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The Rural Voice, 2003-03, Page 56GREY County Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER 446 10th St., Hanover, Ontario N4N 1P9 Email: grey©ofa.on.ca Website: www.ofa.on.ca/grey 519-364-3050 or 1-800-275-9551 • The Rural Voice is provided to all Grey County Farmers by the GCFA. 156 ring 4. Anyone over 55 or so can probably remember a phone number something along that line. That was my phone number when I was a youngster growing up on a farm near Alliston. The '50s brought several modern inventions to rural Ontario — the rotary dial phone, television, indoor toilets, and tractors with hydraulics to name just a few. After the rotary dial phones arrived, the telephone system remained basically the same for many years. A farm family had one telephone and they shared the line with seven or more other families. Instant communication was usually a foreign term because at least one of those families had about 10 kids and they each seemed to have ten friends. Sometimes it took up to two hours to get on the phone — then someone would be bugging you to get off in five minutes. In the '70s things began to improve; first four families to a line, then two, and finally ... no — that didn't happen for a long time. In some places that still hasn't GREY COUNTY FEDERATION OF AGRICULTURE DIRECTORS' MEETING Thursday, March 27, 2003 - 8:00 p.m. Grey County Agricultural Services Centre meeting room (Grey Gables) 206 Toronto Street South, Maticdale Members are welcome to attend Technology marches on happened. In the '90s things began to speed up. Our oldest daughter went to Wilfred Laurier University. The university had an automated switch board and after 5:00 p.m. our rotary dial phone wouldn't talk to that switch board so we couldn't talk to our daughter. Enter the first push button phone in our house. In the mid -'90s we applied for a private line but were told that there were none available until 2003 by a very nice lady from Bell in Sault Ste. Marie. She couldn't find our farm on her maps but she could find Shipley (a pioneer village that died out about 100 years ago). A year later, someone plowed in a fibre optic line past our farm and cut our phone line in the process. That company fixed the line but, alas, it was the wrong line. Then we had to call Bell to rectify the problem. As they dug around to find the proper lines to connect, I asked if there was any possibility of getting a private line. His exact words were "I think all I have to do is go back to Listowel and flip a switch." In about two hours we DID YOU RDOW? That the Rural Voice is provided to you as a benefit of your OFA membership. To become a member call the Hanover Office OFA OFA Farmers Working for Farmers • OFA representatives are participating in a study on agricultural water use in Ontario. • OFA is hosting a series of meetings to review the changes to the Nutrient Management draft regulations. 52 THE RURAL VOICE had a private line, our fax machine worked and all was well. But by that time new communication gadgets were becoming prominent. Cell phones were already prevalent and e-mail was gaining popularity. Now cell phones aren't only for talking; you can send and receive e-mails, play video games, take digital pictures and send them by e-mail and probably lots of other things. Computers have also challenged the telephone for communication supremacy. There now seem to be some people who prefer receiving an e-mail instead of a phone call (voice mail) and others who send an e-mail every time they think of something. Perhaps they need a Palm Pilot or something like that to store their thoughts. For those of us with slow speed internet, getting to and reading all 'hose e-mails takes a lot of time; something like waiting for the phone on the old party lines. In conclusion, I can see that this March of Technology has turned into a race. Funny how a face-to-face meeting with someone still seems best.° — Submitted by Allen Hughes 1st Vice -President The County Line Grey Federation of Agriculture Working for You: 1. Hosted a Nutrient Management meeting in February 2. Held a meeting with OFA President, Ron Bonnett to discuss Nutrient Management Act 3. Made a donation to the Grey Farm Safety Association