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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2012-08-30, Page 11THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 2012. PAGE 11. The 2012-2013 Queen of The Furrow Kayla Bishop, from RR2 Bluevale, is looking forward to the opportunities and responsibilities that her new position will bring. “It’s going to be a good year, but it’s going to be a very busy year as well,” she said. “I plan on going to a lot of the other plowing matches that have yet to be held and going to the local fall fairs and Christmas parades. “I’ll be attending monthly meetings with the Huron County Plowmen’s Association and other events,” she said. “Basically, I just want to represent Huron County and the plowmen and help make them well known.” When her name was called, Bishop said she simultaneously felt a lot of different emotions. “It was overwhelming really,” she said. “I was obviously very honoured and excited at the same time. I ran in the past and I wasn’t successful, but when my name was called I was just excited to get the chance to represent Huron County and hopefully do well at the [International Plowing Match] next year.” Bishop was crowned at the Huron County Plowing Match held last week just outside of Walton by the previous reigning Queen Samantha Klaver. “I really hope I can fill her shoes and represent Huron County well,” Bishop said. Huron County is a great place to represent, she said, because of all the opportunities that are afforded to youth in the area. “It’s like I said in my speech, it takes a community to raise a child” she said. “There are so many opportunities out there, people just need to jump in with both feet.” She said that the opportunity to be Queen of the Furrow is an excellent example of one of those opportunities and that being a part of the plowmen, just like any community, is something both her and her family strive to do. “My family has been behind me in everything I’ve done and they were behind me in running for Queen,”she said. “The are very involved inthe community, be it 4-H or JuniorFarmers and this is another avenue through which we can participate in the community.” That community participation and her volunteer experience really helped Bishop along the way to becoming Queen, she said. “The community members I’ve known through working and volunteering definitely helped me and pushed me along,” she said. “There will always be a lot of support behind me through that.” While the approach to the Huron County Plowing Match was one full of preparation for Bishop, a lot of the experiences she will remember were on the day of the competition. “Basically, it was a great day,” she said. “The competitors started off the day with our individual interviews and after lunch we did our speeches and improv speeches and our plowing. Then we finished off the day with a barbecue and the awards.” Bishop ran against six other competitors who she felt would all be equally suited to represent the plowmen and the county. “The other girls really gave me a run for my money,” she said. “Any one of us could represent the county.” Bishop’s speech focused on the opportunities for youth in the county and the difference that coming from a caring community can make. Her improv speech focused on baler twine and she felt confident about that. “When I had my hand in the bag and I felt the twine I knew I could probably come up with some stories about it,” she said. “It wasn’t too difficult because I came from a farm and it’s a thing we use daily. I could really relate to it and I told storiesabout my sisters and I and how weuse it and work together.”Aside from her family and community, Bishop said thanks definitely need to be given to John Urquhart, her plowing coach, the judges, Marie McGavin and Joan Vincent for putting on the competition and the Huron CountyPlowmen’s Association.While only her second timeplowing, Bishop said she had fun. “The plowing was good,” she said. “Despite it being the second time in my entire life, I had good coaches and I just had to sit on the tractor and drive.” Bishop of RR2 Bluevale named match queen A pair of Queens Kayla Bishop, left, was one of seven competitors to vie for the Queen of the Furrow title during the Huron County Plowing Match held just outside of Walton last Friday. Bishop won out over her competition to be crowned by the 2011-2012 Queen Samantha Klaver, right. (Denny Scott photo) Putting her skills to work Kayla Bishop put her plowing skills to work on Friday as part of the Huron County Plowing Match’s annual Queen of the Furrow competition. Bishop would eventually come out on top and claim the crown Friday night. (Denny Scott photo) An Evening with Douglas Gibson … and Many Famous Canadian Authors will launch the Alice Munro Writers and Readers Festival on stage with Stories about Storytelling by Douglas Gibson at Blyth Memorial Community Hall on Sept. 28 at 8 p.m. Spotlighting an extraordinary career, this lively performance, based on Gibson’s autobiography, reviews the author’s accomplishments working—and playing—alongside some of Canada’s greatest writers. These humorous chronicles relate the projects he brainstormed for writer Barry Broadfoot, how he convinced eventual Nobel Prize contender Alice Munro to keep writing short stories, his early morning phone call from a former Prime Minister, and his recollection of yanking a manuscript right out of Alistair MacLeod’s own reluctant hands—which ultimately garnered MacLeod one of the world’s most prestigious prizes for fiction. Insightful and entertaining, this collection of tales provides an inside Gibson to kick off Munro festival By Denny Scott The Citizen Continued on page 22