The Rural Voice, 2000-02, Page 47RAINY RIVER
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
414R.R. 1, Devlin, Ontario POW 1C0
ALI.1L807-486-3622
• The Rural Voice is provided to Rainy
RAI `Y RIVER VALLEY River Federation members by the RRFA.
January 10, 2000
Well, we survived the Y2K bug, but
this latest tlu bug hit just about every
family in the district. Our weather has
been so unseasonal that many of our old-
timers claim that it's not cold enough to
kill the germs.
We often share stories with our
children and grandchildren of the days
when we heated water on the wood stove
for laundry and bathing and used coal oil
lamps for light to read by. We had crank
telephones with party lines and water
had to be carried by pailfuls from the
nearby well that always seemed to be
farther away from the house each time
the job had to be done.
This Christmas, the power went off
for several hours right at suppertime. So
we lit the candles and coal oil lamps and
set the stage for our old-fashioned
Christmas. I think my Dad was watching
from above and sending his message of
love, because I had the entire meal
cooked and prepared earlier than usual
this year. There was no advance warning
of the power outage. The circle of Tight
provided by the candles and lamps
brought our family closer and the
children listened attentively to the stories
that their great-grandparents told, as they
looked at the family photo albums by
candlelight. It's a Christmas that made
memories come alive as no other could
have. This year the hydro failure was a
blessing to our family anyway.
The first meeting of the new year
brought out Linda Armstrong, Dianne
Vandenbrand, Ken Fisher (sorry Evie —
he was there last meeting, just forgot to
print is name), Betty Salchert, KimJo
Calder, Shirley Morrish. Reg Kause,
Kristine Carpenter, Bernie Zimmerman,
Angela Halvorson, Henry Kaemingh and
Peter Boon.
Henry and Peter were guests on
behalf of the Christian Farmers, and both
talked about their recent meeting in
Woodstock where many farms are going
under. Henry said that 1,000 dairy farms
went out of business last year in Canada.
Peter stated that there are very few
younger fanners starting up and that the
government seems to be out to help the
big operators, but not the young farmers;
therefore, they have to go out to work at
other jobs to help pay the bills. Peter
said, "If you don't have a second
income, you can't make it."
Henry mentioned that toys like snow
machines can go up in price, but food
stays cheap and the cities have the votes.
He complained that subsidies are handed
to people who don't really need it.
Subsidies are only helping the farmers
who already are well fixed. At times
they have lured farmers into
overspending and then going broke.
Henry said he's one of the lucky ones;
his son makes the money on his dairy
farm and Henry gets to travel.
Betty handed out the extra copies of
Better Fanning and mentioned Heritage
Farms. OMAFRA should have the
information on any in this district. She
also mentioned that Farm Business
registrations are now in the mail and
must be filed by January 31, 2000 along
with your $150 payment. There was a
screw -up and everyone has been
registered as Christian Farmers
supporters. Heather at head office says.
just remember to put your X in the
preferred box before you mail it in.
A big thanks to Mr. Marlin Carr for
donating $150 towards the upcoming
family skating party and potluck dinner
at the Emo/LaVallee Community Centre.
This takes place Sunday, January 30 at
1:30 p.m. Bring your favourite dish and
your skates.
The Stock Dog Club will hold their
next meeting January 18 at 7:30 p.m. at
the Emo Inn. Family memberships are
$15. The president is Elaine Aveyard
and the secretary/treasurer is Trish
Neilson.
4-H will be holding their annual
banquet and awards night, along with
skating afterwards at the Emo-LaVallee
Community Centre. January 28 at 6:00
p.m. There are some surprise awards this
year and it promises to be a fun -filled
evening for the whole family.
You know you're getting older when
the Ag Reps are younger than you are!
The fair board had their annual
meeting and the new president is Gary
Judson from Emo while the
secretary/treasurer is Sarah Halverson.
This is the centennial celebration year
for the Rainy River Valley Agricultural
Society, so there should be many
surprises come August.
Bernie reporting for the milk
committee said that the annual meeting
is January 18 - 19 and the theme is
"Planning our Futures in Dairying".
Bernie, one of our young farmers, plans
on attending.
Rainy River Rural Safety will hold
their annual meeting February 22 at
Stratton Seniors Centre at 7:30 p.m.
Everyone is more than welcome. Farm
Safety would like to see everyone do the
ASAP — Agricultural Safety Audit
Program. It's the 32 -page booklet
containing checklists of potential danger,
and recommended remedial measures. It
is voluntary, but very useful. making
your farm a safer workplace.
Rainy River Cattlemen's Association
will have their annual meeting
Wednesday. January 19, 7:00 p.m. at
Our Lady of the Way school at Stratton.
Guest speaker from OCA will be Ken
Ferguson. There will be an election of
board members and an update on the
new ring scale project which should he
arriving anytime this month. Coffee
break for the evening is sponsored b)„
The Neilson Cattle Company (Mike and
Joanne. Matt and Jay).
Tags for the Canadian Cattle
Identification Program are not quite
ready yet. They hope to have them
available by the end of January. Target
startup date is Dec. 31, 2000. Poster,
will be going up at Auction Markets,
packing plants, vet clinics and farm
supply stores. For beef information, call
1-877-909-2333 and for dairy, call 1-
519-756-8300. BIO tags are not ready
yet either.
OCA annual meeting is Wednesday.
February 23 and Thursday. February 24
at the International Plaza Hotel in
Toronto.
We know that the earth takes one day
to spin on its axis, the moon circles the
earth in one month and the earth
revolves around the sun in one year. But.
what would we do without all those
calendars to remind us of all the other
special events in our daily lives. Thanks
to the people who sponsor their
businesses by keeping us up to date on
our present, past and future.
My Mother taught me how to become an
adult ... "If you don't eat your
vegetables you'll never grow up."
My Mother taught me about genetics ...
"You're just like your Father!"
My Mother taught me about my roots ...
"Do you think you were born in a barn?"
My Mother taught me about the wisdom
of age ... "When you get to be my age.
you'll understand".
My Mother taught me about receiving ...
"You're going to get it when we get
home!"
And my all-time favourite thing - Justice
... "One day you'll have kids, and I hope
they turn out just like you ... then you'll
see what it's like!"0
– Submitted by Shirlev Morrish
FEBRUARY 2000 43