The Rural Voice, 1998-11, Page 36Perth MPP Bert Johnson receives
the Perth County Federation of
Agriculture'„ Award of Recognition
from Past President Mary McIntosh.
MPP Bert Johnston
honoured, then
taken to task
Perth MPP Bert Johnson was
honoured by the Perth County
Federation of Agriculture at its
October 15 annual meeting, then told
he has a job to take the county's
concems over school closings to the
provincial government.
Johnson was presented with the
Recognition Award for initiating a
private member's bill which resulted
in Ontario Agriculture Week being
declared for the week previous to
Thanksgiving. But even while she
was presenting him with the award,
past president Mary McIntosh was
reminding Johnston that his help was
needed over the school closing issue.
Johnston, after recalling the
success of the first Agriculture Week,
said he was aware of the school
closing issue. On the way to the
meeting in Milverton he. passed
Mornington Central School and
recalled the closing of the local high
school years earlier. "They lost a
high school some years ago and a lot
of people in my age group have never
forgotten it," he said. "I'll do
everything in my power to make sure
the schools we need are here."
Later in the meeting a resolution
was approved calling on the Ontario
Federation of Agriculture to lobby
for a moratorium on rural school
closings until a rural education
strategy is put in place. (This
resolution was later supported
unanimously by OFA at its October
32 THE RURAL VOICE
News
21 board of directors meeting.)
A second resolution calling for
more co-operation between school
boards and the possible sharing of
schools was approved to be presented
at the OFA's annual convention in
November.
In an impassioned speech
following the passing of the two
resolutions Gerry Wallis said people
in his area are worried about the
possible closure of South Perth
Centennial School. This school, he
said, belongs to the taxpayers, not to
the provincial government. "We built
those schools. We paid for them.
Now the government is saying
they're not ours."
In elections, Andy DeVries was
returned as president, Allen Hughes
as first vice-president and Burnell
Kipfer as second vice-president.
Regional Directors to OFA are Scott
Graham for Perth South, Ivan Stucck
for Perth Central and Paul Verklcy
for Perth North.0
Huron Federation
increases visibility
By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot
In three years, every HCFA
member is going to reflect safety,
thanks to a new $8,000 `Safety Tape'
campaign. The goal of the safety tape
project is for every HCFA member to
receive the super -reflective safety -
tape kits, to stick on their tractors so
that motorists can see the machines
when travelling the roadways at
night.
"In 1993, 344 farm and
construction vehicles were involved
in traffic collision, 13 of which were
fatal," HCFA Finance Committee
Chair Charles Regele told members
at the federation's annual meeting
held in Holmesville, October 23.
"The 3M reflective tape we are
working with is a new tape which is
six times brighter than conventional
sheeting and has a candle power of
900. This provides better visual
information for faster, more accurate
decision making by drivers."
Board members will be
distributing the packages on farm
visits. Every member will receive
one tractor kit free. Additional kits
will cost $5.50. Overwidth kits will
be sold at cost for $10 and tow kits
will be $11.50.
Distribution will begin in the
southern townships this fall and
winter. HCFA members in the central
townships should receive their
packages next winter while delivery
to the northern townships is planned
for the years 2000 and 2001. Farmers
who feel they need their kits earlier
can call the HCFA office.
Henry Boot stepped down as
president of the HCFA. "We're a
tremendously important people," he
said in his farewell speech. "We
produce food for the entire nation
plus."
He said farmers have to keep
telling people about that because if
they don't, they may get even more
"cuts". Farmers have to speak up for
themselves, said Boot.
That directive was echoed by the
guest speaker for the evening, Crystal
MacKay, who also used humour to
get her point across. One of her jibes
was a list of things you will never
hear a farmer say — things like: "The
weather couldn't be more perfect,"
:That was exactly the right time to
sell," "Let's take a vacation," or "No
thanks, I have enough hats."
But when she talked about the
need for farmers to show what they
do, she was quite serious.
"This is a whole new ball game
for us," said MacKay, who is a
motivational speaker and works as a
communication specialist with
Ontario Pork. Fifteen, or even 10
years ago, farmers never had to talk
about themselves because everyone
knew what they were doing. "But
we'll never go back to the old days
when everyone was somehow tied to
agriculture," she said.
MacKay said the number one
thing farmers have to do is open the
farm door. "You have to show what
you do, then explain it and explain
why."
Tying in nicely with the idea of
keeping the public informed about
farming was a brief report on the
success of the Huron Farm Hiker tour
which over 900 people took part in
this fall. The hiker tour is a perfect
example of "opening the farm door"
as yearly, host farmers let hundreds