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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-09-30, Page 19THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30,1992. PAGE 19. 21 Dairy Princesses gather at reunion BY LISA BOONSTOPPEL-POT Glittering tiaras and bright smiles lit up Seaforth Community Centre Saturday night as 21 former Huron County Dairy Princesses reunited for the 35th Anniversary of the Huron County Dairy Princess Competition. Since 1957, the Huron County Milk Committee has held a contest to choose a young women to pro­ mote milk and milk products and the dairy industry. Saturday night's competition served to introduce Huron County's newest princess, Amy Terpstra of RR 3, Brussels. She, along with fel­ low contestants, Kerri Bachert of RR 2, Blyth, Donna Lynn Arm­ strong of RR 2, Auburn and Bar­ bara Wynja of RR 4, Seaforth all had to present a speech on the dairy industry and undergo an in-depth interview by a panel of judges who choose the new princess based on the results of the interview, the pre­ sentation and material of the speech and the contestants' personality and knowledge of the dairy industry. But the Dairy Princess wasn't always chosen this way. Huron County's first Dairy Princess, Betty (Storey) Dale of Seaforth remembers when contes­ tants were judged on how they milked a cow. "The competition was carried out at the regular evening milking time with a panel of four judges watch­ ing each girl while she went through the step-by-step routine of cleaning and sterilizing the milking equipment, milking the cow and cleaning up after," she wrote in a letter that was read at the competi­ tion. The judges scored the girls for their appearance, their manner, their familiarity with milking rou­ tine, their skill in managing the cow and their ability to keep within the 18 minute time-limit for the complete sequence of operation." After the contest, the competitors were guests at a dinner and then they went to the Huron County Home where more than 1000 peo­ ple would gather for an evening Continued on page 26 Speaking of Farming Plenty of princesses By Keith Roulston Ethanol: new product for farms? There hasn’t been a heck of a lot of good news for United Co-opera­ tives of Ontario in the last few years but one venture that seems to have been a success is its foray into ethanol sales. UCO, in a joint-venture with Sunoco, introduced ethanol-based gasolines at several gas bars in Ontario last spring and the company reports sales are up 10 per cent, with 25-30 per cent of customers filling up with ethanol based-fuels. The numbers might have been higher but for the fact that UCO wasn't selling regular grade gas with ethanol, only higher octane blends. Earlier this month, however, UCO announced it would begin selling regular gas with ethanol. It has also announced there will be some sales to farmers and announced an expansion of the numbers of gas bars selling ethanol. Ontario com producers have been pushing for ethanol production for a long time now. If ethanol, alcohol produced from fermentation of com or other grains, was used at a 10 per cent ratio in gasoline, it would clean up the environment and provide a market for 10 per cent of Ontar­ io's com crop, said Jim Johnson, President of the Canadian Renewable Fuels Association, and a former president of the Ontario Com Growers. But others aren't so sure that com or wheat are the best sources for ethanol production. A U.S. Department of Energy study pointed out that it costs almost as much to produce ethanol from grains as can be gotten out of it. It also uses a lot of energy, from the diesel fuel used to plant and harvest the crop, to the heat used in the fermenting process. Locally we may have an edge on this since ethanol produced for UCO at Com­ mercial Alcohols at the Bruce Energy Centre makes use of waste steam heat from the Bruce Nuclear Power Development, but elsewhere, the search is on for cheaper sources of materials to ferment into ethanol. The U.S. Department of Energy settled on a native North American grass variety: switchgrass, according to an article in Sustainable Farm­ ing. Rather than just work with the seed of the plant, this biomass for ethanol production converts the whole plant to ethanol. The grass needs less energy input for growing than com or grain, and less in processing because lignin, a waste product of the cellulose conversion, can be used to fire the boilers to provide the needed heat. The added benefit for farmers is that the grass helps restore the land, not drain it as com does. It could replace a lot of summer-fallowed land in Western Canada, for instance. Meanwhile in Sweden researchers are doing extensive research into using fast-growing, hybrid willows as the fuel for ethanol production. The process for turning the willow wood to ethanol is more complicated than com ethanol, it could be more environmentally beneficial because the large underground root system ties up carbon dioxide better than annual crops like wheat of com. Also the crop could be fertilized by municipal sewage sludge without danger compared to food crops where the heavy metals in the sludge might be dangerous to human consump­ tion. Whichever form of ethanol production wins out, it's possible that a heavy switch to ethanol could help rejuvenate the rural economy across Canada. Sustainable Farming suggests an industry producing four bil­ lion litres of ethanol per year (replacing the present gasoline consump­ tion of Canada) would mean 400 ethanol plants with a capacity of 100 million litres each (Commercial Alcohols is looking to expand produc­ tion to 60 to 100 million litres). Spotted in rural areas across Canada, those plants could produce thousands of jobs, aside from providing cropping alternatives for farmers. At the same time, a more clean-burn­ ing, environmentally friendly fuel could result. It could....but will it? Or will this be just one more good idea that died an early death? It was a reunion for Huron County’s past Dairy Princesses at the 35th Anniversary of the Huron County Dairy Princess Competition held in Seaforth Saturday night. The princesses are (back row, left to right) Morgan Murray, 1991-92; Denise Tedesco, 1984-85; Jean Bennett, 1978-79; Helen Lyons, 1967-68; Tanya Boonstoppel, 1990-91; Patricia Down, 1959- 60; Marlene Glanville , 1989-90; Ruth Zielman-Zehr, 1981-82; Wilma Scott, 1961-62; Dianna Hardy, 1977-78; Marion Taylor, 1982-83; Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot 1988-89; (middle row, left to right) Marlene Kirkby, 1958-59; Doreen Taylor, 1960-61; Dianne van Vliet, 1980-81; Marie Webster, 1968-69; Liz Becker, 1985-86; Angela Nethery, 1986-87 and (front row, left to right) Betty Dale,1957-58 and Amy Terpstra, 1992-93. We are now ready to receive your 1992 WHITE BEAN & SOYBEAN CROP •Fast Unloading •Accurate Probe System •Trucking Available Forward contracting of corn and soy­ beans. Come in and see us or give us a call and let us help you look after your crop. HOWSON & HOWSON LTD. Flour & Feed Millers, Complete Farm Supply, Grain Elevators, Fertilizers & Chemicals Blyth, Ontario 523-9624 Elevator 523-4241 Main Office Elevators 1 1/4 miles east of Blyth on County Rd. 25, then 1/2 mile north.