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ee MI TS CO HRSA =. me foal Ml I lH IT TIT AE ===> 10 -- PORT PERRY STAR -- Wed. September 5, 1984 Why did the chicken cross the road? Summer puts chicken feed in teens' wallets cockrell chicken. The boys raised 500 of the birds for fun and profit with the help of a government loan designed to encourage young enfrepeneurs. See story for details. This is one of those before and after shots: Chris Mackey, right, is holding the before, a white cockrell chicken. Rob Graham has the after, a frozen white 120th Annual VABRIDGE SEPT. 7th, 8th 8 oth, 1984 ELGIN PARK, Uxbridge, Ont. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th: 5:00 P.M. - Buildings Open - Featuring Handicrafts, Needlecraft, Domestic Science, Junior Exhibits, Grain, Fruit, Vegetables, Flowers, 4-H Displays. Midway Open 8:00 P.M. - Official Opening, Fiddling Contest with Rick Johnson. A Note In case of rain the. Evening Entertainment | BN wil be moved to the High 'School SATURDAY, SEPT. 8th: | SUNDAY, SEPT. 9th: 10:00 AM. - English Horse Show - continuing all da Buildings Open neal CY | 9:30AM. - Morgan/Saddiebred Horse Show Helicopter Rides - (continuing all day) Midway Open 12:00 Noon - Buildings Open Midway Helicopter Rides Heavy Horse Show 11:00 A.M. - Mutt Show 11:30 A.M. - 4-H Goat Show 4-H Dairy Show Sports Action 12:00 Noon - Sheep Show 1:00 P.M. - Beef Show 1:00 P.M. - Youth Horse Show oo Art Show pany Cattle Show 1:30 P.M. - Horse Pull Demonstrations oH Tractor Rode - (throughout the day) 2:00 P.M. - Kiddies Tractor Pull 4:00 P.M. - Buildings Close Continuing Demon-*rations os SATURDAY NIGHT. SEPTEMBER 8th. 8:00 P.M. DEMOLTION DERBY NOTE: Rain Date will be Sunday, September 9th, 7:00 P.M. GENERAL ADMISSION: Adults $3.00; Students & Senior Citizens (with |.D.) $2.00; Children (without school passes) $1.00; Week-end Passes $6.00. FREE PARKING. For More information contact Fair Secretary, Box 1472 or 852-7647 - Fair Office 852-5767 WYANT Way tf BPI 5 PS GREELY OS EE REE EEE IEE LE MAAN * The phone calls were frantic and frequent. "A few more died", Rob Graham would moan into the receiver, while his Brooklin bus- iness partner, Chris Mackey, panicked at the other end. Each day for three days a mysterious plague claimed more and more young chick- ens and by the time it was over, 40 were dead. Chris, who did more than his fair share of worrying from the out- set of the chicken exper- ience (can you get ulcers at 187), saw dollar signs being buried with each chick- en and worried that he and Rob wouldn't make enough money to pay back the loan they had taken to get into bus- iness in the first place. Rob, an 18 year old Cartwright High School student, wasn't as alarmed as his friend. But he was concerned. After all, they did have a lot riding on those chickens ... It all began in the guidance office of And- erson High School in Whitby, where Chris Mackey was cooling his heels waiting to speak to a counsellor. While he was sitting there, he noticed a poster on the wall des- cribing something call- ed the Student Venture Capital Program. As he read, Chris figured out that the government was offering young entrepreneurs a chance to establish and operate their own summer businesses with the assistance of interest- free loans. He read on. The loans are contracted to Royal Bank branches up to a maximum of $2,000 per venture, and have to be paid back by the first of October. And before they can be approved, all business proposals must be reviewed by a local Chamber of Commerce represent- ative in co-operation with the Ontario Youth Secretariat. Two thousand bucks. Interest-free. Chris's interest was caught but he didn't think chickens right away. It was when Rob read an article about the loan program, that a light bulb went off in his head flashing "CHICKENS!" Rob's idea was to use the loan to buy 500 Cockrell chickens, fatt- en them up with feed and sell them to chicken-eaters through- out the community. He already had the facili- ties for chickens at his father's farm (Harvey Graham and Sons of Purple Hill) and be- sides, he pretty well knew his way around a chicken. His mom usually rais- ed one or two hundred every summer for family and friends and Rob had been looking after the feather-brain- ed birds since he was a kid. So they got together and worked out the details, gleaned some more information about the program, and called their operation the G.M. Chicken Factory. The next step was to take their plan to a Chamber of Commerce rep and they wound up at president Bill Barr's doorstep. He made sure their papers were in order and their idea was sound and then sent them off to the Royal Bank where the boys had to apply for their first loan. Which can be a pretty intimidating exper- ience, even for the most seasoned bank-goer. Needless to say, Chris and Rob weren't too thrilled about meeting with the bank manager. "I wasn't exactly looking forward to it," Rob admits. "But for money, Rob will do just about any- thing", his mom pipes in, while her son flushes. Despite their worries, the meeting went with nary. a hitch. The loan was secured and the G.M. Chicken Factory was in business. Chris was still in school when Rob picked up 500 day-old roosters from Marlow Feed on May 3rd, cramming them right up to the ceiling in a car that wasn't exactly designed for hauling 500 baby chickens. The din was ear-splitting, Rob re- calls, and there would not have been enough room for Chris even if he was around for the occasion. Shortly after the new- borns arrived they were de-beaked (to prevent injuries from fighting when the roosters are older) and shortly after that, the youngsters started to die. Rob still doesn't know what malady affected the birds but he figures it might have something to do with the de-beak- ing process. But luckily for the chickens (and the part- nership's account), the plague was short-lived, and only a few died after that, usually due to the "flips". "They don't like hot weather and they have heart attacks", Rob says. "I actually saw one have a heart attack right before my eyes, he just flipped over in the air and that was that". By the end of the summer, 75 of the 500 were lost, which wasn't as bad as things might have been if a fox or some other predator had gotten at the vulner- able poultry. 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