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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1980-05-01, Page 25RD, THURSDAY,. MAS •PW by Bud gu*rgeon Have you ever seen a .,"watch" goose or a goat that climbs ladders? Recently, 1 ..had the pleasure of. interviewing Bill and Marg Lowry Oat their "game" farm south: of Bayfield, They own 10 acres of land partly' covered With bush and dotted with man-made 11) ponds. Wanting to get out of the rush of the city, they originally looked for some land with,a stream • running through but settled for creating their own landscape on the country lot they now own. The Lowrys purchased the property nine year's ago, but only made' the Dairy calf club The first meeting of the Bayfield Dairy Calf Club was held on April 9th at the home of Jeannie and Denise Brand. The meeting opened with the 4-H pledge. The election of the officers are as the following president, Gerard Brand; vice-president, Marie Brand; secretary, Susan Van Egmond; press reporter, Denise Brand. After the little games we played, we then discussed the good and bad points •of two cows. Then we had a little quiz. 1111111111..r., move .0 Bayfield ,from Windsor in , the two last years Bill is' very familiar with the .area since his family had its roots in Goderich, Along with their per- sonal belongings, the couple brought their "love .for fish, :birds and animals" both wild and domesticated species. " First stop is right in the back yard where the comical , silky chickens with their tufted heads were busy looking for .a few. seeds. Nearby, the cornish hens, the wild guinea hens , and the odd rooster were keeping a wary eye on me. Usually "Lucy the Goose" is on -thy scene to " keep strangers in line, but that morning, she, .was better occupied down at one of the ponds. Outside the adjacent coop there were diamond doves while inside an assortment -of pigeons including homers, rollers and fantails, which had been clipped for breeding purposes. In the nests, baby birds poked up -their heads. Bill purchased the homers a year ago and they had been raced all ;:ever Ontario so he has to keep them confined to_ their pen so they don't, as their name suggests, fly back to the original owner, The process of familiarizing the birds to their new " surroundings' and hone takes about one year, .or until they have had several broods there. The homers are just !IOW — raising their first, so after one more, even if. the older birds•fly back to the original owner when released, it won't be a total loss because the young ones will stay. Now it was. time • to meet the star of the show. We ducked into the corral where there were a couple of ponies, one with foal, and out of the barn pranced, old "Blue" the nanny goat. he made a beeline right1 over to us and immediately tried to consume the piece of paper I was scribbling my notes on. Nothing is sacred to "Blue" as she will devour anything that will fit in her mouth, including clothes off the line and drinking coffee out of the cups on the picnic table. Last fall Bill was up on the ladder fixing the chimney and felt something nudging him. Turning around there was "Blue" who had 'climbed up to see what was going on. And you daren't leave the car door open because she'll climb right in. 'Then try td get � y her back out. Now strollingover by ,the fishpond, here was as a school ofoldfish making g their . way: around the. edge, The water was Murky from the recent rainfall but somewhere,: lurking' in the depths, were the ,catfish and the sturgeon that's been living there for the past • year. The four foot deep, " pond was frozen " "solid during the winter, so a local contractor had to be called to deepen part of xt to ten feet to ac- commodate the larger fish; The last stop was over at the "duck pond" where__ "Lucy the Goose" was buy honking out orders to the rest of the Chinese, Enden and Canada Geese and the call ducks that were on hand. The feeding chores can take anywhere from half an hour , if you're in a hurry to over two hours if you stop to gaze at the display. The operation does not always run smoothly though. Last year, the livestock was plagued by several foxes and a horned owl that wreaked havoc with the young. birds in broad daylight no less. And then there's the big blue heron (that's back again this year) making a meal, out of the goldfish in the pond. Thins down s 10 i n the winter as most of the birds and animals are caged, but spring is a busy time for° the Lowry's; The fowl are nesting both, in the pens and around the ponds and several of the animals are also in foal. It takes'a careful eye to watch over everything, but they love it. Bill has been ex- plaining the, set-up ever since .their ,arrival and plans for this year in- clude fencing in the duck pond and for a very good xe ummer the ducks ate their garden (it was planted twice) and the grass off the lawn. They dug up and ate the tomatoes, carrots, beets, sweet potatoes and a few pots of cactus leaving only the onions for the Lowrys. When the new cages are ready, they will be bringing the remainder of their birds, including the pheasants and peacocks from Windsor where they are now kept by a fellow fancier. Bi11 has also made inquiries about obtaining a miniature Sicilian donkey and some Sitka deer. This often prompts -friends to ask when greeting "What did Youth s o buyi wee ": ,k6�11? Last .summer they hosted the Cubs and Boy Scouts from.. the Lon- desboro area who camped at the back of the farm. Many people stop .p by the roadside to watch the flocks. of. Canada Geese that cover the. pond area in _ the spring and fall. Bill and Marg derive great pleasure from seeing others enjoy the farm as xnueh, asrthey do , themselves, What else can you say? The Lowrys wouldnc•t trade it for anything! Getting his goat TENDE SPOT GRAND BEND 238-2512 HOURS Mon., Tues. Wed: Thurs. & Fri, Sat. Sunday 8-6 8-9 8-6 9-5 SAVE 70d LB. Store Sliced COOKED HAM „' 1.88 SAVE 60d LB. Schneide's POLISH • SAUSAGE Ib. $ 1.48 • Beautiful POTTED MUMS 6 ' Pot $328 NI t' 11111.111111 - lt>• BAYFIELD 565-2791 HOURS Mon. - Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sunday 9-6 9-9 8-6 9-5 SAVE 60( LB. Aged A-1 Steer CROSS RIB ROAST $ LB. III INMNINr WIf f/NfINIal Ili ZURICH 236-4387 HOURS Wed. Thurs. Fri. Sat. Sun. 8-10 8-10 8-10 8-6 Closed SAVE 70( LB. Bill. Lowry and his pet nanny goat, "Blue" pose at their animal farm, just south of the outskirts of Bayfield. (photo by Bud Sturgeon) Separate school miffed by-Wilma''Oke The Huron -Perth County Roman Catholic Separate School board has no further in- formation regarding the asbestos-- question or whether it is a serious problem. Mickey Vere of Stratford, of the property committee, said that his committee is continuing to look into it in the 19 schools in the system. The board will look into getting financial assistance from the ministry of education for sealing or replacing asbestos used in school construction. Ontario Education Minister, Dr. Bette Stephenson, said recently that assistance will be available to those boards least able to foot the costs of repairs. Superintendent of Education John an on No les IN IN as me Ill 11111 1118 CLIP THIS COUPON AND ENTER AT OUR ZURICH STORE ONLY Produce of U S A NAVEL ORANGES Do, 98( 'SAVE 704 PKG Devon Brand BREAKFAST BACON 500„k, 98t SAVE 304 LB. BREAKFAST SAUSAGE Ib. 1.28 Produce of U S A RED GRAPES 88< NOW 3 LOCATIONS TO SERVE Y 0 U WITH SELECTION, SAVINGS & PERSONAL ATTENTION Facial Tissue15 j Paper Towels 2S9 8t Bathroom TitsueSwansdown4ROLLS$1.08 Weston s SI ced 24 oz Whit eB re.0 d2/8 84 epr Fo�d �oz 5/981 terOit Margarine 2.$ 11 .78 Weston's Homburg & Hotdog Buns Weston's Coconut Or Carmel Ceylons Liquid Detergent 8's 2/88( 10.6 oz pkg. 9 8 4 SGerwoods 2 Bag or Jug MILKs � 18 3 qua ns Plus Deposit, S 32oz 1 068 26oz. Bottles Pepsi Cola or Kist Ginger Ale plus deposit DRYSDALE MAJOR APPLIANCE CENTRE LTD., SALES WITH SERVICE Henscell 262-2728 ,dosed Mondays McCauley said that the Stratford- Deanery has approved the curriculum for the Family Life program for ._junior students in Grades 4, 5 and 6. The next step is to hold workshops for the teachers. Nine professional activity days were ap- proved • for the 1980-81 school year, five of them county professional days. They are as follows: September a 8, 1980; September 19; October 30; December 4; March 19, 1981; April 7, May 4; June 1 and June 26. These have received ministry approval. There are 185. instructional days' in the school year. The official opening of Education Week will take place May 4 at St. Patrick's School in Dublin for the Huron- 'Perth system. Enter- tainment will be provided by various school groups from the system. During the week each school has prepared special open houses and .programs to mark the week. The board approved in principle school par- ticipation in the com- munity service orders program of the Ministry of Correctional Services and the policy and by-law corhrnittee will study and recommend where this work can be utilized in and around the 19 schools. Areas of maintenance, painting and yardwork are among jobs where these young volunteers can work. David O'Reilly of Stratford said it gives them a chance to pay Established 1876 McKILLOP MUTUAL FIRE INSURANCE COMPANY HEAD OFFICE: 10 MAIN ST., SEAFORTH, ONT. MrsMargaret Sharp. Sec. Treas. Ph. 527-0400 FULL COVERAGE Farm and Urban Properties Fire Windstorm, Liability, Theft Various Floater Coverages Homeowner s Tenant's Package, Composite Dwelling DIRECTORS AND ADJUSTERS Ken Carnochan, R R N4, Seaforth Lavern Godkm, R R 111. Walton Ross Leonhardt. R N1. Bornoholm John McEwing, R R N1, Blyth Stanley Mellwain, R R 02, Goderich Donald McKercher, R R N1, Dublin John A Taylor. R R N1. Brumfield J N Trewartha, Box 661. Clinton Stuart Wilson R R N1, Brumfield AGE, rS E F 'R,ll' Durst, A 44, Seaforth James Keys, R R 41, Seaforth Wm Leiper, R R 41, Lortdesboro 482-3354 527-1877 345-2234 523-9390 524.7051 527.1837 482-7527 482-7593 527.0887 527-1455 527.0467 523-4257 CALL AN AGENT OR THE OFFICE back to society some of 'the -damage 'they -"have done, which they "_could not do if incarcerated. Ted Geoffrey of Zurich asked if they . would be supervised and was told they would be. William Eckert, Director of Education, said, "They will be supervised by staff or someone who works for us." Approval was given for a request from St. Joseph's Community School, Kingsbridge, to erect a tennis court at no cost to the board. When it is, constructed it becomes the property of the school board. Dave Zyluk, principal of St. Joseph's School, said the court would be built with money.- from volunteer labour in three stages. The first stage is expected to cost $1,200, the second stage would be paving with asphalt at a cost of $1,500 and stage three would be fencing Old possibly using por- table boards as in an arena which has been successful in another community school at Chepstowe at a cost of $2,000. Mr. Zyluk said he would .apply for gover- nment grants which might allow the work to proceed more quickly. The board supported a resolution from the York Region Roman Catholic separate school board opposing proposals for changes in the Planning Act which would increase the cost of sites to any school board' - in the future. John O'Drowsky of St. Marys, slid,,.. "We should support it. It doesn't affect us now but in the future we could get burned." The ball diamond at St. Joseph's School, Kingsbridge may be used by the Community School during the summer months. 1 Trustee Mickey Ver'e asked if only one trustee, Greg Fleming of Crediton,. was attending the Congress of Education in Montreal next month and was informed that he was the only one who offered to attend. Mr. Vere said, "It' is not fair that•..finiy one .trustee goes." He suggested that Ted Geoffrey attend if possible and Geoffrey said he would consider it. Vere felt that it was too difficult for one trustee to have to try to cover the number of sessions possible at the con- vention. Smile You know your daughter's growing up when she starts doing her nails instead of chewing them.