More than two decades ago, when Thor Froslev originally told fellow members of the Brackendale Farmers’ Institute (BFI) that the fledgling group should consider organizing an annual fall fair for the community, he didn’t get the kind of reaction he was expecting.
“I got voted down the first time I said we should have a fall fair,” the 82-year-old owner of the Brackendale Art Gallery recounted with a laugh.
Froslev was also responsible for the renewal of the BFI itself a quarter century ago.
“I was looking for a way to bring my neighbours in Brackendale together at the time,” he explained. “And a ‘ratepayers’ association’ sounded too much like the city. So when Don Ross told me that there had at one time been a farmers’ institute in the area… I just jumped on it.”
After some research, Froslev discovered the original member list for the Squamish Farmers’ Institute – as it was then called – and documents from 1915, and he set about resurrecting the agriculture-based group in 1990 as the Brackendale Farmers’ Institute.
“I made up a new member list and went to four of my neighbours and basically got them to sign up,” he said. “And since the old documents from the original farmers’ institute said the membership fee in 1915 was 50 cents, I just charged each of them 50 cents.”
Once the BFI was created, the group started looking for ways to fulfill its mission statement of “the promotion and preservation of the social and cultural life of the historic village of Brackendale.” And since Brackendale had a strong agricultural history, Froslev thought an annual fall fair featuring local produce and products would be the perfect event for just that purpose.
Eventually, the other members of the BFI had to agree.
“I was patient, and I waited until the right time, tried again at another farmers’ institute meeting, and the next time it got voted in,” Froslev said.
The first Brackendale Fall Fair took place 21 years ago on a property that belonged to the family of former Squamish Mayor Pat Brennan.
“He wasn’t around anymore, but his kids generously let us use the property for the fair,” Froslev said. “But when Brennan’s property went up for sale, we had to find another spot for the fall fair.”
That’s when the BFI started looking into a 50-acre plot of land that had been, according to local folklore, set aside as parkland by the former incarnation of the farmers’ institute. The forested area just south of Brackendale Elementary School, and now known as the Brackendale Farmers’ Institute Park, had been shuffled between designations of residential, forestry, park and crown land at the whim of various governments over the years, according to Froslev. In 1992, the institute began earnestly lobbying at all levels of government for permanent park status for the land.

“I remember saying at the time, ‘I feel like Mr. Stanley when he started Stanley Park,’” Froslev said.
The lobbying effort for the land continues to this day, but in the meantime, it remains the location of the annual Brackendale Fall Fair, which Froslev only began organizing years after its creation… and begrudgingly at that.
“At first I didn’t want to do it but then I thought, ‘What the hell, it’s an opportunity to learn how to run something like a fair,’” he said. “And here I am at 82 and I’m still doing it.”
Froslev said he’s seen lots of changes to the fair, including replacing horses with a tractor the BFI bought for the hay rides, and the inclusion of what would become one of its most popular activities: the zucchini races.
“After someone went to a county fair and saw zucchini races there, they said we should have it at our fall fair,” Froslev said of the event, where kids build cars by adding wheels to zucchini and race them down a steep track. “I thought ‘What kind of gong show is this?’ But we added it anyway and it’s become one of the most popular things for the kids.”
In fact, this year’s fall fair will feature even more zucchini fun than ever, according to Glenne Campbell, vice-president of the BFI and organizer of the fair’s vendor area.
“This year we are also adding best dressed zucchini and biggest zucchini, along with fastest zucchini,” she said.
Campbell has been volunteering at the fair for more than a decade, starting off directing traffic her first year, eventually moving on to gate decorating, sign painting, grounds coordination and public relations.
“The growth of the fair has been phenomenal over the years,” she said. “The numbers going through the gate are going up every year. And that’s because the demographics have changed in Squamish and Brackendale. And it’s wonderful to see all this change and all the new young families and children coming out to be part of their community.”
Along with the hay rides, zucchini races, the petting zoo, mini golf and other family activities offered by the annual event, the fall fair also features more than 80 local vendors and community organizations arrayed in its marketplace beneath the grove’s shady boughs. There you’ll find everything from handcrafted jewelry and clothing to homemade desserts, snow cones, oven-fired pizza, kettle corn and other delectable delights.
“And about 25 of those booths are community organizations,” Campbell said. “So it really gives a chance to showcase what’s in the community and what people can do.”
Brackendale resident Cam Salay, a Juno Award-winning musician, said the annual fall fair also offers local players who are just starting out the chance to perform in front of a live audience.
“It’s just great for younger musicians,” he said. “They are able to get in front of an audience and get some experience. But we’ve also had some old pros on the stage, too, like Valdy and Norman Foote.”
Salay also began going to the annual event more than a decade ago, first just as an attendee but later he took over sound duties for the live music. This year, Salay hosts the live performances on the fair’s stage, which will feature nine bands playing throughout the day.
For Salay, the fair is a way to keep the “old school” traditions of Brackendale alive.
“It’s a day you can come out and feel like you’re part of the community,” he said. “It is an all-volunteer run event, and it features local small business, local produce and locally made products. It’s just a great family event, and it makes everyone feel really welcome here.”
And when Froslev told his fellow fair organizers this year that after 21 years, this would be the last one he would help organize – wanting to finally retire and spend more time fly fishing – he didn’t exactly get the kind of reaction he was expecting.
“I doubt it,” laughed Salay. “I think he’s said that before.”
But you’ll see Froslev there for sure this year, sitting beside his homemade teepee, smiling broadly while the community comes together once again.
The 21st annual Brackendale Fall Fair takes place this Saturday (Sept. 12) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Brackendale Farmers’ Institute Park.
For more info, go to brackendalefallfair.ca.