The Rural Voice, 2006-10, Page 62People in Agriculture
Legend Earl Heywood dies at age 89
Earl Heywood, a legend from the
days of the CKNX Travelling Barn
Dance, died September 17 at
Huronlea, Brussels at the age of 89.
Born and raised on his father's
farm near Exeter, he joined the Barn
Dance Gang soon after "Doc"
Cruickshank decided, in 1937, to
invite local musicians to take part in
a half-hour live musical presentation
from the CKNX studio in Wingham.
Heywood became a regular when the
show went on the road, broadcasting
from various community halls across
southwestern Ontario. When CKNX
expanded into television. Heywood
was there on Circle 8 Ranch.
Heywood used his Barn Dance
fame to win a recording contract with
RCA Victor in an era when Canadian
recording stars were rare. He wrote
more than 350 songs over his long
career.
As was often the case, Heywood
worked at CKNX Radio and
Television when not performing.
After his retirement, Heywood
worked tirelessly to keep the memory
of Barn Dance alive. He was a
driving force behind the formation of
the Barn Dance Historical Society
and Entertainment Society.°
Dirk and Katie Hoogakker of Cargill are featured on the October page of the
OFAC calendar. They represent the Ontario Dairy Goat Co-operative.
Cargill couple calendar subjects for October
A young Cargill -area couple will
be hanging on the wall of'homes all
over Ontario this October.
Dirk and Katie Hoogakker are the
subjects of the October photo on the
Ontario Farm Animal Council's 2006
calendar.
The couple represents the Ontario
Dairy Goat Co-operative on the
calendar featuring farmers from
various livestock farming groups.
While they were initially reluctant,
they said the photoshoot was a
positive experience.
The couple imigrated to Canada
in September 1997 from Holland
which, Dirk said, was too crowded.
After starting with a small dairy
goat operation of 43 does in
Elmwood, they expanded and
purchased their current farm on
Bruce County Road 3 in 1999. They
now milk 300 goats daily with
another 200 younger animals. They
were founding members of the
Ontario Dairy Goat Co-operative.
The new 2007 Faces of Farming
calendar will be out in early
November and features several
Midwestern Ontario farm families.°
Huron 4 -Hers visit
Alberta, host return
visit from westerners
It was the experience of a
lifetime for 4-H members from
Huron County and their
counterparts from Alberta who took
part in an exchange this summer.
The Huron group visited Alberta
from July 10-18, touring a
Drumheller feedlot that houses
9,000 cattle; saw the scenic areas of
Banff, hiked up Johnson Canyon,
and visited Olds College.
During a visit to the Calgary
Stampede, they were privileged to
visit behind the scenes to view the
chuck wagons and visit with the
owners, outriders and other
members of the teams.
They also went water -sliding at
Lake Sylvan and boating, tubing
and water-skiing at Dickson Lake.
Taking part in the tour were:
Brent Hendriks, Chase Hackett,
Craig Martin, Shawn Boyle and
Elliott Miller, all of Lucknow;
Brandon Coleman of Kippen;
Sara Baker, Brussels; Emily
Moore, Wingham and Keishia
Bishop and Kayla Bishop of
Bluevale. Chaperones were Jacquie
Bishop and John Coleman.
From August 7-15 it was
Huron's turn to host visitors from
Alberta. The group toured the Lynn
Farms Feedlot at Lucan, the white
bean processing plant at Hensall
Co-op; IceCulture in Hensall; the
Klaver dairy farm; Robinson Maple
Products near Auburn; the Todd
family sheep farm and had a dinner
served by Mennonite families at St.
Helens near Lucknow.
They also visited Canada's
Wonderland, Niagara Falls,
Goderich and the TransCanada
Motocross races at Walton.
The 4-H exchange program
seeks to help members 12-17 build
lasting friendships, remove
prejudice and develop under-
standing and tolerance for other
Canadians, according to 4-H
Canada.°