2027 IPM committee looking for 800 volunteers group tells council

Blake Ellis/The Independent

The 2027 International Plowing Match and Rural Expo need at least 800 to 1,000 volunteers. About 400 have already come forward, according Dave Henderson, the chairman of the plowing match committee.

Henderson, the new head of the Lambton IPM Committee, appeared before Enniskillen Township council Oct. 19 after councillors expressed concerns they knew little about the event being held in the township.

In April 2025, a local committee was picked to host the annual provincial event in 2027. It planned the farm show at the Brigden fairgrounds. On July 3, the committee had withdrawn its offer to host. The Ontario Plowmens’ Association said it would still be held in Lambton.

A month later, the OPA picked the farm of Clayton and Linda McLaughlin, east of Petrolia, as the new site of the IPM.

Soon after, Enniskillen Township asked for a meeting with the plowing match organizers.

Henderson said they have a list of 225 volunteers who were attached to the Brigden committee. So far, 75 to 80 percent of those volunteers agreed to help with the plowing match.

“So I am very happy with that,” said Henderson.

“That’s the right thing, you know that’s past,” he says of the July withdrawal. “We’re moving on.”

Henderson has history with the event. He served as the Enniskillen Township representative on the committee when Lambton County hosted the International Plowing Match in 1991. He was also the waste management chair and helped with hospitality at that event.

The 2027 International Plowing Match is be held from Sept. 21 to 25 from 8:30 am to 5 p.m. everyday with the lounge and entertainment centre being open until 9 or 10 pm.

The lounge and entertainment centre will be open for least three evenings and there is a possibility of it being open for five, said Henderson.

The 2026 International Plowing Match was hosted near Walkerton in Bruce County recently. Henderson said there were over 70,000 who attended, although that hasn’t been confirmed officially yet.

Henderson hopes the Lambton plowing match could have an attendance of 80,000.

“We are showing off Sarnia-Lambton,” said Henderson, saying the committee really wants to incorporate Sarnia within the festivities.

There are plans to highlight Lambton County Heritage, including the Oil Museum of Canada, Petrolia Discovery and the Victoria Playhouse, as well as Lambton Heritage Museum, which currently has a display highlighting Lambton’s plowing match history.

The committee is also proposing to have a Jaws of Life demonstration, with a different local fire department every day.

Council appointed Deputy Mayor Judy Krall as its representative on the committee. Krall and her husband, Doug, have already volunteered and are in charge of the event’s tented city.

“We have a lot of work to do in the next five months,” said Henderson.

The plowing match committee will be meeting at least every two weeks, with the subcommittees meeting every day.

Jessica Jessome is the executive director for the 2027 international plowing match.

Logistics such as providing water to the site, having a police and fire presence for the event and the entertainment provided is still being worked on.

“It is going ahead unless someone stops us and I don’t think that is going to happen,” said Henderson. “The OPA is very on board with us.”