Yolande House, our resident journalist, and Kate Shouldice, the Ex-pert of our team, interviewed the Acting General Manager of this year's Central Canada Exhibition Association, Cheryl McBain, on August 8, 1997. This is what she had to say:
	What are some of your responsibilities as Acting General Manager?
	Basically, to ensure that we have a smooth-running, gate-attracting operation for eleven days in August. Preparation for that. That would be the basic thrust of the position. But it also involves a whole lot more because it's a year-round position. So, there's maintaining and encouraging membership to the Association; there's communication of information to the directors of the association, so that they can properly be informed to make educated decisions; there's the main things the general manager takes care of: staffing, the contracts; also, research with different companies to provide recommendations to the Board [of Directors] for decision making. Those are some of the primary responsibilities.
	What are some of the committees that the CCEA currently has?
	I would say the structure is, we have the Board of Directors, then we have another executive committee, which is comprised of the president, the two vice-presidents, and the immediate past president. That committee itself then selects the chairs of the following committees: the agricultural committee, the entertainment and hospitality committee, programming committee, marketing committee and concessions committee is the last one.
	Is there still a women's committee?
	No, specifically a women's committee? No.
	Up until, I think, 1975 there was a women's committee. Do you know what happened to that?
	Oh, okay, sorry. Homecraft, Homecraft committee. That would be a sub-committee of the agricultural committee. Yes, that still exists, but it's not one of the major ones, it's a sub-committee of the agriculture committee, and it's called Homecrafts.
	And it's still primarily for women, or is it for anyone?
	Yes, well it's primarily for women; however, there are men that enter into the different categories; I don't think there's a male that sits on the committee, but there are males that aid in that area for sure. I would say it's mostly traditional women's crafts that are featured, but we are going into wine-making and things that are less gender-related than, say, the stereotypical crocheting, or knitting or sewing.
	Do you know of any other sub-committees? One thing I'm doing is comparing how the Ex has changed by looking at what committees it has had in different years.
	There aren't really any other subcommittees, unless they were specifically struck for a purpose. For example, if there was a need to have a relocation committee, then we would strike that, or if there was a need to have a committee for a special function, i.e. a hundredth anniversary, or a certain special event, that would be just about it. Within the big agricultural committee, various members sort of sub out and do their own thing, but they aren't officially a committee with the exception of the Homecraft. They are a committee.
	So what does the agricultural section do?
	Basically they meet and decide what they would like to present. For instance, this year they are presenting the Pure Country Pavilion, and there's different components within that program that each one of the committee members are responsible for. For instance, there's a dairy day; one of the committee members who's closely related to the dairy field will contact different farmers in that area and they then participate that way. Then there's, let's say, sheep. Now there's Colleen Acres, who's very familiar with that end, so she contacts the sheep people and they have a sheep day.
	And these theme days are mostly educational?
	Educational, demonstrational, yes. They're showcasing animals, as opposed to in previous years, where it used to be a contest or judging. Now it's showcasing. There's no prize money, for instance, associated with us; rather we give these people a modest fee to cover their costs of transportation, bringing their animals in here to show the breed and to do demonstrations. So, on sheep day, for instance, they'll come in, they'll bring several animals, best of each breed, and then they'll showcase them in the ring, they'll do demonstrations, maybe it will be sheep sheering or leading them, that type of thing.
	So, they'll get a bit of money for that now, whereas before they would have a chance to win prize money?
	That's right.
	And why did this change happened?
	A few reasons; first of all, we used to get grants from the government to cover prize money, and about five years ago those programs ceased, so there were no more programs that we could plug into to subsidize the cost of the prize money. So, it ended up that the exhibition bore that burden, to provide all the prize money, and that became very much a burden on us. And the agriculture people never really claimed to be self-sufficient, in that, in the early days, they had things like carnivals and midway games to raise the money to support the agriculture program, so that was the premise. Now it's deemed that you need to raise money through the midway and the carnival to pay for the attractions to draw people through the gate, because they're not just coming to see the agriculture programs. They don't come out in enough numbers in today's society, within, you know, this urban environment.
	Would you still call the CCEA an agricultural fair?
	Yes, yes, we very much are. We have a lot of agriculture programs here. And it's important that we continue to have that cultural aspect to the fair. I think it's important for our children to be able to come and see these things that we maybe take for granted, that we all assume they always get that opportunity, but they don't. This is one of the few opportunities that they have. So, to have an agricultural education program is important. And we still stand strongly behind the agriculture society.
	Don Cherry said that the exhibition is more of a carnival now. What do you think of that?
	No, I think we're many things. It's not just one main particular.
	What are the relations between the city and the CCEA like right now?
	Basically, they're our landlords. We've been here for 109 years and, we have a lease with the city. The relationship is good. It's taxed sometimes when they're looking at what to do with Lansdowne Park, the revitalization of it; we have an existing lease till the year 2001, and perhaps that's a little inhibiting on people who might want to do something at Lansdowne Park. But we do have it 'til 2001 and then another five-year option that we currently are looking at exercising. But the relationship is good, it's strong, it's healthy. You know, they give a bit, we give a bit. This is our home.
	About the lease, do you remember in the last ten years, when the constitution was redeveloped last year and with a new lease a few years ago; how did that effect your dealings with the city?
	There's been no change; the change in the constitution just reflected how we as an organization operate. But it didn't really effect any of our lease agreements with the city. However, there are fewer city politicians on our board because of the new constitution; where we use to have, I believe it was eight, now we have three.
	And that would be the mayor, the ...
	Actually, of the city council, yes; that would be the mayor, and the ward councilor, we also have Peter Clark, that would be chair of the region.
	So, there are three?
	There are three, yes.
	How many directors are there in total?
	I think we are 39 total. Voting members we are 21, and I'll count that up, just to make sure. [counting and nodding the affirmative]
	When we talked to Don Reid yesterday, he said that if this year's fair didn't make money, this would be it's last year. Is that true?
	No, I think that it's an important year for us, but we do have cash reserves, so if something unforeseen was to happen, like eleven days of straight rain ...
	Shhhh, don't say it.
	Of course, that's not going to happen, but just taking the worst-case scenario, and if we were to lose, lets say, the same amount that we did last year, we have enough to keep going. It would be perhaps a different format, and we would have to look seriously at what we would be able to offer, but I would by no means say it's in any way, shape or form our last year.
	Because you've been losing for the past four or five years now, has there been an increase in commercial sponsorship at all over the past few years?
	No, it's been there for the past few years. We have perhaps a few more partners with us this year, but it's even difficult in these times to get people to sponsor anything. It's certainly not our idea to, we would like to have more, but we are happy to maintain. That's where we are this year, maintaining what we had last year.
	What do you think of the new deal with Conklin? Do you think that will help a lot?
	Definitely. With the new company people will come out to see the changes. The industry says that when you change midways, there's traditionally a 15% increase in that move alone. Of course, we're not budgeting for that, but that's a reality of it, that's what they say happens, so we'll be monitoring that. And the new rides that they have to offer; definitely there's more stir about it, that we're creating sort of a hype and excitement in the media with that and getting that message out. It's important. The last thing we want is for it to be kept a secret. So with that in mind, we're trying to pump that for all it's worth right now.
	Would you compare Conklin to Amusements of America? Could say why you chose Conklin this year, or say how it's different and how it's changing?
	Well, when we were talking about committees, that was a special committee that was struck, which was a midway selection committee. So when that committee made the recommendation to the board to go with Conklin, there were many factors considered. A few of the primary ones: they have some major equipment that they can feature here, so that's obviously a draw when you've got big-grossing rides, and that's healthy for your financial contract; they also have a reputation for being very clean and presentable, and in uniforms; they supply canvas tops and rest areas, and they're equipment is always freshly painted. So, they have an image about them that, I would say, meets the standards of our community. I think that parents would be proud to bring their children to this midway. So, we definitely looked at the reputation as being a factor. Their safety record is excellent, not that the previous operators wasn't, but this one is also outstanding. And the financial contract that we were able to negotiate was very beneficial to us.
	How is Conklin's reputation compared to Amusements of America?
	Well, with Amusements of America, we were the only spot that they played in Canada. So, they're not as well known perhaps in Canadian waters. But in the States, they have a very solid reputation, but we keep our ear to the ground, and we talk a lot to the organizers of the Canadian fairs, so we have a very good idea of what their reputation is, Amusements of America, you know, excellent as well, but I think we were looking for an emphasis on new rides.
	Conklin is Canadian?
	Yeah, Canadian-owned.
	Where are they from?
	Brantford [in Ontario] is one of their main stations, plus they have another station out west.
	Well, we'll let you go now, we know this is the busiest time of the year for you.

[Back] [Don Cherry] [Don Reid] [Hubert 'Red' Friel] [Claude Bennett] [Cheryl McBain]