When Haying in the 30’s gets underway this weekend, Real Corbiere will be among the cadre of volunteers, sorting out the meat and food to feed the thousands of people that converge at the site near Mallaig for the annual event.
It’s a behind-the-scenes role, and those who might not see him at the event or know his story may not realize, in fact, just the pivotal reason he played in the history of the cancer support society.
“I was the reason why Haying in the 30’s started,” he said simply.
Real was diagnosed with Stage IV Hodgkin’s lymphoma back in 1985. His doctor told him he had just a few months to live, but only days after, came back and told him that there was a chance a bone marrow transplant could save his life.
“My dad was . . . just devastated,” he recalled, saying that his father, Edgar, was also stressed by the prospects of travelling to Vancouver for treatment. Both of Real’s younger sisters had to travel with him for the transplant, as both of them were potential matches, while his parents had to come as his youngest sister’s guardians.
Knowing what the family was going through, their home community of Mallaig pulled together and raised donations to help offset the family’s expenses, and Real would eventually see his road back to recovery.
“Dad would always say he was touched by the community doing what they’d done, and he wanted to give back to them for what they’d done,” he said.
His father always had a mind that was going a mile a minute, cooking up new ideas and adventures, whether it was writing a book or building a raft to sail down the North Saskatchewan River like the early fur traders, said Real.
But if you ask Edgar, Haying in the 30’s stands out among his top achievements.
In the late 1990s, Edgar came up with the idea of holding a weekend event that would show people what it was like to make hay in the 1930’s. Knowing how much community support had meant to the family when Real had been ill, he decided that any donations to the event would go towards cancer victims undergoing treatment.
In its first year, $3,500 was raised, helping 12 families.
“It went very well; it turned out better than I expected,” he said, adding that he thought the event should be held again. “It carried on that way.”
From those humble beginnings, the weekend grew into an event spoken about throughout the province, drawing thousands of visitors to the grounds that evoke visions of the past. Demonstrations fill the weekend, whether it’s horseshoeing, shingle-making, or well-boring, while people wander in and out of buildings like the blacksmith shop, an old-time-school and a church, enjoying food and music and everything else the site has to offer for free.
The weekend itself regularly pulls in as much and over $200,000 in donations. With another quarter million dollars raised in donations throughout the year, the organization is able to help close to 500 families in the year, according to Real.
“It’s unbelievable,” Edgar said. He and his son both say they could never have expected how the event would grow, or bring so many people, or touch so many lives, creating a snowball effect of giving and receiving.
“I certainly do feel proud,” says Edgar. “I feel proud because my success was because of all the volunteers and all the people donating. If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t be able to function.”
He knows what it means to receive from the community, since he was in that boat, and seeing the gratitude from recipient “hits home harder” for that reason alone.
“In many of those cases, it brought tears to their eyes.”
Haying in the 30’s gets underway this Saturday and Sunday. The opening ceremony takes place on Aug. 5, at 10 a.m., with the parade to begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by all-day demonstrations. The day wraps up with an old-time hoedown at 9 p.m. Sunday begins with an interfaith service at 9 a.m., with demonstrations all day, and displays closing at 4 p.m.
