Happy Holidays from Cornell Farms

Changes at Cornell Farms
2023 would be called the year of change at Cornell Farms. We have a new addition, we lost some people we were close to and we've participated in musical houses. The big news is the birth of another grandchild! Remy Gordon was born on Valentine's Day and then to top it off, Rebecca, Kelsey and Remy moved home to Cornell Farms.
Kim and Pat helped move them home with the market trailer. It was quite a convoy with truck, trailer, 2 cars, 4 adults, a baby and a cat.
With the help of family and friends, they are now moved into the farm house and Kim and Pat have moved Here's a picture of Kelsey, Remy and Rebecca at his first hockey tournament - that's one for the scrapbooks!

Farming and Pets

Farming activities at Cornell Farms - calving, planting, harvest, etc. continued as usual. This year, we grew malt barley, oats and soybeans. Our full-time employee, Annemarie got married in September so we're getting by with part-time help and Rebecca, Kelsey, Garnet and Michelle. Meat and cattle sales continued their upward swings. Farm markets were operating again as in previous years.

We had a bit of an adventure with the "livestock". A mink got into the chickens; Dora hopped into a visitor's van and spent a couple of nights wandering the streets of Emo before we enticed her home. Molly hopped into another visitor's van and was found the next morning. We need a sign, "Thanks for visiting but please check your vehicle for hitchhikers before you leave the yard."
Here's a picture of Dora and Molly being "friendly".

Family...
Rebecca will be working as a large animal veterinarian here and Kelsey is taking over the meat part of the business.
It's been a year of traveling for their family. They flew up to Devlin over Easter to meet the Cornell side of the family; rented a houseboat and toured the 1000 Islands' rented a camper van and toured lower British Columbia and Vancouver Island and are spending Christmas and New year's in Florida with Kelsey's parents.
Rebecca even joined some veterinary friends for a trip to Belize. Here's a picture of Rebecca, Remy and Kelsey during their trip to British Columbia.

Family...
Kim's parents, Gordon and Jeannine Cornell are both doing well although Jeannine fell in October and broke her hip. She will be moving to Rainycrest in the new year.
Gordon is still at home but joins her every day at the hospital for lunch. We had a fun December 24th family celebration after church in the hospital common room - music (Pat played piano while our niece Shannon played the violin), Chinese food, singing, dancing.
Here's a picture of Jeannine with Remy - the newest addition to the family.

Family...
As usual, Pat's parents, Earle and Joanne Clysdale are doing well in Mooretown. Pat managed to get down to celebrate her Mom's birthday with all the sisters.
In the fall, Pat broke one of the bones in her hand and was in a partial cast for a month. Good thing it was her right hand so she could keep working.
We lost a few close friends and family this year - Pat's Aunt Annie Hop, Kim's Aunt Elaine McMain and Pat's university roommate Anne Lehan. It's hard to say goodbye but we think of them often with love.
Here's a picture taken at Pat's Mom's birthday celebration. Can you name all those sisters?
Marie, Helen, Dianne, Sharon, Joanne (Mom), Earle (Dad), Brenda, Pat.

Traveling...
Pat and Kim traveled to Nashville for the North American Brewers Conference; to Niagara Falls for the Ontario Brewers' Conference; to Saskatchewan to see Kim's Aunt Elaine and family and to Duluth to see a neighbour perform in Kinky Boots (what a fun musical!).
Of course, there were all those work conferences, trips to Toronto for meetings and several visits to Mooretown.
This picture has nothing to do with traveling but it's a great picture that we had to include with this year's newsletter - Gordon reading to Garnet and Michelle's children, Charlotte and Aiden.

Kim and Pat

Kim continues to travel throughout the region for Farmers' Markets on top of all his farming duties. He is also a member of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Board. This year he traveled to Timmins and New Liskeard and helped organize a Local Foods Reception and tour of the Rainy River District.
Pat continues to work as a Justice of the Peace based in the Fort Frances Courthouse and is now the Local Administrative Justice of the Peace for the Rainy River and Kenora Districts. Staffing shortages continue to be an issue for courthouses across the province. Pat has given up playing for church since a new Music Director has been hired. She continues as Choir Director and contributes to the Facebook page (check out Knox United Church, Fort Frances).