Huron Expositor, 2001-06-13, Page 88—THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Jun. 13, 2001
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New,
4-H Sheep Club leader
gets rural volunteer award
By Julie Bell
Clinton News -Record Staff
This is the second of a two-part series on
local recipients of the 2001 Agri -Food and
Rural Volunteer Recognition Award from the
University of Guelph.
When it comes to volunteer work and
farming, Florence Pullen is anything but
sheepish.
A recipient of the 2001 Agri -Food and
Rural Volunteer Recognition Award, Pullen
was recently recognized for her outstanding
achievements in farming and volunteer work.
Pullen said she attributes her award to her
involvement in a 4-H Club while growing up.
"It really helped me to shape my career
and future. After taking part in 4-H, I decided
to go to Guelph to get a degree in agriculture.
I got my first sheep in 1963, and I've had
them ever since," she said.
Pullen, now a 4-H Sheep Club leader
herself, was recognized with the award for
playing an active part in breeding Suffolk
sheep, and for taking an active role in her
community.
According to Pullen, many genetic
changes have taken place in the Suffolk
breed, which she has avoided through the
preservation of genes from her father's flock
of sheep. Dating back to 1937, the flock came
directly from Britain, with the last of the
originals having survived until 1974. These
days, she said, preserving the breed
genetically has become more difficult due to
foot and mouth disease.
"I grew up with those sheep. We didn't
want to move in the direction of the new
sheep, so a few years ago we bought some
frozen embryos and semen from Britain to
help preserve the original qualities of the
breed. It was really exciting, and I'm glad we
did it when we did."
Still breeding, Pullen's flock currently
consists of 130 purebred ewes. Her
commitment to the breed doesn't end there.
She is the past president of the Suffolk Sheep
Association, spent several years on the
Marketing and Purebred Affairs Committee
of the Ontario Sheep Association and was the
District 3 representative of the Ontario Sheep
and Marketing Association Committee.
According to Pullen, her experience in
breeding is often called upon by newcomers.
She also lends her experience through public
speaking on sheep production and health
management.
Her volunteer commitments, however, are
not restricted to sheep. Pullen has also been a
chairperson for the Blyth dog show for 20
years, a director for the Bluewater Kennel
Club for 24 years and currently breeds dogs
on the side. She has also been involved with
the Clinton Garden Club (formerly the
Clinton Horticultural Society), serving as
president, long-term director and flower show
convener.
Pullen, who was nominated for the
volunteer award by the Ontario Suffolk
Association, was one of 13 Ontario residents
to be awarded with a plaque on April 2
during a ceremony at the University of
Guelph.
"I was really surprised that I had won. I'm
sure there's someone else out there who
deserves it more than I do, but I am really
very honoured that I was chosen," she said.
Finding time for all of her volunteer work
doesn't seem to be a concern for Pullen.
"I just don't get my housework done," she
joked. "I'd rather do these things than
housework. But it really does feel good to
know that you're doing something useful. It's
great to know that you're helping someone
else, and to know that you're helping to shape
their future."
As for her farming and volunteering,
Pullen said that even after years of work, she
still looks forward to new experiences so she
can learn new things.
"I still learn something new every year. I
don't pretend to know it all because I'm still
learning."
Architecture and `great stories'
featured in 1899 Pletsch home
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Staff
This is the second story
of an ongoing series about
Huron East's heritage
homes.
When Don and Cathy
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Huron East Heritage Homes
Pletsch bought their ,1899
Sparling Street house in
Seaforth 30 years ago, they
were sold by the six stained
glass windows, the
elaborate staircase and the
beautiful woodwork.
And, while it's now
stuffed with antiques, the
house's architectural beauty
was all they could afford to
enjoy when the couple, then
in their early 20s, first
bought the house.
"Many of the rooms were
empty for years but we
furnished it gradually by
going to auctions. We like
to call our decorating style
early auction," says Cathy.
She says the 300 -year-old
grandfather clock in the
front sitting room, which
she bought for Don for a
Christmas present their
second year in the house,
was the only piece of
furniture in the room for
quite a while.
But, along with their
restored front porch, which
won the 1993 residential
property award from the
Local Architectural
Conservation Advisory
Committee (LACAC) and
the house's other
architectural features,
participants of the
weekend's home and garden
tour could also see Cathy's
collection of old children's
books, Don's collection of
old maps and a rolltop desk
they bought from Crich's
bakery that used to operate
in downtown Seaforth.
The Plctsches' home was
one of five local houses
featured on a tour,
sponsored by the Seaforth
and District Horticultural
Society and Seaforth
Museum June 8, 9 and 10.
Built by I.'/. Fear, who
ran a drug store in
downtown Seaforth, the
house had the first
telephone in Seaforth, says
Cathy.
The Pletsches are the
sixth family to live in the
house and while Cathy has
a list of the names of each
of those families, she still
hasn't researched the story
of the house as much as
she'd like.
"Frank Sills and Ken
Larone have told me stories
about the house but I want
to flesh out the story of the
house more," she says.
She was in contact with
the Coates family, who
lived in her house during
the 1920s and 30s, during
the restoration of the front
porch.
Dr. Coates, of London,
provided her with a 1930s
photograph of the house
with its original porch from
his uncle in Victoria, B.C.
The Pletsches made slides
of the picture and blew it up
large enough to count the
bricks in each column of
the porch and be able to
duplicate it exactly.
Before the Pletsches
bought the house, the porch
had been removed and
replaced with a store, which
Don used for 15 years as a
television repair shop.
When he closed the shop,
they decided to restore the
porch.
From the man in Victoria,
she also heard "great
stories" about the house,
such as the tin -can
telephone he used to use as
a child to talk to his friend
next door.
"It's such a great house to
raise kids in with the attic
and basement," says Cathy.
She also found remnants
of the uncle's life when
they insulated the attic,
discovering old catalogues,
old packages of Turkish
cigarettes, old skates and
letters, which contained the
story of how he was send to
a school in Minneapolis
because he stuttered so
badly.
Cathy likes the fact that
at 31 years, her family has
lived in the house the
longest of any family.
"From the minute I
walked into this house, it
felt like home and I'll he
happy to live here the rest
of my life," she says.
i