The Rural Voice, 1983-11, Page 36KEITH ROULSTON
The country:
Keeping it alive
by Keith Roulston
A few years ago, when they were in
the midst of developing land use
plans for many townships in Huron
county, somebody like me could get
the distinct impression he wasn't
wanted living in the countryside.
For a while there, perhaps the feel-
ing is still there but we don't hear it
locally so much, non-farm people liv-
ing on the rural concessions were
looked on with the same displeasure
that weasels in the chicken house used
to be. Horror stories were told about
how non-farm people moved into the
neighbourhood and the first thing
you know, they were running things
and farmers had to play by their
rules.
I can understand the concern of
farmers. One of the fringe benefits of
being a farmer used to be that even if
you didn't make a lot of money, at
Ieas..tyou lived with a minimum of
rules and didn't have people telling
you what to do on your own land. Let
some city people into the
neighbourhood and you might soon
have people complaining if you
spread manure on the fields or disced
the cornfield after 10 at night. There
are enough stresses on the modern
farm without adding that.
And I can understand the concern
of planners over preventing strip
development, those miles of houses
built along the highways near some
larger urban centres which make you
wonder if the town ever ends and the
country begins. It's expensive land to
provide urban services for; it causes
problems for farmers and it isn't even
attractive.
But these cases are the extreme
cases. On the other hand you have a
neighbourhood like ours. A century
ago one family settled our concession
and built magnificient houses along a
two-mile stretch of it. Today, despite
the fact that many of the farms have
been lumped together to provide
larger working units, all of those old
houses are still being used, still kept
in good repair. A lot of the houses
would probably have fallen down by
now if it wasn't for people who
wanted to live in the country, even
though they worked in nearby towns.
The school bus stops at nearly
every house on our road these days.
The bus would have to come down
the road anyway to pick up the kids
from the farms (ours is thankfully a
neighbourhood with a lot of young
farmers) but the trip is made more
economical because of all the non-
farm kids that also get picked up.
All those active young families liv-
ing in the old farm homes also help
keep our local village alive too. Most
of our towns originally thrived, not
because of industry, but by serving
the population in the surrounding
townships. As farms grew and the
number of people living on farms
diminished, so did the viability of
those communities that didn't have
an industrial base. The non -farmers
living in the countryside around our
village are helping it stay alive
economically. And they're adding a
sense of variety to it. We have writers
and artists and a whole variety of
people to make life more interesting
in our village. We have people to help
run hockey programs and Girl Guides
and so many other organizations that
are essential for the vibrant life of a
small town.
So planners and farm lobbyists, yes
let's set rules that makes it impossible
for non-farm people to disrupt the
business of farming, but let's not cut
off our nose to spite our face to ig-
nore the good things that can come by
keeping communities alive. ❑
Keith Roulston has been writing this
column since 1977 and is the
originator and former publisher of
The Rural Voice. He has written
several successful plays and is con-
nected with the Blyth Summer
Festival. He lives with his family near
Blyth.
PG. 34 THE RURAL VOICE, NOVEMBER 1983
See
your
area
dealer
Avondee Farm Supply
R.R. 1, Stratford 273-4072
Cook's Div. of Gerbro Inc.
Hensall 262-2410
Kirkton 229-8986
Centralia 228-6661
Milton Dietz Ltd.
Seaforth 527-0608
Durst Farm Centre
Clinton 482-7706
Fischer Feeder Service
R. R. 3, Mitchell 348-8725
Listowel Farm Supply
Listowel 291-2501
Molesworth Farm Supply
Molesworth 291-3740
Morgan Brothers
R. R. 1, Hensall 235-1487
Oehm's Hardware
Clifford 327-8397
Perth County Farm Supplies
Milverton 595-8905
Millbank 595-8911
Brunner 595-8251
Ryan Drying Ltd., Walton
Brussels 887-9261
Seaforth 527-0527
Topnotch Feeds
Seaforth 527-1910
Wroxeter 335-3555
Twin County Feeds
Owen Sound 376-4213
Tara 934-3122