Back in February, this space contained the story of Paul Carles of Radville, Sask., who recycled a Western Producer in an ingenious way. He used it to start a fire and survive a nasty Saskatchewan storm. What other uses might there be for an old WP, I wondered in that column.
Bill and Harriet Pender of Fort Macleod, Alta., and Gordon Reimer of Gardenton, Man., responded to the query.
“After reading the Western Producer and removing special articles, we toss the pages onto the dining room floor near to the kitchen entrance,” wrote the Penders. “Within an hour, the pages will be scattered noisily in the three directions away from the wall by News Print, our two-year-old spayed female Siamese. She came to us from the Pincher Creek SPCA where her only diversion from boredom must have been the newspaper used to line the cat cages.”
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Thank you, Penders, and congratulations on an ideal name for a cat.
Wrote Reimer: “Maybe you could mention to your dairy farmers that a good way to recycle newspaper is to use it for udder wipes. We do.”
Consider it mentioned, with thanks for passing it on.
Back in March 2002, this spot contained a tale about the Metric Martyrs, a group in the United Kingdom that objected to the country’s conversion to the metric system. Through the worldwide web, the column drew an e-mail response from the Martyrs, who promised to keep Producer readers abreast of developments.
And sad developments they were, as it turned out. Steve Thoburn, the 39-year-old grocer who was the first person charged and prosecuted under the Metriculation Amendment for selling produce in imperial rather than metric measure, died suddenly of a heart attack on March 26.
Earlier that month he and other Martyrs were denied leave to appeal their convictions. To the end, Thoburn contended he was not anti-metric but instead felt customers should have the freedom to choose the measurement system with which they were most comfortable. He sounded like the kind of grocer we’d all like to have.
One final bit of housekeeping related to WP matters: Ian Bell, our Brandon bureau
news reporter, has won a third-place award in series writing from the North American Agricultural Journalists organization. The award was given for a series Bell wrote based on two cross-prairie tours in spring and fall 2003.
The WP also earned four honourable mentions, for features, series and editorials.
