The Rural Voice, 1979-01, Page 40Agriculture's queens
Jean Siertsema
By Debbie Ranney
Jean Siertsema of RR 3, Blyth, likes
public speaking which is a good thing
because she's going to get a lot of practice
at it in the next year.
Miss Siertsema is the Huron County
Dairy Princess.
Contestants who competed for the dairy
princess title must come from a dairy farm
and know a little something about dairy
operations. Jean entered the contest when
Len McGregor, 4-H co-ordinator for Huron
County and dairy princess competition
co-ordinator, asked some of his 4-H
members to enter the contest.
In the past few years, there have been
five or six girls in the competition, but this
year there were only three contestants,
Jean said.
The contestants had to give a prepared
speech, do an interview and for the first
time this year, deliver an impromptu
speech.
Just what are the judges looking for in a
contest like the dairy princess competition?
PROMOTE MILK
Jean says they're looking for someone to
promote milk and be active with groups,
schools, the W.I. and the public in general.
Jean. who is studying to be a nursing
Promote, Bruce, Huron and Perth
assistant, said her new role as dairy
princess hasn't really interfered with her
career plans because she's enjoying the
job.
- She has already attended a dairy
princess workshop in Woodstock which
was held to tell the princesses the things
they could do this year and how they could
accomplish them. The girls were given
public speaking pointers and told about the
dairy industry and how they could promote
it at fairs, schools and other events.
The competition for the Ontario Dairy
Princess will be held at the CNE next fall
and Jean is already planning ahead for
that.
Jean knows she's going to have a busy
summer since a number of organizations
are already looking for her for fairs and
other events.
FAIRS
"I' m planning on attending as many
fairs as I can and I would like to get out and
visit some of the farms," she said.
Jean, who has been a 4-H member for
four years, is still involved with the club, as
well as Junior Farmers and school.
"Right now, 4-H isn't so busy because
we just had our awards night on November
3," said Jean, who was the top winner in
the county at that event.
The 18 -year-old daughter of Herb and
Margaret Siertsema has many other inter-
ests as well, including travelling, snow-
mobiling, playing the piano and public
speaking.
Jean, who had been talking with Len
McGregor the night before this interview,
said they had discussed new projects the
dairy princess could become involved in,
including manning a mall display in
Goderich and visiting local schools.
Jean said her dairy princess title was
accompanied by a number of lovely gifts
including a rose bowl from the Royal Bank,
a crown and banner to keep and a dozen
roses.
PG. 40 THE RURAL VOICE/JANUARY 1979
Jean's job in the next year will be to help
publicize and promote the dairy industry.
With someone who likes public speaking
as well as Jean does, the task of being
Huron County's dairy princess should be
an enjoyable one - both for herself and for
members of the public.
Wanda Colvin
She may now be Bruce County's Queen
of the Furrow but up until the time she had
tried out for the position, Wanda Colvin of
R.R.2, Teeswater, had never plowed in her
life. In fact, she hadn't even switched
gears on a tractor.
But that fact didn't stop the Bruce
County Plowmen's Association and they
were obviously pleased with her plowing
skills as she was crowned Queen both last
year and this year.
In order to compete, the entrants for the
Queen of the Furrow contest go to the
county plowing match which is usually held
in August. They have to plow, give a
speech, and have an interview with the
three judges. The girls deliver their
speeches at the plowman's banquet and
the topic is chosen the day before when
they have dinner with the judges.
Speech topics are generally related to
agriculture. The first year, Wanda had to
speak on the Bruce County plowing match
and the second year she had to speak on
the future of agriculture in Bruce County.
The girls are then evaluated on a point
system where by they are given 200 points
for the speech, 200 points for their
appearance and deportment, 200 points for