The Citizen's 2019 Salute to Agriculture

Salute To Agriculture

The 2017 IPM leaves a legacy • The Do More Foundation and its lofty goals • Artisanal chicken program continues growth • Walton native lives his dream at 4-H Canada •

A Special Supplement to The Citizen ~ March 2019

PAGE A2. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019. PAGE A3.

The Do More Foundation focuses on mental health when, prior to the creation of the foundation, she fielded a call, through her career in insurance, from someone looking for information on mental health support.

“My part in it was spurred by a message I received from someone on Facebook,” she said.

“They lost a client to suicide, and they were looking for help for the client’s family.

“I thought, if there was one person reaching out, then there are lots who may need the help,” she said.

By providing a one-stop source for information as well as a library of mailable information, the organization hopes to help agriculture professionals across the country.

“We aim to support everyone across Canada,” Keller said. “We’re not aiming for a specific The Do More Agriculture geographical area, or a Foundation, co-created by Kim specific sector, just Keller and three other founders, anyone involved in seeks to help with mental health agriculture.” problems in agriculture. (Courtesy photo) While the organization offers support to anyone in agriculture, Keller said that most of the support is geared

By Denny Scott towards producers.

The Citizen “Our primary concern is The Do More Agriculture producers, but we also realize that Foundation is attempting to tackle an industry-wide challenge by focusing on providing support for mental health issues for everyone involved in agriculture.

Formed approximately one year ago, the Saskatchewan-based foundation provides service across Canada to help everyone in agriculture, from producers up, tackle mental health issues.

Kim Keller, one of the four founders of the organization, told The Citizen that she and her cofounders felt that mental health needed to be addressed in agriculture.

“We saw a need for mental health to be a priority discussion in the field,” she said. “We thought this was something that needed to be discussed for many years to come.”

Discussions around mental health in agriculture are an asset to everyone in the industry, Keller said, and that became apparent to her

Offering help

this industry is so much bigger than the producers,” she said. “Mental health problems can affect each and every person involved in agriculture.”

Currently, the organization is supported through the agriculture industry, with funding partnerships from different organizations across numerous sectors.

“We wouldn’t be able to do what we do without that support.”

Currently, the Do More Agriculture Foundation doesn’t have government funding, but Keller said that she hopes funding can be leveraged from the foundation’s partners to access grant programs.

The foundation works on three pillars, Keller said: awareness, community and research.

“Creating awareness is partly breaking the stigma around mental health that currently exists,” she said. “We do that through the content we create as well as attending as many events as we can and speaking at them.”

The community pillar includes creating a sense of community within the agriculture industry so that farmers and other professionals can feel comfortable connecting with each other and finding the resources they need.

Research helps the organization to make further resources available to those looking for help, and while that may seem a simple goal, Keller said it’s a huge part of making the organization a success.

Currently, the foundation is in the

middle of a 12-month pilot program where 12 communities are being offered no-cost mental health first aid certification programs.

The program, run through “Trailblazer” funding partner Farm Credit Canada, is exciting, according to Keller, and wouldn’t be possible without the foundation’s partners.

Keller said mental health awareness and resources are important, regardless of industry, but that farming and other agriculture businesses can be especially taxing, leading to a more urgent need for resources.

“You look at the different farming operations, family dynamics and business dynamics and you realize there are so many things that can affect producers and the rest of the industry,” she said.

“We had to start talking about it because the agriculture industry couldn’t keep operating in the manner it had.”

Information is available on the foundation’s website, but Keller said that one of the most impactful ways

to get involved is to find a way to help on your own.

“Talk more, listen more and ask more,” she said. “If all of us can do little things in those three areas, we can have a substantial impact.”

The foundation was created by Keller, who farms with her parents and brother in Saskatchewan and has run former projects focused on agriculture mental health as well as co-creating an agriculture technology company called Farm At Hand; Lesley Kelly, who operates a blog called “High Heels and Canola Fields” and works on her family’s grain farm in Saskatchewan; Himanshu Singh, who co-founded Farm At Hand, learned about the stresses faced by farmers through the company as well as through agricultural mental health campaigns and Kirk Muyres, who has a background in farming and professional curling and a passion to tackle mental health in agriculture.

For more information, visit the Do More Agriculture Foundation at domore.ag.

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PAGE A4. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

Committee aims to bring Rutabaga Festival back

Start ’em small The Blyth Community Betterment Committee is reviving the Rutabaga Festival in Blyth.

Above, a young Steve Dougherty, circa 1991, shows his family is still into rutabagas during a Rutabaga Festival parade. (File photo)

committee was to try and raise the money necessary to host the event, and Sparling turned to the idea of raffling off of a brand new Ford F150 truck as a fundraiser.

“Our first real challenge was trying to sell the tickets,” Sparling said. “We sold half of the 1,000 tickets very quickly, but selling the rest is what’s in front of us right now.”

She said that the committee is hoping to have all the tickets sold by the time the second early-bird draw, for a barbecue, is held in July.

Sparling, one of the driving forces behind the event, said that while she has never attended the Rutabaga Festival, which ended in the mid1990s, she has heard all about them.

“They seemed like such a great event and everyone had a great time,” she said. “There was a history of fun there and it just seems right to bring it back.”

Produce seems to be a source of inspiration in rural Ontario when it comes to festivals, Sparling said, pointing to events like Port Elgin’s Pumpkinfest, Lucknow’s Strawberry Fest and Lucan’s Bacon Fest, so the Rutabaga Festival, which honours both agriculture and

the history of Blyth, makes sense.

Sparling said that, from what she has learned, the downfall of the Rutabaga Festival was volunteer fatigue and, in a community like Blyth that has so many great volunteer organizations and successes to its name, that makes sense.

To that end, the reincarnated Rutabaga Festival won’t be an annual event. Instead it will mark the anniversary of the village’s traditional homecoming every five years. The festival will be held this year, then again in 2022, and every five years after that, Sparling hopes.

“It should be sustainable that way,” she said. “Part of me would love to see it as an annual event, but we don’t want to run into the same problems that the festival ran into over 20 years ago.”

Sparling explained that, right now, the committee is looking for ideas on how to run the event.

“Public input is paramount,” she said. “The public needs to have the festival they want to make sure we have success.”

When asked why the committee was looking to revive the Rutabaga Continued on page A5

By Denny Scott The Citizen Few places in the world have as strong a claim to the rutabaga as Blyth, especially with the Rutabaga King, A.H. Wilford, being tied to the community.

It’s little wonder, with a pedigree like that, that Blyth was the home of the annual Rutabaga Festival over two decades ago, an event that the Blyth Community Betterment Committee wants to revitalize.

Bringing an agriculture-centred event like that back to life, however, is no easy task according to committee spokesperson Annie Sparling.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019. PAGE A5.

Rutabaga Festival celebrates agriculture industry

Fun for all ages The annual Rutabaga Festival, which is being revived by the Blyth Community Betterment Committee, included events for all ages, including Rutabuggies for the Continued from page A4 Festival instead of starting something new, Sparling said the history behind the festival plays a part in the decision, but the history connecting the rutabaga to Blyth was more important.

Rutabagas have been a significant industry in Blyth for more than a century and a half, Sparling said, including the vegetable being grown in and around the village. That tradition continues with the G.L. Hubbard Ltd. plant at the east side of the community.

In 1939, Blyth’s rutabaga industry grew with businessman Russel Dougherty starting a rutabaga plant where the vegetables would be waxed for transport.

Dougherty was also an inventor, and built North America’s first precision seeder in 1951, allowing rutabaga seeds to be planted individually instead of sown by hand.

Farmers from Bruce County to Exeter grew the vegetable to bring it to Blyth, where 15 employees would

younger participants and bed races, shown above, for those wilder and older participants looking for a race. Above, Jeff Howson pilots his bed thanks to a four-man engine. (File photo)

treat the vegetables every winter for processing.

A.H. Wilford, who later became “The Rutabaga King”, promoted the vegetables tirelessly, giving them out to every Member of Parliament in Canada and he even rushed through security to offer one to the Queen of England during her visit to London, Ontario years back.

“When you have a story like that, it makes it an easy decision to follow up on the story,” Sparling said.

Promoting rutabagas is important, Sparling said, because it promotes not only a neglected vegetable, but also supports local businesses.

G.L. Hubbard Rutabagas, for example, sends 95 per cent of its crop to the United States, Sparling said.

The committee recently held its official launch for the event, taking in suggestions from attendees and showing off some of the paraphernalia from the previous festivals.

Sparling said the event went well and the committee has some great ideas about what the event can look like going forward.

For more information, search for the Blyth Rutabaga Festival on Facebook.

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Lots to see It wasn’t just rutabagas in the annual Rutabaga Festival parade. Equestrian entries and bands were also popular parts of the parade, a hit every year. (File photo)

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PAGE A6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

Brock uses vlogs to share sheep farming experiences around her vlogs, however, she said that changed. “As you build a community, they ask for content,� she said. “Showing how I feed my sheep generates questions like what I feed my sheep.

When I started out, it was just a ‘day-in-the-life’ kind of thing, now I really want to address the questions that people are asking, either in text form or in creating the content they are looking for.�

It’s not always easy, Brock admits, saying that when she looks at the personal moments she has shared and the amount of time and effort she puts into the project, she is sometimes tempted to hang up her social media hat and move on. “This eats into time, it eats into my time during the day,� she said. “Lots of times, I’m ready to quit, but something always stops me.�

She said that, recently, she received a message from a man whose wife was in the hospital after a stroke. The woman had been watching Brock’s videos every day during her recovery. “When I get those messages, it makes it all worthwhile,� she said.

That said, she realizes these videos aren’t really a part of her family’s core business and knows that her continued efforts with the project are for her, not for the farm. “I thought we could intertwine this into our business, feed into it and generate some sort of groundswell for the business,� she said. “But I

realized that this is for my own happiness. I’m doing good things for our commodity, our community and our farm.�

Brock said that videos that provide an opportunity to get up close and personal, like clips of shearing, are the bread and butter of the YouTube channel. “This is what it really is,� she said. “That’s what people are tuning in to see.�

Having that content, and flooding the internet with it, Brock said, lets her build a community. “The more stuff you have out there, the higher you get on the search engine,� she said. “You don’t have to get defensive, you just have to keep putting out the truth little by little.�

Her videos really do cover every aspect of her operation, like what breeds she raises, feeding, lambing, choosing the right equipment and breeding; as well as aspects of her personal life, including one recent Valentine’s Day-themed video focused on how to farm alongside your spouse.

Brock has focused on YouTube for her social media presence because, much like the crops her family harvests, it’s a slower, steadier platform than some of the other social media sites. “A YouTube channel is a much different beast from the other networks like Facebook or Twitter,� she said. “It plays in its own sandbox

and doesn’t play well with the other sites, meaning the only way to drive traffic is to use your audience.�

Because of that, the growth on a YouTube channel is slow, but she said that’s also because she is reaching a niche audience right now. “There are only so many sheep farmers in the world, so many in Ontario and only so many that are female,� she said. “That really allows me to focus on my content.�

Growing her channel has meant staying true to what she started with: Continued on page A7

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Sharing her story Sandi Brock, a Mitchell-area sheep farmer, turned to YouTube nearly two years ago to share aspects of her daily life. The video blogs (vlogs) cover every aspect of her life from the highs to the lows and from the barn to the field.

She estimates that, with crossover on some platforms, she has 15,000 followers. (Photo submitted)

By Denny Scott The Citizen Sandi Brock, a sheep farmer from Mitchell, has made it her goal to share everything about her life online through her video blog (vlog), “Sheepishly Me� on YouTube.

Brock, who over nearly two years has shared 125 vlogs, has 5,300 subscribers on YouTube, and an estimated 15,000 followers across all the social media platforms she participates in, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The vlogs capture everything, Brock said in an interview with The Citizen. From the high points, to the low points of farming to the minutia of everyday life on the farm, nothing is outside the purview of her camera. “When I started, it was whatever I was doing that day,� she said. “I used Snapchat and Instagram, and just explained what I was doing.�

She said that on those first social media broadcasts, there wasn’t a lot of feedback, so she was only sharing what she was comfortable making public. As a community evolved

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YouTube allows sheep farmer to connect with audience commodity. For the most part people are following me for the sheep,” she said. “I’m proud of my barn.

I keep it clean so it’s a nice facility to show off. It’s very bright and airy.”

The feedback she does receive is often helpful, Brock said.

“People are excited when I run into a challenge,” she said. “They are always looking to help.”

Starting this year, Brock said she has tried to be more consistent with her updates, aiming to keep her support growing.

As for anyone looking to follow in her footsteps, Brock said the biggest lesson she has learned thus far is, as a perfectionist, she shouldn’t compare herself to other YouTubers or “social media influencers”.

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Nothing is outside the purview of this social media storyteller. Sandi Brock, through her YouTube channel “Sheepishly Me”, shares all of her experiences and challenges as a sheep farmer. She says the honesty of her channel is part of what makes it successful. (Photo submitted) Continued from page A6 her life as a sheep farmer, but also branching out on occasion to help draw in that larger audience. She said that collaborations with other professionals help, as does being in the field while planting or harvesting.

Brock believes that YouTube has the best potential to build the audience she wants, so that’s why YouTube is her main focus, even if it isn’t the fastest-growing social network around.

She said she does experiment with other social media sites when they come into their own, but she finds that YouTube offers her the ability to control her message that other sites may not.

While the internet can be a breeding ground for negative reactions and responses, Brock said she has avoided that thus far.

“I’ve ran into zero attacks,” she said, “zero mean people. YouTube is pretty good with filtering things out, and I can review comments before they get posted if I want.”

She’s also avoided negative interactions with any animal right groups and members who may not

agree with normal farming practices.

“Part of that is because I’m very self-aware of what I’m doing and how it’s coming across,” she said.

“If I think it looks fishy, I run it through my kids and see what they think.”

She admits that, as a farmer, there may be things she has become desensitized to and that may not be the be the case for some of her viewers, so she wants to make sure she is showing what needs to be seen.

“It’s not taking out content, but maybe just filtering through my editing process,” she said. “The whole point of my channel is to be transparent and authentic. I hope that’s why I haven’t got any flack.”

She said she’s far from perfect and, at the end of the day, she is her own biggest critic, and that’s influenced the stance she takes in her vlogs.

“If you come out with guns ablazing, saying, ‘look how right I am’, you’ll invite controversy,” she said. “I”m learning things. I’m screwing things up. People are with me through the process and it’s just me doing it.

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“All I’m saying is, ‘look at what I did, this is how I did’,” it she said.

“They follow me along.”

She said having loyal followers is also a good buffer against the kind of negativity that can occur on the internet, as is the fact that she makes a conscious effort to put her best foot forward.

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she said. “Being different instead of striving for better equipment or video will always get the message across better.

“Be you. Be different,” she said. “I have a very unique channel that has struck a chord with some people and that’s where my success is,” she said.

I”m not comparing myself to others in the space.”

She said that, by producing the best videos she can without looking at what other people are doing, she is making sure the message she puts out is authentic.

“People see through creators who are copying others,” she said. “Being different will always be better.”

Find Brock on YouTube by searching for Sandi Brock or Sheepishly Me.

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PAGE A8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

Artisanal chicken program continues to expand

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The Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) created the artisanal chicken program four years ago and the number of farmers taking part has consistently grown every year. It is now close to 150 participants from all parts of the province. One of the earliest adopters was Katrina McQuail and her family at Meeting Place Organic Farm near Lucknow, seen above. (Photo submitted)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Now in its fourth year, the Chicken Farmers of Ontario (CFO) is continuing to see growth with its artisanal chicken program with plenty of local connections.

The program was first rolled out in 2015 and while there were 87 producers enrolled in the program in that first year, that number has since nearly doubled, now growing to close to 150 farmers.

Producers are spread throughout the province with program participants in the Windsor area in the west to the Ottawa region in the east and in the Rainy River district of Northern Ontario in the north.

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Both at the CFO level and at the grassroots level, Stevenson says, the program is about connecting with consumers and understanding what they want and how much they’re willing to pay for a premium product.

The birds raised through the artisanal program are traditionally larger birds than you would find in your average grocery store, Stevenson says. Most farmers raise the birds without the use of antibiotics. Many farmers also use non-genetically-modified or certified organic feed for their birds, although it is not a requirement of the program.

The farmers are then expected to raise the birds using traditional methods. Often the program is picked up by smaller, organic farms that market their chicken and other Continued on page A9

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working with CFO 12 years ago when he was looking for a change of scenary. Four years ago he transitioned into working with the artisanal program when it was created.

The program is really designed for caring farmers, Stevenson says, who will put in the time to create a valueadded product with their chickens.

They have to believe in what they’re producing, because they are largely responsible for finding their own markets.

It is aimed at farmers who are able to directly connect with consumers and take control of their own market, whether it be getting the word out about their product or selling directly to the consumer, the artisanal chicken program is designed for farmers who want to take a hands-on approach to their operation.

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The artisanal chicken program is aimed at focusing on the local consumer to meet the seasonal and differentiated demand for artisanal chicken and focus on growing safe, high-quality, nutritious chicken using traditional methods. It licences farmers to grow and market between 600 and 3,000 chickens.

Carl Stevenson of Blyth has worked on the program since its inception. He works with the producers, meeting with artisanal chicken farmers and has assisted in the development of an online resource for them. He also travels the province extensively speaking about the program.

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019. PAGE A9.

Meeting Place Farm a good fit for CFO program that first year, which made sense for her operation to allow it to grow in a way that was sustainable.

Without being able to be on a quota system, she said that the artisanal chicken program was a perfect fit for her and the farm.

To this day, McQuail says that Meeting Place remains on the low end of the program, only bringing in 800 birds this year.

However, the farm is a certified-organic mixed livestock operation that is run by the family, so there are only so many hands on the farm to do the work.

McQuail says she has been encouraged by the farm’s Katrina McQuail and Meeting Place Organic Farm was on board with the participation in the Chicken Farmers of Ontario’s artisanal chicken program in its first year, program. When she first became eventually expanding to 800 birds this year. (Photo submitted)

A happy relationship

Continued from page A8 products directly to consumers, whether it be through farm-gate sales, online or at local farmers’ markets. They are also encouraged to sell to restaurants or local butcher shops, though, again, they have to find those markets on their own with ongoing support and guidance from CFO. Many of those who have taken advantage of the program, Stevenson says, were already working marketing vegetables and other products straight to consumers, whether it be through farmers’ markets or the community-supported agriculture (CSA) model, so adding artisanal chicken to their product inventory made sense.

To ensure that the program and its producers stay on track, Stevenson says that all artisanal chicken farmers are audited annually against the “Raised by a Chicken Farmer On-Farm Food Safety and Animal Care Programs” standards, which are base on the National Farm Animal Care Council’s “Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Chickens”.

While some of the producers have been the younger generation of farmers, coming up with organic farms and direct marketing, Stevenson says the program really has attracted producers of all ages and from diverse backgrounds.

Many of the producers, he says, have taken up the program after they’ve retired thanks to the manageable size of the flock.

Stevenson says that the average producer keeps about 1,500 birds, but that number all depends on the individual producer and the size of the operation, not to mention the scale and ambition of the producer’s marketing plan, which is something on which Stevenson works with them directly.

Katrina McQuail of the Lucknow-area Meeting Place Organic Farm was one of the first to take part in the program, getting involved in its very first year.

She says that while she can’t recall how she first heard about the program, it immediately made sense to her, as her farm’s demand for chickens was always exceeding its supply.

The McQuail family had an opportunity to purchase 600 birds

involved, her concern was that CFO would operate as a body overseeing the operation. However, CFO has proven to be supportive and easy to work with on her end. Whenever someone reaches out to McQuail, or she reaches out in regards to the program, it’s always with someone local; someone she knows and has worked with before, like Stevenson.

At Meeting Place Organic Farm, McQuail says that all of the feed is organic and much of the work is done with the help of draft horses.

Her parents, Tony and Fran McQuail, have been on the farm for decades and were pioneers in farmgate, direct marketing sales, which the program now encourages.

Meeting Place only sells its products direct to consumers, whether it be through online sales, drop-ins or at the occasional farmers’ market.

Through the program, farmers like the McQuails have an annual opportunity to all get together and it often makes for a helpful day.

McQuail says that the annual gettogether for program participants is a great opportunity to network and to find ways to improve the operation.

There is an audit every year,

McQuail says, but from a farmer’s perspective, it’s not onerous and it’s a process that only makes sense.

While McQuail says that CFO has been very supportive of those involved with the program while giving them the freedom to farm in the best way they see fit, she says there are also plenty of educational opportunities through the organization as well. CFO offers numerous online classes to that can only improve the farming process and the end product, she said.

For more information on Meeting Place Organic Farm, visit its website at meetingplaceorganicfarm.ca and for more information on the artisanal chicken program, visit its website at ontariochicken.ca.

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PAGE A10. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

Legacy Fund to support Huron students for decades The Legacy Fund, which was formally established in February, will ensure that the 2017 IPM, held just outside of Walton, leaves its mark on the youth of Huron County for a generation, with money earmarked for the next quartercentury.

Bishop says that by the time the legacy fund has been paid out, the match will have invested over $500,000 back into Huron County.

The hope, though, is that the legacy fund will be something that lives on for longer than its planned 25 years.

The fund will be stocked with $250,000 to be distributed over the next 25 years. She said that the IPM corporation will soon be dissolved

and the money will be handed over to the Huron Plowmen’s Association for safekeeping.

With Huron County historically hosting an IPM approximately every 20 years, Bishop said the hope is that it can be topped up by the next local IPM to create a lasting legacy for Huron County youth.

The fund, Bishop explained in an interview with The Citizen, will be available to applicants entering their second, third or fourth year of postsecondary education, whether it be college, university or a trades school or apprenticeship. The IPM was always focused on the youth and the future of Ontario, Bishop said, and Continued on page A11

The start of something big The 100th International Plowing Match (IPM) was held just outside of Walton in 2017 and, despite a very rainy first day and the subsequent loss of a second day while the grounds were repaired by an army of volunteers, the event was lauded as a success. It wasn’t until recently that the success of the event became known when the executive, led by Chair Jacquie Bishop, left, announced that, with the creation of an educational Legacy Fund, a total of over $500,000 would eventually be invested in the community thanks to the IPM executive. (File photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen The criteria is now set for the 2017 International Plowing Match (IPM) Legacy Fund scholarship and it will focus heavily on volunteerism and

community involvement, both factors that made the match a success in the first place.

IPM Chair Jacquie Bishop recently met with Brian McGavin and Matt Townsend, both members of the match’s executive committee,

to lay out the criteria for the scholarship going forward. Half of the criteria will be based on public service, volunteerism and community involvement, while the other half will pertain to the applicant’s academics.

from Giving back While the Legacy Fund established by the International Plowing Match 2017 executive marks a huge investment in Huron’s youth, the executive is still giving back in other ways including a $20,000 donation to the Wingham Hospital’s new oncology department in February. (File photo)

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019. PAGE A11.

IPM gives over $500,000 back through donations While the Legacy Fund alone will inject $250,000 into the community over the next quarter-century, members of the IPM executive have been back donating funds raised through the 2017 IPM to worthy county-wide causes this week after initial donations were rolled out last year.

“We wanted to make one-time donations to four [non-profit organizations] that touch the lives of all Huron County residents,” Bishop said.

The executive donated $20,000 to the Huron Residential Hospice late last month at an event in Brussels, followed by further $20,000 donations to Jessica’s House hospice in Exeter, the Huron County Food

Big event It’s little wonder that an event that drew Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family to Walton would have a big impact on the community. The International Plowing Match executive has re-invested hundreds of thousands of dollars since the event was held in 2017. (File photo) Continued from page A10 this legacy fund will be a way for the local match to invest in the county’s young people decades after the event was held.

The thinking behind the fund, Bishop said, was not only to leave a lasting legacy, but to help inspire the youth of Huron County for years to come. She said that the first year of post-secondary education is often planned for, but that bills can mount in the second year of a program, which is why IPM committee members structured the fund the way they did.

For now, Bishop says that a threeperson board of trustees has been established to review applications.

Right now that consists of Bishop and IPM executive members Brian McGavin and Matt Townsend. That group, however, will rotate in the coming years, introducing new faces and bidding farewell to veteran ones.

While members of the IPM executive couldn’t necessarily plan for the fund before the match was held, Bishop said some form of a legacy fund had been on the lips of members since the early stages of planning.

“From day one it was our vision to leave a legacy after the match,” Bishop said. “We were hoping and praying to have enough to leave that legacy after the match.”

She said that while one of the greatest legacies left by the IPM will be the over 220 barn quilts erected across the county, the fund will ensure a financial legacy that will help Huron County youth to better themselves for years to come, which is truly special.

When Bishop, McGavin and Townsend spoke about the fund late last month, the conversation was clear that they wanted to ensure that volunteerism was being celebrated with the scholarship. Bishop, in an interview with The Citizen, said that it was volunteers and communityminded people who made the match a success, so it only made sense to honour those traits and encourage young people to become more involved in their communities.

Bishop says that approximately $10,000 will be set aside every year for applicants and it will be divided among the successful students. She said the committee was hesitant to cap the number of students who could be awarded in a single year, so members felt this was the best way to proceed.

Bishop and her committee are

already accepting applications for the first year of the fund.

Applications will be open until June 1 and they are hoping to announce the winners at this year’s Huron County Plowing Match.

Those looking for more information are directed to e-mail Bishop at jbishopipm2017@gmail.com to express their intent and Bishop will send them back an application form.

The fund, Bishop says, is really an extension of the work the IPM tried to accomplish in 2017, bringing younger volunteers together with their senior counterparts and involving all ages in the match. How the IPM impacted and inspired young people, Bishop said, will be one of the greatest legacies of the match.

She said she really hopes that after a few years the scholarship will be viewed as something students can be very proud of winning. Bishop says she often thinks back to her days at the University of Guelph and remembers winning a prestigious award and it still makes her proud to this day. That’s the kind of pride and lasting impact she hopes the fund will have with local students.

Bank Distribution Centre and the Wingham and District Hospital’s new oncology unit.

This comes after the executive donated over $100,000 at the beginning of 2018 to dozens of organizations.

Funds were distributed to committee chairs in $2,000 portions to each committee to be donated to local organizations.

In addition, over $40,000 was donated to local service clubs that volunteered at the event.

The 2017 IPM was hamstrung by several inches of rain in just a few hours on its opening day and then a forced closure for its second day to allow for significant clean-up and site repairs, followed by days of unseasonable heat. However, despite

those challenges, the event still welcomed over 76,000 attendees to Walton in, essentially, three days.

Bishop said that the match made over $3.8 million in total revenue and, after all of the bills were paid, she and the rest of the executive have been very pleased to be able to donate over $500,000 back to the community that so supported the match.

Since Bishop made the Legacy Fund announcement earlier this year, she said she’s had nothing but positive feedback about the executive’s decision.

For more information on the fund or how to apply, e-mail Bishop at jbishopipm2017@gmail.com.

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PAGE A12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

‘Pigeon King’ set to take centre stage in Ottawa opinion, was the same reason that the play found an audience: the current agricultural climate.

“One of the reasons Arlan was able to defraud so many people was because of contemporary Canadian agriculture,” he said. “There were struggling family farms looking for opportunity.”

That made the farmers easy marks, and the play could have focused on that, but Garratt said that wasn’t the direction the collective decided to take.

“Yes the play is about Arlan

Galbraith and the scheme but it’s also about family farms and the reality they face,” he said. “It’s about contemporary Canadian agriculture.”

He said there is such a sense of community in rural areas and Galbraith used that to his advantage right to the bitter end.

“We talk about how connected these small communities are, these agriculture communities,” Garratt said, “but that is what eventually saw many of the people that Continued on page A13

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Putting farming in front of Canada It was big news for the Blyth Festival and the collective behind The Pigeon King when the play was picked up by the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The play will be mounted next month by the original crew. From left: J.D. Nicholsen, Birgitte Solem, Blyth Festival Artistic Director Gil Garratt, Rebecca Auerbach, Jason Chesworth and George Meanwell. Not shown is Ajineen Sagal who took over for Auerbach during the last few weeks of the show’s run in 2017, the year it first premiered on the Memorial Hall stage. (Terry Manzo photo)

By Denny Scott The Citizen It’s been a long journey for The Pigeon King, a play about convicted fraudster Arlan Galbraith and his scheme of selling breeding pigeons

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‘Pigeon King’ brings rural story to NAC stage to be a great opportunity for the collective behind the play.

“She knew it was a new work, so a program was created called The Collaborations, which allocated money for the creators of the play to refine it,” he said. “That’s why the 2017 and 2018 productions in Blyth were different. We were able to spend a full work week refining it,

which was an amazing opportunity and really impactful.”

The collective behind the show has also recently recorded the music for the play to make it available for purchase as an album, which Garratt said would be released in time for the Ottawa opening April 24, running through May 5. For more information, visit nac-cna.ca.

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The cast of The Pigeon King was in a Holmesville recording studio earlier this year, laying down the tracks from the play to be sold as a stand-alone album this summer. (File photo) Continued from page A12 Galbraith defrauded unable to come forward in their own communities.

They were ashamed. When we starting looking at this issue, however, it gave some of those farmers a chance to talk about what they had experienced.”

He said there were absolutely heartbreaking tales that came to light about some of the people taken in by the scheme. Garratt shared one of a woman who would literally hide from passing cars because she didn’t want her neighbours to see her.

“That’s how heavy this shame was,” he said. “It had a huge impact on the rural community. That victimhood and shame was prevalent in the interviews we did.”

With that in mind, the collective crafted a play that became a story about farmers where farmers and those in the agricultural sector were the heroes, Garratt said.

“Arlan’s actions eroded the confidence of the victims and the sense of community in these rural areas,” he said. “But these farmers, even through that shame, kept going.”

He said it was important for that message to shine through in the story.

“You get to see the perseverance that farmers, as a group have,” he said. “You see what they go through and you see them keep going and that kind of story is important to tell.

Because of that, Garratt said, the play was able to be penned with the farmers as the protagonists. Having that kind of story told in Ottawa, on a national stage, and told in such a way that conveys empathy for farmers, is especially important in this day and age when agriculture is disconnected from major centres, he said.

“It’s going to have a hugely positive effect on those relationships,” he said.

Garratt says that The Pigeon King presents a fairly contemporary, unique point of a view of a story that almost didn’t happen.

“We had so many interviews, but one of the most impressive was talking to the lawyers, the prosecutors that were involved,” he said. “Lynn Robinson [the main prosecutor behind the case] had to fight just to get the case tried.”

Garratt explained that many fraud cases are dropped due to difficulty in prosecuting suspects under fraud law, but Robinson wasn’t about to let

Galbraith get away with what he did.

“She witnessed what happened to the farm community and knew she had to try,” Garratt said.

As for how The Pigeon King caught the eye of the National Arts Centre, Garratt said it was a case of knowing the right people.

Jillian Keiley, the Artistic Director for English Theatre at the centre, is a friend of Garratt’s from when he acted at the centre in 2013.

“She has been coming to Blyth every season,” he said. “She saw Our Beautiful Sons: Remembering Matthew Dinning, and she saw this play,” he said. “She flies all over the country to see plays.”

Garratt said he had Keiley to his farm for dinner with his wife Gemma James Smith after the play and one of the Festival’s “Talk Back” sessions where the audience can interact with the artists and Keiley couldn’t say enough about the play.

“The talk back that day was fantastic,” Garratt said. “There were a number of people who had invested [in Pigeon King International] in the audience, as well as some of Galbraith’s relatives in the audience and other stakeholders involved in the story.”

Garratt said that Keiley was impressed with the “vibrant connection” the talk back session provided and loved the story as well.

“She was blown away by the immediacy of the show,” Garratt said. “There, that day, she talked about bringing it to Ottawa.”

While he was happy then, he was surprised when it was included in the 2018/2019 season, but it turned out

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PAGE A14. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

Ag. Society top spot busy, but worth it: past-presidents

Riding in style During one of her several terms as president of the Brussels Agricultural Society, Dorothy Cummings took to her bicycle to ride in the parade of the Brussels Fall Fair.

The fair is likely the most recognizable event associated with the society, and, at over 150 years old, is a very big annual event for the community. (File photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Earlier this year, the Brussels Agricultural Society encountered a problem faced by many volunteer

groups in this day and age: no one wanted to be the next president.

That has since changed. At the society’s March 6 meeting, Brussels Councillor Zoey Onn has stepped up to be the first vice-president of the

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society, meaning she will be the president for the 2020 Brussels Fall Fair. Barbara Cadotte has taken on the second vice-president role, meaning she will follow Onn into the society’s top role.

However, the society’s challenge in finding a new president is not a unique problem for service clubs and volunteer organizations in rural Ontario. While there are often plenty of people willing to chip in and help out, far fewer are willing to step up and lead.

While the job may entail a bit of extra work and the ability to lead, delegate, run a meeting and be the face of a storied organization for a two-year period, with the position comes a great sense of accomplishment, satisfaction and pride.

Jeff Cardiff has been the president of the organization twice; first in 1993-1994 and then again in 20102011, the latter of which was during the hosting of the 150th Brussels Fall Fair, a tremendous milestone for any rural fall fair.

Cardiff’s family has a great history with the society, dating back to his father Murray and mother Betty.

Many other Cardiffs have since become involved with the society, including Jeff’s wife Cathy and their son Matt, who was the president just a few years ago – the youngest in the organization’s history.

Jeff Cardiff said that when he first stepped into the president’s role, he felt there was a certain sense of duty and community service in it and that it was his “turn” to be at the top of the society.

Due to the strength of the membership base, having a strong secretary and home craft president at his side and the enthusiasm and willingness to work of the members, Cardiff said he found his time as president to be rather easy.

The key to leading, he said, whether it be the Brussels Agricultural Society or any other position, is delegation. Being the

president of the society, he said, would be far too big of a job for one person to do on their own. If you don’t delegate tasks to members who will excel at them, you will get burnt out.

However, if you’re smart about getting others involved and managing their workloads, as well as your own, the job will be manageable.

In his second time as president, Cardiff oversaw the 150th Brussels Fall Fair, which he says was a great honour for him.

With all of the history behind the fair, both for the organization and for his family, Cardiff said being involved in the 150th running of the fair was quite moving and a special moment for him that he won’t soon forget.

Seeing the fair hit that milestone and watching hundreds of people enjoy themselves at the fair, Cardiff said, really made it all worthwhile for him.

Dorothy Cummings is the current president of the society. This is her third time around in the position,

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including a two-year term that swelled to a six-year term when the society encountered problems attracting a new president between 1995 and 2001.

Cummings became president for the first time shortly after she became involved with the organization. Now, in her third term in the top spot, she has truly embraced Cardiff’s aforementioned advice, running the society by committee and delegating much of what needs to be done annually to host the Brussels Fall Fair.

Cummings was also at the helm when the fair made the precarious transition back to Brussels after being held in Walton in 2017, coinciding with the International Plowing Match (IPM).

While hosting the fair at the IPM was a fantastic opportunity, she said, there was the possibility that regular fair-goers might not return to Brussels alongside the fair, so that was a concern, although one the society was able to overcome.

She says that her greatest sense of Continued on page A15

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019. PAGE A15.

Brussels Society, fair persist through feast and famine

Fun and games While a controversial decision at the time, switching out the traditional midway at the Brussels Agricultural Society’s annual Brussels Fall Fair to inflatables, like the one shown above, has turned out to be a popular move according to past society President Nicole Noble. (File photo) Continued from page A14 accomplishment in playing a role in hosting the fair is seeing members of the community come together and taking a moment to pause and connect with one another. People are so busy now, she said, if an event can bring them together and give them the opportunity to catch up with one another, then the fair is doing its job.

Matt Cardiff was in his early 20s when he first became president, becoming the youngest president in the society’s history. He would be in the top spot during the planning process to bring the Brussels Fall Fair to the IPM in 2017 and then that year, adding on a third year to his two-year term so he could be president for the year of the IPM. He said that hosting the fair at the IPM was a great accomplishment for the organization and that it really pushed the limits of what the society and its members are capable of when tremendously motivated.

Not only was hosting the fair at the IPM a massive undertaking for that week, but there were many fundraising activities in the year leading up to the fair that required increased volunteer presence and effort, all of which the society proved it was capable of accomplishing.

Matt says that he became president because he had some concepts he wanted to implement into the fair to help keep it moving forward. If you have ideas you want implemented, Matt says, becoming president is a way to make sure they happen.

He says that, to him, the fair is all about keeping agricultural tradition alive in Huron County and creating an environment where those skills and traditions are preserved.

Again, Matt said he was lucky to have a strong volunteer base to help him achieve his goals. When news spread that the Brussels Fall Fair would be held at the 2017 IPM, for example, he began fielding calls from members of neighbouring agricultural societies looking to help out.

The society then received another hand-up when rain washed out the first day of the IPM and the fall fair tent, one of the biggest on the grounds, was the focal point for a massive rescue operation, covering the ground with straw to ensure the tent was accessible when the IPM reopened.

While both Jeff and Matt Cardiff oversaw milestone fairs during their presidencies and Cummings orchestrated the fair’s return to Brussels, Nicole Noble, who was president in 2014-2015, found her term challenging, but worthwhile.

Noble, who has been involved with the society for years, was the president in the year the fair made the changes to inflatables from the traditional midway. The choice, however, was imposed upon Noble just days before the fair.

With the scheduled midway cancelling just days before the fair, Noble had to scramble and find a solution, which is what would eventually lead to the inflatables.

It turns out that Noble was ahead of the curve. While it was an unpopular decision at the time, due to rising costs and liability concerns, many area fall fairs are making the switch and the inflatables are now a popular, celebrated part of the Brussels Fall Fair – and one that’s a lot more affordable, both for the society and for those attending the fair.

Noble was also faced with a year in which Ontario teachers were undertaking ongoing job action,

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meaning the society was told not to expect any students at the fair unless they were taken out of school by their parents and taken to the fair.

Noble says she was literally begging area schools like North Woods Elementary School to come to the fair. To say that her years as president were stressful is an understatement, but she said it was very rewarding work despite the unexpected curveballs.

Mary Douma has served the society’s home craft president and she was also the secretary for a decade. Her involvement with the Brussels Fall Fair dates back to when she was a child, exhibiting every year. She would eventually grow up and establish a teaching career in the community, encouraging participation in the fair for years through her work at the former Grey Central and Brussels Public Schools.

When she retired, Douma and her husband Maurice both got involved with the society, falling into the secretary and treasurer roles, respectively, almost immediately

after first joining the society.

Douma says that the relevance of the fair continues to be strong because, despite living in a rural community, many people still don’t know enough about agriculture and the fair takes great strides to try and bridge that gap from the agricultural community to the community at large.

Jeff Cardiff agrees, saying that the educational component of the fair is

some of the most important work it does in a given year.

He says that while being the president of the Brussels Agricultural Society can be hard work, it’s very rewarding work and it accomplishes something that’s very important to Brussels.

For more information on the Brussels Agricultural Society or on the Brussels Fall Fair, visit its website at brusselsfallfair.ca.

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PAGE A16. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

Walton native finds ‘dream job’ with 4-H Canada

Living the dream Ryan Baan, top, began his journey with 4-H Canada as an intern as 4-H Canada hosted the 2017 Global 4-H Network Summit, seen above, in Ottawa. He then applied for a full-time position and now works with the organization after years as a 4-H Club member and leader in Walton. He is seen showing pigs at a 4-H show years ago below. (Photos submitted) After a childhood of 4-H Club involvement, Walton native Ryan Baan has now landed his “dream job” working with 4-H Canada as its marketing and communications coordinator.

Baan, the son of Don and Monique Baan of Walton, started full-time with 4-H Canada just under a year ago after beginning his time as an intern and then as a part-time employee as he finished university.

It was Baan’s father who first alerted him to the possibility of working for 4-H Canada. Baan said his father saw an intern job posting on Twitter and sent the information along to his son.

The position was for an intern for the 2017 Global 4-H Network Summit, which Canada hosted in Ottawa. It was the second such summit held, meant to bring together 4-H Club members from all over the world.

Baan was in his third year at Carleton University in Ottawa and hunting for a summer job. He was starting to get discouraged when his father reached out to him with the 4-H Canada intern information.

He got the job and was instantly thrown into an intense situation, as the national headquarters was preparing to welcome over 500 young people from over 35 countries to Ottawa for the second-ever summit.

Baan said it was a stressful, but very exciting time. He began to learn very quickly just how far-reaching 4H is in the world and how different the members around the world can be, but also how much they all have in common.

He found the experience to be lifechanging, especially as someone who had grown up in the 4-H program.

“I really loved 4-H before, but

seeing all those people in one place that summer, I really fell so much more in love with 4-H,” Baan said.

Baan worked as an intern for just under four months with the organization and they then parted ways. As he returned to university and began his fourth and final year, his current position needed to be filled and he applied to 4-H Canada once again.

He was hired on a part-time basis as he finished university and his first full-time day at 4-H Canada in his current position was the day after his last class at Carleton.

Baan says it really is his dream job. He’s been passionate about 4-H since he first became a member and then a leader, but seeing the wheels turn at a national level has given him a new appreciation for what the organization means to not just Canadian young people, but youth around the world (there are currently over seven million 4-H members spread over 70 countries all over the world).

It was in 2008 when Baan joined his first 4-H Club. He waited for a year to be eligible at the same time as his brother Adam, who is a year Continued on page A17

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Baan one of few 4-H alumni at headquarters

A better place Local 4-H Club members seek to make their communities better places through a number of activities, whether it’s through learning more about the world around them or cleaning up trash around town. Ryan Baan, right, went from working with his Grey Township 4-H Club to working at 4-H Canada in Ottawa. (Photo submitted)

Continued from page A16 younger than him. Baan’s mother was a leader at the time, just as her mother had been, and he soon jumped in with both feet, becoming a member of every club his mother led after she established the Grey Township 4-H Club.

In addition to all of the local clubs, Baan also joined the Central Huron 4-H Swine Club to show pigs when he was young. He would then go on to serve as a leader of many clubs as well.

Baan said he immediately felt at home in local 4-H Clubs and he says the biggest draw for him was meeting new people and making new friends. To this day, Baan says that it’s the people that keeps him wanting to get more and more involved with 4-H, especially after seeing the membership at a global level at that 2017 summit.

As a youth, not only was Baan involved in local 4-H Clubs, but he and his brother would attend provincial 4-H camps whenever they could, which helped them reach further into the 4-H Ontario stratosphere.

Through those experiences, Baan

said it really helped him to get out of his comfort zone and meet new people, which really gets to the heart of the 4-H program.

Being a 4-H Club alumnus, Baan is actually only one of a handful working at 4-H Canada. He said he was surprised to find that, but it’s not all bad, because those who are new to 4-H also bring a fresh perspective to the organization.

At the national level, Baan says that the organization works to oversee all of the good work being done by 4-H Clubs all across the country. In addition, it helps to provide programming and opportunities for Canadian youth.

Working with 4-H Canada, Baan says, really has been all he hoped it would be. He says he still loves going into work every day. There are times, he says, where he has to give his head a shake and realize that he really works for an organization for which he cares so deeply.

“I love what I do and it gives me an opportunity to give back to an organization that has meant so much to me,” Baan said.

For more information on 4-H Canada, visit www.4-h-canada.ca.

Department seeks return to AG4 zoning after challenge

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Though a conflict between local zoning bylaws and the provincial Nutrient Management Act made waves late last year with a legal challenge in North Huron, for those at the Huron County Planning and Development Department, it’s being treated as a housekeeping item.

Senior Planner Denise Van Amersfoort says the department was caught off guard by the conflict between the two documents and that Huron County Council liked what the AG4 zoning did for planning in Huron County and is looking for a way to reinstate a similar approach.

The AG4 (agricultural, small holding zone) designation existed in planning documents, both at the county level and at the lower-tier municipal level, to allow small-scale agricultural properties with a small number of animals in rural areas of Huron County.

Van Amersfoort said that the approach was one that really fit Huron County and its agricultural

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roots, allowing small properties in rural areas to keep a few animals.

Examples of the properties Van Amersfoort says the department had in mind would be a home with a handful of horses or a property with a small number of 4-H animals, not a full-scale farming operation.

Retaining the ability to keep animals on such properties, she says, is important to the department in a county like Huron. Many surrounding counties simply don’t allow animals on properties that aren’t farms and that’s not how Huron County wants to operate, she said.

The conflict at the heart of the matter occurred in North Huron, where an AG4 property was at the centre of a legal challenge that revealed the conflict between local and provincial planning documents.

While the local AG4 designation limited animals on a property, because the property is zoned as “agricultural” property, the provincial Nutrient Management

Act, which supercedes local zoning bylaws, states that the number of animals on the property cannot be limited, aside from minimum distance separation (which dictates how far away from a neighbouring structure an agricultural operation can be).

While the designation had been in place for just over a decade, Van Amersfoort said, this was the first conflict the planning department encountered with the AG4 designation. And while the North Huron case has since been put to rest, the planning department is now working to close the loophole and find a zoning approach similar to AG4 to ensure those living on rural properties can keep animals if they so choose.

Huron County’s Director of Planning and Development Sandra Weber first officially addressed the conflict in early November at a meeting of Huron County Council, suggesting a potential solution to the problem.

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At the meeting, Weber suggested retaining the AG4 zoning on existing parcels of land, but removing the provisions by removing the restriction on nutrient units. For new applications, however, it would be slightly more complicated.

Weber suggested that the planning department could add a condition to either have a barn demolished or altered so that it would no longer be capable of housing livestock.

However, Van Amersfoort said that the department isn’t wanting to rid the county of old bank barns, which are very much part of the county’s countryside character, so they’re hoping to work with local chief building officials regarding potential structural changes to the barns.

While those changes would not prohibit livestock use, changes to accommodate livestock would require a building permit, which would then trigger a nutrient management strategy to be prepared.

Weber told councillors at that meeting that neighbouring

communities employ a “Rural Residential” zoning tool, created through the surplus farm dwelling consent process, that would prohibit keeping livestock on any future lots created through that process.

However, because of Huron County’s unique character, personality and agricultural heritage, Weber and the department were not recommending such a strict zoning bylaw. She told councillors that day that keeping animals on AG4 properties in Huron has been rather common over the years and had not led to any significant complaints.

In her report, Weber told councillors that there are over 1,800 existing AG4 properties in Huron County, 44 per cent of which have an existing barn.

If council were to approve the department’s recommended policy shift, Weber said the number of livestock would not be limited on AG4-zoned properties. Where a building permit is required, Continued on page A22

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PAGE A18. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

Dickie’s ‘Home Grown’ project chronicles rural life

This rural life Hannah Dickie, a Lucknow-area native and celebrated Sheridan College student photographer, has been working on a years-long project called “Home Grown” to document growing up in a rural area. Her work has largely focused on her home farm and her father, Walter, who has been a big inspiration in her life. Dickie is seen below in a portrait taken by her classmate, Jessie Wortley. (Hannah Dickie photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen Local photographer Hannah Dickie has been working for years on a project she hopes will connect with rural audiences and introduce urban residents to the joys of rural living.

Dickie is a Lucknow-area native and F.E. Madill Secondary School graduate who is now at Sheridan College in Oakville, studying at what is said to be one of the best photography programs in North America. She is also a photographer for The Citizen and has had her work exhibited at the Goderich Co-op Gallery.

During her time at Sheridan, she has been honoured a number of times, including the award for best portrait last year and for best documentary image in 2017. While she has been attending classes in Oakville, Dickie has also been working on “Home Grown”, a long-

term documentary photography project that focuses on her rural upbringing.

It was when Dickie first attended Sheridan in one of Ontario’s larger city centres that she felt the need to document the rural way of life.

Meeting her fellow students, she found that very few of them had a connection to rural living. As a result, she wanted to take the opportunity to showcase the rural way of life showing the beauty of living away from the province’s city centres.

“Moving to the city for the first time, [I found that] not many people had experienced rural living,” Dickie said.

When she began documenting life at her Lucknow-area farm, she was heavily influenced by her father, Walter. After working at Bruce Power for over 40 years, he retired and began his time as a hobby sheep farmer and maple syrup producer.

Dickie says that her father was a great inspiration for the project, not just as a father figure, but as a farmer as well.

“This series aims to string together [Dickie’s] life now and how it has been influenced by her

surroundings. [Dickie] gives viewers a glimpse into not only her life, but also her father’s, ultimately providing the story of her rural upbringing,” reads a description of the “Home Grown” project on Dickie’s website.

Dickie has been working on the project for several years and, in many ways, doesn’t see the project ending any time soon. She hopes it will be a long-term documentary of rural living that will feature photographs from numerous aspects of her life.

In wanting to tell her story, again, her father served as a major influence. She says he has always been a great storyteller and so she wanted to take her skills and passion as a photographer and use them to tell her own story her own way.

While she has been mainly working on “Home Grown” on her own time, as she has progressed through her studies at Sheridan, she has been able to use photographs for the project that she’s taken for classes along the way.

While she has been mainly working on “Home Grown” on her own time, as she has progressed Continued on page A19

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019. PAGE A19.

Award-winning photographer inspired by home farm because it isn’t exactly the most well-worn path to prosperity for rural students.

However, it was her father who convinced her to follow her dreams and her passion, regardless of what the majority of her contemporaries were doing. She then began to hone her skills at F.E. Madill in Wingham and was then accepted into every post-secondary institution she applied to, including Sheridan.

To view some of Dickie’s pictures or to read up on her projects, past, current and future, visit www.hannahdickiephotography.ca

to do with the documentary project in the first place.

“Home Grown” isn’t the only series Dickie is currently working on. She’s also producing a photo documentary that examines the state of rural churches and where faith is heading in the future – a project she used for her thesis in her previous semester.

For Dickie, studying at Sheridan has been a dream come true since she was first gifted a camera in public school. Growing up in rural Ontario, she says she wasn’t sure about pursuing a career in the arts

Get breaking farm news on The Rural Voice website at www.ruralvoice.ca

Bringing home to the city Lucknow’s Hannah Dickie, upon attending Oakville’s Sheridan College, realized that many of her classmates were unfamiliar with rural Ontario, which helped to inspire her “Home Grown” photographic documentary project. The project has been heavily inspired by her father Walter, below, a retired Bruce Power employee who has now turned to farming. (Hannah Dickie photos) Continued from page A18 through her studies at Sheridan, she has been able to use photographs for the project that she’s taken for classes along the way.

While it is a true challenge for a photographer to tell a story using only images, Dickie has also expanded her storytelling over the years, creating an online magazine and incorporating text into her images on her website as well.

She has been charged with creating a book of narrative photography through her course.

Whether that’s the final form the project takes or not, Dickie says she doesn’t know, but she hopes to present it to the public one day, either in book form or as a gallery exhibit. It will, however, be featured, as part of her class’s final graduation show in Toronto.

While “Home Grown” is still a work in progress by Dickie’s own admission, she says she’s really proud of where the project currently sits, feeling as though she’s been able to connect with her fellow students through the project, accomplishing what she set out

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PAGE A20. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

River Road Brewery joins Huron’s craft breweries

By Lisa B. Pot The Rural Voice

It seems that Dave Andrew can make beer out of just about anything. Fan favourite, “Zesty Farmer”, is infused with lemon zest. “Spring Blonde” incorporates maple syrup from locally tapped trees. “Scurvy Elixir” incorporates spruce tips while 40 pounds of farm grown cherries were dumped into a lactose-infused IPA for the creamy, thick, cherry milkshake “River Road Blonde” beer that sold out in a week.

“We get friends coming into the cold room to check out the labels to see what new beer we’ve come up with,” says Dave.

Dave is a beer connoisseur. After 10 years of brewing his own beer in the basement, he and wife Nikki decided to make a major life change and establish River Road Brewery and Hops on Bayfield River Road, just outside of Bayfield.

“My wife said maybe it was time

River Road Brewing and Hops Dave Andrews, right, at the suggestion of his wife Nikki decided to turn his passion of craft beer into a hobby, and then from a hobby into a money-making venture leading to the couple opening their own brewery, River Road Brewing and Hops, just outside of Bayfield. (File photo)

Howick trial encouraging for NHP progress: Van Amersfoort

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen After a smooth, successful application trial in Howick, the Huron County Planning and Development Department is encouraged by the progress of the Natural Heritage Plan, which is set to be revisited this year.

Senior Planner Denise Van Amersfoort says that the updated mapping from the Natural Heritage Plan was rolled into Howick’s official plan five-year review last year and while there were some detractors, the process went very smoothly.

Development of the Natural Heritage Plan officially dates back only a few years, but the department has been protecting the county’s natural resources and encouraging tree cover for decades. The plan has brought together updated aerial photography for the department in order to more accurately identify the resources and features in Huron County, Van Amersfoort said in an interview with The Citizen.

A high percentage of the land under the plan’s purview is Huron County’s woodlands, which means it’s under the watchful eye of county Forest Conservation Officer Dave

Pullen. He says that areas like Howick, North Huron, MorrisTurnberry and Ashfield-ColborneWawanosh have some of the highest percentage of natural resource land in the county, which is largely due to rolling topography and land that is not suitable for agriculture.

He says that working with area farmers to manage woodlots and their adjacent agricultural land has given him an opportunity to be proactive in his work.

Through the Natural Heritage Plan, Pullen says, the department is simply trying to protect natural environment, which is something the department has been doing since “planning” began generations ago.

Van Amersfoort agreed, saying that the Natural Heritage Plan is not a new approach, but rather a new name given to planning and conservation efforts that have been underway for decades in the county.

The implementation of mapping from the Natural Heritage Plan in the Howick official plan involved detailed review of the mapping with consideration for local factors and significant consultation with landowners, Van Amersfoort says.

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official plan review, as well as if there were any specific mapping changes proposed for their property.

She says the consultation in Howick was as informative for the planning department as it was for those who chose to attend, in that feedback from the public helped to refine the mapping and ensure accuracy.

Van Amersfoort, a Huron County native whose family roots in the community reach back to the 1800s, says that no one knows their land better than a farmer, so it was great to hear from farmers in the Howick area during the consultation process.

Van Amersfoort said that those consultations were very valuable for the department. They were able to learn about specific properties and find out when the mapping was telling the truth and when there was a little more to the story.

She says the consultation process in Howick has been very helpful in shaping the future of the Natural Heritage Plan overall.

Online comments for the plan were open until the end of 2018 and there were several open houses held in Howick.

Online, however, there was very little feedback, Van Amersfoort Continued on page A22

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I make money on it instead of spending money on it,” laughs Dave.

Dave was an automotive technician and Nikki worked fulltime in the financial industry when they decided to move back to rural Ontario a decade ago. The property is expansive and Dave decided to start a little hobby – he grew 10 hop plants near an outbuilding and set up a small brewery in his basement.

As the two toured other breweries he realized his hobby wasn’t that much smaller than some of facilities they were visiting. It got them thinking about making a lifestyle change on their 10-acre property.

Nikki wanted to use their property to its full advantage while finding a way to be at home with Continued on page A24

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019. PAGE A21.

Morrison brings Giddy Up N’ Go Ponies to Auburn

By Denny Scott The Citizen

Here’s looking at you Stephanie Morrison doesn’t have livestock – she and her family have pets and, through her business Giddy Up N’ Go Ponies, she likes to share her pets and give people of all ages a hands-on agricultural experience. Morrison and her family started the company in Dundalk several years ago.

Early last year, however, she moved the operation to a farm right outside of Auburn. (Photo submitted)

Early last year, a new kind of agriculture business, Giddy Up N’ Go Ponies, relocated to just outside of Auburn with a focus on giving hands-on agricultural experiences to locals and tourists alike.

Since 2015, Stephanie Morrison has been bringing her love of farm animals to the general public through Giddy Up N’ Go Ponies.

Having started in Dundalk, Morrison and her family moved to their Blyth Road home in January, 2018, wanting a bigger space for the family’s crew of farm animals.

Morrison explained that their Dundalk site was four acres and they wanted a larger space, making the move to Auburn a logical one. She said the family found a fixer-upper and made the farm their own.

“We wanted to find a bigger, affordable property,” she said. “We found it was cheaper to buy here, and picked up a fixer-upper as is.”

While the property was more affordable, Morrison said there was work that needed to be done before her family and the animals could move in.

“We had to do a lot of work on the barn,” she said. “It just had a roof and supports when we moved in. We needed to put walls, stalls and insulation in.”

The site made sense, she said, because the business does have her on the road quite often, and Auburn is a good central location for a lot of travel.

“I’ve been around animals since I was very young,” she said. “My mom and dad had a hobby activity farm, and I’ve been around race horses and beef cows most of my life.”

Before owning the business, Morrison worked with standardbred race horses.

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says puts a focus on getting handson with livestock.

“When you have a pet, like a bird, in a house, you can hold it, but it’s not really as unique as when you get to get hands-on with livestock like ducks,” she said. “It’s for children of all ages. There is a lot of love for animals.”

While in Dundalk, the focus was on touring with the animals, Morrison said, but she wanted to have more people visit the farm, which led to the decision to find a bigger space.

“This year, we have farm dates on our website,” she said. “We’re trying to reach out to people who are

visiting the area, like campers, to give them a chance to visit.”

She said that the farm provides a great atmosphere where families can visit with the animals and see the farm.

“We have the ‘Giddy Up’ train, a playground and a corn box and people can ride ponies,” she said.

“All the animals are friendly and good with the hands-on activities.

They like being brushed and played with.”

While touring different locations with the animals for petting zoos and parties, Morrison said that she loves hosting people on the farm not only Continued on page A23

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PAGE A22. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

Howick NHP trial encouraging: Van Amersfoort Continued from page A20 said, but the open houses were very helpful.

Pullen also said that the Huron Clean Water Project has been working well in conjunction with the Natural Heritage Plan and the county’s natural heritage properties.

It also helps to connect landowners to offset the cost of independent professional forestry consultants,

which helps to increase the quality of the woodlot and income potential.

Encouraging property owners to get involved with the project and improve their property has yielded tremendous results, Pullen said.

When the department first started pulling material together to implement the Natural Heritage Plan, planners were working from mapping that was created previous

to 2010. As they worked to bring in the new aerial photography, they were close to receiving new images from 2015 and felt that a 10-year update on imaging would be worth the wait.

The benefit of updated mapping is that it accurately reflects the features on the landscape. What the experience in Howick taught the planning department is that the Natural Heritage Plan mapping is the beginning of the process, not the end.

Further refinements and amendments are necessary when the mapping is reviewed at the local level; the input of the public being crucial to this process.

She also said that, while there has been some controversy over the

suggested 30 per cent forest cover throughout the county, that does not apply to individual properties. The county has a goal of 30 per cent forest cover, but much of that would be achieved through the county forests and individual properties would never be required to host 20 per cent forest cover. On private property, forest cover would be increased through voluntary stewardship efforts, not regulation.

Trimming overhanging branches and managing small seedlings on a regular basis has never been an issue with the forest conservation bylaw, Pullen says, but reducing the footprint of woodlands should involve some pre-consultation to ensure compliance with the bylaw.

What he’s able to communicate,

he said, is that a well-managed woodlot in Huron County can not only benefit a property in an environmental way, but in an economic way as well.

Van Amersfoort says that consulting with the public is the aspect she finds most enjoyable in her career.

In speaking with area property owners, stories are often shared which exemplify how Huron residents are excellent stewards of the land and further, the value that natural spaces have to the property owners themselves.

The Natural Heritage Plan, she says, recognizes the good work that has been done to date and outlines ways in which these efforts can be supported moving forward.

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way that works for them in their specific municipality.

Van Amersfoort said that when municipalities work on their official plan five-year reviews, that might be a time to work on the new zoning, but it would depend on the municipality.

However, Van Amersfoort said creating a zoning to allow for livestock on rural properties is the intention. Not allowing animals in the countryside, she said, just doesn’t make sense for a community like Huron County.

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AG4 could return Continued from page A17 Minimum Distance Separation would then kick in and setbacks to lot lines would be implemented and a Nutrient Management Strategy may be required depending on the size of the operation.

Properties with existing barns, however, she said, may not trigger either of the above requirements.

She said that municipal bylaws would then have to be silent on the keeping of livestock in agricultural zones, but limitations in urban settlement zones are operable.

Farm operations of every size, Weber said, would be required to maintain sound farm practices, so if a neighbour was concerned about manure management or other farm practices, they would be directed to the complaint processes through either the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) or the Normal Farm Practices Board.

Van Amersfoort said that despite the one-time conflict in North Huron, many Huron County councillors liked what the AG4 zoning represented, so, council and the department are essentially looking for a way to recreate the zoning designation without conflicting with provincial legislation.

However, because it’s proven to be a non-contentious issue for the most part (with only one legal challenge in decades of application), the department is looking to clean up the zoning via housekeeping bylaws as they come up at each lower-tier municipality.

Planners will be working with lower-tier councils and their local chief building officials, looking for a way to implement the zoning in a

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019. PAGE A23.

Giddy Up N’ Go Ponies offers hands-on farm visits Continued fromn page A21 because of the activities they have, but also because there is just so much more to see than she can take on the road.

Aside from the on-farm business, Morrison said she still will travel with some animals, highlighting activities like the miniature pony play dates.

“We bring them out and, while some children can ride one pony, others can brush the miniature ponies or put hats on them. The kids dress them and, for events like a birthday party, it makes sure children aren’t waiting for their turn to ride.”

She said that cuddling with the bunnies is also a highlight, as are the baby animals they bring, like lambs

and kids, which are always a hit with the day’s audience.

“The kids always like to interact,” she said.

“We’re setting up more activities like the unicorn photo booth parties we added this year, llama birthday events and goat parties,” she said.

“People love goat parties. They are just so much fun to be around.”

Morrison also said that she can facilitate “Kiss the Cow” fundraisers, which are a great way for organizations to raise money.

While they do have young animals on the farm, almost all of them become a part of the business longterm Morrison said.

“We’ve sold maybe four lambs to

one farm in Mildmay,” she said.

“Aside from that, if the animals come to the farm, it’s usually to stay.”

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PAGE A24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

Andrews changes brewing from hobby to career

Dovetailing practices Branching out into brewing allowed River Road Brewing and Hops’ Dave and Nikki Andrews to feed distillers grain, a byproduct of beer brewing, to their small herd of Highland Cattle. (File photo)

Continued from page A20 their kids (four in total, ranging in age from 22 to nine).

The farm had been an orchard but the trees were diseased and had to be pulled. Could hops grow here instead? Dave’s hobby plants proved they could thrive in the sandy Burr loam soil on the farm.

“Ontario used to have one of the largest hop acreages at the turn of the 20th century until downy mildew came in... and prohibition,” says Dave.

Thoughts churned. Business plans were drawn. Dave, handy and creative, built his own, largerscale, three vessel, Herms system brewery which uses a heat infused recirculating mash. It is located in the farm’s former market store.

Nikki’s business acumen and marketing skills were the perfect fit for the new business venture.

The next task was to plant the hop yard. They hunted down dead fall cedars and old hydro poles (hop vines can grow up to 24 feet in a season) and 2,600 hop plants representing three hop strains were planted into three acres near the road as perfect advertising for the farm’s new venture.

“It’s not the ideal spot. They would thrive better by the bush.

But out front they are our business card,” explained Dave.

Growing hops isn’t for the fainthearted. Once the 18-foothigh poles (industry standard)

were in place, a trellis made of coir twine (natural fibre twine) is tied to the top of the pole and stapled at the bottom. The plants grow upwards vigorously before sending out side shoots which first flower, then grow into a coneshaped fruit.

To harvest, the cords are cut and the vines fed through a processor which knocks the cones off. The cones are then dried and pelleted.

The hop yard has a drip line irrigation system because the plants require one gallon of water a day to reach their full potential.

The River Road hops are just over a year old and won’t provide a full crop for three years.

Dave is keen to discover how the local terroir (the set of all environmental factors) will affect the flavour of the hops. From his experience with the hobby hops, he believes they will be “more earthy; not quite as bright of a taste.”

Future plans include building an Oast House (a hop kiln) to dry the hops and attract tourists.

Once the hops come into full production, there is potential for added income. Dave estimates they will require one-fifth of the crop for their own needs and can sell the rest to local breweries. Hops are a “high-dollar crop” selling for $30 per processed pound. Each plant produces two pounds at full maturity.

As a re-emerging crop market, hops interest many entrepreneurs until they understand how labourintensive the crop is.

Each spring, every pole needs new twine, as it is cut in the fall to harvest the plants. The entire yard needs weeding and the lower shoots of the plants have to be cut manually to reduce the risk of downy mildew.

Eventually, Dave and Nikki may incorporate a herd of sheep into the yard as natural weed eaters with the added bonus that the sheep will eat the bottom stems and reduce manual labour.

As part of their sustainability goals, Dave and Nikki funnel rinse water from the production of beer to irrigate the hop yard. Another byproduct of beer brewing is

distillers grain, which they feed to a small herd of Highland cattle on the property. The herd becomes a draw for customers to come with their families. As an added bonus, the animals naturally fertilize the land.

While the hops have yet to reach maturity, beer production is already in full swing at River Road.

Dave and Nikki brew three to four times weekly, producing 1,200 to 1,600 litres per brew.

They are often sold out by Sunday.

A three-batch brew day requires 14 hours of labour and often friends help out with a late night canning session or a chat and drink while putting stickers on the cans.

River Road beer is available at Continued on page A25

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019. PAGE A25.

Unique ingredients a hallmark of River Road with the apple/pear-like fruit.

Nikki gets to come up with the clever names. River Road recently teamed up with Shop Bike and its Coastal Coffee brand to develop an ale latte made with coffee, milk and sugar. It was cleverly called “Thanks Ale Latte�.

One night, Nikki finished a brew while Dave met with his monthly Scotch-tasting group. That batch was named “One Lonely Scotch Night�.

As the business grows, Nikki is enjoying running the retail space and taking care of the farm animals. She also brews, cans and labels as needed.

As Huron County earns a reputation for its unique breweries and wineries, Dave and Nikki feel very much that there is a camaraderie among the smaller craft brewers. “We visit the other breweries all the time to chat and hang out,� says Dave.

The breweries may well connect because by working together, the collection of Huron County breweries is drawing beer-lovers and tourists from across the province, adding to the overall economic prosperity of the county.

River Road is one of those “labour of love� businesses that

requires long hours. There are days the couple is dead on their feet but nine days out of 10, “it doesn’t feel like work.�

Having made a good living off the farm, they are now able to make a good living on the farm.

Plus, the goal of sustainable brewing is very important to Nikki and Dave. “I like to teach the old way of doing things such as, if you can’t buy it, grow it. Use what you grow yourself.� Establishing relationships with other growers to partner by combining beer and honey, or beer and coffee and even beer and quince is very satisfying to them both.

It’s all about the hops In its first year, River Road Brewing and Hops hop yard produced cones, but the site won’t be in full production for another two years according to owners Nikki and Dave Andrews. Dave keeps a jar of hops cones at the counter of the brewery for customers to see and smell exactly what the company is working with. (File photo) Continued from page A24 every bar in Bayfield as well as a few in Goderich, London and Stratford. They mostly sell cans and growlers, keeping the farm store very busy on weekends.

Zesty Farmer is always on tap but customers never know what they might find... Dave made 16 different varieties in his first six months.

All River Road beers are ale, which differentiates them from other county breweries.

Stonehouse in Varna focuses on lagers while Square Brew in Goderich produces European Pilsners. Dave likes the taste of ales and appreciates that they are quicker to brew than a lager or pilsner.

From a lifestyle point of view, Dave and Nikki recognize they are busier than they were in their

previous careers, but it’s a different kind of busy. Having a home business is more family oriented and, they are discovering, more joyful. “I am a welder/fitter by trade, then I built trucks and then I became a mechanic. Broken trucks made customers unhappy and it used to be I was always dealing with unhappy people,� remembers Dave. “Now I create fun stuff that makes people smile!�

He loves that the brewing business allows him to use his mechanical skills designing, building and fixing equipment. Yet it also allows his creative side flourish. Recently, he was chatting with a friend who mentioned she had a quince tree bearing much fruit. Thoughts of that quince took hold of Dave and he’s keen to see what kind of beer he can make

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PAGE A26. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019.

Little, Junior Ambassador program thriving raised it with other members of the Brussels Agricultural Society and they all agreed with her and she worked to implement it right away.

Cable took the lead on the program, getting the word out and developing the application process, which is an essay contest in which contestants submit an essay anonymously so they can be judged blindly, and lining up judges for the competition.

The results in the first year were positive, Cable said, with a number of applicants wanting to represent the society at the fair. In the end, it was the Speer brothers who were chosen, going on to help at the fair

and making a number of public appearances on behalf of the society.

The competition held steady for the next two years, attracting highquality contestants every year and now it’s entering its fourth year this spring when the society will begin accepting entries.

Cable says that she and the judges are consistently impressed with the quality of essays being submitted by young people wanting to be ambassadors. That intelligence and maturity then manifests itself at the annual Brussels Ambassador night at the Brussels Legion, when the winners are welcomed onto the stage Continued on page A27

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The Ambassador wave In the past several years, the Little and Junior Ambassador programs have grown from an original idea brought to Brussels by Sandra Cable. The program encourages younger participants than those who take part in the established Ambassador program. Above, during the Brussels Fall Fair parade, are this term’s Little Ambassador Kaleigh McCallum, left, and Junior Ambasador Maddy Bernard. (File photo)

By Shawn Loughlin The Citizen In just a few years, the Brussels Fall Fair Little and Junior Ambassador program has taken off, drawing in community youth to be part of the fair.

Sandra Cable, a long-time area minister and member of the Brussels Agricultural Society, was the catalyst behind the program, introducing it to Brussels in 2016.

Since then, over a dozen young people have thrown their hats into

the ring, wanting to be either the Little or Junior Ambassador for the Brussels Fall Fair.

In 2016, it was brothers James and Ben Speer who were named the Little and Junior Ambassador, respectively. Since then, local youth have stepped up to take the role, wanting to be involved in their community and their local fall fair.

Cable says she has really been impressed with the uptake of the program in the years since she introduced it. It has really worked to

get some smart, enthusiastic and mature children out in the community and working for the Brussels Agricultural Society.

It was when Cable was in her former home of Forest that she first saw a junior ambassador program working. Her granddaughter was in the running for the local fall fair ambassador position and she saw there was an ambassador program for younger participants and she thought it would be an excellent fit for Brussels.

She returned to Brussels and

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THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2019. PAGE A27.

Program bringing in younger ambassador hopefuls

Big responsibility While the Brussels Agricultural Society’s Little and Junior Ambassadors are encouraged to participate in other events throughout the county, one of their primary responsibilities is to be available for and involved in the annual Brussels Fall Fair. Responsibilities at the event include drawing prizes, taking part in events and opening the event by cutting a “ribbon” of corn. From left: Junior Ambassador Maddy Bernard, Ambassador Amanda Morrison and Little Ambassador Kaleigh McCallum. (File photo) Continued from page A26 alongside the ambassador contestants.

Cable says she thinks the competition has been a success in its first three years, bringing younger faces into the fair and teaching them the ropes at an early age.

She has heard from several of the younger ambassadors that attending regular Brussels Agricultural Society meetings has given them an appreciation for the amount of work that goes into hosting the Brussels Fall Fair year after year. Instilling that awareness in a young person and showing them all the work that goes into hosting the fair at that age, Cable said, is no small feat.

While Cable brought the young ambassador program to the society and took the reins in the first year, Maggie Speer of Brussels, a former ambassador herself, has really

Tradition One of the most fun traditions for the Brussels Agricultural Society’s Ambassador, Little Ambassador and Junior Ambassador is the kids’ tractor pull, which Little Ambassador Kaleigh McCallum is shown here giving a try.

(File photo)

stepped up to be Cable’s first-incommand in recent years, bringing so much to the competition.

Speer, the mother of Ben and James, is very dedicated to the Brussels Fall Fair, Cable said, and has been a huge asset to the young ambassador program, helping it to thrive the last few years.

“She’s lively and bubbly and just a joy to work with,” Cable said of Speer. It also helps, Cable said, that there is a clear division of labour.

Speer has moved to working directly with the Little and Junior Ambassadors, while Cable does much of her work on the program behind the scenes.

This spring, the pair will be looking for another set of young people hoping to take up the mantles of Little and Junior Ambassador.

Entries will open in late April or early May. In June, Cable or Speer, along with this year’s Little Ambassador Kaleigh McCallum and Junior Ambassador Maddy Bernard, will make their way out to schools to try and drum up some interest. In the past, they have visited North Woods Elementary School and Maitland River Elementary School in hopes of

introducing more young people to the competition.

As for how the program has enriched the Brussels Fall Fair, Cable thinks that plenty has been added as a result of bringing younger people into the fold.

By introducing young people to essay writing, public speaking, working with adults, being on stage and helping with smaller tasks at the Brussels Fall Fair like presenting awards or helping with the opening night dog show, the program has worked to help them improve their lives in a variety of areas.

Whether it’s getting comfortable speaking to a group or being on stage or taking direction from society members, Cable thinks the program has helped in many ways.

Plus, she’s hoping that it’s helping to prepare younger students for potentially returning for the ambassador competition, though it hasn’t happened just yet.

For more information on the Brussels Agricultural Society or the Brussels Fall Fair, visit the website at brusselsfallfair.ca. To become involved in the Little or Junior Ambassador competition, e-mail Cable at cables@ezlink.ca.

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