08 November 1, 2008 - ObserverXtra

The Observer | Saturday, November 01, 2008 NEWS | 7
»FRoM thE FARM to thE LIMELIGht
Getting ready for the Royal treatment
Local exhibitors preparing for next week’s opening of the Royal Winter Fair, an agricultural staple
JONI MILTENBURG
The first time Melissa
Albrecht showed a calf
at the Royal Winter Fair
in Toronto, she and her
calf both had butterflies
in their stomachs.
“I was very nervous,
the first time I went. The
calves were all nervous
too,” she said. “It’s such
a big arena, with lots
of people and distractions.”
The Wellesley Township
teen had shown at
county competitions before,
but that experience
didn’t help her much.
“[They’re] not nearly
as nerve-wracking,” she
laughed.
Now a veteran in her
third year of showing at
the Royal, she’s learned
the key is to get lots of
sleep. She’ll head to Toronto
with the Waterloo
Region 4-H group next
Saturday. All the calves
have to be fed, washed
and clipped before the
showmanship competition
Sunday evening.
Then it’s up again at 2
a.m. the next day to feed,
wash and prep all over
again for the conformation
competition.
“It’s definitely a lot of
work.”
The Royal Agricultural
Winter Fair runs from
Nov. 7 to 16 at Exhibition
Place in Toronto.
This year Albrecht will
be leading Babe (her father’s
choice of name,
not hers, she noted)
around the ring, hoping
she’s one of the top seven
picked out of each group
of 30 parading past.
Albrecht has never
been picked out of the
hundreds of competitors
to advance past the
first round. But last year
Waterloo Region beat out
dozens of counties from
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across Canada and won
best overall exhibit.
“I just feel honoured to
be representing Waterloo
Region, showing at
the Royal Winter Fair.”
Lewis Weber agrees
that getting an animal
ready for showing is a
lot of work. He’ll be a
first-time exhibitor at
the Royal in the red and
white dairy class.
Last December he and
two partners bought
Winterfield Adv Dharma
Red in Michigan when
she was just a few weeks
old. He’s been busy the
past few weeks training
her for the show.
The heifer finished
second in the red and
white summer show at
Carson’s Sales Barn in
Listowel. Weber said it
would be nice to finish in
the top five at the Royal.
But the competition will
be a lot tougher at a fair
that draws exhibitors
from across the country.
Stephanie Snyder,
dairy entries clerk, said
there are already 115 entries
in the red and white
class alone.
Entries in the fair are
up 20 per cent across the
board. Snyder said a lot
of that increase is in the
beef shows, where three
new categories have
been added.
There will also be
American cattle exhibitors
at this year’s fair,
for the first time since
the border was closed to
live cattle after the BSE
scare of 2002.
“It’s very exciting to
have them returning,”
Snyder said.
Overall, there are more
than 1,000 dairy cattle entered
and another 1,000
beef cattle. The youth
competition, where Albrecht
will be competing,
has more than 1,500
entries.
Wellesley pond to be drained for dam repairs
JONI MILTENBURG
The Grand River Conservation
Authority will be
drawing down the water
level in the Wellesley Pond
next week in preparation
for repairs to the dam.
GRCA spokesman Dave
Schultz said staff will
make minor repairs to
the concrete around the
dam’s gate structure
“The concrete’s just
getting a little worn.”
The GRCA will start
draining the water from
the ponds on Nov. 3. The
drawdown will be done
gradually to minimize
the amount of silt that
is washed downstream
and to give fish in the
ponds time to swim to
other parts of the creek.
GRCA staff will be prepared
to move any fish
that become stranded.
Schultz said the pond
will be an interesting
sight while the work is
being carried out. The
water level will drop between
2.5 and three metres,
leaving large mud
flats exposed. Water flow
will be reduced to the
old creek channel on the
photo | MARC MIQUEL hELSEN
floor of the pond.
The work is expected to
last a few weeks, depending
on the weather. When
the repairs are complete,
the pond will be refilled
for the winter.
The GRCA has owned
the dam since 1957. It’s
believed to have been
built early in the 1900s
and was improved in the
1950s.
Turning those
fines into food
Bette Cummings from the Elmira
Branch of the Region of Waterloo
Library poses next to a stack of
non-perishables destined for the
food bank. the food items were
collected through the Library’s
annual Food for Fines program,
whereby late fines are forgiven
in lieu of food donations. this
year, the Elmira branch received
638 foodbank items wiping out
$800.20 worth of fines. the St.
Jacobs branch collected 52 items,
forgiving $54.09; Bloomingdale
amassed 112 items, forgiving
$156.35. the drive took place from
october 21-25.
FINAL PREPARATIONS Lewis Weber has some grooming to do on Winterfield
Adv Dharma Red before she’s ready for showing at the Royal Agricultural
Winter Fair in toronto.
Rebecca
Cannon B.A., N.D.
Quality care available for all
ages and all health conditions.
26 Centre St., ELMIRA T: 519-669-2405
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