The Rural Voice, 1993-07, Page 12AGRICULTURAL
EMPLOYMENT
SERVICES
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OWEN SOUND WALKERTON
371-9522 881-3671
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We now have our HYDRAULIC TEST
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This allows us to detect any leaks or
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When you have problems Call
BARFOOT'S WELDING AND
MACHINE SHOP at
519-534-1200 or 1-800-265-6224
We also provide:
Hydraulic pumps, Valves, Cylinders
& Controls - • Repair • Sales • Service
Parts & Service - • Bearings • Shafting
• Shearing & Bending • Castings
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WMWiarton,
(e)
BARFOOT'S WELDING
Ont.
519-534.1200
1-800-265-6224
8 THE RURAL VOICE
Adrian Vos
Co-operation is the key
For many years now I have been a
student of history. This was necessary
if I wanted to understand my own
ancestry. When I made up my family
tree I found that
long line of names
and dates rather
boring.
So I began to
study the history
of the various
generations.
What was the
economic situa-
tion when Diony-
sius Voskens
lived in the year
1600? Nys, as he
was called, was a
prominent citizen
in the City of
Hasselt in the Low Countries, what is
now Belgium. How did he live? Why
did his youngest son, my ancestor, go
to Rotterdam in Holland? For a student
of history, the last question is easy.
The Spanish Inquisition raged in the
south of the Low Countries.
In this way I learned a lot about his-
tory. I also learned that these early an-
cestors formed a tight clique and co-op-
erated to keep the area's business tight-
ly in the hands of family and friends.
The key word here is "co-operated".
The community play "Many Hands"
playing in Blyth when I write this
column, is all about such co-operation.
Without it, the early pioneers in
Ontario, your forebears, could not have
survived. They not only survived, they
prospered. The playwright, Dale
Hamilton, also gives examples of such
co-operation that still exist, even if in a
different form. The bees of former
years that were necessary, survive as a
form of recreation: quilting bees to
raise funds for a worthy cause, dye -ins
by the Spinners and Weavers Guild,
even the workers on the production line
of the rutabaga plant.
The play takes a crack at the contro-
versy of foreign land acquisitions in
Western Ontario and gives supporters
and antagonists of the fictional
company AgraCorp a chance to express
their opinions. One player deplores the
new feudalism; another praises them
for buying their near -bankrupt farm at a
fair price. One regrets the disappear-
ance of small farms. Another lauds the
creation of jobs in further processing of
farm products.
The greatest benefit of this play is
the strengthening of rural life. People
from the area are the players. They
come from Blyth and Seaforth, from
Walton and Teeswater. Some are
farmers; some are business people.
I have lived on the edge of Blyth for
over 23 years and in all that time I got
to know fewer people than I have in the
last year during research and rehearsals
for the play. It took many hands co-
operating to build Ontario and it took
many hands co-operating to put on this
play. The early settlers, your ancestors,
wherever you live, built this country.
Many tend to forget the debt we owe to
these pioneers.
There's a familiar, touching story
woven through the entire play. One
young man, "Red" Root, can't get out
of Blyth fast enough. He does move
and later acquires a truck. But in the
end he comes back and says that the
community "gets in your blood".
When he gets closer to the old home he
can "feel" it. He compromises with his
conservative parents to work on the
farm part time and do his trucking the
rest of the time.
The play brings all farmers (and
non -farmers) the message to re -assess
what they want to do with their lives.
The pioneers' children changed with
the times. We must do the same. It
may be a compromise, like the one
"Red" Root found. Or it may be a
complete break with the past, like East
Wawanosh artist, George Reid, did.
One thing is sure. Our rural society
is in danger of disintegrating. If co-
operation ceases it will surely happen.
I can only recommend to all
communities to put on a similar play.
The local history will be different from
that around Blyth and interesting to
local people. It definitely revives the
community spirit.0
Adrian Vos, from Huron County has
contributed w The Rural Voice since
its inception in 1975. He is a writer
and raises exotic birds on the farm
where he raised pigs for many years.