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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1988-07-06, Page 44A — THE HURON EXPOSITOR, JULY 6, 1988 Wy",e(:AW '+‘►, All Deposits Insured Within 4lmite. Beteg Bobbie, To Verification. 10 ' ANNUAL P 2 RR$P a P 't ANNVEAUAL r DAV8 Solving Ontario since 1976 tvltb 111 locations loryow convenience DO YOU EMEM LAST SUMMER? •ta��•ib'u' P/A0411I 4IA 1414 BEAT THE HEAT! CALL TODAY! *Central Air Syste s *Sales alld Installation *Room Air Conditioners *Complete Major Appliance Repair ORDER YOURS TODAY Units will be in short supply this summer VERBERNE APPLIANCES & REFRIGERATION FRANK VERBERNE 345-2262 STOREMADE SAUSAGE GARLIC or of PLAIN LB. 69 INSIDE ROUND STEAK �2.99.1 MEDIUM GROUND BEEF LB. 1 .69 STORE SLICED COOKED HAM L6 STORE SLICED SIDE BACON 1.89 .2.39 PORK BUTT CHOPS LB. 1• We're Fully Equipped for any Job «d • Trucking • Gravel, Sand & Stone • Bulldozing • Excavating • Top Soil • Septic Systems "Flo job is too big or too small" Res. 482-9212 Trucking ®Exe®'arciting Clinton Shop 482-9926 GERRY RIJKHOFF RUSSELL COLACO JOHAN HAKVOORT Toronto student bridges rura There is a big gap between rural Ontario and urban Ontario, and in the middle of this gap are people like Russell Coleco, a student from Scarborough, who is living and work- ing on the RR 3 Walton Farm of Gerry Ri- jkhoff this summer. Russell is a student with the Junior Agriculturalist program, and has gone from the concrete of Scarborough to another world .where he catches catfish, chases groundhogs, and gets up at 6 a.m. to work on a dairy farm. Russell had never been on a farm before coming to work at Mr. Rijkhoff's dairy operation. He had never seen a live cow before, and admits he found them pretty scary up close when he first arrived. It wasn't until after one licked him that he was put a little more at ease. Mr. Rijkhoff says Russell picks things up fast, and has no preconceptions about how things should be done on a farm which makes learning easier. But some things he has had to learn the hard way. For instance, the first day he was on the farm he decided it was hot and he would change into shorts before helping to move calves. By the time they were done he was up to his hips in manure. Basically Russell does whatever Mr. Ri- jkhoff is doing. He follows him around dur- ing the day and helps out where hg can and learns how the dairy operation goes. He helps with feeding calves, watering, clean- ing barns, and helping with odds and ends. Russell is 15 -years -old and hopes to make a career in biotechnology. So he took this job for the practical experience it will give him. At hjg school -St. Michael's College In downtown Toronto- there were Junior Agriculturalist pamphlets passed around and he decided it looked like a good idea. Starting June 20 he began working for nine weeks at a rate of po per day plus room and board. The hosting farmer pays $15 and pro- vides room and board, and the Ministry of Skills Development pays $15 per day. And because there isn't much opportunity for a young person to spend money in the Walton area, Russell hopes to finish the summer with almost all of his approximately $1,500 intact. Russell has found things a lot different than what he expected in the country. He says for the first couple of nights he couldn't get to sleep because it was just too quiet. He also didn't expect his job to be as labor In- tensive as It is. He says he had the typical image of the country bumpkin with a piece of hay in his mouth and a carefree lifestyle. But on Mr. Rijkhoff's farm he is learning different. "It's a lot of hard work and I'm not used to getting up at six in the morning," he says. Russell gets two days off for every 12 he works and he says: "I'm going to go home, sleep for two days straight, wake up and come back." Russell sees a difference in the people in the country as well. He says he was taking a walk one evening and people kept driving by and waving at him. He couldn't figure out why, because he didn't recognize any of the people, and it took a while to dawn on him that the people were just waving to be friendly. At church he noticed a difference between the city and country folk. The kids at church were wearing suits here, which is something he didn't see in the city. "We dress kind of scummy actually," he says of the churchgoing kids in Toronto. He also says the country kids are generally more polite than their city counterparts. But Russell has taken to the country lifestyle, and when he isn't working he likes rban gap NEW TO CANADIAN FARMS are Russell Colaco of Scarborough and Johan Hakvoort of 'Holland, who are both summer students working on the RR 3 Walton farm of Gerry Rijkhoff. The two boys are seen here mixing and hauling cement for farm im- provements. Russell is learning to adapt to life in the country, while Johan is learning about life in Canada. Corbett photo. to enjoy nature. He takes long walks through fields and bushes, enjoyed watching a hawk, chases the calves on the Rijkhoff farm, and chased a groundhog until it decid- ed it had been chased far enough and turned on him. "A city boy sees in nature what we take for granted," says Mr. Rijkhoff. "We've got five acres of bush and I've never bothered to walk through it." All in all Russell thinks the Junior Agriculturalist program, sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, is a good idea. His friends in Toronto thought he was crazy to want to work on a farm in the sum- mer, but he says he wanted to work outside and didn't want to end up working at a McDonalds or in an office. At the end of his nine weeks he'll have two weeks of holidays before school starts again, and he's going to take about half of his money and buy a bike -he bikes and jogs to stay in shape. Mr. Rijkhoff plans to take Russell out for some typical country entertainment when time allows, and he's going to show him horseshoe pitching, take him to the Family Paradise park, and take him to a tractor pulling contest. JOHAN HAKVOORT There is another summer student on the Rijkhoff farm besides Russell who is a stranger to rural Ontario. Mr. Rijkhoff is from Holland, and since he came to Canada to farm eight years ago he has given the op- portunity for agriculture students from Holland to work on his farm over the summers. Johan Hakvoort is a Dutch agriculture student who is spending 10 weeks on the RI- jkhoff farm. He is from a farm himself, as his parents own a farm of 85 cows and 150 acres of land -a big set up for Holland. In two years Johan will likely go into partnership on his parent's farm. Johan came to Canada because he wanted to see this part of the world, and while farm- ing is a basically universal craft he is fin- ding a lot of differences in Canada. The huge amount of open space here is a change from Dutch farms. In Holland neighboring farm houses are seldom more than 100 feet apart. It is also rare for a per- son to own a parcel of land which he lives on and farms. Generally a farmer owns many small parcels of land spread across an area, with about 50 acres being the average farm size. There Is also a lot more livestock per capita in Holland than there is in Canada. Johan also finds the climate in Canada a lot more extreme than what he is used to in Holland. 30 degrees Celsius is extreme heat to the Dutch, and they never see heat like what Johan la seeing this summer In Canada. Also, they usually get too much rain, whereas we seem to be having trouble getting any. Another big difference in the country is how young it seems compared to Holland, and what we consider to be a historic building would be average in Holland. Mr. Rijkhoff says what attracts many Europeans to Canada is the possibility of be- ing able to start their own farm. They like the openess and freedom in Canada. In Holland if you want to build a building on your land you may have to wait a year to get a building permit, and building is closely regulated because neighbors are so close together. In Canada you can phone the township and basically the next day have a building permit. Mr. Rijkhoff says he enjoys having the students working on his farm over the sum- mer. "Students keep life interesting," he says. "It keeps you young yourself, and the agriculture students bring ideas with them and you can learn from them." County seeks community input The preparation of the Huron County Waste Management Master Plan, which will provide a comprehensive, long term waste management strategy for Huron County, is now underway. It is being undertaken by the Toronto consulting firm of Gore and Storrie Ltd. The Master Plan will consider waste reduction, recovery, reuse, and recycling as options to minimize the use of landfill sites, as well as identify preferred locations for waste facilities and an overall system for waste management. The consultants are scheduled to com- plete the Master Plan by August 1990, at a cost of $227,328. One half of the total cost of Master Plan preparation is funded by the Ministry of Environment. A Master Plan is necessary under the requirements of the On- tario Environmental Assessment Act to ac- quire new or expanded waste facilities. The situation is becoming critical in this county since many of the garbage dumps now have a projected life expectancy of less than 15 years. The Master Plan will be carried out in four stages. The first stage will involve col- lecting land use information, preparing an inventory of waste generation, evaluating existing facilities and developing evaluation criteria by which potential waste sites will be assessed. This stage of the Master Plan will be completed by the end of this year. The remaining stages will focus on identify- ing and assessing suitable areas for landfill, and developing a system for waste manage- ment which incorporates acceptable methods for waste disposal in Huron county. An important part of the Master Plan will be to develop options to reduce the amount of garbage which must be landfilled. The involvement of community residents is critical to ensure the development of a plan which is suited to the needs and re- quirements of Huron County. 'Community input will be sought for ideas and informa- tion about issues which should be taken into consideration in the Master Plan, and in providing comments on reports prepared during each of the stages of the Master Plan. To facilitate community awareness, infor- mation and involvement in the Waste Management study, Jo -Anne Richter, a Waste Management Coordinator, has been hired by the County. Her role will focus on providing information to the community about the various aspects of the Master Plan study, and working with groups and in- dividuals who wish to have involvement in the study. Members of the community will be encouraged to take an active role at any point during the course of the study. Public meetings will be scheduled periodically to provide updates on the Master Plan, and to review preliminary reports prepared during each of the stages of the Master Plan process. Community groups or individuals who would like further information, or who would like to meet to discuss issues relating to waste management, are asked to contact Ms. Richter through the Huron County Department of Planning and Development, 524-2188. Huron cattlemen to On Monday, July 11, cattlemen will have an opportunity to tour five operations situated in the Seaforth and Mitchell areas. Interested beef producers are asked to meet at Maloney Farms at 9:45 a.m. which will be the first stop for the car tour. The Maloney farm is located VA miles east of Seaforth on Highway 8, on the south-east corner. tour local operations N 1 u , QUO , CU v Call operation, the tour will travel to Dalton and Dave Fischer's beef finishing operation near Staffa. Following lunch in Mitchell, the intensive pasture management system utilized by Kevin Mc- Comb will be visited. Rudy Bauer's cow -calf operation followed by Jack Flanagan's feedlot operation will close out the day -long tour.