The Rural Voice, 2003-05, Page 70People in Agriculture
iWo farmers
Roger Thorne of
Tara was named winner
of the 2002 Tommy
Cooper Award at an
awards dinner at
Elmwood, April 11. At
the same dinner Walter
Hellyer of Lions Head
received the Bruce
County Federation of
Agriculture's Award of
Merit for a lifetime of
working in the county.
Thorne, nominated
by the Bruce County
Plowmen's Association,
has been heavily
involved in plowing in
the area with 40 years as
a member of the Bruce
County Plowmen's
Association, 15 of them
as a director. He also
served as interim chair
of the Can Plow 2003
World Plowing
Championship and is
also a municipal
councillor for Arran-
Elderslie. He and his
wife Bonnie have three
children and three
grandchildren.
Also nominated for
the Tommy Cooper
Award, honouring the
memory of the long-
time Ag Rep for Grey
County who had a
column in the Sun -
Times and a regular
program on CFOS were:
Barbara Barfoot of
Hepworth for her work
with 4-H; Karl Chittka
of Dundalk for his work
with farm safety, the
Grey County Federation
of Agriculture and the
Dundalk District
Agricultural Society;
Wilma Jeffrey of
Wroxeter for her work
with the Grey -Bruce
Pork Producers, the
Independent Ontario
Hog Producers'
Association, the
Belmore Maple Syrup
honoured
Roger Thorne of Tara (centre) accepts the Tommy
Cooper Award from Don Ahlstrand of CFOS radio
(left) and Jim Algie of the Owen Sound Sun -Times,
co-sponsors of the annual award for contribution to
agriculture and rural living in Grey and Bruce
Counties.
Walter Hellyer (centre) and his wife Kathleen
accept the Bruce County Federation of
Agriculture's Award of Merit from Robert Emerson,
first vice-president of the Federation.
Festival, her church and Clifford Food Grains
arena board; Joan project, director with the
McKinlay of Ravenna Bruce County
for her work with the Federation and director
Grey County Soil and of North Wellington Co -
Crop Improvement op.
Association and her Walter Hellyer has a
work demonstrating long history of
good land stewardship improving breeds on the
and water management Bruce Peninsula from
practices; Murray Percheron horses 60
Thompson of years ago to Shorthorn
Kincardine who as well and Charolais cattle,
as being involved with was involved in 4-H and
the Bruce County was the first crop
Federation of insurance agent in the
Agriculture was a area. He helped organ -
founding member of the ize Environmental Farm
Ontario Canola and the Plan meetings in his
Red Wheat area and is a long-time
Associations; and OFA member. He's still
Lorne Underwood of helping on the family
Clifford chair of the farm in his 80th year.0
Larry Skinner heads
Ontario Pork
Perth County's prominent
position in the pork industry was
confirmed when Larry Skinner of
Listowel was named chair of Ontario
Pork at the March board meeting.
Skinner succeeds
Clare Schlegel of
Tavistock as the
second chair in a row
from Perth.
Skinner, his wife
Nancy and their
children Stewart,
Donald and Kathleen
operate a 450 -sow
farrow -to -wean
operation near Molesworth. They
were named "producers of the year"
by the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association at the group's annual
meeting in January.
A graduate of the University of
Guelph in 1980 with a Bachelor of
Science degree, majoring in crop
science, he and Nancy began farming
in 1985. He has been a county
councillor for Ontario Pork since
1991 and a director on Ontario
Pork's board since 1999. He was
elected vice -chair in 2000.
"The next few years will chart the
pork industry's future," he said on
accepting the leadership of the board.
"I plan to build on established relat-
ionships with processors, consumers,
industry partners and our producers
to ensure producers feel confident
that they have an important role in
shaping our future and overcoming
challenges by working together."
Curtis Littlejohn of Brant County
was elected vice -chair. He and his
wife Tonny and their four children
operate a farm near Ayr with a two -
site farrow -to -finish operation and a
small retail meat business. Littlejohn
graduated from Fanshawe College in
1985 and the Advanced Agricultural
Leadership Program in 2003. He has
served as a director for Ontario Pork
for three years and as a county
councillor since 1995.
The rest of the executive comm-
ittee includes Jasper Vanderbas of
Oxford County, John Boer, Lamb -
ton, Helmuth Spreitzer, Waterloo
and Mary -Anne Hendrikx,
Middlesex.0
Larry Skinner
New Ontario
Pork chair