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By Jim Coggins
SOME people struggle with whether to spend summer Sundays in church, or in the
great outdoors. On August 2 in Abbotsford this year, they can do both.
Abbotsford’s Agrifair is a long-running agricultural fair, held each year on the August
long weekend.
Eight years ago, Love Abbotsford approached Agrifair with the idea of putting on a free Sunday morning pancake
breakfast for staff, exhibitors and any members of the public who wanted to
attend.
“We hoped a few people would be interested,” recalled Agrifair general manager Pamela Brenner. That year, more than 2,000
people showed up for breakfast. Attendance has since ranged between two and
four thousand.
Love Abbotsford coordinated the event the first five years, then turned it over
to the Psalm 23 Transition Society, a ministry that offers supportive housing,
counselling and relapse prevention programs to recovering alcoholics and drug
addicts.
Psalm 23 president Marvin Declare, who started volunteering at the event five
years ago, stated: “It’s grown beyond anyone’s expectations. It’s been a wonderful outreach for us. It gives the men and women of our program a
chance to meet and interact with the community and change people’s perceptions about them.”
The free breakfast has received support from the community.
Save-On Foods supplies the pancake mix and syrups, while McDonald’s supplies juice and coffee. Local church members, politicians, community
leaders and, when their schedule permits, even some members of the BC Lions
have helped out by staffing grills and serving breakfasts.
The pancake breakfast is accompanied by a three-hour gospel celebration on the
Agrifair Main Stage. Led by some of Abbotsford’s worship bands, the morning also includes inspiring personal testimonies.
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This year, the event will also include Chilliwack vocalist Debbie Fortnum
singing with the Mennonite Educational Institute Kids Worship Choir.
Declare hopes the Sunday celebration at Agrifair will eventually bring all the
local churches together for a joint city-wide service.
Agrifair offers a reduced admission rate of $5/person, from 8 to 10 am Sunday
morning. Displays will open at 10 am.
Gospel-flavoured entertainment throughout the day will include country artist
Jack Jackson; country group Dixon Road; Emily Harder; and singers from the
Valley Voices contest. Closing out the day will be a 90-minute set by Debbie
Bergeron, Country Gospel Performer of the Year in 2002.
July 2009
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