Volunteers moving benches at the International Plowing Match. (Photo courtesy of the IPM 2018 via. Facebook)Volunteers moving benches at the International Plowing Match. (Photo courtesy of the IPM 2018 via. Facebook)
Chatham

Almost 80,000 attend the International Plowing Match

The International Plowing Match and Rural Expo may be over, but the co-chairs are still hard at work.

Darrin Canniff and Leon Leclair said they are very happy with the final attendance numbers.

"The OPA [Ontario Plowman's Association] has sent over the numbers," said Canniff. "They're the ones that keep track of it and they tell me that 77,807 people attended over the seven days."

Considering all that happened, Canniff said he is pleased with the final numbers.

"With two days of bad weather, we had to close the park halfway through Thursday, and Friday it was muddy and it was windy," he said. "We almost lost some tents on Friday. But based on that, we couldn't be happier with the attendance."

But the work isn't done yet. It will take about a month for them to completely take down the site.

"It doesn't just disappear overnight, it took us nearly two months to set up," said Canniff. "It's going to take a few days here and there."

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