All across Ontario, communities are finding different ways to become barrier-free and encourage accessibility.

Recently, the City of Kawartha Lakes chose to promote and celebrate its own accessibility accomplishments in a special way — with an Aware Fair.

On September 27, people gathered at the new and accessible Lindsay Exhibition Grounds for the City's first Aware Fair, which included displays by local agencies and businesses that provide services to people with disabilities.

Among the displays were a virtual symptom simulator and a wheelchair obstacle course. The simulator demonstrated symptoms often experienced by those living with a mental health disability, while the wheelchair obstacle course illustrated what it's like to face barriers as a person with a physical disability.

There were also several keynote speakers, including the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, David C. Onley, and the Mayor of the City of Kawartha Lakes, Ric McGee. Lieutenant Governor Onley marked the beginning of the fair by talking about the importance of accessibility and commending the City of Kawartha Lakes for doing its part to promote it.

In the evening, a banquet and awards ceremony were held to recognize outstanding accessibility efforts within the community.

The Aware Fair was developed by the Kawartha Lakes Accessibility Advisory Committee and community partners, with funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation. Organizers thought the fair would be a unique and fun way to educate the public about accessibility, while rewarding those in the community already eliminating barriers for people with disabilities — and they were right.

"Everyone had a great time and learned something new," said Karla Forgaard-Pullen, chairperson for the Aware Fair. "Because of this year's success, we plan on making the Aware Fair an annual event. Everyone is welcome to join us again in 2009!"