Gentilly,QC,2000
It was a sunny mild day Sept 29 day as three AG hobbists,Todd Kline,Glen
Cheam and I, headed out for the four hour drive from the Ottawa area to
Gentilly,Quebec.On your map you will find the town of Gentilly on the south
bank of the historic "Fleuve Saint Laurent",
25 km east of Trois Rivieres and about mid-way between the cities of
Montreal and Quebec.
The trip presented a chance for us to have a break in routine,visit a region
unfamiliar to any of us and experience the Gentilly AG weigh-off.Furthermore
Todd and I would have a chance to wear our "AG Jackets" and Glenn would have
a chance,speaking in French,to invite growers to the Ottawa site on Oct 6.
Most of all though we wanted to go to see the accomplishment and excitement
of our good friend and AG enthusiast Rock Rivard,his AG was to be some kind
of a record,just at what level was uncertain.
The Gentilly group really take this AG hobby seriously but at the same time
sure know how to put a lot of energy into entertaining the crowd and keeping
the excitment level high.The strong level of participation and organization
was very evident.
I estimate there were about 2-300 spectators and 4-5 dozen AGs at the event.
Furthermore the AGs were thoroughly inspected,moved by two fork
lifts,treated kindly with an "AG lifter harness" and weighed on electronic
scales operated by a scales technician.Overall it was a "world class"
operation.
Now the results were astonishing,especially for a site where the heaviest
last year was the "617 Rivard 00".
#1--1062 Rivard 01--Alltime #1 in Quebec Province, #2 in Canada, #6 in the
world
#2--973 Girard 01--Alltime #3 in Quebec and #12 in Canada
#3--720 Pelletier 01--tied the previous site record,the "720 Provencher 99"
Top 10 average was 700 pounds.
Note that I say "alltime" and that this was a Sept 29 event (like
Topsfield),therefore the Oct 6 events may change some of the above
rankings,which I believe to be correct as I write this on Oct 3/01.
Overall we had a day I will never forget and I would recommend any grower
within range should be there next year.
The Gentilly event and Rock Rivard are both "class acts".
Sorry to be "long winded" but that is the shortest I could make it.--Al
Eaton
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