Ellen Bonde (left) and Cheryl Terpsma (right) accepted awards this month from the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies. (Supplied)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

alberta association of agricultural societies

Rocky Ag Society members awarded for long-time and innovative work

Feb 17, 2022 | 4:10 PM

The Rocky Mountain House Ag Society (RMHAS) received two awards at the Alberta Association of Agricultural Societies’ (AAAS) recent 75th anniversary convention.

Taking place Feb. 3-5 at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Edmonton, the convention attracted 220 delegates from 70 ag societies across Alberta.

One of the awards, dubbed the Honour Roll, went to long-time RMHAS member, Ellen Bonde, while the RMHAS as an entity, received an AAAS award for innovation.

Bonde has been a member of the society for about 45 years, alongside husband Niels, with whom she farms in Clearwater County.

Bonde has been a mainstay on the society’s board, holding all executive positions, and for the last 15 years has been in charge of bursaries. She also helped launch the society’s website and has spent many a day at RMHAS events.

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“People need to be aware of where their food comes from, and that farming is a career that you choose, not just something you do because you have enough brains to do something else,” she says of her passion for farming and helping lead the society. “My husband and I were each raised on a farm, and that’s the way we continued on.”

Bonde has also spent four decades helping with local 4-H, once sitting on the provincial 4-H council.

“Our motto with 4-H is to learn to do (things) by doing. With ag and 4-H, we help youth realize their potential,” she says. “Some are academic learners, some are better with hands-on learning.”

Another initiative Bonde has seen flourish over the years started out as the ag theme park, which took place at a local arena. That evolved into a program where Grade 4 and 5 students would travel to farms and go through stations to learn about various agricultural functions.

During COVID, kids going to farms became unviable, so RMHAS vice president Cheryl Terpsma came up with an innovative solution.

Last year, Terpsma, who received the award for innovation, set out and created 10 informational and fun videos, filmed at the farms students would normally visit. Producers submitted clips, and Clearwater County helped distribute the videos to schools in the region.

“We just thought that with it being cancelled for a second year, we should try to do something, or else some of these kids will completely miss out on the Educational Agricultural Tour (EAT) program,” she says. “I’m not very experienced with making videos, but we thought it’d be better than nothing.”

Terpsma agrees with Bonde that knowing where your food comes from is essential, which offered strong motivation for completing the video project.

“It not only tells you about the history of the area, but also lets them know that farming is a part of their every day lives. It’s also a chance to look at the future,” explains Terpsma, who has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the U of A, and is a local nurse.

“If kids are able to learn where their food and even their clothes come from, how it’s produced, what it entails in terms of work, that’s an important connection for them to make. Perhaps it will cause them to be interested in some kind of ag career when they’re older.”

Terpsma hopes to return the EAT program to its usual in-person format later this year.

Each of the videos can be viewed at rockyagsociety.com.