The Rural Voice, 1993-06, Page 551
1
RAINY RWER
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
R.R. 1, Devlin, Ontario POW 1C0
807-486-3622
The Rural Voice is provided to Rainy
River Federation members by the RRFA.
May 12, 1993
Would you believe 85 degrees one
day and 35 degrees the next? Well,
that's what we're experiencing at this
time in the R.R. District. Farmers west
of Emo have been able to get their
seeding done, but to the east they are
still at it due to the wet lowlands. Snow
has been forecast for Saturday, May 15.
The RRFA held its May 6 meeting at
Stratton with Rick Boersma presiding,
and Jack Elliott, Kim Hunsperger, Jack
Vandenbrand, Sue Boersma, Tammy
Hunsperger and Shirley Morrish
attending. Johnny Cash and his group
were in town so we lost the remainder
of our Directors to his entertainment.
Logos stickers have been ordered
and the committee is taking orders;
they'll have a meeting in three weeks.
There are 109 members to date — 99 of
these are Farm Members enrolled in the
Federation.
The Annual Spring Dinner and
Dance was a success. Around 95 were
in attendance. Guest speaker was Hon.
Ralph Ferguson, MP for Lambton-
Middlesex County. He was introduced
by our local MP Robert Nault.
Ferguson is the author of "Compare the
Share, Phase I and 11", which is a series
of studies into pricing and profits in the
Agri -Food industry. He stressed that
"we've got to start fighting back", that
Canadian fanners need a fair share of
the food dollars. Milk, cheese, chicken,
turkey, beef, pork, corn and wheat all
sell at farmgate, retail and wholesale
prices. Milk prices for farmers have
gone from 38 cents per litre to 57 cents
per litre from 1980-1990 and at the
retail level soared from 75 cents to
$1.48 in the same time period. Prices
paid for wheat are equally obscene, he
remarked, giving an example of Breton
crackers, containing eight per cent
wheat manufactured in Kitchener and
selling at $1.99 here, but 99 cents in
South Carolina.
Ferguson also pointed out quality
differences in products from the U.S.,
Canada and Mexico. Any food that
doesn't live up to our high standards
should not be allowed in Canada.
"Rural Canada can't survive what is
happening — we as Canadians have to
stand up and fight to change the way
things are happening. We have to
rekindle a sense of pride in being
Canadian and we can do it through
organizations like the OFA."
Something new to the dinner and
dance was the presentation of a special
plaque. Dean Hodgson, a former area
resident and RRFA member who
admired volunteer workers, decided to
send a cheque to the RRFA asking that
an award be given yearly to an
outstanding volunteer in the agriculture
field. It was to be presented in memory
of Bill Gibson, a former RRFA presi-
dent who Dean admired as an oustand-
ing volunteer. A small commemorative
plaque was presented to Bill's widow,
Donna Gibson. Linda Armstrong was
the first recipient of the first annual
William Gibson award as the top
agricultural volunteer for 1992. Donna
Gibson presented Linda with the award
and Linda thanked everyone for the
honour. She also thanked all of the
volunteers who have given so much of
their time in the agricultural field.
Door prizes were awarded and the
lucky winners were: Northland
Fertilizer donated a cap and rain gauge,
won by Janet Goertz; ABS -Rick
Boersma, $20 gift certificate, Mike
Zimmerman; Vandenbrand Equipment,
cap, Susan Boersma; Borderland Esso,
T-shirt, Jack Elliott; Tompkins
Hardware, cow mugs, Adrienne
McCulloch; Miracountri Int'l. Rice
Sales, 1 lb. wild rice, Ken Johnson;
Vandenbrand Equipment, cap, David
Kaemingh; Northland Fertilizer, cap
and rain gauge, Betty Esselink;
Borderland Esso, cap, Bill Govier;
Tompkins Hardware, cow-potholders,
spoonrest, Johann Goertz; Miracountri
Int'l. Rice Sales, 1 Ib. wild rice, Marg
Govier; Vandenbrand Equipment, work
gloves, Donna Sinninghe; Emo Feed
Service, $15 gift certificate, Robert
Gibson; NorWest Animal Clinic, $30
gift certificate, Gertie Bujold; Uniroyal
Tire Centre, $25 gift certificate, Curtis
Berg; ABS -Rick Boersma, $20 gift
certificate, Gary Esselink. Thank you
to all who donated prizes.
Dancing was provided by the Music
Masters from Rainy River. The
delicious turkey and ham dinner was
catered by Sis Woolsey, Kathy Nugent,
Vera Woolsey and Dawn Woolsey.
Pat Clysdale-Cornell gave an update
on Agriculture in the Classroom. The
sub -committee for this year's projects
are Lisa Teeple, Kris Carpenter and
Joanne Chlebana-Neilson. Thanks to
Vacationland Dairy for their donation of
milk for the dinner.
The date for the Fall Dinner and
Dance has been set for October 9 at
Stratton.
The official opening of the Rainy
River District Women's Institute
Museum on Hwy. 11-71 in Emo, is
Friday, May 21 with a tea and bake
sale. At this time the dedication of the
painted murals by Darlene Fletcher will
take place. The two scenes portray the
scenic Rainy River as it flows past
Emo, the route of the early Voyageurs
exploring Canada. Planning committee
included Tina Visser, Marcine James,
Lillian VanDrunen, Iris Howard, and
Darlene Fletcher.
Area farmers joined forces to save
the Emo Research Station on Friday,
May 7 by showing the media what the
station has to offer farmers and explain
the importance of New Liskeard
College. Funding cuts by the provincial
government to close two agricultural
colleges and their research stations have
caused district commodity representa-
tives to form SOAR, (Save Our Agri-
cultural Research Station). We encour-
age all district residents to support this
cause for the continued betterment of
the entire Rainy River District.
The Rainy River Cattlemen's Asso-
ciation has hired a new manager, Wade
Desserre, a full time cow/calf operator.
He will be contacting new buyers and
plans on travelling to other salesyards to
promote Stratton salesyards. Wade's
father, Lawrence Desserre, now retired,
was a long-time director and dedicated
worker at the salesyard.
The RRFA meeting ended on a sad
note — Jack Elliott resigned his
position as secretary because of his time
commitment in his new employment.
He will be a salesperson for Rankin
Equipment in Thunder Bay. Good luck
Jack, we'll miss your stories. The next
RRFA meeting will be in June at Emo.
"One out of four people in this
country is mentally unbalanced. Think
of your three closest friends; if they
seem O.K., then you're the one."0
Shirley Morrish
JUNE 1993 51