The Rural Voice, 1982-01, Page 17Bringing in the
(best) sheaves
When Norman Schmidt brings in the
sheaves they are usually the best around.
And to prove it the retired Mildmay -
area farmer can show you the $100 cheque
and silver tray he won at this year's Royal
Winter Fair.
The day-to-day operation of Schmidt's
Rosner Farms has been in the hands of son
Robert for more than a decade now, but
dad still looks after sheaf entries for the
Royal.
In the past he's walked off with two
reserve championships in barley and
another in oats, as well as the top prize for
rutabagas.
But this time around it was the grand
championship in the Steward Seeds open
sheaf competition. Not only did he have
the best in the oats class, but his entry of
Elgin oats bettered the best in the barley
and winter wheat classes as well.
The cheque and silver tray were
presented by Robert Jenkinson, manager,
agronomic services, Ciba-Geigy Seeds
Ltd., which sponsors the competition.
Now living in Walkterton, Schmidt
admits his passion is a dying art, but his
spirits are buoyed by the fact that his
daughter-in-law, Betty Schmidt, has
taken such an active interest in it. In
teaching her the tricks of the trade he's
happy knowing sheaf preparation and
showing will be part of the Schmidt family
for years to come.
Financing in
layman's language
Does your income tax form mystify you?
Would you like to (earn how to do a cash
flow, budgets, debt structure and the
difference between hedging and
speculating? Your golden opportunity is at
hand.
Centralia C.A.T. is sponsoring a five
day course in Financial Management to be
put on in the library of the Belmore
Community Centre. The course will run
for five Tuesdays from February 2 through
March 2 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
(Bring your own lunch. Coffee provided.)
The resource people for this course come
form one of southwestern Ontario's
leading farm accounting firms: Ward and
Uptigrove, from Listowel. The cost to bona
fide farmers: nothing.
Bob Uptigrove told Rural Voice: "We
intend to keep this course practical .
"Buzz" words, which only an accountant
would understand, will be avoided and
technical terms will be interpreted in
layman's language."
A number of topics will be covered
during the 5 -day course including farm
transfers within the family, tax
implications of a farm sale, tax records
and income tax returns. Uptigrove says
they intend to show how easy it is to
prepare a budget and cash flow and how
beneficial these are to farm planning.
Different accounting records systems
wiJ1 be examined along with production
records. A lawyer will be present on one
of the days to discuss wills and family law
reform.
Enrolment in this course will be limited.
Interested farmers should register
EARLY by calling Centralia Collge (228-
6691) or their area OMAF office.
MUSICAL FARMERS
(cont. from page 3)
outings each year don't involve their
vocal chords, rather the appreciation of
others as they travel to London or
Kitchener to watch competitions.
Some of their music nights include
their wives. Almost all of them result
from some degree of sacrifice, whether
it's quitting work a bit early (Bill
Campbell and Ribey both are employed
by Vincent at his farm equipment
dealership), or leaving until tomorrow
those last few acres of ploughing, as in
the case of farmer Ken Campbell.
As well, each of the Four has other
social and recreational interests, so
singing barbershop and practising to sing
barbershop, takes effort and planning.
Vincent, the tenor, admits he works out
a little on his own, and he says baritone
Bill Campbell does the same thing: "The
only time he doesn't sing is when he's
curling."
Ribey, the base, claims he doesn't sing
that much on his own. That's in contrast
to lead Ken Campbell, who says, "If I'm
by myself I sing like crazy, especially if
I'm on the tractor."
The Town and Country Four have left
more than musical memories around the
countryside. During the centennial•parade
in Seaforth the back tire on their bicycle
built for four (which they put together in
1974) went flat and they were forced to
hoof it.
At the centennial celebrations in
Clinton, Bill Campbell's stage clothes
were late in arriving and while the others
were dressed in their blue outfits he sang
in the comfort of summer shorts.
Head colds and laryngitis are pesky
problems for the quartet; they're ail-
ments which are unpredictable, particu-
larly when appearance dates have to be
set well in advance.
But when each voice is in top form the
Four know it and, as Bill Campbell says,
"There are nights when we have more
fun than the audience does." Then he
adds, "There's no harmony like barber-
shop."
In Huron County there's no quartet
quite like The Town and Country Four.
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THE RURAL VOICE/JANUARY 1982 PG. 15