Ernestine
Around the bustle of an agricultural fair, farm people rush from the show ring to the midway to the exhibits but, as long as everything is in place and running smoothly, no one thinks about the hours of dedicated work that have gone into making all this happen.
In every fair structure there is usually a seasoned veteran who knows all there is to know about the big show and what needs to be done if something goes wrong. Such a person was Ernestine Annabel Busse, who passed away in late November at Simpson, Sask.
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Ernie came out of Simpson high school to a clerical job at the Saskatoon Industrial Exhibition. For close to 40 years she made a succession of general managers and presidents glad she was there.
Every time someone fumbled the ball Ernie was there to pick it up and hand it back so the guilty party could run for a touchdown.
My associations with Ernestine mostly had to do with results for livestock shows and sales. She knew the breeders and their spokespeople and who would make good interviews.
In later years when the exhibition board hired a press relations person, Ernie went on to other administrative duties but I still found her a well of information.
In the early 1960s when Bill Bradley, Western Producer executive editor, was Saskatoon Exhibition president, I noted he was on the phone to Ernestine several times a week because she had the know-how to make good things happen.
Ernestine retired in 1983 but those who knew her still remember her good works.
