Tea & History event: pioneer farm families
Purple Hills Arts and Heritage Society’s (PHAHS). upcoming Tea and History event will celebrate the history and future of family farming in the Creemore area.
PHAHS has been staging Tea and History events for more than 10 years, with a break during the pandemic. “Farming is how it all began,” said organizer Andrew Hill.
Last year’s program about one-room schoolhouses attracted 75 attendees, and Hill said he is hoping to attract an even bigger crowd for this month’s event.
The program will include a presentation by Jim Algie, an Owen Sound-based writer specializing in agriculture and farm reporting and a photo exhibit by noted photographer Willie Waterton, a celebration of our farming past.
“We have interviewed five farm families, four of whom immigrated from Ireland in the mid 1800s after the potato famine,” said Hill. “We heard great stories and learned a lot about how farming has evolved since then.”
Attendees will have the opportunity to tour booths manned by fifth and sixth generation representatives of five local farms – the Flacks, Metherals, Millsaps, Timmons, and Millers.
The Flack family farm, founded in 1848, originally spanned 100 acres. It has since expanded to 195 acres, plus an additional 250 acres of rented land to grow crops.
For generations, the farm was very much a family enterprise with everyone playing a role. Today, thanks to major advances in technology, Russell Flack and his brother Ron manage the farm almost entirely on their own.
The Metheral farm near Dunedin was established in 1866 when Richard Metheral immigrated from England. Originally 100 acres, it has since grown to 325 acres. In the 1970s, Neil Metheral was the first in the area to use the one-man hay baler system, and later became an equipment dealer who introduced the system to farmers across Ontario. Now in their 80s, Neil and Jean Metheral say they would not choose farming as a career today. However, their sons continue to work the farm, and are hopeful that future generations will carry on the tradition.
The Millsap family came from Ireland, originally settled in Avening in 1845 before moving up the escarpment to Mount Zion. During their first months in Canada, they lived in the bush, clearing the land to establish their 100-acre farm. Today, the family farms a total of 1,200 acres consisting of five 100-acre farms plus several rented parcels, run by the sixth generation of Millsaps.
John Millsap believes the future of small family farms is uncertain. He says with 100-acre farms no longer sustainable on their own, expansion and efficiency are the keys to survival in modern architecture.
The event was originally planned for last November but based on the amount of information uncovered in the research, they were just not ready.
“We moved it to March, in part to give us more time to prepare, and also because fall is a very busy time for farmers,” said Hill.
The event takes place at Station on the Green on Sunday, March 23 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.
Contributed photo: The Miller family clearing the land on the family farm in 1913. John Miller’s great-grandfather came to Canada from Ireland in 1852 (pictured at the age of 73 standing on the log holding an ax). John’s grandfather, Adam Miller, is sitting at his feet.
