Barbara Jean Batten hasn’t missed a year at the Ex since she was born, and now the annual festival is rewarding the 81-year-old with free entry for the rest of her life.
“My mum always brought us in carriages, and I brought my children in carriages,” she told reporters on Friday. “We had to go to the parade because my grandpa and my uncle were in it — so that was a must.”
Batten’s connections to the festival go back almost a century. Back in the 1930s, her father competed in music competitions at the CNE and — except for during the Second World War and COVID-19 pandemic — Batten has been to every single iteration of the event.
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“She always pressures us every year, and we live in Muskoka so it’s like, ‘Oh mom, we don’t want to go, it’s so nice out,’” Lisa Carruthers, Batten’s daughter, said. “But we come and we have so much fun every time, and we have to remind ourselves of that because it’s just about being with family.”
Batten’s sister, Elaine Darwin, said the Ex is an annual family highlight.
“A lot of people don’t even have the honour and privilege of living to 80, never mind coming down to the fair with all this craziness, right?” she said. “So, that just shows you what her passion is and her dedication.”
To recognize Batten’s decades of dedication, the CNE has opted to make sure she never pays to enter again.
“There’s something behind those 81 years that is more than just the experience of coming to the Ex,” Mark Holland, CNE CEO and president, said. “It’s all of those moments of connection with her family and all of the different adversity that they’ve faced and things that they’ve gone through.”
Batten also went with her sister Donna when she was critically ill, whose final wish was to visit the Ex again one more time.
“Memories are starting to become everything right now, you know? Pictures, memories…She aging, we’re all aging,” Darwin said. “So, you have to treasure that and treasure memories. It keeps you smiling inside.”
Holland said the CNE plans to hand out more golden tickets in years to come.
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