Agri-Trade | Patrick Kennedy moves on
RED DEER — The agricultural trade show that has continually pushed expansion at Westerner Park in Red Deer bade farewell this year to its founding manager.
Patrick Kennedy had been a sales representative with Morris Industries and had worked with Canada’s Farm Progress Show in Regina when he pitched the idea for a farm equipment trade show to the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber liked what it heard and set up its first Agri-Trade in 1984 at pavilions built two years earlier on newly opened fairgrounds. Westerner Park had been moved to its current location because it had run out of room downtown.
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Kennedy and others who were there for the first show recall that it nearly flopped, largely because of a storm that roared in on its first day.
However, the organizers shouldered on, moving the show from mid-October to mid-November to capture farmers at a time of year when most crops are in the bin and manufacturers are ready to introduce their new models.
Earlier this month, with nearly 400 exhibitors and another 125 on a waiting list, Kennedy took his last turn at the helm before handing the reins to a new manager, Dianne Smirl.
She faces the same task that dogged Kennedy and his crew: finding space for an exhibition that, in its 30th year, continues to push the limits of space available.
Agri-Trade now occupies 350,000 sq. feet indoors and uses an additional 75,000 sq. feet of outdoor space for displays.
Equipment manufacturers, including Honey Bee from Frontier, Sask., have no problem filling their allotted spaces.
Central Alberta farmer Harold Solick was among the grain producers interested in Honey Bee’s 40-foot combine header, a yellow beast that arrived on two semi-trailers and dwarfed the combine to which it was attached.
Fresh from bringing in record-breaking wheat crops, Solick said he wasn’t certain that the big header, which can be adjusted for all varieties of grains, pulses and oilseeds, would fit his budget. However, he was sure it would work well on his fields.
“I can dream,” said Solick.
Kennedy said attendance seemed strong midway through the show, which ran from Nov. 6-9 this year. Smirl said earlier that she is looking at rebranding the show to help it attract a broader range of producers.
