The Middlesex Junior Farmers had a busy fall season with many projects in the community. On October 2, we handed out chocolate milk to visitors at the Ilderton Fair as part of their agriculture awareness program. There was almost always a line at our table as kids and adults were excited to have the treat to enjoy. There were resources on the table with information and recipes that they could take home with them as well. Some people took the opportunity to ask questions about the animals they saw. We held our annual canned food drive at the Komoka Foodland on October 30. We collected 300 lbs of food and $387.52 that was split between the Ailsa Craig Foodbank and the Strathroy Salvation Army Foodbank. We finished our Who Let The Cows Out Program and donated $1310 to the Do More Ag Foundation. In November, our club wanted to do a dance night but in order to follow COVID restrictions, we decided that line dancing was a safe option. We found an instructor who was willing to come and teach our group. We invited members from Oxford, Huron Perth, and Essex Kent clubs to join us as well as other young people in our community. We learned line dances to classic songs such as Boot Scootin’ Boogie, Cotton Eyed Joe, and Good Time; as well as more pop songs such as Bad Habit, Poker Face, and Fancy Like. We had a great turnout of both Junior Farmer and non-Junior Farmer members with approximately 40 people attending. There were lots of laughs and smiles as we had not seen each other in person for a long time. We enjoyed dancing, beef on a bun, and hanging out late into the night. For Christmas, our club typically does a gift exchange amongst our members at our annual Christmas Party. This year we decided to collect toys and games to be donated to the Food Bank instead. Our club managed to collect approximately $500 worth of toys and our members enjoyed shopping for toys they thought that kids would enjoy. We also participated in the Ilderton Christmas parade with our float of cows pulling Santa’s sleigh.
