The Rural Voice, 2003-10, Page 3About this issue
A colourful story
There are certain times when the area we live in is the
envy of the world. Autumn is one of those times when the
landscape, for a few short weeks, is painted with the
brightest colours in the paint box.
It's always fascinating to learn how these colours
develop in leaves that have started out as vivid green in
May, sobering to a more muted dark green in mid -summer.
Todd Leuty provides the science behind that transformation
in an article this month.
October has traditionally been our issue featuring
articles about the woodlot. One of the ongoing themes of
this issue over the years has been the profit that can come
from that often forgotten part of the farm. Over and over
we've quoted people who say that the woodlot can provide
an annual income just as good as any other acre of the
farm. This month we talked to a farmer who has kept the
figures over a long period of time that prove the point.
Fall weather is especially changeable. While people
have tried to predict weather with everything from wooly
caterpillars to how high the corn cobs are on a stalk of corn,
the age-old skills of reading the sky for upcoming weather
are among those that hold the most accuracy. This month
Larry Drew looks at some of the old weather statements
and explains why they often work.
Farmers tend to love animals but some people get more
involved than others. While some people are content with
their cows or pigs and maybe a dog and cat, sometimes
there are those curious enough to fill the yard with a
menagerie. Rachel Wallace-Oberle this month tells us about
one of these farmers, who also happens to be her father.
Our people page tells of several remarkable young
people from the region, one chosen as one of Maclean's
magazine's "Faces of the Future".
This month Bonnie Gropp's recipes will help make the
most of fall's bountiful harvest.
Patti Robertson's column talks about coping with the
great blackout and the ways her family has cut energy use
and prepared for future incidents.
And we have election coverage leading up to the
October 2 provincial election.0
Update
Those Donnellys won't die
Back in June 2001 staff writer Mark Nonkes wrote a
story on the legend of Lucan's Donnelly family who
feuded with their neighbours in the early pioneer days
when the bush had barely been cleared from the land and
everything was pretty rough and ready. Most of the family
was eventually murdered by a vigilante mob. Their
murderers were never brought to justice.
The story has become timely because the Blyth Festival
was preparing a production of a play based on their story
called The Outdoor Donnellys. The show, which took place
in various locations around the village with the audience
being taken from place to place on wagons, proved a smash
hit with sold out audiences, despite inconveniences such as
downpours and June bug invasions. The production was
repeated in 2002 again to sold out audiences. Despite its
success the Festival didn't schedule the play in 2003,
fearful of the heavy toll it might take on the hundreds of
volunteers who are involved along with the professional
acting company. However the play has just been announced
as the opening performance of the 2004, 30th anniversary
season of the Festival. Advance tickets are on sale only to
preferred customers who have bought season's vouchers
for the Festival's other 2004 plays but the remaining single
tickets will go on sale later this fa11.0
'Rural Voice
Published monthly by:
The Rural Voice,
Box 429, Blyth, Ontario,
NOM 1H0
Telephone: 519-523-4311 (fax 523-9140).
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A division of North Huron Publishing Company Inc.
Editor & Publisher: Keith Roulston
Editorial advisory conunittee:
Bev Hill, farmer, Huron Cty;
Diane O'Shea, farmer, Middlesex Cty.;
Gerald Poechman, farmer, Bruce Cty.
Contributing writers:
Bonnie Gropp, Carol Riemer, Ralph
Pearce, Bob Reid, Mervyn Erb, Sandra
Orr, Janice Becker, Larry Drew
Marketing & Advertising sales manager:
Gerry Fortune
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Merle Gunby
Production co-ordinator:
Joan Caldwell
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Dianne Josling
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