Group PHoto of Current members: The event included a social hour, dinner, pie auction, time of reminiscing and then dancing. The current junior farmers are, front row from left, Emily Schultz, Tanner Bromley, Johanna Dwyer, Cailen Bromley, Samantha Austin, Jamie Schultz, Samantha Cull, Miranda Mulligan, Shavaun Donohue, Emma Duncan, Curtis Schultz and Alex Wuehr. Front row from left, Adrian Straathof, Chris Gauthier, Jake Tubman, Meredith Mulligan (president), Alex Wytenburg, Alex Zomers, Carson Cole, and John Cole.
1988 Sing Swing Champion Square: Back row from left: Shane Bromley, Louis Laventure, Jamie Dewar and Allan Cole (caller). From row from left: Karen Black, Nancy Schultz, Carolyn Wren Doris and Steve Schultz. Missing is Yolanda Bromley.
Visiting Junior Farmers are, back row from left: Daniel Smith (Haldimand Norfolk), Oscar Peeters (Carleton), Jordan Eastman (Carleton), Justin Brooks (Dundas), Lindsay Ruiter (Carleton), Sharon Ruiter (Carleton), Ben Mussell (Carleton) and Thomas Toonders (Dundas)
Front row from left: Ashley Johnson (Dundas), Quintina Cuddihy (Carleton), Hannah Ross (Haldimand Norfolk), Niki Sproxton (Perth and Kate Johnson (Durham).
Square dancers: The square dancers are, clockwise from left, Esther White (facing the camera), Jamie Schultz, Oscar Peeters, Sharon Ruiter, Allan Cole, Barb Scott, Cailen Bromley and Shavaun Donohue.
By CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
COBDEN — The Renfrew County Junior Farmers celebrated their 100th anniversary with a banquet Saturday night in Cobden.
A few days after the event, club president Meredith Mulligan said the event was more than they expected when planning for the event began.
“We were hoping for 90 people, and then 100 to make sure we wouldn’t lose any money,” she said. “As the deadline approached, people started getting antsy and were calling for tickets.
“We sold 146 tickets,” she said. “We were amazed by that.”
While there were many alumni and current junior farmers, from this club and others at the banquet, there were also people who used to attend junior farmer dances but were never junior farmers, and some were parents whose children are in junior farmers, she said.
There were four guest speakers at the Saturday night event.
Provincial Director Jordan Eastman said it’s remarkable to be celebrating 100 years in any county. He noted the county he is involved with, Carleton, celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2016.
There are so many families involved in Renfrew County Junior Farmers, Mr. Eastman said, as he noted there were many alumni in attendance who now have children involved in the program.
There was a three-generation family of past and current junior farmers: Esther and Edgar White; their daughter Nancy and her husband Steve Schultz; and their three children, Emily, Curtis and Jamie.
Mr. Eastman reviewed some of the history of Junior Farmers in Renfrew County, noting there are three past-presidents from this area; it was the first junior farmers club to participate in a youth exchange in the United Kingdom when Bruce Kirk went there in 1950 and in 1966, Gerald Shield was the first youth exchange to Pennsylvania.
In 1915, there were 16 Renfrew County Junior Farmers. Looking around the room, Mr. Eastman noted there is a huge history with plenty of stories to be shared.
Mac Coughlin, an alumni junior farmer from the 1940s, congratulated the junior farmers on their well-organized event.
“Junior farmers have done a lot for Renfrew County,” he said. “There aren’t many from the 1940s still here.
“Junior Farmers are good for promoting leadership,” Mr. Coughlin said.
In the 1940s, the Cobden Junior Farmers was a huge club, he said, noting one year there were 72 members and meetings were held in the basement of the Memorial Hall.
At that time, people earned $4 a day and gas was 41 cents a gallon, he recalled.
Pointing to the memorabilia set up at the side of the hall, Mr. Coughlin noted there is a man in the photo from 1915 who eventually became his father-in-law.
Allan Cole recalled when he would attend various junior farmer events as a provincial director from Renfrew County Junior Farmers. He would get to the event, talk with local people while making notes on the back of a program. Holding the evening’s program in his hand, he said, things haven’t changed much – bringing laughter from the crowd.
Junior farmers learn leadership, which includes speaking in public, running meetings, how to be executive members and how to be productive in meetings, Mr. Cole said.
Many junior farmers were participants in the 4-H program, he said. Once a person is prepared to become a junior farmer, it usually means they want to, one day, participate in commodity groups and become community-minded people.
Many are here this night because they want to commemorate the past, present and future of junior farmers or 4-H, Mr. Cole said.
He noted 30 years ago they were challenged to continue the good work of junior farmers and today, he challenged the current junior farmers to take lessons from those and become better community leaders.
Meredith Mulligan thanked the people for attending the event and supporting the junior farmers. She thanked them for sharing their “wonderful memorabilia” from years gone by. They were hoping to fill two tables with memorabilia, but ended up with about six tables of memorabilia.
“It’s awesome seeing all that stuff,” she said. “It proves just how much junior farmers have been a part of Renfrew County. It helps show us what junior farmers were like years ago.”
Ms. Mulligan thanked the current junior farmers who worked hard to ensure this banquet was a success.
“It was awesome to see the teamwork,” she said, noting Nancy Schultz was a big help in ensuring the junior farmers kept on the right track.
Ms. Mulligan has been president of the Renfrew County Junior Farmers for two terms and was recently acclaimed to her third term.
“We have grown as a club since I joined,” she said. “We have grown from just six members to our current 33 members. We have come a long way. We have grown in numbers and community involvement.”
Ms. Mulligan said community events the RCJF have participated in include the Cobden Fair, Renfrew County Plowing Match and the Cobden Taste of the Valley.
Since joining the junior farmers, she has travelled the province and met “so many amazing people.”
Looking around the room, she knows many there have made lifelong friends and she knows that will continue with the current members. She thanked junior farmers who travelled about six hours to attend this event.
“We have made friends across the globe, from Ireland, England, Switzerland, Austria, Australia and Scotland,” she said. “If we ever make it to Europe, there will always be a couch for us to sleep on.”
This junior farmers club, along with many others, are thriving and always improving and growing. With the close to 150 people in attendance, Ms. Mulligan said it reminds her that she belongs to “one of the best organizations in the province.
“We’ve had an awesome response. It just shows how much junior farmers means to everybody.”
Following a slide presentation of photos from the past and current junior farmers and a quick pie auction, there was opportunity to show off their dancing, which included champion square dancers from past and present, and socialize.
Junior Farmer Alex Wytenburg said one of the club’s projects is the Ontario Century Farm Recognition Program. He encouraged those attending the event to pass on the information so those celebrating 100, 125, 175 or 200 years could participate in the program and get a sign of recognition.
He added for those who have a sign and it is showing wear and tear, a new sign can be purchased.
Mr. Wytenburg said the Renfrew County Junior Farmers won the bid to host Autumn Profile, a day of fun games. They will be held in October at the Horton Community Centre. While people are encouraged to watch the games, and can attend the evening dance, only junior farmers can participate in the games held throughout the day.
A few days after the event, Ms. Mulligan said when the junior farmers club started in Renfrew County, there were so many young people interested in participating, there were many sub-clubs, such as Cobden, South Renfrew, North Renfrew, etc. They would each hold their own meetings and get together about once a month in one place. As far as she can tell, the first junior farmers meeting was held in 1915 in Beachburg.
Over the years, membership fell off and for a few years there was no Renfrew County Junior Farmers club. A few years ago, a group of older 4-H members heard about junior farmers club and decided to resurrect it in Renfrew County. To explain the difference between junior farmers and 4-H, Ms. Mulligan said 4-H is lead by leaders while junior farmers lead their own club. Instead of a leader helping the group plan an event, it’s the group that plans the event themselves.
Members of junior farmers clubs help at various community events, such as fairs, plowing matches and the Taste of the Valley.
She noted when Edgar White was a junior farmer, it was his group that constructed the original gazebo at Lookout Park on Lookout Road.
A large part of junior farmers is networking and making friends from around the world, she said. She explained that for herself, she was not a part of 4-H or any club. She travelled to Ottawa and within her own comfort of friends made while a student.
However, since joining Junior Farmers, she has travelled to almost every county in Ontario; met people from around the world and has made what she hopes will be life-long friends.
And, just because a person belongs to a junior farmers club does not mean he or she will be a farmer, Ms. Mulligan said.
“There are many different fields junior farmers belong to,” she said. “There’s a broad horizon of different careers.”
Ms. Mulligan noted she doesn’t farm, she works in a bank and a nursing home. Others are teachers, mechanics, and yes, there are farmers.
When questioned why square dancing seems to be important to the Renfrew County Junior Farmers, Ms. Mulligan said the current members won the 2015 square dancing competition, the first time since the junior farmers have entered a team since 1988, when they last won the competition. In 2016, they came in second.
For information on Renfrew County Junior Farmers, email [email protected] or speak to any junior farmer; check out Renfrew County Junior Farmers on facebook or the provincial website, jfao.on.ca.
