Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-09-14, Page 13THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2017. PAGE 13. Countdown to II Ryans 'a true Huron County family' says Bishop MV'IARIANNA AVENUE N. A family affair Jack Ryan isn't the only host of the 2017 International Plowing Match. He sees it very much as a family affair, which includes his children and grandchildren as fellow hosts. They are seen here with a street sign at Tented City honouring Jack's late wife Marianna. (Photo submitted) Continued from page 12 bulldozer and farmed farrow -to - finish pigs and cash crops at the family's Walton farm. While there was plenty of work to do both at work and at home, Jack and Marianna always carved out time for each other and for their children. Sloan said there were days when her father would bulldoze from dawn to dusk only to do the farm's chores when he got home. However, Marianna would often keep the children up long enough so they could see their father every day and spend time with him. Marianna spent over 43 years working on the farm alongside Jack, and later her children. When Jack fell through their barn floor and crushed some of the vertebrae in his back, Marianna, with the help of a few labourers, tended to three barns full of pigs and a house full of children during the three months her husband was hospitalized. Not only has Marianna been memorialized in the form of a beautiful handmade barn quilt on the front of Jack's home, but her name will also be spoken by thousands of IPM visitors as the site's most prominent street has been named after her to honour her memory throughout the course of the week. Marianna Avenue runs the full length of the tented city, reaching both the most northern and most southern areas of the site. IPM Chair Jacquie Bishop thought it was crucial that Marianna be remembered for these five days in September. Jack says he thinks it's really special that his late wife will be remembered in this way and thanks Bishop for taking the initiative to do so. Bishop has nothing but the highest praise for the Ryans, who she says have been fantastic partners along the way dating all the way back to 2013. "The Ryan family has been fully supportive of our team and have been willing participants in whatever we throw at them," Bishop said. "They are a community -minded family with deep roots in the area. They value the importance of being involved and being engaged. They have strong family values and traditions that truly showcase and depict what it means to be a Huron County family." When it came time to decide whether or not the Ryan farm should be the host of the 2017 IPM, Jack insisted he not make the decision alone. He called all of his children to Walton so they could meet and sign off on his decision. Unless all four of his children were in favour, he says, he wouldn't have gone through. "Having the kids here was important," Jack says. "This has always been a family farm." Jack is right about that, as he has, over the course of his life, simply worked his way around his current property block. Jack was born on a farm just south of his current farm and over the course of his life, his homes have remained on the same block, in one location or another. The family's first relatives in the area settled in McKillop Township in 1855 and it was Jack's grandfather, Robert, who then bought the family's current farm property in 1895. In the years since the 2013 announcement, the Ryan farm has been home to a number of notable IPM -related events, including the unveiling of the event's official sign. In addition, Ryan and his grandchildren were front and centre during a special ceremony last September in which dirt from the 2016 IPM near Harriston was transferred via parade to Brussels to begin the one-year countdown to the 2017 IPM. Ryan's grandchildren were the ones to pour the dirt from the Wellington County site into a pot containing a tree that was then planted at Ryan's home. O W L c vuiu cotad Rediscover what Huron County has to offer. Pick up your free guide to Stops Along The Way and see what's happening in your area! FREE Smiesummermw TOP; Along The Way A Visitor's Guide to Huron County What to See Where to Dine Things to Do Museums Trails Golf Courses Available at many local tourist spots throughout Huron County or pick it up at The Citizen 413 Queen St., Blyth - 519-523-4792 Clothing, footwear, toys, lawn and garden supplies, tools, push mowers & lawn tractors, patio furniture, birdfeeders and so much more!