The Rural Voice, 1990-05, Page 78RAINY RIVER
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
Box 416, Emo, Ontario POW 1 E0
807-482-2051
• The Rural Voice is provided to Rainy River
Federation members by the RRFA.
On March 31 at the Stratton Separate
School, the program sponsored jointly by
OMAF and the Rainy River federation,
Farming in the '90s, was underway at 10 a.m.
It wasn't as well attended as it might have
been, but those of us who went were not dis-
appointed. Kim Hunsperger, Gertie Bujold,
and Pat Clysdale-Cornell are to be congratu-
lated for the excellence of the program.
We began the morning with Bill Darby,
a biologist with the MNR. He emphasized
the need for buffer zones along streams and
ditches to help keep the water cool and pre-
vent some of the runoff of sprays and sedi-
ment. We have a fairly good fish habitat still,
and should be able to improve it and keep the
fish industry viable.
The first concurrent session I took in was
with Bud Herbert from the Investors Syndi-
cate. He showed a graph with an investment
of $2,000 for each year for eight years at 10
per cent; beginning at age 19 and leaving it
until age 65 will yield $1,850,000. I should
have heard this at 19. Bud further advised us
that a proper tax plan is important to a finan-
cially secure retirement. Continually check
with your accountant about tax changes.
Start now: you are never too young to begin
planning and no one else will do it for you.
I then attended the first-aid session with
James Bujold. Some of the slides he had
were pretty graphic. One of the men in the
session took one look at one of the pictures
and wondered when his hand had been pho-
tographed. He knew that when he'd hurt his
finger no photo had been taken, but I guess
we have more common types of accidents
than we care to admit.
One of the most important things James
stressed was that the first person on the scene
of an accident can really make a difference in
how long a person might have to be hospital-
ized and how long-term the disability might
be. The hospitalization cost can be deter-
mined by our actions.
Most of us in our area have a wait to get
an ambulance, police, or fire truck, and the
importance of first-aid training cannot be
emphasized too much. The goal for our area
is to have two people on each farm trained in
first aid and one in three with CPR training.
The definition of a specialist is: "One
who knows what can hurt you and what to do
about it." When a piece of machinery gets
plugged or stalls, remember to shut off the
engine before servicing it. Service only
when all sources of power are shut off.
The last session of the day was with Lera
Ryan, a family resource management spe-
cialist with OMAF, who spoke about stress
and how to cope with it. She said that when
we set our goals we should write them down
74 THE RURAL VOICE
to confirm their importance in our lives, and
that what is in black and white is more
definite than that which is in the air or up in
the smoke of our dreams. Our goals should
be challenging, achievable, realistic, meas-
urable, and rewarding.
Some stress can make us achieve; some
of it can put us out of control and, when that
happens, we need to learn to say NO. To
regain control we may have to close the door,
put our priorities back in order, and be firm
in our decisions. We need a positive attitude.
The road to success is mostly detours.
We would like to thank the donors of our
door prizes for the day. The winners and
their prizes were: Jill Kellar (pesticide safety
kit), Cyanamid Canada; Buck Bujold (cer-
tificate for two straws of semen), Cornell
Farms; Delores Romyn and Dan Holm (first-
aid kits), Fort Frances Ambulance staff;
Marlene Gouliquer (certificate for salt),
Stratton Community Store. Congratula-
tions, and many thanks to the donors.
The RRFA meeting was April 5 in the
Emo OMAF office, 7:30 p.m. It was moved
by George Hyatt and seconded by Kristine
Carpenter that Gary Esselink stand for the
remainder of the term for Zone 4 director to
fill the vacancy left by Jim Belluz. Carried.
The Agriculture in the Classroom Com-
mittee reported that it is slowly getting mate-
rial for the fall program.
The Farm Progress Building Committee
has been approached about changing the
name and some of the suggestions are:
Valley Progress Building, Sunset Country
Building, or District Progress Building.
Shirley Morrish will contact the fair board to
leave a Janeway open to the building.
Dean Hodgson reported on the Nuisance
Wildlife Committee meeting with the MNR
and his conclusion was that the MNR doesn't
want to pay for anything.
The Cattlemen's Association reports
that October 6, 1990 will be the sale date.
Russ Richards, Ken McKinnon, and George
Hyatt are on the sale committee.
The president made a presentation to
Dean Hodgson on behalf of the federation in
appreciation for his years of service and
commitment. We wish Dean well in what-
ever his new endeavours are.
Directors present: Paul Heyens, Kristine
Carpenter, Shirley Morrish, George Hyatt,
Les Hoskins, Wayne Flatt, Kim Hunsperger,
Jacquelyn Hunsperger, Ralph Hunsperger.
On April 7, the RRFA held its Annual
Spring Dinner and Dance. The head table
guests were Gertie and Buck Bujold, Paul
Heyens, Peter Van Ballegooie, Kim Hun-
sperger, and our special guests Gisele Ire-
land and Super Wrench Brian Ireland. Kim
Hunsperger chaired the evening. Archie
Wiersema asked the blessing, and a delicious
meal was served by Debbie Zimmerman,
Marg Irvine, Susan Irvine, Alma Angus, and
Shirley Teeple. Thank you, ladies.
We had a number of door prizes and we
thank our donors and congratulate the win-
ners. Big Mac winners from McDonald's in
Fort Frances were Rick Boersma, Eleanor
Wiersema, Ted Kaemingh, Barry Hartry,
Colin Neilson, Archie Wiersema, Tom
Morrish, Buck Bujold, Mike Neilson, and
Alan Zucchiatti. Winners of caps from D &
M Building Contractors were Linda Arm-
strong and Bob Angus. Harold McQuaker
Enterprises donated a cap and car wash, won
by Sally Selman and Reuben Korb. Sooters
of Fort Frances donated leather photo al-
bums, won by Russell Richards, Jr. and
Wayne Pollard. Standard Insurance donated
a rechargeable fire extinguisher, won by
John Goertz. Rainy Lake Realty donated a
flashlight and battery kit, won by Kim
Meyrs. Macleods of Rainy River donated
two surprise packages that went to Bev Hyatt
and Carolyn Kreger. Rainy River Credit
Union sent two caps, won by Bill Irvine and
Bill Romyn. Seven Bends Farms donated
honey and a cookbook, won by Alma Angus.
Marmus Shell sent along two caps, won by
Linda Neilson and Wayne Herod, and a case
of RotellaT grease, won by Leonard Selman.
Norlund Oil donated a sports bag, won by
Kathy Stalin. Dale Berg and Ted Zimmer-
man won the cap from Peter McQuaker.
I was the lucky person who got to intro-
duce the guest speaker. Gisele spoke in her
own inimitable style. During her talk she
stressed the importance of communication
within the family. When something is troub-
ling you, don't bottle it up or erupt like
Mount Vesuvius unless that's what it takes to
gain the attention of the person you need to
talk to. Talk out the stress, she said. Find out
what is making the other person do what is
driving you crazy and maybe you can both
make changes, however slight, to make life
more comfortable for both of you.
She made us laugh and made us listen.
Thank you, Gisele, we are glad you visited
with us. Come again if you get the chance.
Paul Heyens listed some of the things the
local federation has been involved in during
the past year. He also presented Past Presi-
dent George Hyatt with a Certificate of Ap-
preciation for his service to the local district.
Peter Van Ballegooie reported about
some of the topics under discussion at the
provincial board meetings recently.
The next meeting of the RRFA is May 3
at the Stratton Separate School, 7:30 p.m.0
Jacquelyn