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The Citizen, 1989-02-01, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1989. PAGE 5. Canada Many excellent stockmen have come up through the ranks of Canada’ s4-H programs, but leaders say the clubs may be in jeopardy unless OMAF hears their concerns. Unconfirmed reports indicate some agriculture club leaders may pull out of 4-H to start their own clubs unless they are permitted more say into their own fate. BY TOBY RAINEY Many people think that mules are the most stubborn animals on earth, but those who know the long-eared equines will say that the trait they so often exhibit is not stubborness, but a considered opinion on the part of the animal that there is little to be gained by doing what it is asked to do at any given time. For the past year or so, there has been little doubt that some of Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food personnel have likened some of the province’s 4-H leaders to the mule in their refusal to toe the Ministry line. But the leaders, many of them among the longest- For most trucks just aren’t the Continued from page 4 scene in the movie “Stand By Me’’ where the four boys are crossing a long wooden railway trestle when a train arrives, I remember the terror of crossing a trestle near our home with the thought that today of all days there might be a special train out of the normal hours, and I can understand exactly the terror those boys are feeling. Our railway line was a pretty insignificant little branch line, the trains seldom more than seven or eight cars long. It was memorable then, then one late-summer sunset silhouetted the biggest train I had ever seen, 48 cars long, pulled by several steam engines creeping along with their heavy load from a Bruce county harvest. One day there was a new sound echoing through the swamp along the sides of the track. The cattle, so used to the trains they seldom looked up from their graizing, fled serving and most devoted, are not stubborn: they simply will not take a direction they see as being instrumental in further weakening the already shaky foundation on which many of the province’s clubs find themselves. The problem centres on a contro­ versial review of the 4-H program in Ontario intended to combat a rapidly declining membership and loss of leaders in many clubs. One review report calls the phenome­ non Canada-wide, although the ministry’s own statistics show the losses are much more drastic in Ontario than in any of the other provinces. The key factor is that the review has been organized and in terror. A chill ran through imaginative young minds a% we tried to conjure up just what could make the incredible sound. When we realized it was coming from the railway track we rushed to see, just in time, a yellow and red diesel engine whizz through, the first we’d ever seen. There was a mixed feeling of pride at having seen this modern wonder at last on our little track and sadness that it signalled the eventual end of our friends the steam engines. The sadness was magnified a few years later when we went to visit an uncle who worked for the railway and had a railway house near a little stop on a main line. There along the siding were dozens of huge steam engines, sitting cold and lifeless, waiting to be hauled to the scrapyard. They made a tre­ mendous playground for one Sun­ day afternoon, a chance to scurry around inside the engines that had conducted by OMAF’s Rural Or­ ganization Services Branch (ROS) with little effective representation from the 4-H leaders or clubs, who charge that this has coloured the review committee’s perception of the problems and adversely affect­ ed the possibility of constructive change. In short, many of the most vocal leaders in the present crisis say that the ROS is part of the problem so how can it be part of the solution? Huron County 4-H leaders have taken a very strong leadership role in the opposition to several of the recommendations of the 4-H re­ view, and have done a lot of homework in putting together a same once held so much mystery but it was a sad time. Oh I know that trucks are probably more efficient these days because they can travel on the road the rest of us help pay for too instead of having their own roads like the railways. I know that there are people who feel a sense of romance about trucks as others did about railways. But somehow I don’t think for the general public watching an 18-wheeler barrel by on the highway can ever match watching a train role by, seeing the heads of the people in the passen­ ger cars and wondering where they are off to and what stories they could tell about their travels. A truck just can’t match the mystery of seeing those cars from faraway rail lines like the Baltimore and Ohio or the Sante Fe. Economically the loss of the trains may not make a difference, but then memories aren’t made of economics. position paper which Barry Cleave of Varna, then president of the Huron County 4-H Leaders’ Asso­ ciation, presented at a meeting in Toronto January 21 with Ontario Agriculture Minister Jack Riddell and ministry and ROS staff. One of the paper’s three major recom­ mendation’s is that ROS staff at both the county and management level should have some 4-H experi­ ence in their backgrounds; the fact that many of them have never been involved with the 4-H program, and that some of them are not even from a rural background, make it impossible for them to see the problems as they exist, the Asso­ ciation says. The situation is a sad state of affairs for a national youth organi­ zation that is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, and spokes­ men for both the 4-H and the ROS say that if some consensus is not attained soon, 4-H will be long gone before its centennial. A major problem seems to be that neither side seems to be really listening to the other’s views, despite several meetings called over the course of the review process to discuss just such differences. The review is intended to take into account all comments present­ ed by 4-H people across the province, but many leaders, includ­ ing many in Huron County, say that this has not been done, and they are extremely frustrated. Leaders say that even the initial survey done last winter as the basis of the review report did not target the people most likely to know where the problems in 4-H are coming from, but rather was aimed at many who knew or cared little about the program. Most notably, Huron County’s Barry Cleave says, not one past 4-H leader was questioned, an alarming omission when one considers that many long-time leaders have left the program just because of their frustration with the way it is run. And if leaders go, the kids go, Mr. Cleave says. In addition, Mr. Cleave says that the updated OMAF review, releas­ ed in December, continues to make the very same recommendations that many county leaders fought against when the occasion was given them last spring, including one very vocal meeting held with ROS staff in Clinton last May for Huron County leaders. One way to salvage the program would be to return all 4-H pro­ grams to the jurisdiction of OMAF’s Extension Branch, with agriculture-oriented (livestock, crops and machinery clubs) under the direct control again of the county agricultural representative, as they were prior to 1982 when the amalgamation of both the agricul­ ture and “homemaking’’ (now called “lifestyle”) 4-H Clubs took place. To many leaders, the time before amalgamation is seen as the ■good old days -- as one leader put it, “Why fix it if it ain’t broken?” In all fairness, most Huron County leaders The Citizen spoke to attach little blame for the situation to local Rural Organiza­ tion Specialists Jane Muegge and Nick Gelynse at the Clinton OMAF office. They are just doing their job, leaders say, and have little choice but to conduct themselves as their upper management decrees. But they still can’t help venting their frustration that the local KOS people should be taking the leaders concerns to higher management, and this just isn’t happening. As a result, there is a decided chill in the relationship between many leaders and the local ROS staff, an atmo­ sphere which was very evident at the Huron County 4-H Leaders’ Association annual meeting held at Huronview last Thursday. About 35 county leaders attended the meet­ ing which was largely run by Mr. Gelynse and Mrs. Muegge, but few of them took part in what one leader later described as a “Rah! rah! Aren’t we having fun, boys and girls? atmosphere.” Many of the county’s most influential 4-H leaders are eager to speak with the media, but most insist on anonymity because of the charged atmosphere between themselves and the ROS. They feel that anything they say can and will be used against them if the crisis heats up again, and the general feeling is that of an armed camp bristling with hostilities. On the other side, ROS staff are eager to speak to the media to get their side across. Unfortunately, I PLEDGE my HEAD Io dearer thinking. my HbAKl to greater loyalty. my HANDS tolaraer service, a my HEALTH to better living, for my dub. my community, and my country. “their side” is often seen through the rose-coloured glasses worn because many of their jobs could be on the line if the 4-H leaders get their way in re-structuring their programs. “The media is sometimes part of the problem, not part of the solution, in this kind of situation,” Mr. Gelynse says. “By just report­ ing the negative side of any situation, (the media) is helping to ensure the downfall of the organiz­ ation. Nobody wants to belong to a club that everybody sees as a loser.” He added that for every discontented 4-H leader in the county, there are 100 who have nothing but positive feelings about their programs. For the moment, the standoff continues. The one bright spot is that most 4-H leaders in Huron County see Jack Riddell, minister of agriculture and Huron MPP, as the ultimate saviour of the 4-H program in Canada. His will be the final voice in the implementing of any review recommendations. “4-H is very dear to Jack’s heart,” one leader said. “In the long run, he’s never going to let U down.”