Art project helps boy appreciate great-grandfather’s work - Family - Livin...

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http://www.thewesternstar.com/Living/Family/2011-04-16/article-24316...

Art project helps boy appreciate great-grandfather’s work

Published on April 16, 2011

Cory Hurley

Topics : Newfoundland , Codroy Valley , CORNER BROOK

My mom tells me I get to live in Newfoundland because of two cans of milk. Weird I know, but let me explain. This story was told by my great-grandparents, Margaret and Leo Cormier. They live in Upper Ferry, Codroy Valley on the west coast of our great province of Newfoundland. My great-grandfather Leo just turned 85 and Margaret, his wife of 59 years, is 83. Leo’s heritage is French and Margaret’s is Scottish. They have nine children, 22 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. The story takes place on their farm in 1963, 37 years before I was born. My great-grandfather Leo had a vegetable farm and nine children. Vegetable farmers work all year and only get paid in the fall when they sell their vegetables. Leo wanted to start dairy farming so there would be a regular paycheck and place for his children to work so they could remain in Newfoundland instead of having to go away to work. He borrowed $5,500 from Farm Credit to buy 12 cows and start his farm. Everyone thought he was crazy because it was so much money to pay back and no one else was milking cows. He would have to ship his milk by train to central Newfoundland. Now here is the kind of weird, funny part of the story; his first milk production was two eight gallon cans of milk which he sent by train to Brookfield. When they arrived, one was sour, and for the other, Leo received a check for $6.40. That same farm now milks about 1,000 cows daily and ships a full truck of milk every single day, approximately 25,000 litres. Here’s the cool part: If my great-grandfather did not start this farm and pass it down to my grandfather, who worked hard for 30 years to build it to its current size, the family would have likely moved away and built lives elsewhere, and I would not be living here today. All because of a wise farmer who kept moving forward with $6.40!

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17/04/2011 10:21 AM