Huron Expositor, 2007-08-15, Page 11The Huron Expositor • August 15, 2007 Page 11
News
Former queens to return to Huron's 80th match
Susan Hundertmark
COMEMMENO
While he's become a national
plowing champion since, Paul
Dodds' sister Lynne claims he got
his start coaching her in the Huron
County Queen of the Furrow compe-
tition in the early 1980s.
"My brother was definitely the
better plower but I'll never admit
that to him. He did all the measur-
ing and setting up of the plow - I
just drove it," says Lynne (Dodds)
Godkin
"The other contestants were much
more polite with their coaches but
because he was my brother, I could
holler at mine," she says.
Former queens of the furrow are
being invited back to the 80th
Huron County Plowing Match,
being held Aug. 24 in Tuckersmith
on the farm of Bob and Carol
Leeming. And, organizers say that
close to two-thirds of the former
queens have said they will attend.
Godkin, who grew up on a farm
near Winthrop, says her whole fam-
ily was very involved in the Huron
County Plowmen's Association.
After winning the Huron contest
for two years in a row, she won the
Ontario Queen of the Furrow con-
test in 1984, which at that time
meant winning a new car.
"It was a red 1985 Ford Escort. I
remember being really tired but so
excited -I couldn't sleep after win-
ning that car," she says.
Amy (Stewart) Beccario, of Fort
Hill, won the Huron County queen
of the furrow competition in 1964
and 1965 and went on to win the
Ontario crown in 1966.
Growing up at RR 5 Seaforth,
Beccario had
been a member
of the Seaforth
All -Girls'
Marching Band
throughout high
school and had
attended many
plowing matches
in that capacity.
Winning the
Ontario champi-
onship was made
extra special for
her since that
was the year the
International
Plowing Match
(IPM) was in
Seaforth and her
father Ken
Stewart was
warden of Huron
SEAFORTH INSURANCE •
BROKER LTD/HIMO
• Home • Commercial
•Auto • Farm
• Out of Province
Travel Insurance
41 Main St. S. Seaforth
t
519-527-1610
Ken Cardno, Joanne Williamson,
Colleen Bromley& Barb Watt
gree Leisure Ca
50 acres of Pine Tree filled camping. Right beside the
beautiful village of Tiverton. Pine Tree is only minutes
away from gorgeous beaches and towns. Experience Pine
Tree today, with our fully shaded service sites,
recreational center and scenic beauty to take in
Call 519-368-7951
rIIpLypoLs in Your Garden&,
Flower Beds or Making a New orPg:
ofWe Fiave he1
w -
• ew Fl.werbag. Beitt tires
& Rene et Nom.
1511119ery Medi—
Omt rree.■ittis...
New Sl irt■eau New
Summer Flours:(Miers \o' Being Taken for Pickling
gam fipm Batt
Keady�._rekl Tomatoes
Green & 1eIlow Bears & other
fruit & vegetables in season
H. REID ALLEN
FI RNf11 RE.
hl.s MR.1TION
& RL FINISHING
Pick-up & delivery
REFERENCES
PROVIDED
519-527-2717
submitted photo
Huron County's first queen,of the furrow, Doreen (Hoiwatt) Taylor, of RR 1 Belgrave,
is shown pulling the horses as her dad, Edgar Howatt, plows.
climbing on a tractor.
"I'm not plowing - I haven't
plowed in 40 years," she says.
Charlene (Townsend) O'Reilly, of
Egmondville, was first runner-up
and Miss Friendship in the Ontario
queen of the furrow competition in
1996.
She started competing in plowing
when she was 11 or 12, one of the
only girls to do so.
"My older brothers were right into
it and our family vacations were at
the IPM. It was always interesting
to see people's reaction to the pony-
tail coming out of the back of my
hat when I plowed," she says.
Running for queen of the furrow
was a natural thing to do in her
family but O'Reilly says it was
strange to have to worry about get-
ting dirty while plowing.
"It was different to get a skirt on
and become a contestant," she says.
O'Reilly says she was Huron
queen during another "mud match"
in Haldimand-Norfolk.
"People were comparing it to
Seaforth in '66. It was unbelievable
with bulldozers trying to remove the
mud and people losing their boots in
the mud," she says, adding that she
also remembers all the queens
wearing their sashes and crowns
over their raincoats.
O'Reilly will be plowing against
her brothers at the Aug. 24 match
in Tuckersmith.
"It should be interesting," she
says, adding she may have the
advantage of her dad George
lbwnsend as a coach.
Sandra Hunt, of Brussels, won the
Huron County crown in 1986 and
was first runner-up in the Ontario
contest in 1987.
Because the young woman who
won the Ontario crown had a baby
See FORMER, Page 19
County.
"I'd been involved in plowing
matches for seven years but the one
at home was very important," she
says.
Since Seaforth's IPM was a very
muddy one, Beccario was able to
include in her speech that partici-
pants were very lucky to be bring-
ing souvenirs of Huron County's
rich, fertile soil back to their homes
on the soles of their boots.
"It poured rain the whole time but
people continued to come. It's one of
those things you remember forever,"
she says.
She also remembers a radio
reporter interviewing her and after
hearing her refer to her "reign" as
queen, blaming her for "all these
rubber boots and mud everywhere."
While she's returning to the
Huron match to relive her memo-
Beccario says she won't be
ries,
LAWN QUESTIONS?
Organic Programs Available
411S1°
a5MediMant
-Trust the Professionals -524-2424
Clean up your computer
before you go...
BACK TO SCHOOL !
Tony Latour
COMPUTERS
40 Franklin St, Seaforth
Weekdays 9:00am - 3:OOpm
0411107
ell 211
519-527-2880
�•.tOU• - to nr r.a