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Emily Manzerolle to represent Orangeville at CNE

July 21, 2016   ·   0 Comments

Written By: Jasen Obermeyer

Emily Manzerolle will be showing her ambassadorial and public speaking skills by representing the Orangeville Agricultural Society at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), in August in the annual Ambassador of the Fairs Contest. 

Ms. Manzerolle, 18, is going into her third-year at Carleton University in Ottawa, taking Public Affairs and Policy Management, which she says is a political degree with a heavy focus on human rights.

“I’m really passionate about human rights in terms of the rights that everyone has and how they interact with law on an international scale.”

She was awarded the Fall Fair Ambassador title at last year’s 161st Orangeville Fall fair in September. The age for Senior Ambassadors is from 18 to 24. Junior Ambassadors is 14 to 17. With her younger brother Tim, a junior ambassador, Ms. Manzerolle for the past year has been attending different fairs and events in the area, from Shelburne, Grand Valley, and Erin, promoting and representing Orange-ville, the Agricultural Society and the Fall Fair.

“I’ve been to a convention in Toronto in February with a whole bunch of other senior ambassadors to discuss agriculture in our fairs and to prepare us for the CNE,” she said.

She says she went to meetings in the district to discuss what’s unique in the Orangeville area and share ideas. The toughest part for her was traveling, as she came home almost every weekend from Ottawa to attend fairs, but is not upset, being very happy doing it.

Those who submitted application forms for the Fall Fair come the night of the opening ceremony.

“You give a speech and an impromptu question and you have an interview with a panel of judges, just to determine have you been to the Orangeville Fair before and do you understand a little bit about what’s going to be expected of you,” she explained.

Ms. Manzerolle says she became an ambassador because, despite living in Orangeville almost her whole life, she knew almost nothing about agriculture and farming, since she lives in the suburbs.

“I thought it would an interesting, different side of the community to see and it’s phenomenal, it’s very unique.”

Ms. Manzerolle will be competing with nearly 80 other ambassadors at the CNE from August 19 to 21, for the title of the 2016 CNE Ambassador of the Fairs. “We do a number of parades and we tour around the CNE essentially, trying to promote our fairs and promote agriculture there,” Ms. Manzerolle explained.

“The top seven will be selected to give speeches on the main stage on the Sunday the 21.”

From there the top three who are selected are given an impromptu question, with the winner and two runner-ups being crowned, along with the Miss Congeniality Award.

She says judges look for comportment. “Do you know how to answer people’s questions, can you present yourself well on stage as well as do you know what you’re talking about.”

Ms. Manzerolle says she’ll try and be crowned the winner, (closest Orangeville has been is runner-up), but is really looking forward to hearing the stories and experiences of the other ambassadors. 

She says being an ambassador has gained her confidence in public speaking as well as the topic of agriculture.

“It’s really opened my eyes for a lot of problems in the area.” 

Ms. Manzerolle explained that some of the issues this year particularly are the massive droughts and a lack of people interested in going into the farming business. 

“If you’ve never lived on a farm, you don’t want to go on a farm. Even those raised out in an agricultural life are looking to get away from it, which is causing some strain on the food production industry.” 

She says she hopes to bring to people this awareness of agriculture in the area. 

Ms. Manzerolle says she noticed people are forgetting that Orangeville started as a farming community and people are losing where the Town came from. She says she wants to bring that back with the ambassador program.

“I really hope that it can raise awareness of the agricultural roots of the Town.” 

Ms. Manzerolle says she loves Orangeville because not only is it her home, but also she feels she belongs here when coming back from Ottawa.   

“Orangeville has been kind of everything I love. We have a very close-knit community.”

She says she’s honored to represent that, liking how she knows where everything is in town, compared to the big city.   

Ms. Manzerolle says future ambassadors must put their heart into it, enjoy every bit of the program, because it goes by quickly.

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