ARTHUR – It was standing room only as the friends, family and co-workers of Gerald Townsend gathered at the Arthur Parish Hall to celebrate his retirement from Gay Lea Foods as its dairy goat specialist.
Although he was unable to attend in person, Senator Rob Black offered congratulations to Townsend by video, reminiscing about their 4H connections in the 1970s and later, and thanking him for his encouragement to join other agricultural clubs.
In his inaugural speech in the Senate chamber in Ottawa, Black claims to have mentioned Townsend.
“I credited you and my parents with my introduction to my now 50 plus year involvement in 4H here in Ontario and across Canada,” Black said to Townsend.
“I noted that it was because of you that I have the confidence, courage and abilities to stand and accept the role of senator.”
Gay Lea manager Kevin Weaver and corporate secretary Ove Hansen described Townsend’s contribution to the company when it purchased Hewitt’s Dairy out of Hagersville in 2015 and needed help to manage over 140 dairy goat farms.
Townsend’s name came up as someone who had the required know-how and connections in the dairy goat industry, even though he had retired as the goat specialist for the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) a year earlier.
Weaver claimed that Townsend has the “natural ability to connect with people. Today is a testament to that when you look around at all the people here. All of us have been affected in some way by Gerald.”
Weaver also pointed out that some of the people in attendance were dairy goat producers who have worked with Gerald, and joked that Townsend was well known for pushing their goat cheese at farm shows.
Weaver went on to explain that the dairy goat industry is “still fairly new in development. Gerald had a key part in helping us to develop every single process that we provide for producers.
“Over the last eight years, we’ve been able to bring the dairy goat industry a long way and Gerald has been hands on with every single item that we work with.”
Hansen shared a few photos of Townsend and his wife Mary that he discovered through the Arthur Historical Society.
Since the couple has lived in the Arthur area since 1972, there was a large selection of pictures documenting a long-time connection to 4H, the Arthur Optimist Club, minor sports, and the Arthur Agricultural Society.
Hansen noted that Townsend has had a positive impact on multiple generations, as well as an impact on the municipality.
From his association with Townsend at Gay Lea, Hansen said “I never had a bad call with Gerald.
“He’s always upbeat despite any challenges.” Hansen went on to describe Townsend as a “poster child for dedication to the workplace ethic.
“We couldn’t get him to take a day off,” laughed Hansen. In fact, Townsend has offered to help with “special projects” at Gay Lea when required.
Townsend’s dedication was echoed by his three sons, Ray, Dan and Michael, as each one spoke about their father and shared stories with the crowd.
Although Townsend is mainly noted for his agricultural background, Ray talked about his father’s attempts at becoming a writer and author, a funeral director, running an airport shuttle service, and an attempt “to get into the Guinness World Book of Records by having the most butter tarts collected in an arena hall.”
Steve O’Neil from the Arthur Optimists thanked Townsend for his work with the club and threatened to “put him to work more than we have in the last 40 years. He won’t have time to work on Gay Lea’s special projects,” he joked.
O’Neil went on to describe Townsend as someone who “spearheads things and helps the younger members. We have had 50 years of Gerald and Mary. We should be very proud of that and happy that Gerald was sent to our community by OMAFRA way back then.”
“I’m very lucky,” Townsend said to the crowd. “I have worked 55 years in primary agriculture.
“The majority of my work has been one on one with farmers and their families. When I was with 4H, there were 300 members in Wellington County, and I got to know every one of them.”
With respect to his job at Gay Lea, Townsend said “it was a perfect fit. I often told Mary that I was surprised that they paid me to do the job that I love so much.
“My job was to engage the producers. There were 120 of them at that time.
“I always tried to put the producers first and I hope I did that.”
