RRFA dinner to celebrate 30 years

The Rainy River Federation of Agriculture’s fall dinner generally incorporates an annual meeting, with a number of business items to attend to.
But given this year is the RRFA’s 30th anniversary—not to mention, the 70th anniversary of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture—a special event is being planned to celebrate.
The dinner, which will be held at the Millennium Hall in Stratton on Saturday (Oct. 21), will be followed by a dance, with music being provided by “North of the Trax.”
“There are just so many things going on in the community right now, we just thought it would be a good night to not have so many speeches, but just to have a chance to get people together,” noted RRFA president Trish Neilson.
“And they can talk about whatever they want to talk about,” she added.
While there will be some business to take care of, such as nominating a new executive, Neilson promised it will be kept to a minimum.
“The nominating committee has been busy,” she explained. “Elections should go fairly smoothly and shouldn’t take up too much time.
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“A lot of people hate the dead time of the elections and are worried they might get roped into something,” she chuckled, though adding they still will take nominations from the floor.
Neilson stressed the event is for members of the RRFA, but those who are thinking about joining also invited to attend.
And she noted two other organizations in the district—the National Farmers Union and the Christian Farmers’ Federation of Ontario—are invited, too.
“It’s really just a gathering of farmers and we should all be working together anyway, which we do,” Neilson said.
Members of the abattoir committee, as well as the vet committee, will be on hand Saturday night, not to do a presentation but just to talk about what’s going on with those who are interested.
In addition to the dinner and dance, the event also will recognize the history of the RRFA to some degree.
“We’re looking forward to a really fun evening,” Neilson enthused. “We used to do this back in the old days, but we used to saddle it with a whole bunch of speeches and a really long drawn out election.
“So we’re trying to shorten up the business so people enjoy themselves.
“And I really just want the farmers to talk,” she added. “They know their neighbours [but] they probably just haven’t seen them in a while—everyone is so busy.”
Tickets for the dinner and dance cost $15 each, which also includes the chance to win the door prize—a flight around Rainy River District.
“It fits in with the idea that we should appreciate where we live,” Neilson said.
Cocktail hour will begin at 6 p.m., with dinner to follow at 7.
To purchase tickets, call Shirley at 487-2465.