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=The Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies=

Mission and Background
The Ontario Association of Agricultural Societies (OAAS) was created to oversee over 220 agricultural fairs throughout Ontario. Its mission is to act as an information resource and a united voice for it’s members by providing leadership through education and communication to encourage them to promote agriculture and a rural way of life in Ontario.

Statutory Acts
The Agricultural and Horticultural Organizations Act governs Agricultural Societies in Ontario. The purpose of Agricultural Societies is to serve their communities and provide a celebration to showcase the rural way of life. The OAAS’s primary goal is to assist it’s member Societies in achieving this goal.

Executive
The OAAS executive consists of a President, two Vice Presidents, a Secretary and a Treasurer. There is also a Past President position which serves as an Advisory Role. Current 2014 OAAS Executive include:
 * President: Sylvia Parr
 * Past President: Robert Hargrave
 * 1st Vice President: Cathy Redden
 * 2nd Vice President: Elaine Rennie
 * Secretary: Kathryn Lambert
 * Treasurer: Kerry Macdonald

Directors
There are a total of 30 Directors that make up the governing body of the OAAS. The OAAS is split up into 15 Districts throughout Ontario. From these Districts, two people are chosen to serve as Directors on the OAAS Board. One is an Agricultural Director who assists fairs by providing them with useful advice on fair maintenance and management. The other Director is a Home-craft Director. This Home-craft Director assists Fairs in their Home-craft displays and competitions. Together with the Executive, these 30 Directors provide strong leadership to the organization.

Major Meetings
The OAAS has two major meetings throughout the year, the Convention and the Canadian National Exhibition.

Convention
The Convention is held at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. This is considered to be the highlight of the OAAS year. During the meeting portion of the convention, delegates from all of the Agricultural fairs in Ontario get together to meet with the OAAS Board of Directors to discuss the progress of the organization and other issues that are presented to the province. The rest of the convention is where the various delegates get to network and brainstorm ideas during the Roundtable Workshop and Seminar sessions. There are also a lot of Companies who provide entertainment to Agricultural fairs that go to the convention in an attempt to sell their wares. This includes; Ride Providers, Demolition and Demo-cross Referees, Zoos, Farm animal attractions, and other forms of entertainment. This Convention is usually attended by over 1000 guests.

President’s Reception
Throughout the weekend there are also a number of events. The President's Reception is open to all visitors to the Convention. This includes speeches from the President and an introduction of the new Board of Directors. This is followed by a music show featuring several of the famous artists that perform for the Agricultural Fairs and leads into a dance until the late evening. This is also the first time throughout the weekend that all of the Fair Ambassadors.

Canadian National Exhibition
The Board also meets during the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE). All of the competitions from the fairs first go past the district levels then the winners go on to the CNE. One of the most well-known competitions is the Ambassador Competition. Almost all of the fairs have an ambassador between the ages of 18 and 25. These ambassadors compete at the CNE for the CNE Ambassador competition. The OAAS Directors have a short meeting and then are free to enjoy the rest of the Exhibition.

Youth Involvement
Currently the OAAS has very little youth involvement. The organization lacks any youth positions on their board despite some of the Agricultural fairs implementing Junior Director positions at the grassroots level. Since many of the local fairs are implementing youth positions this opens up a so far missed opportunity for the organization to grow and modernize. If youth positions were implemented at the District and Provincial levels of the organization it could definitely bring a new look and ideas to the organization.

Varying Constitutions
Every District of the OAAS functions under a different constitution. This leads to a complexity for the provincial body. This means that because there is often not change in the Directorship of certain Districts that it can leave a stagnancy in the leadership of the organization that hinders some advancements and change. Most organizations like this one have a single constitution made by the highest level of the organization to ensure that all their underlying areas function by the same rules and a change in District Director leadership is necessary.

First Impression Program
The OAAS implemented their First Impressions program in 2013. This program was designed for fairs to partner with their neighbours in order to see what each fair does differently and what is unique to each fair. These delegates then meet after attending each other’s fairs to discuss these improvements and unique discoveries. This has been a positive change and an eye opener for many directors from the Agricultural Societies that have participated thus far.