Sympathy goes out to the Bater familes on the recent passing of Gerald Bater May 19 at Chilliwack, B.C. His wife Agnes was a schoolteacher at Baljennie. Gerald was born and raised in Baljennie area and took his schooling at the Baljennie School with his brother and a sister.
Victoria Day weekend has come and gone for another year. The school buses were at a stand still and they had an extra day off due to a teachers’ day. Many were off to the parks and lakes, but not everyone gets to go. There is lots of work to be done on the farms at this time of year.
The moose population has been picking up fast in the local areas and even province wide. They are destructive to crops of all kinds and hay lands, but they do love the low, wet grassy areas. Keep an eye out for them as they seem to like to be near the roads and highways. Dusk and nighttime is when they like to move about. They keep to the bushes in the daylight hours.
Moose find it much easier to raise their calves on the prairies. They have been chased out of the boreal forest areas by the black and grizzly bears and some cougars. These predators like to feast on the moose calves as they are an easy catch.
There are a lot of coyotes about, as well. They are breeding with the wolves to make a new predator called the coywolf . They like to be around populated areas. They don’t seem to be afraid of the traffic and people.
The farmers are still busy in the fields with the seeding of later crops. The early-seeded fields are showing green growth and are growing fast, but they still need moisture. There has been some patchy rain and even a thunderstorm and traces of pea-sized hail along with high winds to do some damage to crops. Now come the pesky canola beetles and cut worms in some areas. There was little frost damage.
Just another warning to be on the watch for ticks. They are a flat, dark, small, fast-moving spider-type bug and cling to anything. The are the size of a flax seed and hard to kill. They do not fly, but jump onto animals or people. Every time my husband goes out to the farm he brings one back to town. They hide in his clothing and are hard to see. You will find these ticks in the tall grass and dry weeds, also in some tree branches ready to jump. They are blood suckers, cling to your skin and can be difficult to remove. Take care.
District news is getting hard to pick up. Baljennie has become almost a dead district. There are those who keep me posted on what’s happing. Big thanks to them. There is nothing really going on with the various clubs anymore. They are all coming to an end due to the lack of interest and members aging and retiring. New families are about, but they have no interest in trying to save the community activities.
At one time, back in the 1930s, Baljennie was a thriving little town with a population of 50 or more. The elevators, post office, school, church, hall and curling rink buzzed with activity. There were also stores and a garage. Now Baljennie is practically a ghost town. We all hope our district does not lose its name. It’s a place everyone has heard of. Our community history book is Baljennie Reaches Far and it does,
