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The Citizen, 2011-10-13, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2011. PAGE 7.Walton farmers help set record at Harvest for Hunger What a magnificent coming together of area folks for a great cause. The Harvest for Hunger, heldjust north of Monkton, had manylocal farmers attending with theircombines or just to watch or to work.Some of the Walton/ Brussels area farmers who had their combines put to work were Dave Baan, John and Bruno Braecker, Lorne Glanville, Bruce and Brandon Blake, John and Mark Gillis, Terpstras, Wayne Hopper, Murray Fischer, Don Fischer with grandson Matthew Swart and others that I am unaware of. They were among the 115combines working to take off 160acres of soybeans in less than 12minutes. The goal was accomplished in 11 minutes and 44 seconds, which is a Guinness world record for soybeans. Aiding in the precision planning was Gord Mitchell with his expertise of GPS. The field was a track of 240 acres and they had cut out 80 acres to line up the combines and leave two 80- acre sections to combine. A drivers’ meeting was held that morning so all could receive their instructions and line up. There were seven different kinds of combines with John Deere models creating a sea of green across the field. There was an amazing 2,900 feet of headers ranging from 13' to 40' heads. Combines ranged in age from the early 60s to a brand new unit hitting the field for the firsttime. They estimated that there was$30 million worth of machinerypresent. The play-by-play was heard on CKNX and the video on the internet really is good. This is the first time in Ontario such a large operation has been mounted in the harvest of soybeans for the Harvest for Hunger program. Our daughter-in-law Alicia was present working at the event. The farm department of Ward and Uptigrove, where she works, were called upon to work serving beef and pork on a bun for those attending. She reports that it was very noisy when all the combines started up and it was a major cloud of dust when all got rolling after the staggered start. Congratulations to all who attended to make this a successful venture for the Harvest for Hunger. By Jo-Ann McDonald Call 887-6570 PEOPLE AROUNDWALTON Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! What a wonderful stretch of weather we have all enjoyed this past weekend and this past week. It was the kind of weather all farmers hope for and a lot of beans were harvested. Fields of white beans and acres of soybeans were cleaned off the fields and the guys at the receiving plants were kept very busy. Unfortunately for them they missed Thanksgiving dinner, but so did a lot of busy farmers. Farmers were kept busy with harvest, but just as many were busy planting winter wheat. Spraying, spreading fertilizer and manure and planting the wheat is all in a day’s work for our area farmers. Farmers who had extra family members home for the long weekend put them to work at something like hauling loads, planting, doing the chores or even plowing. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving weekend, whether they were working or just enjoying family at home and just enjoying the great weather. We welcome Max and Barb Watts back to Brussels. They have moved in temporarily to the newly refurbished Turnberry Apartments. They have returned to Brussels after spending a number of years living and running a funeral home business in Wasaga Beach. Welcome back. I was out to Seaforth Hospital to see Ruth Sauve-Schade on Monday and she is doing very well. She has walked all the way down the hall and she hopes she will soon be ready to come home. I said hello to Dorothy Dalton, who was enjoying the warm weather outside the doors, a break from being inside. The emergency room was a busy place with some local folks checking out various problems and we hope they all are feeling better. Celebrating birthdays this past week include Pauline Bennett, Shaye Flaxbard, Paul Kirkby, Dianne McCallum, Kara Godkin, Joyce Hartman, Jordan Gerber, Heather Gerber, Jared Kelso, Cheryl Ryan, Greg Ducharme, Kathy Huether and Stefan Nichol. Happy birthday to all. Our sympathies are extended to the Mann family on the passing of Mary Mann. Mary had been in Listowel Hospital for a time and had recently been at the Seaforth Manor. Mary and her late husband Jim, had lived and farmed in the Moncrieff area, before retiring to Brussels several years ago. She will be missed by her son Bruce and daughter Heather and their families. Our condolences to the Mann family and the extended Bartja families. The ladies of the UCW catered to the funeral luncheon for the family of the late Mary Mann at the church on Saturday afternoon. The ladies appreciate all who helped provide the lunch on such a busy weekend. Thanks to Gloria Wilbee, Jo-Ann McDonald, Alicia McDonald, Karen Hoegy and Phyllis Mitchell for working. The cookbooks are going very well and the Cookbook committee is thinking of ordering more. Great book and a great job by the committee gathering recipes from current and many of the former members of Duff’s United Church. Neil and Marie McGavin had visitors from Ridgeway near Port Colborne a week ago. Ron and Charlotte Ennis dropped in to visit and to get a Duff’s United Church cookbook. Ron was raised in Walton and spent time visiting with friends and relatives still in the area The area seems to be overrun with stupid raccoons. We had another raccoon, the fourth in the last two months, appear at our house. I was making breakfast and I watched as the raccoon strolled across the lawn and I yelled for Rick. The raccoon strolled across the gravel and right up onto our back porch. While Rick readied the gun, the raccoon stood up on its back legs and looked in the back door. I don’t know if he was looking for breakfast but Rick made sure he won’t be eating again. Our neighbour had an unwanted raccoon on his front porch about a week ago. He managed to eliminate that raccoon by beating it with a hockey stick. A little farther up the road at our son’s, he has had about four dazed raccoons around his house. The raccoons seem to have no fear and are everywhere. I have heard from the vet, that distemper is running rampant in raccoons this year, so everyone needs to keep on eye on their pets. Raccoons find no love in Walton Beautiful weather marks Thanksgiving Pethicks return from visit to B.C. Ken and Val Pethick have returned from a trip to Abbotsford, B.C. They were attending Val’s uncle’s 80th birthday. There were eight from Ontario including the Pethicks, Val’s three sisters and one brother-in-law, a niece and a friend of the family. They stayed at a beautiful cottage belonging to the birthday boy’s granddaughter. They attended the celebration and did lots of sightseeing. They walked across the Capilano suspension bridge and went horseback riding. They went on a tree top walk. There are stairs that wrapped around the trees and you climb them. There are bridges that join the trees together and wind their way to the top of the mountain. There is a glassed-in area around the top of the mountain and it was a magnificent view. They also enjoyed visiting with the rest of the relatives. They were away a week and when they returned Val and Ken continued their vacation by heading north. They visited friends in North Bay and northern and eastern Ontario for the next week. Welcome home. Neil and Marie McGavin have had a special visitor over the Thanksgiving weekend. They had their granddaughter, Jessica Kelso from North Bay for the weekend. She came with friends from North Bay on their way to London and was dropped off at her grandparents’ home. She had a great time spending time at Brian and Shelley’s and then at Jeff and Shannon’s. She enjoyed having fun with her cousins and will return to North Bay later in the week with Neil and Marie. Subject to additional terms and conditions found at saveonenergy.ca. *Fridges and freezers must be 15 years of age or more, in working condition and between 10-27 cubic feet. Access conditions apply. †Window air conditioners and dehumidifiers must be 10 years of age or more and in working condition. Funded by the Ontario Power Authority and offered by Festival Hydro Inc. A mark of the Province of Ontario protected under Canadian trademark law. Used under sublicence. OMOfficial Mark of the Ontario Power Authority. Used under licence. Repairs may wait until 2013 Repairs at Huron East’s town hall in Seaforth were on the agenda for the Oct. 4 Huron East Council meeting, but they are unlikely to begin until 2013. Clerk-Administrator Brad Knight said the east and west-facing windows of the hall are “badly weathered” and “don’t look too good”. However, because the building is a heritage structure, certain measures have to be taken when repairing the town hall to ensure it retains its heritage integrity. The municipality has brought in a consultant to repair the building in a way that will satisfy its heritage requirements and Knight said the best course of action was to not rush the job. Complaints had been received regarding the condition of the building. Councillors, who have been talking about repairs to the hall for years, were getting eager to complete the repairs. “I think we should let him do his job and come up with a replacement plan,” Knight said. “We just need to give him a bit of time.” Knight said the windows facing the north and south ends of the building are in good shape and are structurally sound, but that there had been complaints about the roof leaking. Councillor Bob Fisher had reported that the Seaforth Food Bank had reported a leak from the building’s roof on three separate occasions and they were afraid further leaks would cause an issue with the Huron County Health Unit. Knight said there would be a follow-up later in the week where those issues would be addressed. He said there is a roof membrane over the roof and that it could be the cause of the leak, which was confirmed by Public Works Director Barry Mills. Councillor Bill Siemon, however, wasn’t pleased with having to wait, saying that the money has been set aside for the repairs, so they should be completed. “Let’s get it repaired,” Siemon said. “We have a $200,000 budget and we haven’t spent 10 cents of it. I’m afraid we’re not being proactive on this.” Knight said 2013 was the likely window of time for the project to be completed because of the extensive research necessary with a project like the town hall. “Let him do his job,” Knight said. “Let him lay out his work plan.” Councillor Larry McGrath said he too was afraid of the project ending up on the municipality’s back burner and said he would like to see a report back to council in two weeks, in time for the Oct. 18 meeting. “We’ve been spinning around this for years,” McGrath said. By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen NEWS FROM WALTON