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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-07-25, Page 16leisure, features and entertainmen Serving over 24,000 homes In Ustowel;, Wingham, Mount Forest, Milverton, Aries, Arthur, Drayton, Harriston, Moorefield; Palmerston, Bloomingdale, Breslau, Conestogo, Elmira, Heidelberg, Linwood, Maryhill, St. Clements, St. Jacobs, Wallenstein, Wellesley and West Montrose. Wednesday July 25, 1984. CHESHIRE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE—was just one of 'the many places Nancy Schmidt and Debbie Hu!me visited in Nancy's tour of Ontario . Dairy Princess England. Nancy will be giving up hercrown as Ontario Dairy Princess in August, and has enjoyed her year in her role. • by Laura Plumtree Nancy Schmidt enjoys busy year Trying to get an interview with the Ontario Dairy Princess was not an easy • task. Not that Nancy Schmidt didn't want to be -interviewed. She simply didn't have enough hours in the day to fit in everything everyone demanded of her. As 1983-84. Ontario Dairy Princess, . Nancy is more than just a.Tigure-head for the Ontario Milk Marketing Board. She is constantly in demand across the province, as guest speaker at banquets, ..to conduct seminars. at elementary schools, and to attend other county dairy ,princess competitions; just to name a few functions. The pretty 19 -year-old, who hails from the Brunner area, is the daughter of Robert and Lorianne Schrnidt. She has three sisters, Kathy, 21, Heather, 14 and Kim, 10. The Schmidts' farm boasts 35 Holsteins. The past year has been a hectic one 'for 'Nancy, who has beenall over - - Ontario, as well as to other countries. During the first few months of her "reign", she toured the basic sites of Ontario, including .Niagara Falls, Ottawa, The Thousand Islands, as well as spending time in Buffalo,' New York, for International Milk Day. She also visited Richmond for the ploughing match, attending the functions there, and meeting the public. Her years spent on a dairy farm were very beneficial to her travels, which centred around the dairy industry. She visited Madison,. Wisconsin, for the International World Dairy Expo, where exhibitions from all over • the world' were on display. She attended six banquets at the Expo. • ' October was the Great Canadian Cheese Festival Month, and she visited several grocery stores. across the province, promoting cheese. She was also present at several Dairy Princess competitions held around the province, where she crowned the new princesses. November saw Nancy busy attending several workshops held for the county dairy princesses where she gave seminars and attended as guest speaker. She handed out ribbons at`the dairy show of the Royal Winter, Fair. The official opening of the new Ontario Milk Marketing Board offices in December started off another busy month for Nancy. She also spent quite a lot of time visiting public schools and talking to the children about the dairy industry.. This continued on to the spring. The centennial of the Holstein Canada Convention in Ottawa took a week of . Nancy',s time, keeping.. her.,. busy ,until she. left in April on a tour of Eastern Canada, where she attended schools, visited dairies and spoke at banquets. The highlight of Nancy's year oc- curred when she left for England June 3 for a two-week trip. 'Although this was one of the many prizes she received as Ontario Dairy Princess; it was also a "working holiday" for Nancy. The two weeks were spent touring England, including Brighton, London and Manchester. Nancy visited with the Dairy Queen 9f England and Wales, Debbie Hulme; who will be visiting Ontario at the end of August for two weeks. One of the biggest promotional events in England was the Milk Race, Nancy said. It was a cycling race sponsored by the dairy council. The race ran over a two-week period and was performed in 12 stages and covered 1,152 miles.' throughout England. ' Quoting the National Dairy Council, Nancy said the "fitness,' stamina, and sheer courage of those who participate links perfectly with the qualities of milk." The race, which had teams from across the world in competition, was won by the Russian team. • A banquet was held. that night which Nancy at - 'tended, and awards were handed out. Nancy also 'toured the Lake District, in northern England, which'is similar to the British' Columbia -Alberta area here. "The weather wasn't too bad. We only had one clay of fog," Nancy recalled. "A few days were kind of cool but we always had the sunshine." "I was .really impressed' by the warmth, of the English people," she continued. "It was very nice." Nancy had previously spent 11 months in Erpent, Belgium as a rotary exchange student. When she completed her duties in England, she spent a week and ahalf touring Europe, • which in- cluded a trip back to Belgium to visit her host family. She also toured France, Switzerland and Germany while there. Nancy's duties will be winding down _- soon, __S.he-_ will be attending the Canadian National Exhibition in August, and the competition for the new • Ontario Dairy Princess begins August • r2. She will be.hainding over her:•craWtr• and giving her farewell speech on August 29. Although she originally planned on going to university this fall, Nancy is . currently looking for a job, hoping for something in agriculture or in the public relations field. She is a Grade 13 graduate from Northwestern High School in Stratford. "I have learned a lot in the past year. It's been very busy, and I've met a lot of people," she said. Naney sites two traits as being very important to a dairy princess. Adap- tability is very important, since her position involves travelling and staying with different families. But in- dependence is also important, as many decisions must be made on her own. She was well-prepared for her duties, however. Her life on a dairy •farm was just one small part of her training - she is an active participant in the local Junior .Farmer organization, and has • completed 15 4-H Homemaking Clubs and 22 4-H Agricultural Clubs. Her hobbies, and interests include public speaking, meeting people, travelling and collecting spoons. Being dairy princess, Nancy says, is not so much a job as it is a new lifestyle. • Because of her travelling, no two days are the sa me. "I've travelled to a lot of parts of Ontario I wouldn't have seen other- wise," she said, listing some of the things she benefited from during her reign. "The trip to Europe was a highlight. And I spent a lot of time with the county dairy princesses and they made me feel at home." "I enjoyed being part of the families all across the province," she added. Nancy said she found it hard to pick out any one thing that was more valuable to her than others. "All of it seems to go together, to make it worthwhile," she explained. "But I think one thing I learned is that a lot of people are ignorant about a lot of .parts of Ontario. They don't know what Ontario has to offer them. A lot of them Our the United States_ when they :could._ • *stay here and see Ontario." ,`'Nancy has some advice to pass on to he extOntario Dairy Princess, eke every .opp. rtunity thal:,.:comes,. up. There's always something to learn frorneverything. "Even though you have bad days, you're expected to be at your best the whole time," she 'said., "You have to have a high energy level to be able to adapt to changes as well." Nancy said the Perth County Dairy Princess will be coming up'in October, and it is open to daughters of dairy farmers ages 16 to 25 who, are single. Anyone Wishing toenter can contact, Nancy or a member of the milk com- mittee. "The county diary princess spends time at several banquets throughout the year, and speaks to several service clubs, Women's Institute groups and spends two weeks in March visiting schools in the county" They will be advancing to the Ontario Dairy Prin- cess competition in August." Nancy admits she is going to miss her activities in the past year. "I'll miss being busy all of the time," she confessed, adding she greatly enjoyed her gime as dairy princess. She also admitted she was surprised to have won the honor in the first place. "I met all the girls in the contest, and we all became friends. We didn't go into it with a' very competitive attitude." In addition to the experience Nancy gained. as Ontario Dairy Princess, she also received a number of prizes from last year's competition. She. received the use of a car for a year, a Holstein calf, a silver tea service, two trophies, the trip to England, a jewellry box, jewellery, and a cooler. "I have a lot of souvenirs from my travels as well, and they will make nice keepsakes." NANCY'S TRIP—to England wasn't all work, proven here as she poses with Goofy. • ARUNDEL CASTLE—built in 1075, was the scene for this picture with Nancy Schmidt and right Ann Truman, ,chaperone for the England and Wales Dairy Queen. The castle is situated in southern. England. CHESHIRE COUNTY CASTLE—Ontario Dairy Princess Nancy Schmidt poses amidst the ruins of a Cheshire County castle during her recent trip to England. Here, she is seen with Debbie Hulme, England and Wales Dairy Queen. NANCY AND DEBBIE HULME—England and Wales Dairy Queen, try out some strawberries at at strawberry farm in England.