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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-01-27, Page 11Rural leaders Three outstanding rural leaders were honoured Saturday night at the Huron County Junior Farmers' Annual Banquet. Winners were (left to right) Marjory Humphries of Walton for her dedication to the Walton Women's Institute, William Wallace of RR 4, Seaforth for his participation in the Huron County Milk Committee, the Seaforth Farmers' Co-op and the Huron-Perth Supply Management Committee and Keith Williamson of RR 3, Walton for his involvement with the Farm Safety Association, and the Seaforth/Egmondville Broomball League. Presenting the winners with their Rural Leadership Award plaques is the club's past president, Deb Craig of Blyth. Jr. Farmers presents awards WEST WAWANOSH MUTUAL 1879 INSURANCE COMPANY 1992 (69 Neighbour helping Neighbour" YOUR LOCAL AGENTS Frank Foran, Lucknow 528-3824 Lyons & Mulhern, Goderich 524-2664 Donald R. Simpson, Ripley 395-5362 Delmar Sproul, Auburn 529-7273 Clinton482-3434 Chapman-Graham & Assoc. Insurance Brokers Inc. Owen Sound 376-1774 Slade Insurance Brokers Inc. Kincardine 396-9513 Laurie Campbell, Brussels 887-9051 Kenneth MacLean, Paisley 368-7537 McMaster Siemon Insurance Brokers Inc. Mitchell 348-9150 John Nixon, Brussels 887-9417 THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1993. PAGE 11. Wlt The news from a on Compiled by Betty McCall Phone 887-6677 WI hear about changes in farm and rural life Purchasing a vehicle is a big decision! Let us help you make the right one! GARRY WOODCOCK Quality Cars & Trucks We Can Save You Money Drive A Little - Save A Lot [ PliONTGOMERY' LUCKNOW -3-1 528-2813 smo 14.1iiimit Two Walton residents were hon- ored by the Huron County Junior Farmers Saturday night. Marjory Humphries and Keith Williamson were presented with Rural Leadership Awards at the club's annual banquet in Holmesville. The leadership awards were start- ed six years ago to honour individ- uals who've exhibited outstanding leadership and made major contri- butions to the rural community. Mrs. Humphries was chosen for her dedication to the Walton Wom- en's Institute. She's been a member for 37 years and has served four years as secretary, six years as sec- retary/treasurer and as president for two. The other winner, Mr. Williamson was given the award for his participation in the Farm Safety Association of Grey Twp. He has served as president of the Huron Farm Safety Association for two years and is a past director of the Huron Federation of Agricul- The news from thel COImpiied bylcorgend McMahon Phone 087,92501 Hall board holds meeting On Monday evening the annual meeting of the Ethel Hall Board was held. Chairlady Dorothy Dil- worth conducted the business. The proposed members of the board for 1993-1994 are Dorothy Dilworth, Secretary-treasurer Bren- da Boyer, Helen Cullen and Fred Uhler from Grey Township coun- cil, Bill Dobson, Doris Jacklin, Gary Boyer and Grace Smith from the community. A Valentine euchre tournament is planned for Feb. 12 hosted by Helen Cullen and Grace Smith. Helen Dobson has kindly donat- ed a homemade quilt on which the hall board members are going to sell tickets with the proceeds going towards the hall fund. The draw for the quilt will be held on Sept. 13, the first scheduled euchre party in the fall. Gary Boyer was thanked for his work done to the front of the hall. The renovations give the Ethel Hall a better appearance. The Walton Women's Institute met in the hall for their meeting, Wednesday evening, Jan. 20. Ruth Axtmann welcomed everyone and read some selections before the regular opening. For the roll call many items or photos were shown that had been used years ago on a Huron County farm. Marjory Humphries read minutes and correspondence was dealt with. A card of thanks was read from the Huron County Christmas food bank and greetings from Mrs. Alberta Stevens, who is still a member but lives in Blyth. A get well card was signed to be sent to Lois Hart, one of our members who has been moved from University Hospital to Parkwood (in London) for treatment. She is wished a speedy recovery. A discussion followed on the closing of the library. Helen Craig will write the return letter to McKillop Township. It is hoped everyone will take a little more interest in he library located just next to the booth and the hall. Just drop in and see what's available for reading and research. If what you need isn't there Marg Taylor, the librarian, will get it. The hours have been cut down, 6 - 8 p.m on Wednesday. Marjory read the treasurer's report. As expenses have risen it was discussed that members be thinking of different ways to make money to keep the hall going for the community. June is W.I. month. Margaret Mclnroy brought back the report from the District Director's meeting she attended with Marjory Humphries and Leona McDonald recently. They are still looking for someone to fill the second-vice and P.R.O. District positions. Members are to still keep track of volunteer hours tOward the Institute work. Plans will be made for the East Huron District Annual to be held May 11 at the hall at 9:30 a.m. It was reported the Huron County Rally is Oct. 4 hosted by Huron- East District. The Area Convention is Oct. 27-28 in Brussels. Brussels Institute will look after billets. The rest of the meeting was turned over to Margaret Mclnroy, convenor on agriculture, who had her father speak on the changes in farm life. Wilfred has lived on the same farm all his life and started Walton Public School in 1992. After he left school he helped with the farming. There were many different changes over the years. Work was a lot harder in those days as they didn't have the machinery they have today. Wilfred went out with his father and brother early in his life threshing. They would be away from home for the week. The prices have also risen over the years for wages and machinery. He compared the price of the first combine they purchased. Today's prices are making it hard for the young farmer to start up, he said. ture. He is also a past Junior Farmer member. A leadership award was also pre- sented to William Wallace of RR 4, Seaforth for being a member and chair of the Huron County Milk Committee, a member of the Seaforth Farmer's Co-op, and chair of the Huron-Perth Supply Man- agement Committee and for his presidency of the Huron Federation of Agriculture. Awards were also presented to club members. Melissa Logtenberg of Dungannon was the recipient of the Outstanding Junior Farmer Award for leadership, enthusiasm, involvement and accomplishment. The Outstanding First Year Member Award was given to Randy Mensinga of Gorrie. The 1992 president Deb Craig gave a speech citing the year as "challenging." "We started out in 1992 very enthusiastic and started planning," she said. "We hoped it would revi- talize the organization and we'd get new members." The plan, she said, did and did not revitalize the organization. Though membership did not signif- icantly increase, the club managed to fill executive positions and the year closed on a more positive note. The guest speaker for the evening was Huron MPP Paul Klopp who said one of the keys to successful agriculture was educating the young people. "We're very good at learning about production but we can't for- get about marketing and politics," he said. Being on the inside of the provin- cial government has taught him how important it is to know about politics. "I get lobbied heavily by well- oiled machines who tell me how agriculture should be," he said. He stressed it's also important to mix fun with learning and said that's what Junior Farmers does. "Junior Farmers have done a lot of things but they've also mixed a lot of fun with it," he said. Scratching Scratching Where It Itches I have had serious concerns for the democratic system of Government for quite a number of years. Tyranny, dictatorship, despotism and misuse of authority has been a fact of life since the beginning of time. If one studies the history of the world it becomes apparent that the evolution of society has been an ongoing struggle for power or wealth for as long as history is recorded. Until the last several centuries the only recourse was armed rebellion and horrible bloodshed. This solution was used often and effectively. All of the despots, tyrants and dictators were eventually brought down by the masses when they got angry enough. We are fortunate that our ancestors who developed and initiated the democratic system came up with a better method. They recognized that there will always be those in authority who attempt to control and exploit others. They developed our democratic system to provide citizens with the means to deal with unfairness and abuse of authority without resorting to violence or lawlessness. We have a system that allows all citizens to speak individually or collectively through the election process, courts of the land, petition, legal strike action or civil demonstrations etc. The flaw in this system is that it falls to work unless there are those in our society with courage and fortitude to risk the consequences of rebuke or retaliation. My concern has been that this type of courage and fortitude may no longer exist to the extent of being effective and that our democratic system and principles could disappear by default or lack of use (Don't they say use it or lose it?). However recent developments both locally and nationally have been encouraging. It seems that there still exists some integrity and fearlessness in many Canadians who are now rebelling against officials and bureaucrats whose positions have allowed them to disregard the citizens they are either elected or hired to serve. Citizens, committees and new political parties are happening and gaining increasing support. These are the things that Democracy is made of and will preserve dignity and freedom for Canadians into the future. How refreshing It is to discover that there are yet so many citizens who are neither afraid or ashamed to SCRATCH WHERE IT ITCHES. Respectfully Mason Bailey.