Rudy Brown Honoured At Grand Opening Celebrations - Ridgetown ...

Class of 1956 Celebrates 50 th Anniversary in RidgetownPrior to the Alumni Banquet on November 11th, 16 membersof the Class of 1956 met for a reception in Ridgetown tocommemorate 50 years since they graduated from theWestern Ontario Agricultural School.The group, hosted by Charlie Tomecek and Mary Lou Downs, reminiscedabout their time on campus and all agreed that the years spent atRidgetown were two of the best years of their lives!Part of their visit included a tour of the new Rudy H. Brown RuralDevelopment Centre. This was especially important for the group becauseRudy Brown was one of their classmates. Several class members noted(with tongue firmly in cheek) that the high-tech classrooms were almostthe same as the ones they had 50 years ago.Later that evening, the Class of ‘56 was awarded the coveted Royal Flushtrophy for having the highest percentage of their grads at the banquet.Back left to right: George Prins, Murray Oliver, Doug Barnier,Ross Holden, Carl Dewhirst, Charlie Dries, John White,Darwin Wismer, Bob Eaton, Reg Riehl, Irvin Ford, Jim BrodieFront left to right: Bill Fitzpatrick, Don Russell, Ed Masterson,Charlie TomecekClass of 1961 Graduate Chosen as2006 Humanitarian Award WinnerThe Westag Alumni Association received several nominations this year for the Humanitarian of the Yearaward. The significant contributions made to agriculture and the community by all the nominees made itdifficult to choose a winner, but this year’s recipient, John Wilcox, is certainly a worthy choice.Since moving to B.C., much of John’s volunteer service has focusedon sustainable agriculture in the province, the country and the world.He is a past director of the B.C. Federation of Agriculture and was afounding director of many groups, including the FARM CommunityCouncil of BC, the B.C. Agriculture Council and the InvestmentAgriculture Foundation of B.C. He is also a former Board member ofthe Canadian Organic Growers and is Past President of the District A(Coast - Islands Region) Farmers Institute.John Wilcox (left) with Dave McMurran, the classmatewho nominated him for the Humanitarian AwardJohn grew up on his grandfather’s farm in Essex County, but hascalled British Columbia home since 1964. His humanitarian workbegan soon after graduation in 1961 when he traveled to India towork as an agricultural technician with Canadian OverseasVolunteers (COV). COV grew to become Canadian UniversityService Overseas (CUSO), of which John is a founding member.John has lived on Salt Springs Island since 1973 and for the past 16years he has developed and operated Duck Creek Farm where heservices several retail outlets and 2 farmers’ markets with certifiedorganic produce. He is very active in renewing the home economyof his community and was recently honoured with the Home BasedBusiness of the Year award from the Salt Springs Island Chamberof Commerce.John is humbled by the recent accolades for his work. “The WestagHumanitarian Award is a great honour and I thank the AlumniAssociation for choosing me as this year’s recipient. I feel fortunateto have been thanked in this way for the community - agriculturerenewal work we share,” he says.913