The Rural Voice, 2001-01, Page 57PERTH AMIE
County Pork Producers NEWSLETTER
Jim Van Herk, President
519-595-4863
• The Rural Voice is provided to Perth
County Pork Producers by the PCPPA.
Annual Meeting time is just around the corner
Any opinions expressed herein may
not necessarily reflect the views of
the Perth County Pork Producers'
Association.
For the most part this fall was a
pleasant surprise until the snow came
and decided to stay. This could be a
long winter especially if you don't
like snow and cold weather! As for
snowmobilers, finally it's catch up
time.
By now most of us pork producers
have heard about or read about or
even met Ontario Pork's new
Executive Director Bill Charlton. Mr.
Charlton brings with him some
experience in the grain trade when he
worked as production manager for
the Canada Malting Company. From
there, he moved to the Agricultural
Development Corporation of
Saskatchewan as the New Product
Development Manager, working with
entrepreneurs in developing
marketing strategies. But for most of
his career Mr. Charlton worked for
the Royal Bank of Canada where he
started as an account manager and
moved up to District manager and
finally branch manager. Most
recently, he was the Regional
Consumers Marketing Director for
Growmark Inc. where he developed
retail marketing strategies with
customers. As Executive Director at
Ontario Pork Mr. Charlton faces
many new challenges and as Pork
Producers we wish him the best of
luck.
Annual meeting time is just
around the corner and this year is
election year for the Perth County
Pork Producers Association. There
are a number of long-time directors
who will be stepping down this year
leaving room for several new
directors. For the Perth County Pork
Producers Association to be
successful we need good dedicated
directors who will bring up concerns
from the grassroots level. I'll be the
first to admit that politics does get in
the way quite often but you can't
succeed if you don't try. We have
roughly nine to 10 regular meetings
per year plus one or two regional
meetings and then, of course, the
Annual meeting for Ontario Pork in
Toronto. It may seem like a lot of
meetings but I find the year goes by
quite fast because the pork industry is
changing and by being involved as a
director you are more aware of
what's happening and why. In Perth
County we are very fortunate to have
two of our own directors serving on
Ontario Pork's board of directors so
we can hear what's going on first
hand at our regular meetings. As in
most other organizations, directors
are divided up into several
committees which help us to address
various issues as they arise.
In Perth County we have lots of
representation on the board from the
independent family farm but because
our industry is rapidly shifting to
more a production -loop type of pork
production, we would like to
encourage more producers who are
involved with a production, loop to
let their names stand as directors.
Currently we have a few producers
who are involved with production
loops so you won't be the only one if
you are elected as a director.
In the past we have had problems
with members not knowing who
some nominees are and what they
believe in so this year we are going to
try something a little different. All
nominees will have the opportunity to
write a few words stating their name,
address, type of operation. and why
they are running. This will be printed
in the booklet that all members
attending the annual will receive. We
will also give all nominees a chance
to say a few words before election
time at the annual meeting if they
wish to do so. We have one more
regular meeting before our annual
meeting and that will be held
(weather permitting) on January 3,
2001 at 7:30 p.m. at the Legion Hall
in Mitchell. If anyone has any
questions feel free to contact any
director or our secretary Ken
Aicheson at 393-5394 or by fax 393-
6037.
The Perth County Pork Producers
Association will have their annual
meeting on Wednesday, January 24,
2001 in Atwood at the Community
Centre. The meal will begin at 5:45
p.m. followed by our guest speaker
Ontario Pork's new Executive
Director Bill Charlton. Tickets
will be available from any director or
contact our secretary Ken Aicheson.
On behalf of all the directors of
the Perth County Pork Producers
Association I would like to wish
everyone a Merry Christmas and a
safe and prosperous New Year!0
— Submitted by John Nyenhuis
PERTH COUNTY PORK PRODUCERS'
PORK PRODUCTS
• Smoked Pork Chops • Fresh Pork Chops • Stuffed Loin Chops
• Smoked Sausage • Smoked Cheddar Sausage
• Bacon Burgers • Teriyaki Pork Steaks • Vittorio's BBQ Sauce
AVAILABLE FROM.
Steve Hulshof (Kinkora) 348-8167
Martin van Bakel (Dublin) 345-2666
Walter Bosch (Monkton) 356-9000
Ted Keller (Mitchell) 348-9836
JANUARY 2001 53