The Rural Voice, 2001-03, Page 551
RAINY RIVER
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
R.R. 1, Devlin, Ontario POW 100
807-486-3622
ILAI RIVER VALLEY• The Rural Voice is provided to Rainy
RRiver Federation members by the RRFA
February 14. 2001
They tell us that everything that
happens in life, happens for a reason, but
the accident that took the life of our friend
and neighbour, Bev Hyatt doesn't have a
reason. Not one that we can understand
anyway. Bev was the centre of her family
and friends' universe and her life on this
earth will not be forgotten. George and
Bev did their share of the workload when
George was active in the RRFA and served
as president. We will not forget her.
Since the groundhog did see his
shadow on February 2, our spring will
come as always. So far the winter here in
the Rainy River Valley has been
acceptable. We don't have the big
snowstorms like in the East and the South.
We have less freezing temperatures than
most places too. As I've mentioned
numerous times before. the Rainy River
District is the place to be.
Attending the February 6 RRFA
meeting were Kristine Carpenter, Angela
Halvorsen. KimJo Calder, Ken Fisher.
Betty Salchert, Shirley Morrish. Sue
Boersma, Bernie Zimmerman, Rudy
Sinninghe and Gary Sliworsky from
OMAFRA.
Betty, reporting for Member Services
and just back from her holiday in Arizona
where there was snow and hail, said that
registration forms are in the mail and
some mistakes have been reported. Let her
know about it as soon as you can. She has
also ordered for the new fact sheets that
are available.
There is a membership drive on now.
so talk to your neighbour or agricultural
place of business. They could be receiving
this great little magazine and could even
place an ad in the advertising section to
reach our eastern friends like 1 do.
Kristine and Shirley. reporting for
OAFE (Ag Awareness), are preparing for
the year's activities for all schools in the
district. This spring, students
(Tomatonauts) and teachers will plant 50
earth seeds, (the control group) and 50
space seeds to compare germination.
growth and vigour over a three-week
period. Space seeds came from the space
shuttle which blasted off November 30
with Canadian astronaut, Marc Garneau
and four other astronauts. There were
200,000 Heinz tomato seeds on board
with them. They will be the focus of
Grade 3-6 Science experiments called
Tomatosphere, reaching 3000 classrooms
across Canada. Classrooms have to
register for these experiments.
Rainy River Cattlemen held their
annual meeting in January and elected a
new board of directors. Their first meeting
was last evening and Tom Morrish is the
President, with Markus Chojko-Bolec as
vice-president. Archie Wiersema is the
Provincial Director and Jo Bragg is
secretary/treasurer. The other dedicated
directors are Kimlo Calder. Harold
Duivenvoorden. Darryl Angus, Aarne
Hahkala, Ken McKinnon. Allan Jolicouer
and Clayton Teeple. with two more to be
chosen at large. Russell Richards is the
Salesyard Manager. The annual meeting
for OCA takes place February 21. Tom,
Archie and Russ will be attending.
BIO's annual meeting takes place
February 21). the afternoon before the
OCA's on the 21-22 at the International
Plaza Hotel in Toronto.
The Rainy River 4-H Association will
hold a meeting Monday. February 19 at
Barwick. There are a number of new
projects starting up with 65 members and
33 leaders and volunteers. Of these, 27 are
females and three are males all screened
and ready to help our youth "Learn to do
by Doing". President is Deb Zimmerman:
Secretary, Cindy Neilson and Treasurer is
Carol Angus. KimJo Bliss/Calder is the
local 4-H contact person.
A Grower Pesticide Safety Course will
be held for the Rainy River District at the
Kay-Nah-Chi-Wah-Nung Historical
Centre. Shaw Road. East of Stratton. It
will run from 9:00 - 4:00 on March 22.
Cost is $65. and lunch can be purchased in
the restaurant at the centre. Register by
calling 1-800-652-8573.
Ketchum Reytlex Manufacturing are
big supporters of 4-H and this year they
will donate a portion of sales from every
cattle ear -tag sold in Canada to 4-H.
Ketchum has been involved with 4-H in a
number of capacities over the years. Each
provincial council receives a portion of
the funds from the sales in that province.
Congratulations to Angela Halvorsen
on her appointment as a new Northern
Ventures Officer for the Rainy River
District. N.V. is funded by FedNor and
administered through Rainy River Futures
Development Corporation. This is a
program to assist young women, 30 years
of age and under, youth and aboriginal
entrepreneurs to start a new business.
Maple Leaf Foods have come out with
a new snack food called Meatheads,
targeting men between the ages of 18-34
who love beefy snacks. The snacks are
much like beef jerky, but are very flat and
chewy and very convenient for people on
the go. They are available in 3,000
convenience stores and gas bars, and
planned to be distributed nationally by
May of this year.
Has anyone ever noticed the similarity
in the two small magazines; one is
published by OCA and called Ontario
Beef, the other is published by Ontario
Farmer Magazine and called Beef
Farmer. They are the same size with
similar logos. There must be an expense
in repetition.
Rainy River Rural Safety are planning
their annual meeting for February 28 at
the Seniors' Centre at Stratton, 7:00 p.m
Rainy River District is host to the World
Health conference to be held May 7. 8. 9
in the year 2002. There is a conference
theme "Seeds" which covers Safety -
Education -Equal Opportunity -Dedication -
Sustainability. Our local rural safety
group will also have a part in the
preparation of this world-wide conference.
Bernie reported for the 18 milk
producers still in production in the distract.
Rainy River Rural Safety and Rainy
River 4-H Association will combine to
sponsor the upcoming first-aid and CPR
course. It happens Mary 7 - 8 in the
evenings and wraps up Saturday morning.
March 10. There is a fee and to register
call KimJo Calder at 807-482-2863.
Gary was in attendance with the
newsletter proposal. Like all maga/Ines.
it's advertising that keeps a newspaper
coming to your household. The
NorthWest Link will publish 11) issues
this year if the sponsorship is there :o mail
out 450 copies.
Angela reported for the fair hoard (Ag
Society) and was very pleased a ith the
positive attitude of the nes, hoard. A
planning committee is being set up for the
proposed Agri-Plex Building and opinions
are asked for. Linda Armstrong will he the
RRFA representative on the Lair hoard for
this year.
Ag Days (the annual Seed Fair) is
coming up March 30-31 at the Barwick
Centre. A committee is to he set up for
speakers and days activities. Kristine
booked the hall 'and lunch will he
sponsored by T. J. Kaemingh and Mannas
Shell. The annual RRFA spring dinner
also takes place that weekend.
Entertainment committee is Ken Fisher.
KimJo Calder. Jason Teeple. Betty
Salchert. Tickets will be available from
any one of your directors.
We're all wishing Mike Neilson a
quick and complete recovery from his
recent accident while loading hulls for
their charolais sale on February 10. 11 was
a very successful sale even though Mike
could not be there. He was in surgery at
Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg. 11
anyone has recipes for delicious soft type
foods, pass them on to Joanne to prepare
for Mike. It will be a while helore he can
chew again.
We can't .change the world. We can
only change our attitudes. beliefs and
behaviours. We can't change other people.
but we can educate and confront them by
our actions.
"Learn from the past — live for today —
plan for tomorrow."0
— Submitted by Shirley Morrish
MARCH 2001 51