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4 WT s vt. gat OER hk. JA iii Riri A bh ok nis J 2 SL be Lt GSI. GU i Hm ------ Le pan sade 4 A ue i on Ma SN TERIA SN 2 Ne gi "WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2000 - 7 By Rik Davie Special to the Star ity. them twice. night at the dren in the Durham area. sight and even blindness. Lions Clubs in the area. tion," Mr. Singh said. The Blackstock Lions Club are a group of guys who like to party, and love to raise money for char- The group has raised thou- sands of dollars for local, provin- cial and national projects during its 20-year history, so when the opportunity to throw a party and give some money to a worthy charity arose, no one had to ask The Lions held their annual Christmas Party last Saturday Nestleton Community Hall, and raised money for a project that will help save the eyesight of young chil- Lions president Bruce Colwell presented area Lion executive member Raguhir Singh with a check for $500 towards Mr. Singh's project to fight Lazy Iris disorder. The affliction affects young children, and left untreat- ed or diagnosed too late, the condition can lead to poor eye- Mr. Singh said the money will serve as a challenge to other "We thank the Blackstock Lions for this, and it is a step towards the $25,000 it will require to purchase the iris cam- era necessary to check school children for this terrible afflic- The camera will be donated by the Lions Club for in-school testing for the condition. And then there was the party. Lions from the Blackstock and Nestleton area gathered with friends to a fine meal and some rather surprising entertainment. When Lion Blair Martyn - announced the entertainment for the evening would be provid- ed by The Troubadours, a group of seniors from the Oshawa Seniors Center, there were a few questioning looks. That lasted about 10 seconds into the first number. The group of manic - lively is not strong enough a word for these folks - seniors launched into a series of show tunes, com- plete with dance numbers and comic costumes. Once the theme was set, they proceeded to gather a few well- chosen Lions from the audience and, in true vaudeville tradition, pretty much embarrassed the heck out of them. Led by Joan Hill, a feisty senior whose cockney accent is right out of an English music hall, the troupe took the room through a series of Christmas classics in the last half of the show. The Cartwright High School senior band served up a great meal as part of their own fundraising efforts. Lions bash raises funds for a good cause Blackstock Lions Club President Bruce Colwell is surrounded by entertainer Joan Hill (aka Suzy Snowflake) and Santa Claus as the club members gather for their annual Christmas Party last weekend. The Lions had a great time, and also made a contribution to a fund that's combatting youth blindness. Farmer wins Forage Master Award at Royal Blackstock dairy farmer now going to Arkansas Dave Larmer, a dairy farmer from Blackstock, has been named Ontario Forage Master for 2000. Mr. Larmer was one of 12 con- testants who competed in the 13th Annual Ontario Forage Masters competition at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, where he and the others had the opportunity to present innova- tive ideas and forage manage- ment techniques to peers and visitors. NK brand seeds, Agri- Food Laboratories and the Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association (OSCIA) sponsored the compe- tition. "I was very impressed with the high level of expertise shown in the presentations this year," said John McNiven, field sales manager for NK brand seeds. Following the announcement of first runner-up Ron Millen of Victoria County, Mr. Larmer, who represented Durham East, expressed his thanks: "I'm honoured to have been chosen to represent the Ontario forage industry and I look for- ward to learning more about the industry in the upcoming year." Mr. Larmer now qualifies to compete in the 2001 American Forage and Grassland Council's Forages Spokesperson Contest to be held April 22 to 25 in Springdale, Arkansas. Larco farms, owned and oper- ated by Mr. Larmer, his wife Ingrid and their two sons Robert and Steven, is a 500 acre dairy and cash crop operation. With 70 to 80 acres of land under pro- duction in forages, this com- modity is an integral part of their operation. "A high level of production is reached by putting an emphasis on feeding a high quality bal- anced ration, based on use of quality forages," said Mr. Larmer. "And to me, there is no better feed to base your feeding program on." Forages are considered a ver- satile, nutritional, economical and environmentally friendly crop. "By optimizing the use of for- ages, alfalfa in particular, we can keep costs to a minimum and attain maximum economic return," said Mr. Larmer. Forages account for the great- est number of crop acres grown in the province and this year, contributed over $750 million to Ontario's agri-food economy. The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association pro- motes responsible economic management of soil, water and crops. Headquartered in Arva, Ontario, Novartis Seeds, a Syngenta company, has research and plant breeding facilities in Arva and Plattsville, Ontario and a field office in St-Pie, Quebec. Novartis Seeds also has a seed production facility in Cottam, Ontario. Recognized for innova- tion and leadership, Novartis Seeds was the first to bring Bt corn to the market and contin- ues to offer a broad NK brand product line-up. Combining global strength and local expertise, Novartis Seeds works to offer growers more value with over 300 NK vested distribution partners across Canada, bringing growers the best in innovative seed genetics. . shi \ Dave Larmer was named Ontario Forage Master for 2000 at this year's Royal Ontario Agricultural Winter Fair. rn i ret rer Er SP --