Auburn's Oudshoorn elected Huron-Perth Junior Farmers President
BY JOLANDE OUDSHOORN
This past fall, the Huron-Perth Junior Farmers launched its new “Who Let the Hogs Out?” campaign. Instigated by Lauren Bos, with support from the Huron County Pork Producers and the Perth County Pork Producers, the club was able to build large pigs out of plastic barrels. The pigs took many coats of pink paint, but after a week of painting, the campaign was able to start its launch.
On the eve of Sept. 25, the first participants received a surprise on their lawn. Over the next seven weeks, the pigs were moved to 33 locations across Huron and Perth Counties. On Dec. 4, the club was able to donate two butchered pigs and $1,005.44 to the Huron Food Bank Distribution Centre, which will be spreading out the donation across Huron and Perth food banks. The club would also like to thank CedarVilla Angus Farms and Zehr’s Country Market for their support. Members all had a blast moving the pigs, and were happy that all of the participants enjoyed the surprises on their lawns!
In October, the group held a small outdoor movie night for its members and handed out awards from the Region 5 4-H virtual judging competition, sponsored by the club. Kara Shapton was the winner of the Cloverbud’s category, Hannah Krebs won the Junior Farmers’ category, and Becky de Witp was the winner of the over 30+ category.
November brought the Sing Swing submissions. Sing Swing is a provincial Junior Farmers Association of Ontario event, where members can showcase their talents in a variety of classes. This year’s theme was “Singing and Swinging six feet apart”.
Members from the club went out in full force and submitted items for the following individual categories: quilting, needlework, card making, painting, woodworking, photography, metal work, instrumental solo, and digital art. They also wore marks and kept their distance, and were able to do two group submissions for a line dance and a Tik Tok dance.
On Dec. 4, new members were welcomed to the December meeting and held a holiday-themed trivia night over Zoom.
With the joint club effort, members were able to win Sing Swing 2020! The results are as follows: Photography: Agriculture, first, third; Photography: Candid Animal second, third; Photography: Junior Farmers in the Community, third; Photography: Personal protective gear in the community second, third; Visual arts: Painting, first, third; Visual arts: Homemade cards, first, second; Visual arts: Computer art, third; Quilting: Any project, third; Quilting: Featuring farming or Junior Farmers, second; Woodworking, first; Metal work, first, second; Dancing: Line dancing, first; Dancing: Alternative, second; Dancing: Tik Tok, first and Instrumental Solo, second. Congratulations!
On Jan. 8, 2021, the group held its annual general meeting through Zoom. They reminisced about this past year, how events had to be halted, though during this pandemic, they were still able to accomplish many things. They grew its club by 100 per cent and held meetings both in-person and online throughout the year. Some of the highlights included in early March, members ran a “Learn to Two-Step” night in Listowel, which was well-attended by Junior Farmers from as far away as Essex-Kent, and non-members. In the summer, we hosted a campfire and canoe while physically distancing.
We ended the meeting with the election of our new executive: Past-President Lauren Bos, President Jolande Oudshoorn, Vice-President Joleen Otten, Secretary Lacey Papple, Treasurer Nick Vinnicombe, Provincial Director Lauren Bos, Assistant Provincial Director Jesse Van Kesteren, Press Reporters Nick Vinnicombe and Jolande Oudshoorn, Agricultural / Farm Safety Rep Amanda Bos, Huron 4-H Rep Nick Vinnicombe, Perth 4-H Rep Lauren Bos, and Fundraising Co-ordinator Lacey Papple.
The group hopes to hold a variety of safe events when it is able to do so, including campfires, roller skating, canoeing, and ice skating. The next meeting will be taking place over Zoom on Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. If you are interested in joining the club or would like to learn more, please e-mail HuronPerthJF@gmail.com or check out the group’s Facebook page @HuronPerthJF.