The Lucknow Sentinel, 1978-09-06, Page 12Page 12,--Lucknow know Sendai, Wedne y, September 6, 1978
•
Mary Anne Alton of RR2 Lucknow, the Junior Farmer employed on the
Bluewater Centre Garden Project this summer, sold produce from the one
acre vegetable garden which she and several residents planted and looked
after at the Centre's first annual Antique Show and Sale held on August 11
and 12. (Photo by Joanne Walters)
.r
Howson.Mills
ELEVATOR DIVISION
Receiving
White Beans & Corn
• Fast Unloading
• Probe System for Corn
•. Sell, Store or Contract your Corn.
• Satellite Dealer for W. G.
Thompson & Sons Ltd. In Beans ONLY
HOWSON & HOWSON LTD.
SIXTH 523-4241
ELEVATOR: 1 mile oast of Rlyth
off County Rd. 25
PHONE 523-9624
a
More than produce har
BY JOANNE WALTE RS
Back in May of this year a
very special garden was
planted at the Bluewater
Centre south of Goderich. It
was a garden which would
resp benefits for all those
concerned..
Throughout the
.growing season this
garden has provided
summer employment and
valuable experience for
at least one student and
hours of pleasure and
training for some of the
handicapped residents at
the Centre.
The Bluewater Centre
Garden Project was
started as. a joint venture
between the Centre and
the Huron County Junior
Farmers. Wm. Gregg,
facility director, -ap-
proached the Junior
Farmers' group earlier
on in the year to tap them
for ideas on what to do
with some of the land at
'the Centre. Mr. Gregg,
along with Jim Phelan, a
provincial director of
Junior Farmers and
Doug Cameron, a
member of the Junior
Farmers, initiated the
idea of hiring a student
for the summer to plant a
one acre + vegetable
garden with the help of
some of the residents and
to sell the produce to
provide the funds for the
hiring of at least one or
two students next year
and to buy new garden
equipment too.
There were actually
five reasons for starting
the project, says Mary
Anne Alton of RR 2
Lucknow, the Junior
Farmer who was the
student hired to work on
the garden. It would
mean increased training
for the residents in ad-
dition to the many other
workshops they are in-
volved in at the Centre
" and would get them
working outside close to
the earth; it was an
employment opportunity
for students, preferably
Junior Farmers; it was
an addition to the farm
which already exists at
the Centre and a chance
for more rural in-
volvement on the part of
the residents; it was to
educate the community
on the personal worth of
the mentally han-
dicapped; and it was a
pilot or test project to
involve the Junior
Farmers, the Centre and
the community in a
working relationship and
one which would continue
annually if successful.
NERVOUS START
Mary Anne says she
was quite nervous when
she undertook the garden
job in May. She knew
little about gardening
except for working on the
one at her parents' farm
'and she had never had
any contact with han-
dicapped people before so
she wasn't exactly sure
how well she could work
with them. She was
discouraged too because
it was still snowing when
she started the job and
she had to wait for the
land to be ploughed so she
could get started.
However with this
somewhat discouraging
start now behind her, she
can reflect on an ex-
tremely worthwhile and
rewarding summer. It
was great being outdoors
she says and she -became
so fond of some of the
residents whom she
worked with that she
thinks she will really
miss them.
. "Sometimes I'd get
discouraged because I
couldn't get them to
understand what I
Wanted them to do or else
they'd just learn and then
they'd be transferred to
another workshop. But
they would always try to
do their'best for me and
were very loyal, she
says.
Although it does take
patience to communicate
with handicapped people
sometimes, you just treat
them just like anybody
else and they'll respond,
says Mary Anne. Many of
them would carry on a
good conversation with
her while they worked
away in the garden and
they took enjoyment in
the little things in life that
other people would miss:
They would get very
excited when they ac-
tually began to see the
results of their planting,
says Mary Anne. They
would dig up a potatoe or
find a tomato and make
her come to see their
important discovery. •
Each resident at the
Centre excells in at least
one thing, claims Mary
Anne, if you can only find
out what that is.
GOOD ON THE HOE
Take Dusty for in-
stance. , Dusty is a
Most of the residents at the Bluewater Centre for the Developmentally
Handicapped south of Goderich excel at one thing or another if that one
"thing can only be found,claims Junior Farmer Mary Anne Alton, head of the
Centre's garden project this summer. Dusq here, a 60 -year-old resident
who has spent the last 40 years in institutions, found his niche working in the
garden. Mary Anne says he is very good with a hoe and can even hoe around
delicate vegetables like onions better than anyone she knows. (Photo by
Joanne Walters)
•