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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-02-23, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2017. PAGE 11. Countdown to • Townsends glad princess competition debuting at IPM run M.G.M. Townsend Tire, the family business, and allowed Murray to go to chiropractic college. The Townsend name will still be attached to the princess competition as M.G.M. Townsend Tire is the official sponsor of the event. The company is also going to be sponsoring the plowmen's barbecue with the help of the Brussels Optimist Club. While this isn't the first barbecue for the IPM, Matt and George both said they are looking to the past for how to make the event a success. "We're taking the event back to its roots," Matt said. "It has become a big gala event and we're going to go back to what it was." George agreed, saying that was why the family had decided to sponsor the event. "It used to be just beans and wieners, but we want to get it back to how it's meant to be." Matt explained that the plowmen will cook their own meal on a large barbecue provided by the Brussels Optimist Club. "They will walk up and grill their own meat and prepare their own meal, that's how it used to be," Matt said. "The food will all be locally - produced and people will have the opportunity to know what the event used to be like." A family tradition George Townsend, right, says that plowing competition success in his family might be traced back to his father Elmer who spent a lot of time and effort making sure his cuts were straight. That attention to detail has filtered down through the generations to Lucas, left, who will be plowing on his own without his grandfather and coach George for the first time at the 2017 International Plowing Match in Walton. (File photo) Continued from page 10 and a former Ontario Queen of the Furrow first runner-up and Miss Friendship, will be the chair of the accessibility committee, another first for the IPM as the committee hasn't existed for previous matches. George and Ruth, along with M.G.M. Townsend Tire, are responsible for the Huron County Princess competition as they started it 12 years ago and have sponsored it since that first event. The competition focuses on encouraging young women in the area to think about the future of agriculture. There have been 12 princesses crowned starting with the 2005/2006 Princess Jory Willits, now Jory Martin, and continued through to Irelyn St. Onge who was crowned the 2016/2017 Princess. The princesses from throughout the province will, for the first time, compete to be crowned the top princess in Ontario with the addition of the princess competition to the IPM. "It's terrific to have the competition move up like that," Ruth said. "It's a great idea to have the princesses intertwined in the IPM." Ruth also said that the success of the competition has always relied on the committee members who give their time, the judges who choose the winners and the companies and individuals who donate to the event. The princess that is crowned at this year's Huron County Plowing Match in August will be the one to represent the county at the very first IPM Princess Match. "That was our push and our want," George said. "We said we would sponsor the event if it happened because we wanted it to be a part of the International Plowing Match." George said that, while he and Ruth have been behind the Huron County Princess competition since its inception, they won't be as involved in the IPM match, offering help where it's needed. George will be around to help out wherever is needed, offering his extensive experience with the International Plowing Match where it's needed. He has been named one of the IPM senators. "We're not nailed down to one specific committee," he said. George transported people around the grounds and milked cows at the 1966 International Plowing Match near Seaforth, was part of the special events team in 1978 at the match near Wingham and chaired the RV Park committee with Ruth's assistance in 1999 at the Dashwood International Plowing Match. Ruth said a second phone line was run into the family dining room so she could keep track of entries. "We were starting to use computers back then, but, for the most part, it was all done manually," she said. George said his time bringing the event to life has taught him one important thing: nothing gets done with people saying it won't work. "I think the IPM has a fantastic young executive and that's part of the reason the three of us decided to be senators," George said. "This is a good group that will try new things and learn what works and what doesn't. They don't need someone looking over their shoulder saying that won't work because that isn't how it was done" He went on to say a good example of that great leadership is Barb Terpstra who has been named to chair of the princess competition. Ruth agreed, saying that Terpstra, whose daughter Emily was the 2015/2016 Princess at the Huron County Plowing Match, is doing a great job and that she is happy to support her if the need arises. "We have had the odd conver- sation but she's doing a great job," Ruth said. "It will get busier as the months go on, but she's very capable and has Emily helping her out" The local competition has always mirrored the Queen of the Furrow competition, which sees young women throughout Huron County engage in a competition that consists of interviews, public speaking and plowing in hopes of being crowned. The queen represents the Huron County Plowmen's Association throughout the year of their reign and competes at the International Plowing Match to be named the Ontario Queen of the Furrow there as well. The princess competition has the same spirit behind it, but doesn't include a plowing competition. The winner is crowned and represents the Huron County Plowmen's Association at events and in parades for the year, just like the Queen competition. Every year in recent memory, prior to the start of the competition, Ruth explains that it's wonderful when the princess competitors take what they have learned and go on to take part in the queen competition. She also says it's great to see the princess competitors take their experience in the event and go out into the world to find other ways to be involved in making their county great. George and Ruth both feel that education is a big part of plowing matches for the younger participants in the plowing and Queen of the Furrow and princess competitions. Their three children, Matt, Charlene and Murray all competed at plowing matches, earning awards and a scholarship which George said is a great incentive to bring younger people to the event. "The scholarship is great because the winners don't get it all at once," George said. "They have to send their marks in and prove they are going to stick with the education." George said the scholarship helped Charlene pursue a future as a sign language interpreter, Matt gained business experience he now uses to A crowning achievement The princess competition at the Huron County Plowing Match owes it ongoing existence to many contributors, but chief among them are the Townsends. Ruth and George, alongside son Matt and the family company M.G.M. Townsend Tire, set up the competition more than a decade ago and have been the driving force behind it ever since. Shown are Ruth and George with the 2016/2017 Huron County Princess Irelyn St. Onge. Irelyn will pass her crown on at this year's Huron princess competition and the recipient will represent the county at the first-ever International Plowing Match princess competition. (File photo) Have We Got Your Number? The Citizen is now planning its 2017-2018 Telephone Book. Is your number correct in the recently delivered Bell Canada phone book? Do you have a new listing since that book was compiled? If so, please let us know so we can make our phone book as complete and useful as possible. Call 519-523-4792. WANT TO ADD YOUR CELL PHONE LISTING? If you would like your cell number listed in our listings we can add it if you give us the information. We will only put your cell phone number in our book if you don't have a land line.