District 4-H may join Manitoba

The Rainy River District 4-H Association recently held its annual meeting and Murray McDonald remains as president.
Our association also is reviewing the opportunity to join the Manitoba 4-H Association. We really find that here on the other side of the big ol’ province of Ontario that we really are left out of the loop.
We have a year to look at the pros and cons of this decision.
We are now planning for the annual awards night on Friday, March 4 in Stratton. All members, volunteers, family, and friends are invited to attend.
Dinner will be at 7 p.m., and you will need to call and book with me so we can let the caterer know how many to cook for!
We also are working on having more club displays at our awards night so we can show everyone what we are learning in our 4-H work.
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Dryden is planning an agriculture summit on Thursday, Feb. 24, with “Building a Resilient Local Food System” being the theme.
The session begins at 11 a.m., and organizers are hoping to bring together people from the Rainy River, Kenora, and Thunder Bay districts. Let me know if you would like any of the contact information.
Meanwhile, the Species-at-Risk workshop is scheduled for Saturday, March 5 at 10 a.m. at the Emo Legion. Speakers will include John Van Den Broeck of the Ministry of Natural Resources, Brian Gilvesy, a farmer from Norfolk, Dick Trivers of the EFP, local farmer Jeff Pollard, and David May of the MNR.
It is going to be a great event. Lunch will be provided, and you’ll also have a chance to win a very exciting door prize!
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I’d like to remind you again that if you would like to use/order tags that support the “Rainy River Raised” logo, just let me know. They include the management tag, as well as the RFID button.
They are available in all colours, and they normally take about a week to come in.
As well, we still have a good supply of our “Rainy River Raised” shopping bags for sale, which cost $2 each.
In related news, the Rainy River Cattlemen’s Association will be electing its new executive later this week and setting up some plans for the upcoming year.
The cattle sales dates are April 16, Aug. 27, Oct. 1, and Oct. 29. Mark your calendars now!
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So we had a nice taste of warmer weather for a few days and it now seems the prairie winds have arrived.
The warm weather at least allowed for the snow to settle a bit (and make a mess in the barnyard)
I’ve heard of numerous buildings collapsing around the district and I’ve noticed many people pushing snow off their roofs. There certainly is a lot of weight in the snow (most of us certainly know this from all the shovelling we’ve had to do this year).
I’ve also noticed the wolves howling the past few nights when trekking out to the barnyard in the middle of the night. Night time or the darkness doesn’t bother me, but when you hear them howling, the hair on the back of your neck certainly stands up.
I just hope they stay away from my barnyard!
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I didn’t get a chance to see the girls over the weekend so I don’t have any funny stories from them.
However, it sounds like we might get a chance to have a visit with them during the week, so I’m sure something funny could arise.
I’m also anxious to see what Marlee thinks of a calf being born.