We are coming into another Labour Day weekend. By my count, this will be 41 or 42 years for the Doris family of selling corn and Labour Day is one of the busiest corn weekends of the year.
One of the memorable Labour Day Weekends for me was was 1991...it was my first summer in the "real world" (a.k.a after university) and I had started to work for the Ontario Cattlemen's Association. I spent the Friday leading up to Labour Day in and around Grey County and ended up at the home of Joan and James McKinlay (friends, Simmental breeders and Joan was working for OMAF at the time). After a great supper and visit, I left the McKinlays's home about 9:30 or 10 p.m which put me back in Peterborough around 1 a.m.
I can still remember my father calling me from the bottom of the stairs at 6 a.m. to pick corn because there were around 100 dozen pre-ordered plus what we needed for table sales! Wearily, I got up and picked with Mom and Dad and the orders were filled.
The worst thing about picking the corn is thinking about it in bed before you get up...once you're out in the field, it is all good! Peter
P.S. I mentioned Mom and Dad as a corn picking duo above; I note that Carolyn is now apprenticing as a full fledged corn picker - she has been out picking most days for the last two weeks. The training is arduous, the pay is not so good but the experience is priceless! I will let you know when she gets her ticket as a fully qualified person from the Amalgamated Union of Corn Workers, Cow Chasers, Fence Fixers and Stone Pickers!
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