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markham fair tribune september 19 1990 p19 markham faircrow ready to greet 1990 crowd joanne heney correspondent take some good old country charm add a hint of magic throw in a splasli of whimsy and wrap it all up with some lovable enchant ment and a big burlap smile what do you get the new markham fair mascot the markham faircrow the concept for this new addition to the fair began about two years ago when board members dave morrison and cathy lee began tossing around the idea of develop ing a mascot after approaching the fair board and receiving their approval to set the wheels in motion morrison and lee commissioned the professional services of deacon day advertis ing limited deacon day was an easy choice not only because of the firms respected expertise in the promo tional field but also because david deacon grew up here in the markham area and has a personal understanding of what the markham fair is all about i have many fond childhood memories of going to the fair and i really think that the faircrow is a wonderful symbol of the communi ty and of the markham fair dea con said he added that they looked for a character which would project the essence of the fair the markham faircrow as a play on words for scarecrow really represents the agricultural roots of the surrounding community its an easy connection to make and the pun on words using fair also subtly brings in the sense of the markham faircrow took time out to intro duce himself to markham mayor tony roman at photosjoerd witteveen right is markham fair president carol white fair crow is a new addition to this years attractions fairmindedness and fairness in general as well as representing the markham fair and tying it all together deacon said we developed a character with recognizable characteristics that would appeal to a broad range of cultures stemming from the char acter of the community david describes the faircrow as having a softness and familiarity which is comfortable to children similar to many of their modern icons and popular childrens toys the colors chosen were careful ly thought out and are warm and inviting the faircrows character is nonintimidating yet intriguing he says deacon days jeff katz was the art director for the project david deacons role was a conceptual one which included drawing up guidelines as to where when and how the fairs new mascot would be used the faircrow is noncommercial in the sense that it will never be used for the promotion of enter prise he would only represent the markham fair deacon said from the drawings created by deacon day the markham fair crow was brought to life at the cos tume design studio sugars in toronto walking into sugars costume rental shop on mount pleasant ave is like entering a mythical world of masquerade glittering sequins decapitated rubber faces fur and fantasy although they rent costumes yearround the companys main business is in manufacturing corpo rate characters in their upstairs workshops the pop n fresh pillsbury doughboy polka dot doors polkaroo the campbells soup kids and the kodak kolarkins are just a few of the costume personal ities bom at sugars manufacturing the markham faircrow was a unique challenge in that on top of his giant straw hat is perched a mechanical crow to make the giddy little crow spin flutter and caw sugars installed some cleverly constructed robotic controls inside the cos tume cathy lee hopes to see the fair crow representing the markham fair at various community func tions throughout the year she adds also the number one v for the markham faircrow will be to tie him in with the edu cational direction which the markham fair is taking such as having him go out to schools to enhance agricultural teaching units visitors to the markham fair will find faircrow wandering around the fairgrounds all four days he shouldnt be too hard to spot just look for a larger than life unionville society while we lire lei us live the annual meeting of the unionville home society will be held on thursday september 27 1990 at sharon m lawlor auditorium 4300 hwy 7 unionville ontario commencing at 730 pm congratulations the mayor and council of markham extend their best wishes to the 1990 markham fair a nthon y roman fred cox ronmoran frank scarpitti gordon landon mayor regional councillor regional councillor regional councillor regional councillor doreen quirk ward i bob sherwood jim jones ward 2 ward 3 tom newal1 ward 4 david tsubouchi ken dunphy wards ward 6 billfisch ward 7 alexchiu ward 8