Seemingly constant rain. Clouds of mosquitoes. A nearly total crop failure. A lack of supplies. A nearly fatal infection. The coldest December to hit the area in 120 years. No $1 million cash prize waiting for them at the end.

Compared to what Tim and Deanna Treadway went through on the reality TV series Pioneer Quest, the contestants on another certain CBS reality series have it easy.

Still, their harsh experiences only nailed home the even harsher reality that real pioneers, such as Deanna's great-grandparents, actually went through.

"The real heroes are our forefathers," said Tim, speaking to the assembled guests at Farmer Appreciation Night on Friday at McKenna Hall. "I would like to say thank you to our forefathers."

Tim and Deanna, who hail from Kenora, Ont., were this year's special guest speakers at Farmer Appreciation Night. They also appeared at Assiniboia Park Elementary School and St. Michael School earlier in the day.

Their address focused on the year they spent as one of two couples on Pioneer Quest, which was filmed in rural Manitoba from June 2000 to May 2001.

Their experiences were shown in nine one-hour episodes on History Television, which have also been shown on PBS and made into a documentary and a teacher resource guide.

The premise: place two couples in a secluded rural area and set them up as pioneers in 1875, giving them just enough supplies to get started. They had to farm their own land (roughly 80 acres of it), build their own homes and hunt their own food, using only the tools available back then.

The two were in Thailand when Tim's brother-in-law phoned them from Winnipeg, Man., telling them about an advertisement recruiting couples for the show.

As he started writing the number down, "the excitement started to well up in me," said Tim.

"I didn't want to have any part of it," added Deanna.

The two were picked from thousands of applications, though were originally one of two "reserve" couples. As luck would have it, another couple had to back out and they were given three days to get ready and put their construction business - and lives - on hold.

After a tearful farewell to their sons, the Treadways traveled to the site of filming, an untouched 80 acres of uncultivated, fresh land. They had an old prospector's tent, some supplies and a young Ontario couple for company.

The two recounted their misadventures in plowing the fields, dealing with two unruly horses and a total potato crop failure, due largely to the non-stop rain. It was, in fact, the most rain to hit the area in June for 40 years.

"In the first 23 days, it rained 21 of those days," said Deanna.

They also had to adapt to using outdated equipment, like muzzle-loader rifles, laundry washboards and horse-drawn plows "as dull as my thumb," said Tim.

The Treadways also faced clouds of mosquitoes, which they only kept away with thick clothing.

Then, Tim nearly died of an infection, and had to recover over the long winter months, which turned out to be one of the coldest winters on record.

Throughout their recanting, however, Deanna brought up stories of her great-grandparents, who left a wealthy farm in Russia to homestead in Canada. Several of their children died, she said, and their crop was wiped out by locusts.

On the last day of their stay, added Tim, "we couldn't help but think of the pioneers."