The Rural Voice, 1999-09, Page 87RAINY RIVER
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
41*
R.R. 1, Devlin, Ontario POW '1 CO
807-486-3622
Ammik • The Rural Voice is provided to Rainy
RAINY RIVER VALLEY River Federation members by the RRFA.
August 10, 1999
My Mom and Dad are retired
farmers and still read this magazine
faithfully each month. Today they are
celebrating 59 years of marriage.
Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad —
Love you forever.
Summer is here in full force and
the haying is going very well. From
all reports, yields have tripled in most
places. This makes up for the empty
grainfields. Rudy even found time to
stir the strawberry jam for Marie, but
then he does eat most of it anyway.
The August 3 RRFA meeting was
held at the Morley upstairs meeting
room. It's a long climb after throwing
bales all day, but some of us can still
do it. Attending were Linda
Armstrong, Kristine Carpenter, Diane
Vandenbrand, Wade Desserre, James
Gibson, KimJo Calder, Rudy
Sinninghe, Betty Salchert and Shirley
Morrish.
Linda congratulated KimJo on the
terrific job of collecting the ads for the
North West Link. This pays for the
publishing costs. Dryden and Thunder
Bay Districts have still to come up
with their ads.
The road signs advertising
Agriculture in our district, costs $365
per year to be situated where they are,
at each end of the district. Nault's
office promised to cover the yearly
expense. Suppose a little reminder
every now and then won't hurt.
Betty made her trip to Vermilion
Bay and drove her little green tractor
in the tractor parade. She was able to
bring our toy tractors home in time for
the Ag Awareness display at the fair.
We let Dryden District use them for a
while for their projects.
Betty is getting calls about the
Farm Lands Property Tax Rate and
the forms that have been sent. She's
busy answering questions, and will be
for another year. Her contract has just
been renewed. Welcome back Betty
and keep up the good work.
Linda reported that only three
entries were received for the recent
annual Farm Beautification Contest.
Two are from Emo, the other is from
Stratton. It was felt that possibly
people are a bit shy about entering
their own home and farm in the
contest, so maybe the rules will
change for next year so that you can
enter your neighbour's place in the
contest — with permission of course.
Kristine reported that some of the
local schools have ordered the new
kits which are available from OAFE
(Ontario Agricultural Food Education)
through our local Association. Our
little committee will be at the Emo
Fall Fair in the Farm Progress
Building. Watch for the cornmeal
sandbox, all the brightly coloured
kids' chairs and smiling faces.
Dan Wright has come up with the
idea of a possible bus trip to
Agribition at Regina, at the end of
November. He has asked for
volunteers to stand on a planning
committee to see if anyone is actually
interested. Kristine and Rudy are
representing the RRFA. Kim.lo Calder
and Peter Spuzak are representatives
for the Cattlemen's Association.
Agribition is an excellent Agricultural
show and an education for anyone.
Everyone should see it at least once.
Turning it into a bus trip will take a lot
of good planning.
Our local Ministry of Agriculture
and Food Office on Front Street, in
Emo, is in the process of moving to
the police station on the highway.
Renovating is going on at this time
and the move will be complete by the
end of August. It's much smaller in
the meeting room, but with smaller
attendance at organizational meetings
it should be just right.
RRFA awards a bursary each year
to a son or daughter of an RRFA
member. The recipient from Fort
Frances High School is Angela
Teeple, daughter of Jim and Alwine
Teeple, and from Rainy River High
School, the award went to Ryan
Sinninghe, son of Rudy and Marie
Sinninghe. Congratulations to two of
our former 4-H members. We're
proud of you.
Dr. Chris Cannon from the Nor -
West Animal Clinic will be out of the
office August 14-15 and 28-29.
Top of the Line Beef Cattle Sale is
scheduled for Saturday, October 23 at
1:00 p.m. at the Stratton Salesyard.
Previewing of the cattle takes place at
11:00 a.m. Entry deadline date is
September 6 with a fee of $50. Half is
refundable. There will be a board
meeting on September 3. Call
OMAFRA or Kimio Calder at 482-
2863 for entry forms.
Rainy River Cattlemen's
Association will hold a Yearling Sale
on Saturday, August 28 and a Calf
Sale on Saturday, October 2. Call
manager Russ Richards at 487-2472
or President, Peter Spuzak at 274-
9017 for inquiries.
Linda reported that to date 37
booths are paid for in the Farm
Progress Building for this year's tair.
There are some new exhibitors and
everything is going well, under the
capable hands of Linda and her crew.
Rudy announced that the dairy in
Kenora is closing and that all local
milk will be trucked to Manitoba from
our District. There are 20 dairy farms
left in Rainy River District and three
in Dryden District.
Did you know that your plate
validation sticker expires on your
birthday, not at the end of the.month?
The fine for driving with an expired
validation sticker is $90. So, if you're
an individual vehicle registrant, make
sure you renew before your birth date.
A plastic scull cap, which is a
protective plastic cap liner. has been
introduced for the market. It fits inside
baseball caps, cowboy hats, or straw
hats and comes with a sweat band. It
does not replace hard hats, but does
provide protection from those little
bumps. A sample costs $12 and will
be refunded when you order 50.
Contact Glencoe farmer Marve Eberle
and partner Ray Emery at Distributors
99, 4218 Dobie Dr., Glencoe. ON
NOL IMO, 519-287-5418.
It's that time of year again when
the RRFA have their annual meeting
planned for October 23. This year's
dinner and dance will take place at the
Emo Legion Hall. Speaker on first
course will be Jennifer Mercer who
will answer questions on the environ-
mental issues of waterways, and the
second speaker will be Liaison to the
Executive for RRFA, Peter Canning.
It's also election time and it would be
wonderful to see some new faces on
the board of directors. Not that the old
faces are so bad, it's just time for them
to move on. Please think about letting
your name stand, and just try it for a
year. You just might like it!
"Your character is shown by what
you do, when there is nothing to do."0
— By Shirley Morrish
SEPTEMBER 1999 83