‘FARMERETTES’ FILM SUNDAY AT OPERA HOUSE DOCUMENTS FORGOTTEN CHAPTER ABOUT ONTARIO GIRLS WHO WORKED WAR EFFORT ON FARMS FROM 1941-’52
Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com
GRAVENHURST — Marion Fry got out of algebra classes to become a “Farmerette.”
The Severn Bridge Farm Divas made light the other night of rural life.
But during the Second World War working longer than “9-5” on the farm for the war effort was serious, big business.
The largely forgotten chapter of Canadian history returns in the 50-minute documentary film “We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of Ontario Framerettes.”
It screens again Sunday afternoon, Oct. 19, at the Opera House here after sold-out performances in London, Sabrina, Goodrich, Luck now, Oakville, Bruce field and Forest.
It’s a historical production by Bonnie Sitter and Director/Producer Colin Field and tells the extraordinary story of 40,000 teenage girls who volunteered on Canadian farms to help sustain Canada’s food supply when young men left to fight overseas.
Doors open at 1 p.m. and tickets are $30.
They will be joined by Alistair Fry, who recently recounted his mother’s experience at a celebration for Marion and Cyril Fry.
And by Nancy (Matthews) Rainy, who turns 97 next month.
Pam Rennie says her mom was a Farmerette at Camp Gregory, in St Catharines.
“I believe in 1944. On the Broderick farm. As she recalls, if you worked the full 13 weeks you didn’t have to write your high school exams.
In response to war efforts, the Ontario government set up the program by creating The Ontario Farm Service Force in 1941 “to recruit workers from all levels of society.” The majority of the responses to this program were young women who were often students, called the Farmerettes. The program was so popular that it continued for seven years after the war until 1952.
Sitter, an author from Exeter, was searching through old family photographs when she found a captivating image of a group of young women taken on her late husband’s family farm near Thedford — with a caption on the reverse side that read: “Farmerettes 1946.”
This led her to research the Farmerette story, and publish an article in “The Rural Voice” asking for women who served as Farmerettes to get in touch with her.
Shirleyan English, a retired London Free Press journalist, read the article and wrote a letter to the editor, explaining her own experience as a Farmerette, and how it remained the best summer of her life. Bonnie and Shirleyan would go on to co-author the book “Onion Skins and Peach Fuzz: Memories of Ontario Farmerettes” in 2019.
“We wanted to capture the story of how the Farmerettes helped win the Second World War by volunteering to aid farmers with food production,” she says. “Most of these girls had never seen a farm. They came from all over Ontario as volunteers. They weren’t conscripted. They chose to roll up their sleeves and do their part for Canada, and their efforts have largely been forgotten.”
Director Field, of London, Ontario, met Sitter after reading the book and was inspired by her desire to bring this forgotten story to life. He proposed a documentary film and she agreed to fundraise for it.
Field interviewed 20 Farmerettes — now in their 90s — for the documentary, and after two years of work, and with the help of sponsors and generous donors, “We Lend a Hand: The Forgotten Story of Ontario Farmerettes” is complete.
“It has been a privilege to travel throughout the province and hear the stories of these surviving Farmerettes,” Field said. “If it wasn’t for these girls, the soldiers wouldn’t have had food to eat and the economy would have ground to a halt.”
Tickets are $30.00 and can be purchased by e-transfer to timberbeastproductions@gmail.com or cash at the door. If you wish to pay at the door, please RSVP by emailing timberbeastproductions@gmail.com
Group rates are available: $150 for 6 and $250 for 10. Half of the proceeds support the cost of the documentary film production.
Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ImJcqxbZgs
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