HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1977-08-25, Page 19CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 1977PAGE19
Joe Hart has been dealing in birds for years, but may go out of business because
of some raiding racoons. (photo by Elaine Townshend)
by i .lame Townshend
Forty years ago, Joe Hart of R.R.
Clinton had two Golden Pheasant eggs..
Now he owns more than 100 pheasants
and quails, and his incubators are filled
with eggs.
His collection includes several dif-
ferent breeds, such as Bob White and
Button Quail: the eggs of the latter are
not much larger than robins' eggs.,He
also has Reave Pheasants, and his oldest
bird is a "cranky" Silver Pheasant, that
he has had for MO years.
In: other cages "are while,. F;antailed
pigeons and Runt Pigeons. A pair of two-
week old Runt Pigeons fit in Joes cupped
hand, When they are full grown they
will be worth X40. His ducks number 35 to
forty and a, flock of panty hens roam
around the yard.
"Those banties are mongrels,'' 'Joe
explains. "I let them loose, and they
raise their chicks without any problems.
If you did that with something valuable
they'd all die."
Last year he tried to raise two baby
ostriches, but they died because they
wouldn't eat grain or corn. The usual
diet of ostriches consists of grasshoppers)
frogs, and worms. Joe's birds hatched
late in the fall, and their customary feed
was unavailable.
This spring he turned down an offer of
five more eggs because "an ostrich can
be abill of expense."
When full grown, an ostrich weighs
about 300 .pounds. If Joe managed to
raise it on corn and grain, it would take a
lot of feed. At the price of feed today, he
decided it was not worth the gamble.
Joe's most prized possessions are a
pair of South American Barnacle Geese,
that he bought at a sale. in Woodstock
last fall; he paid $100 for the yearlings.
Two sales are held in Woodstock each
fall and one each spring. Dealers come
from all over r:,nnrin and the United
States, and Joe feels he was lucky to be
able to buy the Barnacles.
For several years, he belonged to the
Ornamental Pheasant Association. His
name and the list of birds he had for sale
appeared' in its newsletter, and people
came from great distances to answer the
ads. He dropped out of the Association a
few years ago because he discovered he
did not need the publicity. Now he finds
that he can sell all the birds lib wants tp
locally. In fact, he sometimes has dif-
ficulty keeping up with the demand.
He sells a few birds every fall, but to
help finance his .pheasant and quail
.' olle�tion, he.also raises rpeat rabbits.
Recently he ventured intcN' a different
market, paying $10 each fr a pair of
two -month-old Rex Rabbits - a "new
hreedof fur rabbit. .
Ho scoffs at the people who think
raising birds does not 'involve much
work or money. He spends all morning
feeding and watering them: sometimes
birds have to be moved from one cage to
another, and often a pen needs repair.
The price of the feed is high, and the wire
and wood for the cages, which he builds
himself, is also expensive.
lie -„fears he may be forced to abandon
his hobby, not because of the time or the
money but because of some wily coons.
So far this year, they have killed 12 of his
birds. How they get the pheasants and
quails is a mystery. They leave no signs
of broken wire or digging under the
cages, and they skilfully remove the bait
from Joe's traps without tripping them.
If he does not stop the coons' rampage
soon, he says he will have to give up his
hobby because "too much money is .
going down the drain.”
"It will be a devil of a job quitting,
though," 3 -year-old Joe admits.
Last fall he took 12 birds to Fordwich
to sell and came home with 15. After 40
years, it becomes a habit.
Along with birds, Joe also raises rabiits, and has a new breed on his farm called
Rex rabbits, which are raised for their fur. (photo by Elaine Townskend)
A New Horizons grant of
$7200 may enable a group of
area retirees to set up a
communications network
allowing them to contact
relatives or ., friends at a
evdistance,free of charge via a
telephone. line -radio-
telephone hook up. The
project is called Silver
Threads Communications.
The grant, which falls
under the Federal. Govern-
ment's Health and Welfare
program, was approved in
June. A grtoup of twelve in-
terested people had been
gathered together in the
Goderich and Clinton area to
test acceptance of the
scheme, however, there had
• been no formal meetings, The
only contact had been by
telephone and personal
visitations of Art Henwood,
secretary of the Bluewater
Amateur Radio Club
Incorporated. As many
agencies and groups as
possible dealing with
retirees, pensioners and those ,
people no longer in the work
force, had been contacted
about the project.
The project sponsor is to be
the Bluewater Amateur
Radio Club whose address' is
a post office box number in
Goderich: ` The project'
proposal is to set up a radio
and communications station
in the basement of McKay
Hall on North Street in
Goderich. A special call sign
Local music students win. awards
Local students of Huron
Music Studios, under the
direction of Paul and Dianne
Stevenson, took part in
competition at the "Musicfest
r'77" which was held at the
Airport Holiday Inn, Malton
on July 15, 16 and 17,
Students competing,
numbel-ing close to 1500, were
from such areas as Kingston,
Trenton, Belleville, Wood-
stock, Galt, Kitchener,
Stratford, Toronto, Rexdale,
Guelph, Georgetown, Fergus,
Listowel, Orangeville, Acton,,
Brantford, Mississauga,
London, Coborne, Brampton,
and Clinton. Instruments
adjudicated were piano,
organ,. accordion', .. drums,
spanish and steel guitar.
Those adjudicating were
Earl Filsinger, Stratford;
Murray and Joy Edwards
Welland; Sam Blair,
Toronto; Ian Leaver,
Cambridge; Doreen Hunt of
Toronto.
Results of area students
were: accordion, class 2E:
Sandra Wadel, irst Class and
Uerda Brand, Adjudicators
Award; given by the ad-
judicator to the highest
standing in, each class;
Sandra Wadel and Gerda
Brand, Adjudicators Award
for Class 2 accordion duet;
Dean Daer, First Class in
class 2D accordion solo.
Spanish Guitar results were
as follows: Jo -Anne
Grunewald and Bob
Jamieson, first class for class
3A; Alan'.gakker, First Class
and Brad , James,
Adjudicators Award for class
3B; Alan Bakker and Brad
James, Adjudicators Award
for Class 3 Spanish Guitar
Duet; Neil Elliott, first class
4 in class 4A; Rich Elliott and
Elizabeth Gibson, first class;
Judy Carter Adjudicators
Award, all in class 4B; Rick
and Neil Elliott received first
class, while Judy Carter and
Elezabeth Gibson took the
Adjudicators for class 5
Spanish guitar duet.
The Fifth Wheel, consisting
of Rick and Neil Elliott, Judy
Carter, Elizabeth Gibson, and
Danny Tyndall, received a
trophy for • second place,
losing by 1 point to the Milton
Misses in class C Spanish
guitar ensembles.
A special thanks 'should be
given to the parents at this ,
time for their full support and
co-operation during the past
year. Without their interest,
along with the students, none
of this could have been
possible.
for. the station has been ob-
tained from the Transport
and .Communications district
office in London. Members of
the Bluewater Amateur
Radio Club will be prevailed
upon to act as technical and
instructional staff.
The station will use mobile
radio units to connect people
who are homebound.
Telephone patches are to be
provided so that if a telephone
is near, it can be. patched to
McKay Hall and so oyer the
air viathe radio. In this way
communication could be
completed in the reverse
manner with no long distance
charges being involved. This
Vanastra holds bike rodeo
' Over- 50 youngsters' arrived
at the Parade Square in
Vanastra on Tuesday to take
part in a Bike Rodeo.
The Rodeo was part of
Vanastra's . Community
Projects and was organized
by Constable Bill Wilson,
Community Services Officer
with the Goderich detach-
ment of the OPP.
Each bicycle was required
to go through a ,safety test,
conducted by Constable
Wilson and reflectors were
given to . each child who.
passed the test. A practical
test involving a number of
manoeuvres was also con-
ducted to teach the children
traffic signs, ' hand signals
and control of their hikes.
Nine volunteers, including
two public health nurses,
$4condi cted the testing.
Awards were presented for
the highest points received
Over the day. Six prizes, in-
cluding three first prize
trophies were given to the age
groups, 4-6 years; 7-9 years;
10 years and over.
The daylong rodeo began in
the morning when Constable
Wilson led the children in a°
lecture and instruction
seminar on the proper care
and safety of bicycles.
Although a written test had
been scheduled, it was
cancelled because many of
the bicyclistswere too young
to write. .-
operation is perfectly legal in
many countries but in others
it is not allowed. An up to date
list is kept of such countries
as they vary
The station could allow, for
example, a person in
Huronview or some such
place to be connected via
telephone line -radio-
telephone system with a
relative or friend in ' many
distant parts of the world.
The amount of time that
can be given to the project is
governed by the amount of
staff ,willing to maintain the
radio station and operate it
and the mobile units. The
Bluewater Amateur Radio
Club is willing to undertake
the operation and main-
tenance of the station and is r
hoping that a number of
others will take the necessary
time to train 'for the Depar-
tment of Communications
Amateur Operators License.
Those interested in the
station in this area are asked
to contact Art Henwood at
524-6526.
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