The Citizen, 2017-01-12, Page 10PAGE 10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2017.
Bishop to be first-ever female IPM Chair in '17
Not far down the road
The 2017 International Plowing Match is set for Walton in
September, but twice a month from January to September,
The Citizen will bring forth stories about the people behind
the match. The series begins with IPM Chair Jacquie
Bishop, the first woman to ever lead a match. She is seen
here in the Grey 160th anniversary parade last summer,
travelling alongside the owner of the match's home farm,
Jack Ryan. (Fite photo)
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
On Sunday, June 23, 2013, Huron
County made history in choosing
Bluevale's Jacquie Bishop to chair
the 2017 International Plowing
Match (IPM).
On that hot day at the Seaforth
Agriplex, the Huron Plowmen's
Association held "A Celebration of
Rural Plowing" and named the first-
ever female IPM chair.
Also on that day, Walton was
named as the event's location, after
the Huron Plowmen's Association
had narrowed it down to a handful of
potential sites around the county.
This came just over one year after
the association had expressed its
interest in hosting the match – a
landmark match since it's the 100th
actual match (several years were lost
due to World War II) in Canada's
150th anniversary year.
From there, Huron's bid was
supported by local businesses and
government, and Huron was named
the host of the historic match.
That sweltering day in June, 2013
was when Bishop's work on the IPM
officially began. At the time, she said
she was honoured to have been
chosen, but the thrill of the
appointment was soon replaced by
the reality that a monumental task
lay before her.
In an interview with The Citizen at
her Jamestown Road home sheep
farm, Bishop taps both of her index
fingers on the kitchen table when
asked where she was raised.
"I was raised right here on this
farm," Bishop said.
She is the third generation of her
family to live on the farm. She and
her husband Kevin have three
daughters, Keshia, Kayla and
Kabrina Bishop – they are the fourth
generation.
The farm is now known as a sheep
operation that has been honoured at
many levels, including the Royal
Winter Fair, but it has come a long
way since those early years before
Bishop was even born.
Her grandfather Harvey Robertson
first bought the property and raised a
family there with his wife, the
former Margaret Brown from
southern Morris Township, in the
1930s. At that time, the farm was a
mixed operation that was home to
cattle, dairy and swine.
The family made way for two
boys, Bill Robertson, Bishop's
father, who would take over the
farm, and her uncle Bruce, who
would go on to be a teacher in Huron
County, eventually serving as a
principal in schools in Howick and
Wingham.
Bruce, a highly musical person,
was also a member of the Ranch
Boys, famous for their performances
on CKNX's Barn Dance program.
Bishop's mother Colleen Stobo
came from Teeswater. She met Bill
at a dance hall outside of Wingham
where, both avid dancers, they hit it
off and soon married and started a
family.
They brought calves from western
Canada for their operation. Soon
Jacquie and her older sister Sherry
were born.
In her younger days, Jacquie said
she was always a member of several
4-H clubs, including the beef club
and several of the lifestyle clubs. It
was in the beef club that she would
meet her long-time friend and future
MPP of Huron -Bruce, Lisa
Thompson.
Throughout her childhood, Bishop
was the graduate of 24 4-H clubs and
she soon became a 4-H leader, a
responsibility she only just gave up a
The countdown to IPM 2017
2017 will be an important year for
all of Canada. It is the 150th
anniversary of confederation, of
course, but in Huron County, there
is much to celebrate.
East Wawanosh will be marking
an anniversary, as will Blyth and in
Huron East, Walton will play host to
the 2017 International Plowing
Match (IPM) – the 100th actual
match, held in Canada's 150th year.
It's a special time to be in Huron
County and it is indeed a time to
celebrate.
This fall, The Citizen will be
producing a comprehensive guide to
the 2017 International Plowing
Match that will make its way into
tens of thousands of homes and into
thousands of pairs of hands as
people make their way through the
match's gates.
Like any event of this scale, there
are many stories that come together
to make it happen. Many people
dedicate their time and they all have
stories to tell.
The Citizen has been there since
the beginning. First, the Huron
County Plowmen's Association
announced that it would bid to host
the 2017 match. Once Huron was
awarded the match, it was on a
steamy day in Seaforth that Walton
was announced as the match site by
way of a beautiful and rapidly
melting ice sculpture.
What would follow was a number
of other milestones along the way
ahead of 2017. There was the
unprecedented partnership among
over a dozen landowners to make
the match a reality, the unveiling of
the sign at the home farm of Jack
Ryan and the official passing of the
"torch" from Wellington County to
Huron, which made its way from
one site to the other courtesy of
Lynne Godkin, IPM Secretary and
avid runner.
There was the groundbreaking
decision to host the Brussels Fall
Fair at the match, something that's
never been done before, and the
creation of the Princess of the
Furrow competition. Following in
the footsteps of the Huron County
Plowing Match, the princess
competition at the 2017 IPM will
also be the first of its kind.
So, over the course of the next
nine months, The Citizen will be
bringing readers the stories behind
the IPM as the match draws near.
We will present stories about the
people working diligently to make
the match a reality, what people can
expect at the landmark event and
how it all came together.
These special, exclusive features
stories will appear in The Citizen on
the second and fourth issues of the
month, beginning in this issue and
running until the end of September.
The first story is an appropriate
kick-off to the series as we shine the
spotlight on IPM Chair Jacquie
Bishop.
A woman who has been honoured
with numerous awards over the
years and who is constantly praised
for her hard work, organization and
calm demeanor, Bishop is the first-
ever female chair of an IPM – a
fitting progression in 2017, showing
just how far this country has come
in its 150 years.
Stay tuned for additional stories
from those behind the match in the
second and fourth issues of the
month from January through to
September.
— SL
few years ago when chairing the
IPM simply became too big of a job.
Bishop's mother always
envisioned a career in nursing for
her daughter, saying that her
temperament was right for the
demanding job.
Bishop did to apply to nursing
school, being accepted and offered
the opportunity to study the art of
nursing, but it was an education in
agriculture at the University of
Guelph that Bishop truly needed in
her life.
During her time at the university,
Bishop was named Student Council
President of her class, while also
winning the Ontario Agricultural
College Leadership Award.
Bishop said she has no regrets
about her chosen life's direction,
saying that she finds peace in the
solitude of the farming life, even
pointing to the quiet farm landscapes
at her home farm as a calming
influence on her life.
After she and Kevin were first
married, Bishop broke away from
the family farm, living in Seaforth
for a decade while she worked as a
milk tester for the Ontario Dairy
Herd Improvement Corporation.
Bishop has also worked over the
years with the Huron County Beef
Producers, Ontario Pork, the
Heartland Soil and Crop
Improvement Association, the
Ontario Pesticide Education
Program, the Howick Mutual
Insurance Board and Elections
Canada and Elections Ontario.
The couple brought their three
daughters into the world and were
able to raise them with perfectly
fitting schedules between Kevin's
work on the farm and Bishop's work
testing milk throughout the
community.
Bishop said she's determined to
make the most of the life she truly
wants to live, a life in agriculture,
because of challenges her mother
would face at Bishop's current age.
Bishop's mother died from cancer
at Bishop's current age and that's
something she thinks of often. Not
long after, her father remarried, but
soon developed cancer as well and
lost his battle.
It's important, she said, to live
each day and do what matters to you,
because you never know what could
lie around the bend.
Bishop's life in agriculture, she
said, is heavily based in a connection
to the land. She is fascinated with
the idea of sustainability and how
lucky Huron County farmers are to
have the rich, productive soil they
have.
Living that life, she said, fills her
Continued on page 11
Stay Connected
to
The Citizen
wherever you are
in the world with an
electronic
Subscription
• Easy access
• Read on your phone, tablet or computer
• Perfect for travellers, students or snowbirds
• Timely reading (no waiting for mail delivery)
s3600
per year
Go to our website and
pay by Pay Pal or come into
the office and pay by cheque or cash
The Citizen
413 Queen St., Blyth 541 Turnberry St., Brussels
519-523-4792 519-887-9114
www.northhuron.on.ca