The Rural Voice, 2003-02, Page 54People in Agriculture
Nellie VandenHoven (left) of Monkton and Caroline Vivian of Mitchell
represented Ontario at the National 4-H Volunteer Leaders' Conference in
Toronto, November 6-10.
Perth leaders at 4-H conference
Perth County 4-H leaders Nellie
VandenHoven of Monkton and
Caroline Vivian of Mitchell
represented Ontario at the National
4-H Volunteer Leaders' Conference
held in Toronto during 4-H week,
November 6-10.
Development of effective
leadership skills and an increased
awareness of today's youth were
among the goals on which the
conference focussed. The theme was
"Building the 4-H Team" and was
supported by sessions on how best to
plan for the future, how to think
globally and act locally as well as
sessions dedicated to motivating
delegates in their work with youth.
A major highlight of the
conference was a visit to the Royal
Winter Fair but there were also visits
to the Royal Ontario Museum, The
Hockey Hall of Fame, the CN Tower
and a dinner theatre.
The conference culminated with a
Friends of 4-H Banquet attended by
the corporate sponsors.
VandenHoven and Vivian said the
conference gave delegates a chance
to make lasting friendships with
fellow 4-H Leaders from across
Canada with the hope of building
4-H for the future.0
Donation honours memory of Bill Davis
The memory of Bruce
County cattleman Bill Davis
has been honoured with a
cheque for $1,000 to support
Grey Bruce Farmers' Week.
The money came from the
funds remaining with the
1998 Bruce & Grey Counties
Drought Relief Committee
which Davis helped start.
Davis, who died suddenly on
May 10, 2002 at age 47, had
been passionate about the
committee's work and involv-
ed in many other farm groups
over the years. He was a
partner in a fourth generation
Dobbinton farming operation.0
A cheque for 51,000 is presented by Donna
Vanderham of the Grey & Bruce Counties
Drought Relief Committee to Don Grant of the
organizing committee for Grey Bruce Farmers'
Week in memory of Bill Davis. Bill's brother Mark
(right) holds a plaque.
Pasture Mat
inventor dies
at age 62
Douglas Young, creator of the
Pasture Mat bedding system for
dairy cattle now used around the
world, died December 12.
A decade ago Young talked to a
cattle expert who noted that cows
sleep less comfortably and for fewer
hours in the barn than they did on
pastures. Young decided he would
remedy the problem and, after
months of research, invented the
Pasture Mat, a rubberized bedding
system that provides comfortable
indoor surface for cattle to stand or
sleep on.
"People laughed at the idea when
we first showed it at farm shows,"
recalled his daughter Shelley to the
Kitchener -Waterloo Record. Despite
the derision, the Pasture Mat worked
wonders and is now used in dairy
barns across Canada, the United
States, Europe and Japan.
Young's creativity blossomed at
an early age when his undiagnosed
dyslexia forced him to dream up a
system of codes to help him read. He
grew up on a farm outside Sarnia
where he developed a love for
animals.
Just a month before he was due to
graduate from the University of
Western Ontario, where he studied
English, he dropped out to start his
first business: a silo -building
operation in the Ottawa Valley. The
business thrived.
He married Joyce Dolbear whom
he met while he was at Western and
she was studying nursing, and they
had three children: Shelley, Suzanne
and Rob. The family lived in various
parts of Canada, wherever business
took them. Along the way he earned
a reputation as a practical joker.
Young had been diagnosed with
bone marrow cancer in 2000 and the
cancer caused kidney failure which
required dialysis three times a week.
He spent months in hospitals but
continued to sell his Pasture Mats
over the phone, sometimes telling his
doctors to wait until he closed a deal
before they could treat him. Family
said he maintained his sense of
humour to the end.0