Rodney farmer's contributions recognized at gala

Thursday, October 9, 2008

by BETTER FARMING STAFF

Paul Mistele, a former vice-president of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, died Friday, Oct. 3 after battling cancer. He leaves behind his wife Carol and children Matt and Amanda. His funeral was Tuesday.

The Rodney-area chicken and hog farmer was a familiar face at the table of several local and provincial agricultural organizations. Among those organizations was the Ontario Farm Animal Council. Mistele had been a vice-chair before he was stricken.

Ten years ago Mistele founded the Donate-a-hog program, a province-wide initiative that raises funds to donate pork products to food banks. His contributions to this program and other efforts to promote Ontario agriculture will be celebrated at Ontario’s Harvest Gala, a fundraiser for the Ontario Association of Food Banks and the Ontario Farm Animal Council. The gala will be held Oct. 30 in Guelph.

Crystal Mackay, executive director of OFAC, recalls Mistele as forward thinking and a “huge supporter of the shift to proactive work” at the council.

“I’ve rarely met a farm leader before that was positive on almost everything,” she said, adding Mistele also enjoyed having fun. BF