40


COUNTRY LIFE IN BC • MAY 2019


INCREASE CROP YIELDS


LASER LEVELLING LTD.


TRI-WAY FARMS


We service all of Southern BC


IMPROVED DRAINAGE


UNIFORM GERMINATION


UNIFORM IRRIGATION


FAST,


ACCURATE SURVEYING


CALL FOR AN ESTIMATE LARRY


604.209.5523 TROY


604.209.5524 Terra Seed Corp


Father and daughter roll with the last Titan celebrated at plow match as it reaches 100-year milestone


by SEAN HITREC


CHILLIWACK – Past the impossibly straight furrows formed by modern reversible plows and Clydesdales steaming wet from the April rain, a crowd gathers in a far corner of the Chilliwack Plowing Match. Excited banter rises above the rumble of the kerosene engine of an ancient piece of machinery. With steam flowing out of the front, the whole thing shakes and rattles as it follows a wavy line in the field. The driver, Atchelitz Threshermen’s Association president Ray Ramey, fights with his 1919 Titan, its steel wheels powered by brute strength. In the next lane, wearing a hat made to look like a dairy cow’s head, is 22-year-old Hunter, Ray’s daughter. She


pilots a ‘42 Massey. Though they were no doubt common in early days of the Chilliwack Plowing Match, which began in 1922, the tractors they’re driving are now more likely to be found in museums and junk heaps. “It's a piece of history that


[I’m] driving,” Ray says. “You'll see it as a static display, but nobody will ever hear it." The field of antique tractor


plowing has never been huge, and Ray and Hunter are the only two who made it out this year. The people who used to be into it just aren’t showing up anymore, says Ray. Some are aging out and the younger generation hasn’t shown the same interest the Rameys exude. Luckily, the two of them


have found a place to bond, compete and keep the


Healthy Soil Nurtures a Healthy Herd FiXaTion Clover


Frosty Clover Crimson Clover DC Red Clover White Clover Hybrid Clover Alfalfa


Winter Peas Find out more at terraseco.com 1.800.282.7856


tradition alive at the same time. "It surprises people that


she’s doing this. She's high honours in school [UFV],” Ray says proudly, adding that this is her fourth year on the dean’s honour roll. He notices the impact it has on a younger generation of girls. "When she does something like the tractor pulls, there will be little girls out there [and] they say, 'hey that's so cool!'" Hunter’s modest and calm demeanour added to how effortless she made the neat furrows look. She got into plowing matches because of her dad and still finds time for them, despite a full class load. “I find plowing relaxing; it


kind of just lets me zone out for a while,” she says. As for the antiques: “They're harder


to steer and they're pretty bouncy. It's fun!” At the end of the day, Hunter wins, but they were never really competing against each other. Ray reflects on the


experience as something he does with and for the small but dedicated community that comes out for the Chilliwack Plowing Match every year. "Even though I make kind of a mess and they laugh at me, they're very happy that I [drive the antique tractors] because it gives people something to look at. In some ways, I'd like to do the competition with those guys over there,” Ray says, pointing to the modern tractors at the other end of the field. “But, if I was over there doing that, well, then it kind of removes this from it.”


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48