Norwood Woman Receives 4-H Ontario’s Most Distinguished Volunteer Award

Cathy Stockdale from Norwood is one of three recipients of the 2022 4-H Ontario Arbor Award, 4-H Ontario’s most distinguished volunteer award.

Cathy with her daughter Rebecca at a 4-H judging clinic . Photo courtesy of Cathy Stockdale.

4-H is a non-profit youth development organization that allows young people to learn about selected topics through fun, hands-on activities and mentorship.

The Peterborough 4-H association has several clubs across the county that teach about life skills.

“I’ve done it all from poultry to outdoors to crafting clubs, quilting, sewing, cooking, gardening, square dancing, even a giant veggie club,” she said.

All clubs are able to operate because of volunteers like Stockdale.

“I am getting close to 30 years of volunteering. It’s something that I did as a kid, then it eventually evolved into a leader position.”

Stockdale says that even though her own children are no longer participating in 4-H clubs, she continues to lead them because of how rewarding it is.

“Teaching kids a new skill and having them grasp that new skill, seeing the light go on when they figure it out is a very big reward. It's like watching the light bulb come on like ‘oh I can do this!’,” she said. “Watching that satisfaction of them completing that task is very rewarding for me as a leader.”

She notes that teaching young people life skills is something that does not seem to happen as often as it did years ago. Looking back to when she was in school she remembers learning basic skills like sewing, cooking and basic car maintenance.

“It's starting to come back - teaching these skills, we lost that for a while. 4-H has picked that up. Where else can you learn how to cook something and then have a meal at the end of the meeting? Or you grow a pumpkin and then see how big you can get them?”

Peterborough County 4-H ‘adopted’ a road in Peterborough County. Stockdale’s son spearheaded this idea. Here a group of members are cleaning up litter. Photo courtesy of Cathy Stockdale.

Recipients of the Arbor Award are nominated by their local Associations, and recipients are chosen by a committee of past recipients.

“Some girls got together and apparently nominated me for this award,” said Stockdale. “They got a bunch of letters together from people that I've worked with and volunteered with, they all wrote beautiful letters and they saved them for me so I could read them afterwards.”

According to the 4-H Ontario website, nominees must have shown significant leadership, initiative and made a positive impact on 4-H at various levels.

“You don’t know your self worth until you hear it from someone else's mouth. I am very blessed.”

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Award-Winning Teen Farmer to Showcase Lamb For Second Consecutive Title

Young farmer Natalie Dunford is gearing up for another successful year for the Peterborough Exhibition Junior Market Lamb show this Wednesday.

Natalie Dunford poses with her lamb. Natalie and her family also sell fresh sweet corn and pumpkins from their farm in Cavan. Photo courtesy of Sarah Dunford.

Growing up just down the road from her grandfather’s farm in Cavan, the 14-year-old Dunford has been farming her whole life. She has been showing sheep through 4-H — a non-profit geared towards teaching youth leadership and life skills — for six years and has been selling market lambs at auction for three years.

Last year, Dunford’s homegrown lamb placed first and was bought by Joe Donaldson from Smokey Joe’s butcher shop.

In past years, the Peterborough Exhibition Junior Market Lamb show has been open to the public with the lambs being auctioned off directly from the ring. Due to COVID-19, this and last year’s auction is online with an in-person show.

“The five kids that have entered lambs this year are exceptional,” said Sarah Dunford, Natalie’s mom. “They all have their own flocks. If it was in person, you could see the work that the kids do.”

To show a lamb, the farmer must “break it in” by getting the animal used to being led around the ring. Natalie has been working with her lamb that she will bring to the show on Wednesday for about a month.

She also helps look after the flock of over 60 lambs daily, performing vaccinations, putting fresh hay in their stalls and any other farm duties.

The money earned from this auction will go towards her post-secondary education says Natalie. The young farmer will attend high school in September and plans on pursuing an agricultural or horticulture education after graduation.

Natalie sits among her flock. Photo Courtesy of Sarah Dunford.

Natalie hopes that people become more aware of the fresh local lamb that is produced in Peterborough County.

“Your food comes from somewhere,” she says. “It may not come from me but it comes from somebody and it is a hell of a lot of work that goes into it.”

Hosted by the Peterborough Agricultural Society, the Ernest Boyles & Sons Ltd Market Steer and Junior Market Lamb Show & Sale begins on Wednesday. The online auction can be viewed here.

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The Bullocks Wins Peterborough County 2015 Farm Family Of The Year

The Peterborough County Federation of Agriculture and the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce announced that the Bullock family—owners of Cedarvilla Holsteins at 2334 Northeys Road in Lakefield—are the 2015 Farm Family of the Year.

The Bullock Family

Cedarvilla Holsteins is a second generation family farm. Randy and Tara Bullock started dairy farming together in 1999 with Randy’s parents, and took over a couple of years later. Now with the help of their three children—Lily, Aidan, and Liam—they run the 200 acre dairy farm and crop an additional 400 acres.

Randy and Lily

Randy and Tara are active volunteers in the farming community, and they are also involved in numerous other farm organizations and committees, as well as local community groups—including the Lakefield United Church and both Peterborough and Lakefield Minor Hockey.

In the past 5 years, the Bullock children have become increasingly involved in the daily operation of the farm. Lily milks the cows, registers all the calves on the farm, and looks after any applications for shows the farm attends. Aidan and Liam make all the feed during the evening chores, do much of the haying during the summer, and are extremely helpful with anything mechanical.

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