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Home My WebLink AboutTimes Advocate, 1991-10-02, Page 5Times -Advocate, October 2, 1991 Page 5 Grand Bend Orchards living up to high standards By Ray Lewis DASHWOOD - It takes some people years to find their niche in life. Some never come across it, while others happen upon it quite by accident. To Len and Donna Len Whaling takes time to hand -polish his apples before they go to market. Whaling and Grand Bend Or chards, it happened just that way. The couple recently acquired ap- proximately 32 acres of orchard, containing over 8,000 apple trees of various varieties. Over half of the orchard consists of Maclntosh and Empire apples, while the remainder is a combination of red and golden delicious and Mutsu. The Whalings purchased the property, known to most area resi- dents as the Turnbull farm, in Sep- tember of 1989, renaming it Wind- swept Farms. Len began working the land which lies on Highway 83 between Dashwood and Grand Bend, in April the following year, pruning ten acres of trees by hand. "It took me a month straight, sometimes in the blinding snow," said Len. "There were times 1 didn't think I would make it." A former supervisor for CN, Len began taking courses with the Min- istry of Agriculture on the use of pesticides and insecticides in order to gain his license. Hard work and careful study paid immediate divi- dends, as the majority of his first crop was exported to England. He had one of the highest returns of any Ontario apple crop and scored 98 percent on his rating by the min- istry. This year's crop is a little shy of last year's output, and Len admits he established some pretty high standards for himself right off the bat. Apple scab, bad weather and poor pollination, have all been con- tributing factors. Len even went so far as to bring in bees to help with the latter, but high winds and cool temperatures combined to hamper this year's quality. "We still stem to be doing quite well," said Len. "But we are down a little." The couple is currently hand sort- ing all of their crop something you don't normally see in such an oper- ation, but Len enjoys taking that extra special care. In fact, picking apples has become a family activity for the Whalings. The couple's four children all lend a hand, as do several other members. As a result, Grand Bend Orchards has many re - tum customers as well as many new ones, something very appeal- ing to Donna. "We make so many friends here," said Donna. "That part is reward- ing in itself." The couple got into the orchard business when Len's sister in Grand Bend noticed the Turnbull farm was for sale. She knew Len and Donna were looking for a place near the water where they could also raise horses. The farm fit the bill with 32 acres of apples and 122 acres in total. They currently have six thoroughbreds and some equita- tion stock, which they hope to move to Windswept Farms as soon as renovations are complete. "The land in this area is one of the best kept secrets," said Donna. "It rivals the growers in the golden horseshoe." Donna said she was very sur- prised at how good the farmland is and how well the fruit crops do in the area. Fruit from their farm is de- livered mostly to local stores and or Len Whaling points to the bud which will become next year's apple. "You have to be careful when picking," said Whaling. "You take the apple and turn it up so as not to damage next year's crop." Christmas on its way EXETER - The Exeter Business Improvement Association has announced that the Santa Claus Parade is tentatively scheduled for November 30, and ex- tended shopping hours will begin Thursday, November 28. Stores will be open until 9 p.m. weekdays until December 23. With Christ- mas landing on a Wednesday this year, this only allows three and a half weeks of evening openings. Exeter hosts sports card frow ' By Ray Lewis EXETER - With Major League Baseball winding down and the Na- tional Hockey League set to begin its season this week, sports fans everywhere are beginning to catch the fever. And while pennant fever and Stanley Cup fever sweep the nation, it generates another strain of the virus; that fever associated with memorabilia. The Exeter Legion Branch hosted the town's first ever sports card show on Saturday, and well over 200 patrons crowded into the hall in hopes of finding an antidote. "It was a great day all around," said organizer Ivan Boa. "All of the dealers have agreed to come back for the next one." Rob Robilliard was one of 13 dealers who set up a portion of his collection for sale. Robilliard, a music teacher at South Huron Dis- trict High School, got involved with serious collecting about five years ago. He strictly handles hockey and baseball, but is gradually adopting the odd basketball card to please his 11 -year-old son David, who is also developing into an avid card collector. Other than that, Robilli- ard tends to stay away from the novelty cards, such as Ninja Turtles or Elvis, because there is just too much out there. The bug has even rubbed off onto 9 -year-old daugh- ter, who is also beginning to col- lect. She's shrewd on her own, choosing only to collect Cecil Fielder cards. Robilliard began selling cards about a year and a half ago, mainly dealing with baseball cards from 1961. "That's what I collected as a kid," said Robilliard. "So that's where I started." Currently he needs about 75 cards to complete the year. "But they're the expensive ones," Robilliard laughs. In total, the teacher figures he has somewhere in the neighbourhood of 200,000 cards between hobby and business. This weekend's show saw Robilliard have his best one yet as far as sales are concerned. According to organizer Ivan Boa, the show was one of the most suc- cessful events he has ever been in- volved with. "The turnout here was larger than Dave Rabilila►d consults a Beckett Price Gulde before making a deal with Jeff DeBlock. when we held the show in Wood- stock," said Boa. "All of the deal- ers have agreed to come back for the next one." While Robilliard prides his own collection, Boa views card collect- ing from the other end of the spec- trum; as simply business. As a De- troit Tigers fan he dabbles in the odd Lou Whitaker or Allan Tram- mell, but other than that sticks strictly to sales. Unlike many collectors, Boa also tends to lean towards the newest cards, explaining that it's harder to sell the old stuff because kids just don't know the players, and the cards are more expensive. "It's really funny sometimes," said Boa. "Kids will pass up cards like Bobby Orr not realizing their value, yet they'll spend $20 on one of the newer Leaf player cards." Card prices are driven up or down by many different factors. Condition is probably the major factor, along with the number of cards produced and players' perfor- mance. For example, Boa ex- plained that Cecil Fielderrookie cards began selling at roughly two dollars. "But after he started with Detroit, the value increased by almost five dollars per week." Dealers have to be cautious. They buy what's hot, but after it's Shoplifting • seminar EXETER - Unfortunately, the timing of the Internal Theft/ Shoplifting Seminar caused the re- sponse to be much less than antici- pated. Therefore, the seminar has been postponed until October 21, this is again a Monday. With Christmas coming it is felt this in- formative session is of vital impor- tance to all retailers and their staff. Retailers are encouraged to attend and to bring all staff members. They play an important role in the prevention of shoplifting. The charge is $7.00 per person, which is a small sum compared to what it will save you in stolen merchan- dise. Please encourage any one that you feel will gain from this semi- nar, to attend. if you have employ- ees at other locations, plea<seifeel free to invite them. been on the market for a while, the demand drops off. It's always a gamble not to be left holding the cards. Pardon the pun. Boa himself is having a fairly good season, and expects to see business increase as the season pro- gresses, and the new hockey cards begin to come out. Score and Topps hockey should be along within the next week, and Boa hopes to have them in his line-up when the sports card show makes a return engagement November 9, from 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 at the legion. ' For those who need to stuff that fever before then, Crediton will be hosting a show downstairs in the Stephen Township Hall, October 26 from 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. sold from the farm itself. They also sell windfalls and juice apples, and have had stores from as far away as Kitchener call in demand of their products. Currently, Len is mulling over the idea of making juice and apple butter. "I'd like to get into both, but not quite yet," said Len. C You Can Retire with 100005000* Ron Tippet CHARTERED FINANCIAL PLANNER invites you to attend a tree RETIREMENT, INVESTMENT AND TAX PLANNING SEMINAR AT THE EXETER TOWN HALL THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3 7 PM Topics on: •Paying less income tax •new RRSP rules & PA •S1000 pension income tax free •the 10 most used ideas on making money at the least amount of income tax •use the bank's money for your benefit •mutual funds for tax free dividends and capital gains •RRIF, Annuity Brokering •cash out RRSPs tax free •RHOSP • GIC's •RESP's •group products •disability & life insurance •inflation the silent killer COME & TALK TO RON TIPPEL C.F.P. 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