there, it has blossomed into a community staple for Mallaig and the St. Paul region.

There hasn’t been an event in the past two years because of the pandemic, perhaps driving renewed and growing interest. Their last event garnered $270,000 towards families dealing with cancer.

With most of the grass cutting done, the finishing touches are what’s left to do at their site with displays and so forth.

The parade kicks off at 10:30am on Saturday after the opening ceremonies. Various activities happen over the two days, including face painting, learning about plowing and mowing, blacksmithing, wood splitting, knife making, and moose calling .

The Saturday night features a “old time ho down” and Sunday morning will see an interfaith service at 9:00am.

Campers can arrive on the site as early as Thursday afternoon with their trailers to the site.

You can donate any time to the cause on their website.