Kickstarting the plans for the next IPM

Verner, Ont. will host the 2019 show in September

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

With 337 days until the launch of the 2019 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo (IPM) in Verner, Ont., organizers are already unveiling plans and recruiting volunteers.

An open house is scheduled for Oct. 18 (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.) at the Marcel Noel Community Hall in Sturgeon Falls, Ont. to allow anyone interested in the show to engage with its organizing committees.

“We want to provide the entire community with the opportunity to ask any questions they like, as well as give us ideas on how to put on the best show we can,” Neil Fox, chair of the 2019 IPM, told Farms.com. “Most of our committees will have booths set up, so people can visit with each one to have a look at what we’ve got planned for next September.”

Organizers will also be recruiting volunteers that evening.

Volunteers are at the heart of each IPM and the 2019 event will help showcase that fact, Fox said.

“One of the things that our board of directors talks about is that it’s not our plowing match because we’re the planners. (Rather), the plowing match belongs to the volunteers,” he said. “It belongs to the community. Our ability to execute a successful match will rely on the nearly 1,000 volunteers we think we’ll need.”

The 2019 IPM will mark the second time in the event’s 102-year history that it will take place in northern Ontario. Frank and Yolande Rivard in Earlton, Ont., hosted the event in 2009.

Since the show rarely visits that part of the province, organizers will work hard to show off the region’s culture.

“For us, we want to talk about our love for life,” Fox said. “We have strong anglophone and francophone communities, as well as two First Nations communities. It’s our intent to provide opportunities for our visitors to experience, learn and seek additional opportunities to explore all areas of our communities.”