The Wellington Junior Farmers joined together with Alumni and their families for a barbecue picnic lunch in Centennial Park in Drayton to celebrate the 95th Anniversary of Junior Farmers in Wellington County on Aug. 4.
Organizers report the event turned out to be a great day of meeting new friends, reconnecting with old ones and sharing stories and memories about Junior Farmers. The event began with the traditional Junior Farmer grace, followed by a meal and gathering.
It was interesting talking to the alumni says current Wellington Junior Farmer member Jen van der Meulen.
“I asked a number of them what their favourite past memories were about Junior Farmers and that is when the stories started pouring in.”
Kim Oxby (alumni of the Maryborough Club 1980-1987) brought a photo album with him, and it made van der Meulen think about how great it would have been to be a member in the ‘80s.
“They did so many fun events we don’t do now as a club or a province, like mystery bus and boat tours and summer games.”
Oxby’s favourite memory was the mystery bus tour they did in October of 1980 where they ended up in Montreal watching the Montreal Expos play the Philadelphia Phillies for the pennant. He said Montreal lost, but it was still a fun trip, they even had t-shirts made up for the event. He also said at the time there were eight clubs in Wellington County and 40 members in the Maryborough Club alone.
Kim Meulenbelt (Alumni 1989-1996) said the best part about Junior Farmers for her was hosting the international delegates. To this day her and her husband Ed Meulenbelt (alumni 1986-1996) still keep in contact and see Ted, who they hosted as a delegate from Tasmania in 1993. While he was here on exchange, he met his wife, a Junior Farmer from London Ontario.
Megan McDougal and Matt McDougal are two of the most recent Almuni of Wellington Junior Farmers. Megan spent 11 years as part of Halton and Wellington JF and said her best memories are those made at Sing Swing and Winter Games (two provincial events). Matt recalls his best memory as the time he and Ryan (another Wellington member) dressed up as Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers and sang a duet together at Sing Swing.
Daryl Brodhaecker and Janet Brodhaecker met in Junior Farmers in the ‘90s when Daryl organized a trip to Nashville. Janet said herself and a bunch of the girls from the Carleton JF club decided to go along on the trip too and that’s where she met Daryl.
The oldest Alumni to attend was John Carter (Alumni of 1948-1952). He is 91 years old and served as president in 1949.
The Wellington Junior Farmers thanked Harriston Packers for donating the hamburgers and Kristina Signer and Romy Schill for organizing the event.
There were 36 alumni, members and their families in attendance.
“We were hoping for an attendance of about 50-80 people, but by organizing this we also discovered there is a large number of people missing from our alumni list,” says Signer.
The Wellington Junior Farmers are compiling a list of Alumni for their 100th anniversary in five years, if any alumni are missing from the current alumni list please contact Jen van der Meulen at 519-638-0378 or email wellingtonjf@jfao.on.ca with your up to date contact information.
