The Rural Voice, 1995-12, Page 12COVER-UPS
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WE'RE
MAKING
A LIST..,
We'd like to thank each
of you personally, but
we've made too many
good friends in the past
year to find the space to
list them here.
So to all of you, our very
best wishes go - for a
very Merry Christmas
and a ho...ho...ho!
inne•si
BRUCE
TRACTOR
mums -
& 'AWN CARE LTD.
R.R. 4, WALKERTON
519-881-2231
1-800-265-3883
8 THE RURAL VOICE
Robert Mercer
Family, friends and the joy
of Christmas
This year for the first time in
maybe 20 years I will not be able to
cut my own
Christmas tree.
We've moved
off a rural
property and
into a town.
Christmas in
the country has
always held a
special charm
for us as a
family as it
seemed to be
so much more
genuine and
holding to the
original
meaning, and thus less commercial.
We have always liked to go to the
Christmas service on Christmas eve
so as to leave Christmas day for
family activities. Church bells,
carols and a church full of voices
joined in choral union are a far
better experience than one viewed
from in front of a TV screen.
People talk of going to a game to get
the real experience (football, hockey
or baseball) and the same is true for
Christmas, but you need to be there
to experience it, and when better,
than when the church is full and all
the tunes well known.
For those who have lost the true
meaning of Christmas it is a day for
presents, a time for decorations, but
still a time to gather together. Yes,
if family get together there are
strong benefits of a lasting nature.
There is no better care provider than
the family unit, right from the very
young to the old. The family can do
what no government agency can
hope to accomplish. Anything that
helps bind the family together is this
unstable world is worth the effort. It
gives life a focal point and
individuals a base. To me farming
allows that better than any other
form of activity.
This thought recalls a "Farmer's
Creed" written about 20 years ago as
part of a farm machinery company's
PR program, in part it said .. .
"I believe that farming despite its
hardships and disappointments is the
most honourable way a man can
spend his days on this earth.
"I believe fanning nurtures the close
family ties that make life rich in
ways money cannot buy.
"I believe children are learning
values that will last a lifetime, and
that cannot be learned in any other
way.
"I believe hard work and honest
sweat are the building blocks of a
person's character."
As that creed says in part,
farming does have benefits outside
those most often associated with
farming activities. City life is given
all the glamour in the movies, but
the glitz is only skin deep. In the
country it is bound in with the deep
rich soil that took ages to make and
takes care to protect.
This Christmas there is possibly
more to celebrate than in recent
years, if one forgets the implications
of the narrow vote in the Quebec
election. Farming in Canada looks
to be on the verge of another
expansionary phase. This phase will
be crop -based rather than livestock
and poultry -based. Food grains and
oilseeds look strong for 1996 and
feed grains could prosper if
livestock numbers are not cut back
too sharply.
So, may 1996 be successful to
you and your family, and you
Christmas full of good food,
fellowship and family. May the
warmth of the season continue
throughout the year so that your life
maybe rich in ways that money
cannot buy.0
Robert Mercer is the founding editor
of the Broadwater Market Letter for
which he continues to write market
and ag-political commentary.