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C 10E - ro i-o Wee k ly T:'le s,Wed n esda1,y- Nov emnb e r, 4, 1 --9q8 Town hall rocks halloween night O"NTARIO FARM NEWS Competition was tough in ail the categories of costumes at Saturday night's Halloween Dance. Moderator - Captain John Thomson is pictured with two contenders in the best dressed mnaie category - Nick Boothmnan and Lomne Allun. The dance featured very live entertainmient fromn the Paul James Band and many miany great cos- tumes. This event was sponsored by the Orono Business Improvement Association, and was one of the many events held in the Town Hall this year to celebrate its centennial. "Will that be stamps, mail pick-up or cash?" This could be what the per- son at your local post office says to you sometime in the future as goverument tries to deal with the problem of batik closures in rural areas. The issue of bank mergers has helghtened rural con- cerrns about loslng finanicial services. Even without mergers there will be a continuing restructuring of the financial services network. Some of our rural commu- nities may find themselves not plugged into the world of fi'anclal services. Few people know the post office was originally mandat- ed, as part of its duties, to provide limited financial ser- vices such as maintaining deposit accounts, along with the purchase of mioney orders, as well as providing other financial services. Over time thlese services have gradually been curtailed but this was before the restructuring of the financial services sector. The ability of Mrs. Smithi to cash her old age pension cheque, or Mr. Jones to deposit money he just received. are elementary transactions that could quite easily be brou-ght back. 1 have met with Canada Post chair Andre Ouellette and some of his officials and was told Canada Post has 2,770 outlets in communities where batiks do not exlst. So you can see why legis- lators think ths may well be an answer to some of the problems being expressed by rural Canadians. Oh 1 know we will have our naysayers who will say things like, "if they can lose your mail what can they do wvith your batik account?" But 1 should point out that 1 think service would be very limited and basic. It would not involve financial advice or the selling of financial instru- mnents. Hlowever in some countries of the world post offices pro- vide full blowAn banking ser- vices and appear to do quite well. Eve.î though more and more Caniadians turn to elec- tronic banking (it is now used by almost 20 per cent of the people in Durham) not every- one, rural or urban dwellers, wiîî have access to it. Some out of miisunder- standing of the systemi, some because they do not have, or can't afford a computer, and others, who like personal contact when doing fmnancial transactions, will be out of the electronic banking loop, so to speak. For seniors who now have to travel haif way across town because of bank closures an alternative like the post office will be very attractive. Obviously this service has to be priced as affordable to the consumer as well as being efficient and cost recoverable to Canada Post. But I think operating the post offices in this fashion in the future is a viable alterna- tive to the loss of banks in our communities. How to make it affordable and efficient are some of the issues 1 will be speaking to when 1 sit down with Canada Post officiais in Ottawa this week. Subscribe to the Orono Weekly Times IT NP AY uS TO ADVERTISE IN THE ORONO WEEKLY TIMES 983-5301 1998 CROP REPORT SUMMARY by Neil Moore, Crop Specialist, OMAFRA Weather: Followlng a mild winter with littie snow, Apri*l rainfal was nearly normal (only about 8 mm below average) and most fell in the first haif of the month. In May the rainfall was below average (about 15 mmn below) and mamnly in the first half. May temperatures rose fast and heat units from May il to May 31 were about 125 above the long termn average. Using the crop heat unit guide for a start date, the trigger date was May 3rd which accumu- lated about 560 crop heat units for May. June was warmer than average by 60 heat units, and while a lot of tlhe area was drier than average by 15 mm, some parts received up to 175 mm on June 26. The rain on June 12 was the first rain over 10 mm since May 16 for mnost of the area. In July the rainfall was malnly. during the first week but the total was above average. Heat units for July were also about 15 above average. In August the relatively dry weather continued until Auigust 6 and 7 when about 25 mm fell. Variable amounts were recorded, but August ended with about 25 mm more than average. Heat units contin- ued the trend and were about 50 above average for August. Septernber was below aver- age in rainfail by about, 25 mm, and had about 100 heat units more than average. The first haif of October had less main than average and poten- tially 60 heat units more than average. Some frosts occurred on September 23, 24. 29, Oct. 3, 4, 5, 9 and a final -2 degrees C for much of the area on the l16th. Total heat units (3300 to 3450) were about 5415 above average from May 3rd to October 16, and 400 above the 30 year aver- age fromi May il to October 16. About 2850 heat units were accumulated in those areas withIl a killing frost on September 23. CROPS: Wlnter cereals survived withi only minor winterkili. The heat brought the crop to harvest in nmid Julyv and while the crop produced good yièlds sprouting was a problera. This fail the planting days ranged from early September to mid October wlth the excel- lent weather resulting in most of the wheat being planted in September. The earlier plant- ed wheat emerged uneven before the rains in mid September, while the later planted crop emerged qulck- ly and evenly. Coru silage harvest started in the end of August and con- tinued into early October for late double cropped fields. Generally farmers were caught with the silage crop being drier than desired. RICK JONES, Instructor 4858USPegional Road 18 Newtonv\ille, Ontario LOA 1IJO T'el: (905) 786-2793 - Fax: (905) 786-1031 Classes for Children and Aduits N Northcutt EIIiott E Funeral Home THOUGHTFULNESS, SERVICE & CONCERN A, Failyi Owned Business, Offering: Traditional Funeral Servýices Picirearragedl & Prepaid Ser-vices -Crato Arranigemients Alterniatives to 'Traditional FunrlC-Is - Oult ofTown ShýilPping CORYv KUIPERS - PRESIDENT 53 Division Street Bowmnanlville, Ontario 1LI1C 2Z8 623-5668 OH; STREEIT PARKING ~Sf~Simpson Memorials "Now în Bowmian ville" 119 King Street East Bowmianville - 623-6581 and 1 l Foronto Rd-.. 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