Gay Lea Dairy Heritage Museum officially opens

June 29, 2010

The Gay Lea Foods Dairy Heritage Museum officially opened on Sunday, June 27, 2010 with a memorable ribbon-cutting ceremony. The entire Gay Lea Foods Board of Directors were on hand to witness the event, as well as the van Kasteren family, distinguished guests, retired directors and some staff. The distinguished guests included: Joe Preston, MP of Elgin-Middlesex-London; Steve Peters, MPP of Elgin-Middlesex-London and Speaker of the House; Dave Mennill, Deputy Mayor of Elgin County; John Wilson, Mayor of Malahide Township; and Elgin County staff.

Mark Hamel, Chair of the Board and emcee of the proceedings, opened the event with a quote, “The farther you look behind, the farther you see ahead.” These words rang true throughout the day. To build our future, it’s important to look back and see where we’ve been. And there is definitely no better place to visit our history than the Dairy Heritage Museum.

The museum is nestled in one of Canada’s remaining Carolinian forests, in the south-west corner of Malahide Township. Beaming with hidden treasures of old, carefully collected and preserved by history-buff and former mayor, Andy van Kasteren, and his wife Lotty, the museum is a legacy to pass down to future generations.

Over 15,000 artifacts adorn the shelves, walls, and floors of the museum. The main floor boasts dairy antiques and memorabilia, such as ice cream scoops, milk bottles, milk trucks and butter churns. But the museum doesn’t simply contain dairy heritage items. Downstairs is a true treasure trove. Blacksmith tools, childhood toys and games, old school desks, a WWI army helmet, an antique pair of ice skates, a barber’s chair, razors, railroad spikes, horseshoes, tobacco boxes, even the original water pipe from Aylmer, constructed from wood. Andy and Lotty’s heartfelt labour of love is a true testament of the history of this province.

John Wilson, Mayor of Malahide Township, spoke of the van Kasteren’s determination, as did Dave Mennill, Deputy Mayor of Elgin County, when he presented Andy and Lotty with a plaque in appreciation of their dedication and hard work. The extended van Kasteren family was in attendance to share the day with them.

MPP Steve Peters is also an avid collector of Elgin County memorabilia and has collected milk bottles since he was a kid. “As a collector, you dream of something like this happening,” he said. “Thank you Gay Lea for making this happen.”

Director Janet Boot commented when asked, “What is the greatest aspect of purchasing the museum?” “It’s the legacy that we leave behind,” Janet said. “Without the history we can’t move forward.”

The museum is one more way to move Gay Lea’s mission statement forward as well, ‘by providing a link between Ontario dairy farmers and consumers’. Ontario’s rich farming history now has a place to call home as we maintain the artifacts and collection of our roots and open them up to visitors.Row upon row of our past, kept for the present.

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