Jun 28, 2013

Ag youth leaders travel with Cooper on Ontario GROWMARK System tour

The FS Ontario System hosted for 4-H Ambassadors, GROWMARK Summer Interns and Co-operative Young Leader representatives was accompanied by a special traveller from the Ontario Co-operative Association.

Travelling Cooper has become well known as one of the International Year of Co-operative legacy projects that involves a cuddly stuffed bear called Cooper who moves around from co-op to co-op making many connections within the co-operative family network. He is highly visible on many co-op social media sites where he is seen posing for different events, locations and activities.

Adorned with ribbons and buttons from a variety of his visits, Cooper now proudly wears additional co-op medals collected from the various locations on the GROWMARK System tour held this week.

The one-day tour consisted of a visit to UPI Energy’s bulk fuel plant in Guelph, an FS PARTNERS agronomy and Great Lakes Grain facility in Ayr, GROWMARK's Ontario Distribution Centre in Kitchener, North Wellington Co-operative’s retail store and lawn and garden centre in Harriston, and a 24-hour remotely-monitored cardlock FAST STOP® fueling station in Alma.

Where's Cooper....................

 
John Canjar, UPI Energy director, sales, marketing & development poses with 2013 4-H Ambassadors.
 (L-R) Kaitlyn Bell of Prince Edward County, Brendan McDougall of Niagara, Luke Ward of Oxford,
Rebecca Posthumus and Brianna Dracup both from Hastings County.


From (L-R) Standing outside North Wellington Co-operative's (NWC) Harriston FS lawn and garden/hardware store are: GROWMARK Intern Stephanie Campbell (AGRIS Co-op), Co-operative Young Leader (sponsored by AGRIS) and this year's GROWMARK Annual Meeting Ontario youth speaker Ryan McGeachy, Interns Janson Pronk (FS PARTNERS) and Robert Bos (Lucknow Co-op), 4-H Ambassadors Luke Ward, Brendan McDougall, Kaitlyn Bell, Brianna Dracup and Rebecca Posthumus, North Wellington Co-operative Services general manager Kelly Boyle and Jeff McCallum, marketing & communication assistant. Backdrop is a 1942 Ford Stake truck purchased by NWC in anticipation of its 70th anniversary in 2014. 


Jun 14, 2013

A most fitting occasion for North Wellington Co-op and 4-H!


A young 4-H member seen here “peeling out” the
 legs of a dairy cow. When clipping Dairy
cattle the only place that doesn’t
get buzzed is the belly and topline.





Learning to use clippers to groom a cow can be somewhat intimidating for most of us, but giving a nine year-old the opportunity, could be downright nerve-racking.

Well, that didn’t stop Mary Lynn Lawrence, of North Wellington Co-operative, when she decided to hold a 4-H community cow fitting event at the community park located right next door to the FS branch she works at in Mt. Forest, earlier this month.

Lawrence pledged to her manager early this year that she wanted to plan a community event that supported 4-H. She recalls that in her youth there used to be a large 4-H club in Mt. Forest and she wanted to see some renewed interest in the area.

She was right on both counts.... Mary Lynn expected to attract about 25 young people, but in fact, with a little creative advertizing, 55 kids from the ages of nine to 21 turned out from local communities of Paisley, Dundalk, West Luther, Listowel and Durham to get some hands-on practice in grooming techniques from experienced 4-H dairy and beef cattle fitters who also volunteered their time.

“Kids don’t get much chance to clip because not everyone is eager to allow their show animals to be practiced on,” says Lawrence. “The 4-H motto is learn to do by doing, so allowing the kids to get interactive with this activity was a bonus,” she adds.

North Wellington Co-operative has been a long-time supporter of local 4-H clubs and Mary Lynn has been involved with 4-H as a young member, and now as an adult, she and her brother volunteer as 4-H leaders for the Durham Beef Club along with her sister leading the 4-H Dairy club. The sisters provided the cows for this event, bringing with them four beefers and five dairy heifers from their own family farms.


Everyone was treated to a bbq lunch provided by North Wellington Co-operative and local media came out to support and capture the event. Lawrence is hoping to be able to keep this going at the co-op each year as an annual tradition


.

Jun 7, 2013

On Co-op is a winner in Nashville!

Just this week, the Ontario Co-operative Association’s “From Beards to Eternity” presentation took first place (presentations category) at the Co-operative Communicators Association Annual Awards Banquet in Nashville, Tennessee.
From Beards to Eternity is a lighthearted educational tool that provides an introduction to co-operatives and their colourful history.

Judges of this category commented that the overall presentation was smartly written, with relatable topics and a strong message. "The added humour throughout keeps the history lesson funny and the music analogy is a good way to use current pop culture to relate to the subject," said one judge.

Kerr Smith, award-winning education manager with On Co-op and creater of the presentation, has travelled across the province to share the 90-minute presentation with various groups. His next presentation (via webinar) will take place on July 17, as part of On Co-ops 2013-2014 Speakers’ Series.

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The Ontario Co-operative Association has been in existance for 12 years as a resource and common voice for Ontario credit unions and co-operatives.The Ontario co-operative movement is composed of more than 1300 co-ops, with 1900 locations in 400 communities.


Founded 60 years ago, the Co-operative Communicators Association is an organization of approximately 350 professionals throughout the United States and Ontario who provide communications for co-operatives recognizing the differences in the markets co-ops serve and in the audiences they must reach.