At their March 22 meeting Picton
Rotarians had the opportunity to celebrate their rural roots and the
contribution that agriculture has made and continues to make to our county. By
coincidence our Assistant District Governor, John Cairns, chose this
particular day to visit our club. Being unaware of the significance of our
Rural Urban Day each year, his first reaction when he walked in was
"wow, the Picton club must have a lot of new members". This
perception was created by the celebratory atmosphere which existed at the
meeting due to the presence of 18 guests from the agricultural community who
had been invited by various club members. Thank you to Keith MacDonald,
Paul Gallager, Roy Mowbray, Sandra Emlaw, Louis Creasy, Jim Reeks, Wilma
Courneyea, Bob Fleguel, Scott Wright, Winston Wright, Angela and Martin Miller,
Ralph Burley, Cliff Foster, Tom Walmsley, Eric Aschmann, Doug West and Doug
Murphy for joining us and making this day extra special.
ADG John Cairns is an amazing
Ambassador for Rotary, and it was indeed our pleasure to have him present at
our meeting.
Introduced by PP Jim Hughes (himself
a 5th generation farmer), Robin Ferguson and George Emlaw gave us an
informative and educational overview of both the history and the present day
operation of Black River Cheese Company.
Robin is the daughter of well
known and highly respected Ken and Bess Taylor who settled in Black Creek where
they raised seven children. Robin fondly remembers wonderful summer days
featuring bike rides to the cheese factory for a special treat.
After a few years away to attend
college and start her work life, Robin returned to the county where she
met Jerry Ferguson. They were married in 1988 and have two
children.
In 2006 Robin was asked to join the
team at Black River Cheese. This seemed the perfect fit to Robin as she
had grown up with Black River Cheese and with many of the shareholders,
directors and employees. In 2010 Robin was promoted to General Manager
where she does her best to ensure the continued longevity of a great business
which has been in the hearts of the people of Prince Edward for over 110 years.
George Emlaw is a lifelong resident
of South Marysburg township. As a student, his summer jobs were on the
family dairy farm and at Black River Cheese. After graduating from
Kemptville Agricultural College in 1959, he continued those two jobs but
his passion for agriculture drew him back to the land. His
interest in the Cheese Company continued as he was a milk shipper and
shareholder.
In 1970 he was elected as a Board
Director and eventually became Chair of the Board.
George and his wife Sandra are very
proud of their UEL connection through the Hick's family and their children and grandchildren
are the 8th and 9th generation of this pioneer family to live in South
Marysburg.
The speakers gave us a history of
Black River Cheese. Started in 1901, farmers purchased shares and the
total start-up costs were $1800. Cheeses were cataloged and stored in
Picton for a monthly auction. Great Britain was once a large buyer of
their cheese.
The Company survived the Depression,
changes in the economy and laws relating to exports, and a devastating fire in
2001. Opened again in 2002, 40% of their cheese is still sold in their
retail outlet at the factory. At one time there were 35 cheese factories in the
county, Black River is the only one to remain.
They use only natural ingredients
and preservatives. Their Maple Cheddar has become hugely popular, and ast
year they won an award for the best mild cheddar in Canada.
Congratulations to Black River
Cheese Company on their continuing and growing successes and a sincere
thank-you to Robin and George for a great presentation.
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