The Rural Voice, 1998-04, Page 71I
RAINY RIVER
Federation of Agriculture NEWSLETTER
R.R. 1, Devlin, Ontario POW 1C0
414 807-486-3622
The Rural Voice is provided to Rainy
RAINY RIVER VALLEY River Federation members by the RRFA
March 5, 1998
Well, Oprah Winfrey won her case
in the United States with the
Cattlemen, but the British still claim
that their "Beef is safer than sex". I
think it depends on who's cookin' it!
Is Spring here? We don't know —
we haven't felt the chill of winter yet.
Calving is no fun for the ones who
have to wade around in the mud and
muck. There's a pile of straw and
shavings being used everywhere to
keep the moisture down, but a bit of
freeze-drying at night would be a big
help. We can't complain; we're still in
the best District in Northwestern
Ontario. The calving will just have to
be moved up to April.
The RRFA held their March
meeting at Morley on Monday, March
2. It was decided to return to the first
Monday of each month for meetings.
Attending were Kim Desserre,
Kristine Carpenter, Bill Darby,
Stanley Armstrong, James Gibson,
Wayne Flatt and Shirley Morrish.
Bill gave the report on the very
successful annual Potluck and Skating
party held at the Emo-LaVallee arena.
There was plenty to cat, and time to
socialize while skaters of every age
took to the ice from 1:00 until 4:00
p.m. Yes, Kristine is healing nicely
and promises to have her skates
sharpened before we take to the ice
again — even if the doctor stated that
two old ladies shouldn't even be on
the ice. Thanks to the following, who
so kindly donated prizes that made the
day complete: McDonald's
Restaurant, Betty's Ladies' Wear,
DeGagne Equipment, Rainy River
Rural Safety, Voyageur Panel,
Safeways, Cloverleaf Grocery,
Fairway Store, Dairy World,
Borderland Esso, Stratton Community
Store, T. J. Kaemingh & Sons Ltd.,
Emo Inn, Emo Drug Store, Emo Feed
Service and Tompkins Hardware. We
couldn't have accomplished the event
without their support.
Lifestyles Expo '98 will be held
Saturday, April 25 from 10:00 a.m. to
7:00 p.m. at the Fort Frances Curling
Club. There are 50 booth spaces and
rental will be available until March
16. Contact Myrna at 274-9827 or
Erma at 274-5051.
Farm Safety — The Annual
conference will be at Niagara Falls
this year. It's their 25th Anniversary
and will be held at the Sheraton
Fallsview Hotel and Convention
Centre on March 23, 1998.
Our local Rural Safety Association
held their annual meeting and the
executive remains the same as last
year. President is Carol Angus; Vice -
President, Wayne Flatt; Secretary,
Shirley Teeple; Treasurer, Alwine
Teeple; Promotion chairperson,
Shirley Morrish; and Area Rep. is
Rick Neilson. Safety checklists have
gone out in the mail and it is hoped
that entries for the contest will be
returned to Badiuk Equipment, Emo
Feed Service, faxed to 274-2000 or
mailed to P.O. Box 124, Fort Frances.
Rainy River Rural Safety are working
in conjunction with the Rainy River
Valley Safety Coalition towards a
common goal — safety on the farm
and getting the message across the
District to farm families. Safety has to
be practised all year round, and in
every workplace.
Dairy Producer Certificates of
Merit for 1997 — General awards
went to: Brian T. McCoy, DaySpring
Dairy Farm – Willard and Dean
Peters, Isaac Janzen, Ken Ploegman,
James and Robert E. Gibson Bros.,
John and Shirley Vandenbrand, and
Leonard G. Stafford. Congratulations
to each and every one of you.
Rainy River District Cattlemen will
hold their first sale at Stratton on
Saturday, April 18, 1998. Call
manager Russ Richards for details and
listings.
Clover Valley Farmers' Market
require a new manager for the 1998
season. Call Deb at 807-486-3409 for
detailed job description. •
Welcome to our new Members
Services Representative, Betty
Salchert of Devlin. Betty has some
terrific qualifications, as well as some
big boots to fill — she is replacing her
brother, Rick Neilson. Betty's job as
M.S.R. takes her to the Kenora
District as well as the Rainy River
District. She'll be travelling many
miles in her work.
4-H Leaders Association held a
meeting to plan upcoming events for
the year. A sub -committee, Alwine
Teeple, KimJo Calder, and Shirley
Morrish will be rounding up the
members to paint the wall mural at the
OSB plant in Barwick. Percy
Champagne, manager at the mill,
asked at last year's 4-H Banquet, if
the 4-H members could do the mural
for them. The mural will depict all
aspects of 4-H for visitors to see.
4-H will be busy July 4 this year.
Tompkins Hardware are celebrating
their 100th birthday and have invited
4-1-1 to sell "beef on a bun" for the
festivities. This takes 4-H into a busy
season of various projects and the
Emo Fair.
Rainy River District Cattlemen
held their first meeting for the year
and made their executive choice with
Peter Spuzak as President, Ralph
Hunsperger as vice-president and past
president. Jo Bragg is
secretary/treasurer and Russell
Richards Jr. is sales manager for the
Stratton Salesyard.
Open house for the BIO Rainy
River Bull Test Station takes place on
Saturday, March 7, at 10:00 a.m.
There will be lunch and door prizes.
The Bull and Heifer Sale will be
March 21, 1998 at 1:00 p.m., Stratton
Sales Barn. Call Ken Fisher, Station
Manager for details 807-482-2747.
Community Pasture report — Kim
says that the pasture will be open this
year as usual to receive animals. The
government has made no commitment
as yet and as far as they know, the
land will still go up for sale at some
point in time.
Did you know that there are more
than 1,100 metal plaques, topped with
the Ontario Coat of Arms, scattered
across the province? Each one
commemorates people, places, events,
sites and structures, designated and
erected by the Ontario Heritage
Foundation. They tell stories of people
and events that made an impact on
Ontario. Next time you see one, stop,
look, read, learn, and be proud. It's the
history of our province.
"To own a bit of ground, to scratch
it with a hoc, to plant seeds and watch
their renewal of life — this is the
commonest delight of the race; the
most satisfactory thing a man can do."
– Charles Dudley Warner (1829-
1900).0
– by Shirley Morrish
APRIL 1998 67