[00:00:00:14 - 00:02:13:16] Speaker 2 This is an interview with Ingrid LaMont, conducted by Collin Capurso on August 19th, 2025, on behalf of the Cobblestone Museum. Though not a native of Albion, Ingrid has, over the course of decades, bound her life inseparably to this place and its people. Through her marriage to the late Roger Lamont, she entered into the guardianship of one of Orleans County's oldest agricultural enterprises, a farm first tilled by Josiah Slumont in 1815, a span of continuity measured not merely in years, but in the lives and labors of six generations. From her earliest days on Densmore Road, first in the venerable home of Willard Densmore, and then later in the Lamont Family Farmhouse, she has lived in daily communion with the enduring rhythms of rural life, the cycles of planning and harvest, the quiet persistence of winter, and the annual rebirth of the orchards. In 2015, she and Roger marked the farm's bicentennial. Honoring its founding and welcoming the community to share in a celebration of two centuries of cultivation. The following year, the farm received the rare distinction of being named a New York State Bicentennial Farm, an acknowledgement not only of its longevity, but of its continued vitality in the modern era. Together, they guided the farm toward innovation and adopted advanced storage methods to meet the demands of changing industry. Ingrid's life has been one of both preservation and progress. Her devotion to local heritage has found expression in ways both grand and intimate, in rescuing a cast of iron-hitching posts from oblivion, and lending her voice and energy to museum initiatives, and in supporting the projects that safeguard the history of Albion and Orleans County. This conversation is, in part, a record of a personal journey, from newcomer to trusted custodian of place, and in part, a meditation of the forces that shape a rural community's character. It is an account of life lived between past and future, between the inheritance of history and the responsibility to carry it forward. In hearing her story, one comes to see that the measure of a life is not merely in the years that one inhabits a place, but in the care, knowledge, and love that one invests within it. Thank you so much for joining us today, Ingrid. Thank you. I wanted to ask first and foremost, can you share a bit about where you grew up and what your early life was like before you came here to Albion? [00:02:15:02 - 00:02:38:22] Speaker 1 I was born in Brooklyn, and then after the war, my parents moved up to the Finger Lakes area, near Watkins Glen, so I grew up there, and I went to Odessa Mantaure Central School, graduated from there, and then I went to State University of Cortland, and I grew up on a farm. We had a small farm of poultry and sheep, [00:02:39:23 - 00:02:44:14] Speaker 1 and I was accustomed to the country life. [00:02:44:14 - 00:02:45:20] (Laughing) [00:02:45:20 - 00:02:49:07] Speaker 2 Take it not too much changed once you arrived here in that regard? [00:02:50:11 - 00:03:01:11] Speaker 1 No, different kind of farming, because we were in fruit up here, and grains and vegetables where we didn't have that at home. Gotcha. [00:03:01:11 - 00:03:10:06] Speaker 2 And then, what ended up first bringing you here to Albion, and what were your first impressions of the town and the surrounding countryside? Well, I was in love. [00:03:10:06 - 00:03:11:01] (Laughing) [00:03:12:06 - 00:03:19:11] Speaker 1 So we got married after I graduated from college, and I moved up here, and impressions. [00:03:20:22 - 00:03:22:06] Speaker 1 It's a beautiful area. [00:03:23:06 - 00:03:40:08] Speaker 1 It's a little bit different than where I grew up, because it's very flat here. Where at home, it's very hilly, but it has beautiful orchards and vegetable fields and grains and the lake, and yes, it's just a lovely area. Yeah, it's beautiful up here. [00:03:40:08 - 00:03:45:13] Speaker 2 And was there a particular moment when you arrived here that you felt to yourself, this is home? [00:03:48:00 - 00:04:08:09] Speaker 1 I don't know about any one moment, but I was welcomed by the family and the neighbors, and so I felt comfortable after a bit. It takes time to adjust to a new family, new community, but no, everybody was very welcoming to me. [00:04:08:09 - 00:04:23:07] Speaker 2 I remember as we were preparing for this, this may answer the question I was gonna ask of what was the most challenging adjustment, but you had said earlier that everyone had to remember one name, which was yours, but you had to remember hundreds, countless names. [00:04:23:07 - 00:04:23:20] Speaker 3 Exactly. [00:04:23:20 - 00:04:27:08] Speaker 2 Would you argue that's probably the most challenging endeavor that you faced? [00:04:27:08 - 00:04:27:23] Speaker 3 At that time. [00:04:29:06 - 00:04:30:16] Speaker 3 There were lots of Kirby's. [00:04:32:07 - 00:04:33:19] Speaker 3 A lot of Kirby's to learn. [00:04:33:19 - 00:04:40:05] Speaker 2 And so you ended up moving out here with Roger, and I'm curious, how did you and Roger first meet? [00:04:40:05 - 00:04:47:16] Speaker 1 Oh, we met at college. He went to Cornell and I was at Cortland, and it's only like-- You're in the area. Like a half an hour apart. [00:04:47:16 - 00:04:50:06] Speaker 2 And then when did you get married together? [00:04:50:06 - 00:04:52:14] Speaker 1 Oh, we were married in June of 65. [00:04:52:14 - 00:05:04:00] Speaker 2 Gotcha. And living here and such, what would you describe as some of the joys and perhaps challenges of working together on the farm and being part of the community here? [00:05:05:09 - 00:05:12:01] Speaker 1 Oh, there's lots of joys. You know, the fun of being with family and then raising your own family, [00:05:13:05 - 00:05:21:12] Speaker 1 challenges. There's always challenges on a farm. So that answers the challenges. Farming is very challenging. [00:05:21:12 - 00:05:28:04] Speaker 2 What would you argue are some of the hardest or most difficult challenges that you've had to face farming in this area? [00:05:29:10 - 00:06:01:14] Speaker 1 Well, weather. We depend on the weather so much. And just like this year, it's so dry. And then that means more work because you irrigate the orchards, you irrigate the land crops. And that's a lot of hard work. Luckily, we have water in the area to do it, but there's many challenges with that. And then you don't know if there's going to be hail and you can lose your crop in two minutes. [00:06:01:14 - 00:06:17:04] Speaker 2 Yeah, it wasn't until I moved out into the country area. I used to be in, I guess we'll call it the suburb, the town of Holly. And it wasn't until I came out here that I heard my first weather cannon. And I thought to myself, what is that banging? And little did I know, it's to try and disrupt the hail. [00:06:17:04 - 00:06:18:12] Speaker 3 Yes, it does. [00:06:18:12 - 00:06:23:04] Speaker 2 And then how would you describe Roger's personality to someone who had never met him? [00:06:26:13 - 00:06:30:15] Speaker 1 Roger was a kind person. He had a wonderful sense of humor, humble, [00:06:32:02 - 00:06:33:14] Speaker 1 willing to help others. [00:06:35:00 - 00:06:43:12] Speaker 1 You know, he was patient. He would listen to other sides of a story. Yeah, [00:06:44:22 - 00:06:46:01] Speaker 1 he was a pretty good guy. [00:06:47:19 - 00:06:58:09] Speaker 2 And looking back on his life and all of his accomplishments as a farmer, beginning a family and your marriage to you, what do you think Roger was most proud of in his life? And it's okay if you say you. [00:06:58:09 - 00:07:11:01] Speaker 1 Oh, I don't think that. I wouldn't say that. I would say probably his family, the heritage, his farm, the heritage of the farm. Yes, he loved the land. Oh yes. [00:07:11:01 - 00:07:22:16] Speaker 2 And you had mentioned living in the kind of Finger Lakes area that you've been exposed to farming throughout your life. How do you think that upbringing prepared you for life farming here in Orleans County specifically? [00:07:25:01 - 00:07:25:06] Speaker 1 Well, [00:07:26:06 - 00:07:47:12] Speaker 1 living on a farm is completely different from living in town or in a city. And we had a small farm, but I helped my dad. I worked hard on it. I really worked with him and you really helped on the farm. So it's a lot of hard work and work doesn't kill you. [00:07:48:14 - 00:07:55:03] Speaker 2 What were some of the jobs that you have done either when you were a young girl or throughout your life on the LeMond farm? [00:07:55:03 - 00:08:10:14] Speaker 1 Oh, on the farm? Well, I guess I supported Roger and did things like that. I taught school, so I had my own vocation. After the children were in school, I went back to teach at Albion. [00:08:13:11 - 00:08:21:05] Speaker 2 As a girl, you said you mentioned you helped your father a little bit. What were some of the day-to-day jobs that he perhaps recruited you into doing? [00:08:21:05 - 00:08:22:02] Speaker 1 Oh, well, [00:08:23:12 - 00:08:37:06] Speaker 1 I fed the pullets in the summertime. They were outside feeding them, watering them. We had sheep. I helped dad when they had birthing. [00:08:40:02 - 00:08:53:17] Speaker 1 Dad cut the tails off. I had a hole in the lambs, castration. I can remember when I was real young driving the tractor and I'm talking young. [00:08:53:17 - 00:08:54:21] (Laughs) [00:08:56:08 - 00:09:12:08] Speaker 1 My dad, my brother would be on the wagon and my dad would put the bales onto the wagon and my brother would stack them and I was driving the tractor. And I barely could reach the pedals. I mean, I was young, [00:09:13:16 - 00:09:15:02] Speaker 1 but I did okay. [00:09:15:02 - 00:09:30:08] Speaker 2 And when you moved out here to Albion with Roger, you lived for many years in the former home of Willard Bill Densmore, a man who was remembered for his resilience in the face of repeated setbacks on his farm. What first drew you and Roger to live in that house? [00:09:30:08 - 00:09:38:07] Speaker 1 Well, when we were first married, we lived in the house next to where we are now, 3035. [00:09:40:00 - 00:10:10:20] Speaker 1 And the Mott's bought the Densmore farm in 62 and the Densmore's built a new home on Meadowbrook. So then when they moved out, that house was available and Roger's parents and youngest sister moved there and I moved in with Roger after we were married, moved in with Roger into, we call it the small house. But it's much bigger than it looks, much bigger. It's got four bedrooms. It's really very efficient house. [00:10:11:21 - 00:10:28:20] Speaker 1 So Tom and Mary and Marshall lived down there and then Marshall went to college, Tom passed away and then Mary was ready to move back to her home that she and Tom had built when they came back to the farm. [00:10:29:23 - 00:10:46:15] Speaker 1 And we had three kids and we needed more room. So then we just switched houses. On the farm, the farm owns the houses. So we just switched houses and she was happy to come back to her original home and that we had lots of room down at that house. [00:10:46:15 - 00:11:01:09] Speaker 2 And when you had first moved into the Densmore house, so to speak, were you aware of the home's farming history and the story of the two bonfires that had occurred there and how did learning about any of this perhaps shape the way that you viewed the property? [00:11:03:02 - 00:11:06:17] Speaker 1 I didn't know about it at the time. And of course I heard about it later. [00:11:09:01 - 00:11:24:17] Speaker 1 You respect the property and those who have lived there before you and you just learned from being there. And I learned by osmosis because Roger had lived here all his life. So he knew all about it, but yes, yeah. [00:11:24:17 - 00:11:40:13] Speaker 2 And then kind of looking at the determination of perhaps rebuilding his barn twice despite all the hardships, it feels like a very powerful reflection of farming values. And would you argue that you see that same kind of perseverance occurring in the farming community today? [00:11:40:13 - 00:11:41:13] Speaker 1 Oh yes. [00:11:42:21 - 00:11:46:07] Speaker 1 You have to be very determined, persistent, [00:11:48:11 - 00:12:00:00] Speaker 1 it gets more difficult every year. And many things have changed. Times are changing or times have changed and they certainly have changed in farming. [00:12:00:00 - 00:12:03:21] Speaker 2 What are some of the changes that you've witnessed over time? [00:12:03:21 - 00:12:17:00] Speaker 1 Well, I would say the size of the farms have changed. Used to be a small farms. Now they're large farms. The size of the fields have changed. They've taken out hedgerows [00:12:18:02 - 00:12:20:18] Speaker 1 and the equipment size has changed [00:12:22:01 - 00:12:28:16] Speaker 1 in order to use these big fields. So there's lots of changes there. Help has changed. [00:12:29:16 - 00:12:35:08] Speaker 1 When you had a small farm, you may have had some local help now. [00:12:36:13 - 00:12:47:00] Speaker 1 Then when I first came on the farm, we had help from the South. The migrants came up every season. And now it's gone to having H2A help [00:12:48:04 - 00:12:49:11] Speaker 1 from foreign countries. [00:12:50:11 - 00:12:52:06] Speaker 1 And we couldn't do it without them. [00:12:52:06 - 00:12:54:21] Speaker 2 Yeah, it's an incredible endeavor. [00:12:54:21 - 00:13:00:00] Speaker 1 It's a lot of work, a lot of preparation and planning. [00:13:01:09 - 00:13:03:16] Speaker 1 It gets quite complicated. [00:13:05:03 - 00:13:10:10] Speaker 1 Farming is more complicated than people realize unless they're in agriculture. [00:13:10:10 - 00:13:12:01] Speaker 2 It looks simple on paper. [00:13:12:01 - 00:13:15:22] Speaker 1 It sure does. And it's lovely to say, "Oh, I'm not a farm." [00:13:17:11 - 00:13:25:07] Speaker 1 But no, it's a lot of hard work. But they appreciate it. They wouldn't be farming unless they loved it. [00:13:25:07 - 00:13:33:03] Speaker 2 Exactly. And as it's often coined as, it is the backbone of America. Yes, it is. It's truly what keeps everything going. [00:13:33:03 - 00:13:33:18] Speaker 1 That's right. [00:13:34:20 - 00:13:54:03] Speaker 2 And living in a home with that kind of past and kind of learning about the history of Orleans County, Albion and of itself. Did you ever feel a sense of carrying on the legacy of those that came before? Whether it be say Josiah's Le Mans in 1815 or living in the Densmore House, this sense of carrying it forward. [00:13:55:03 - 00:14:05:22] Speaker 1 Well, yes, you want to take care of your place and respect the past and move forward. Sure, sure. I couldn't have lived when Josiah's lived. [00:14:07:06 - 00:14:21:04] Speaker 1 You imagine the difficulty. You imagine 1815 and then 1816, the year without a summer. And they had just started and then not to have anything the next year. [00:14:21:04 - 00:14:24:07] Speaker 2 Which I think really goes to show the determination. [00:14:24:07 - 00:14:32:05] Speaker 1 Exactly. And just being, and to bring your family. He came with his wife and five children. [00:14:33:04 - 00:14:34:04] Speaker 1 Yeah, yeah. [00:14:34:04 - 00:14:35:11] Speaker 2 So he had a pretty good labor force. [00:14:35:11 - 00:15:04:13] Speaker 1 Yeah, and they had to clear. I don't know what you know about that time to purchase land, but he purchased it from the Holland Land Company and for like $585 for 140 acres. And it's lot number 14. I look that up. And it's from Latin road to Densmore road with the West Transit Church Road as the Southern border. [00:15:06:04 - 00:15:21:06] Speaker 1 And he had to walk to Batavia every year and say, I can't pay the mortgage because, and they had a clear land through, I believe it was three acres a year, cut the woods down. [00:15:22:17 - 00:15:31:05] Speaker 1 So that was kind of tough. And then finally, about 1823, the canal came through. [00:15:32:05 - 00:15:38:04] Speaker 1 They could sell their products for a lot more money. And then things were looking up for them. [00:15:38:04 - 00:15:41:04] Speaker 2 So it was nearly a 10 year period just about where. [00:15:41:04 - 00:15:48:13] Speaker 1 Yeah, it's very difficult. You know, you're coming to a wooded lot. You have to clear three acres every year. [00:15:49:15 - 00:15:55:20] Speaker 1 And he also, I understand, cleared Latin road, the road to go to the ridge. [00:15:56:23 - 00:16:03:14] Speaker 1 So yeah, it wasn't. And they had oxen. They didn't have horses then. I believe it was oxen. [00:16:03:14 - 00:16:15:20] Speaker 2 I mean, just thinking about cutting down those acres of trees. I mean, this whole area used to be known as the Black North. That's right. With its vegetation. I can only imagine the labor that had to be applied to achieve that. [00:16:15:20 - 00:16:30:11] Speaker 1 And food. What did you feed your family? And then the next year, like I said, was the summer or the year without a summer, like it snowed every month or something. You can't raise a garden to feed your kids. [00:16:30:11 - 00:16:32:02] Speaker 2 No, the crops are all gonna die. [00:16:32:02 - 00:16:35:01] Speaker 1 Yeah, it had to have been terrible. [00:16:36:12 - 00:16:47:23] Speaker 2 And then after you had lived at the Densmore Homestead, you eventually migrated a short distance north to your current residence. What can you tell me about the history of this home and what made you and Roger choose to relocate up the road? [00:16:47:23 - 00:16:55:18] Speaker 1 Well, they were not remodeling. They were putting new siding on the house [00:16:56:19 - 00:17:11:09] Speaker 1 and then the day before they were to complete it, they were putting the covering on the roof of the wraparound porch and it torched the house. [00:17:13:03 - 00:17:30:19] Speaker 1 So there was a major fire in the house. So then, after a few weeks, Roger said, when we've always wanted to live in that house, we always admired it. And of course it was his grandparents' house, so there's nothing like grandma. [00:17:32:10 - 00:18:05:05] Speaker 1 Connection related to that. Yes, well, he spent lots of time with grandma and grandpa and he was born on his grandfather's birthday, so he was probably a little bit extra special. But anyway, he said, well, if we wanna move down to grandma's house, this is the time to do it. So we decided, yes, this was the time we would move down there and we restored it. It took a lot of work and a lot of time, but it's a beautiful home, beautiful home. [00:18:05:05 - 00:18:08:04] Speaker 2 What year did you move to that house? [00:18:09:11 - 00:18:12:08] Speaker 1 In January of 72. [00:18:12:08 - 00:18:19:08] Speaker 2 Okay, so you were at the homestead for about 10 years or so, just about? Not even. [00:18:19:08 - 00:18:19:22] Speaker 1 Now? [00:18:21:04 - 00:18:24:11] Speaker 1 Well, no, we moved in in 2002. [00:18:25:21 - 00:18:33:01] Speaker 1 So it's been like 23 years now. Yeah, time goes back five quickly, yeah. [00:18:33:01 - 00:18:48:21] Speaker 2 And do you have any favorite memories, whether it be a family gathering or perhaps quiet evenings on the porch or other community events from your time in either of those houses? And more so, what are some historical elements or alterations you can tell me about either of those two residences? [00:18:51:23 - 00:19:01:21] Speaker 1 We didn't do too much at the Densmoor house except we fixed up the back entrance into a family room. We did that. And there used to be, [00:19:02:23 - 00:19:49:18] Speaker 1 their bathroom was in the corner of the dining room. So we did move that when we redid the kitchen. So that's what we did at Densmoor's. At this house, we tried to keep, at the family home, we tried to keep it as it was and restored it. And it was a lot of work to do, but it turned out nicely. It's restored to its original condition. And we were fortunate that the actual fire was upstairs and then, I can't say just water damage, but the damage downstairs was from water and there was quite a bit. But the firemen did the best they could. And much was saved because of it. [00:19:49:18 - 00:19:51:17] Speaker 2 What of the fire end of damaging? [00:19:51:17 - 00:19:58:18] Speaker 1 Oh, well, most of upstairs had to be redone. You know, the woodwork, [00:20:00:06 - 00:20:06:01] Speaker 1 the room, the west bedroom was burned completely, [00:20:07:18 - 00:20:07:22] Speaker 1 completely. [00:20:08:23 - 00:20:13:16] Speaker 1 And then there was water that came down through the ceilings and down the staircase. [00:20:15:12 - 00:20:21:00] Speaker 1 It was in pretty bad shape, but it worked out nicely. [00:20:22:09 - 00:20:27:22] Speaker 2 And then how has Densmoor Road changed over the years since you arrived? And what would you argue has remained the same? [00:20:29:08 - 00:20:32:05] Speaker 1 Well, not too much has changed on Densmoor Road. [00:20:33:20 - 00:20:47:04] Speaker 1 We have had David and Kathy Cass, they built a new house. They used to be in the cobblestone on Densmoor Road and they built a new house. And I think it was like maybe 1989 on the main farm. [00:20:48:09 - 00:21:21:11] Speaker 1 Edna and Bruce Kirby, they moved into their home next to Janet and Francis Kirby's home. And that was in mid 90s. And then Dr. Park across the bridge that's still Densmoor Road, he built by the quarry. He built a new home by the quarry. And I would say that was probably mid 60s, it was in the 60s, yeah. So outside of that, the homes have stayed the same. [00:21:23:20 - 00:21:29:22] Speaker 1 We had built a labor camp on our farm and Cass also have a labor camp on their farm. [00:21:29:22 - 00:21:43:17] Speaker 2 So Cass moved from the cobblestone house and built that new one on the corner of Transit Church? Yes, David and Kathy did. And then the house that's directly next to the bridge, that was the other family. [00:21:45:21 - 00:21:53:16] Speaker 1 Dr. Park? Yes. Yes, yes. On the south side, on the south side. And it faced the quarry. It was a new modern house. It was lovely. [00:21:53:16 - 00:21:58:12] Speaker 2 And then that yellow house that is Kirby or was that? [00:21:58:12 - 00:22:00:05] Speaker 1 The yellow house. [00:22:00:05 - 00:22:05:00] Speaker 2 One that's parallel to mine. Basically on the corner of Zigzag. [00:22:07:00 - 00:22:09:08] Speaker 1 Oh yes, that was the Kaminsky house. [00:22:10:10 - 00:22:13:12] Speaker 1 That was the house that went with the Densmore farm. [00:22:14:17 - 00:22:18:01] Speaker 1 And Chris Watt lives there. Chris and Karen Watt live there now. [00:22:18:01 - 00:22:19:17] Speaker 2 I knew it was farm adjacent. [00:22:19:17 - 00:22:26:15] Speaker 1 Yes, yes. That was part of the Densmore farm at one time. [00:22:26:15 - 00:22:28:06] Speaker 2 I did not know that, that's very nice. [00:22:28:06 - 00:22:29:00] Speaker 1 I believe so. [00:22:29:00 - 00:22:37:18] Speaker 2 And then living in a place with so much history, do you ever feel like you're part of a continuing story perhaps, especially with such an incredible lineage with the Lamont family? [00:22:39:03 - 00:22:45:23] Speaker 1 Well, there's a long lineage, over 200 years, which is, we're the second oldest farm in the county. [00:22:47:01 - 00:23:03:10] Speaker 1 Browns is the oldest, they're 1804 and we were 1815. So yeah, it's, we loved living in the house. I pinched myself that we're in that house because I never dreamed I would live in such a beautiful house. It's gorgeous. It is, it's lovely. [00:23:04:19 - 00:23:17:18] Speaker 2 And so the Lamont family farm has been in your husband, Roger's family for more than two centuries, stretching back to 1815. What does it felt like to become part of such an important and incredible legacy? [00:23:20:08 - 00:23:21:09] Speaker 1 Well, it's an honor. [00:23:22:16 - 00:23:43:15] Speaker 1 It's fun, it's, Roger's grandmother was heavy into genealogy and Roger also was into genealogy and our children, he taught our children. So they know their heritage. And then I got into genealogy, so I did my family also. [00:23:44:17 - 00:23:50:02] Speaker 1 So yeah, it's an honor to be there. [00:23:52:10 - 00:23:54:07] Speaker 1 It's probably coming to an end. [00:23:55:12 - 00:24:15:06] Speaker 1 Yeah, I'm the last Lamont. In Orleans County, there's plenty of Lamonts, but not in Orleans County and times are changing and that's part of it. So we have no hard feelings towards the children because they're not not. Didn't wanna carry on the farm legacy. [00:24:16:15 - 00:24:25:08] Speaker 1 They had opportunity, but that was their choice and we accepted it. We didn't, you know, we all, there's changes and you just adjust to the changes. [00:24:25:08 - 00:24:28:21] Speaker 2 Everyone has agency over their own life and they get to choose [00:24:28:21 - 00:24:44:13] Speaker 1 how they like to go. And there's so many opportunities now. All the kids worked on the farm, so it wasn't that they had-- They understood. Yes, and maybe that was part of their decision. They know it's long hours, early hours, late hours, yeah. [00:24:44:13 - 00:24:52:04] Speaker 2 Here, a tractor drive by my house at four or five in the morning sometimes. That's right. Oh my gosh, you guys are going at it. Crack a dawn. [00:24:52:04 - 00:24:54:19] Speaker 1 You gotta spray when it's not windy. Oh yes. [00:24:56:01 - 00:25:02:18] Speaker 2 And when you had first joined the farm, what surprised you most about the work and the life that came with it, especially here in Orleans County? [00:25:04:03 - 00:25:29:00] Speaker 1 Well, I knew farming was a lot of work, so that was not a surprise to me. Like you say, the four o'clock spray rigs, yes, or moving the bees at four o'clock or sometimes, and when it was irrigation, Roger would get up early and that time you moved the irrigation, the pipes. Now they have big reels, which makes it much easier. But yeah, [00:25:30:10 - 00:25:40:04] Speaker 1 you go with whatever needs to be done and you just do it, because it's your livelihood, yeah. [00:25:41:05 - 00:25:53:17] Speaker 2 And then with farming both being a rewarding and challenging endeavor, what would you argue was probably the toughest season that you perhaps endured and what moments ended up bringing the most pride in a almost contradictory sense? [00:25:54:20 - 00:26:02:19] Speaker 1 Well, in 99, there's many tough times, but I'm thinking of 1999, [00:26:04:02 - 00:26:05:20] Speaker 1 it was Labor Day weekend, [00:26:07:13 - 00:26:09:11] Speaker 1 start picking apples in the morning [00:26:10:11 - 00:26:47:21] Speaker 1 and then this big storm came through. It wasn't a tornado, they said it was a microburst and it took trees out of, younger trees out of the ground it tipped them over, some of them broke and the crop was on the ground, there was no picking tomorrow morning. So that was kind of tough. Yeah. You know, you'd worked all summer prepared for the crop And just flies away. In just a couple minutes, it was gone. So that's kind of hard to take. [00:26:47:21 - 00:26:50:18] Speaker 2 It's actually a miniature tornado, so to speak. [00:26:50:18 - 00:27:06:02] Speaker 1 Mm-hmm, yes, they really thought it was a tornado, but then the weather officials came and it was just missing a few points from it. They had their scales. So yeah, that was kind of sad. That was in the middle of the night [00:27:07:21 - 00:27:14:02] Speaker 1 and there were barns, trees, trees down, barns down. It was tough, [00:27:14:02 - 00:27:20:09] Speaker 2 it was tough. What do you think were some of the most rewarding in almost contrast to that most rewarding? [00:27:20:09 - 00:27:30:06] Speaker 1 In farming? Well, I would say being able to keep the farm going for 200 years, that certainly is a feather in the family cap. [00:27:31:08 - 00:28:00:23] Speaker 1 We had a wonderful celebration in 2015 and we had neighbors and friends and relatives and all the relatives were there. Family was there except for Roger's niece and her two children because their grandma on the other side of the family had passed away so they, and they were in the Midwest, so they weren't there. But yeah, it's, there's many rewarding times. [00:28:02:18 - 00:28:08:02] Speaker 2 I'm sure the community in a sense is probably the most rewarding or giving back, I suppose. [00:28:08:02 - 00:28:27:14] Speaker 1 Yes, the family has given a lot to the community and they're quite humble about it. They try to be humble about it. Roger's dad, he was in New York State Council of Churches. He was chairman of Federal Reserve Bank. [00:28:28:19 - 00:29:03:17] Speaker 1 He started migrant ministry with some others but it was his idea and that is now Genesee Orlean's Ministry of Concern that's in the Presbyterian Church. So that has gone on for 60 years. So he did, that was many of the things, he did many more things but, and his brother George, he was very active in agriculture as well and he was doing many, [00:29:04:17 - 00:29:41:02] Speaker 1 not only local apple organizations but nationwide and he helped out on many things. In fact, Oak Orchard Health, he was, yeah. He kinda was the initial person with that. Spearhead and anything. Yeah, yeah. And that was probably in the late 60s maybe, I can't say for sure, but look at all the branches they have now in other places. Originally it was for the migrant help. It was for the help, summer help [00:29:42:04 - 00:30:07:04] Speaker 1 so that they could get care. Yeah, affordable and such. Yes, yes. And then it's expanded as the years went on and now it's for every, for many years it's been for everyone but initially that was their, they wanted to be sure that their help was able to get health care if they needed it without any discrimination. [00:30:08:10 - 00:30:20:02] Speaker 2 And then looking at the Lamont family throughout the years, were there any traditions, values or even a saying or a motto that guided them throughout their bicentennial, so to speak? [00:30:20:02 - 00:30:22:10] Speaker 1 I don't know about a motto. [00:30:23:11 - 00:30:31:13] Speaker 1 They were very dedicated to their farm and they worked hard for it. Dedicated to the apple industry. [00:30:33:13 - 00:30:37:12] Speaker 1 They did a lot for the community quietly. [00:30:38:14 - 00:31:07:05] Speaker 1 Yeah, they, like George started right up the road here. He started the Apple Storage Lake Ontario. We had had, we have a storage on our farm that was built in 59 and that was the first one in the county and it was very successful. So then George thought rather than having all these farmers drive to other counties or long distances with their fruit, [00:31:08:09 - 00:31:12:19] Speaker 1 if we could build this and have this organization then they could, [00:31:13:22 - 00:31:30:20] Speaker 1 for everybody, it wasn't for us, it was for all the other farmers and it's been very successful and they've had-- Clearly. Yes, they've had several additions on in that but George was very instrumental in that as well as other apple organizations. That's amazing [00:31:30:20 - 00:31:41:13] Speaker 2 and as we said a few times, 2015 marked the farm's 200th anniversary. Can you share what that day meant to you, the family and what stands out most from that celebration? [00:31:41:13 - 00:31:47:11] Speaker 1 Oh, it was a wonderful day. Not only was our family there, [00:31:49:05 - 00:31:51:13] Speaker 1 we invited neighbors, [00:31:52:21 - 00:32:11:12] Speaker 1 other farm families, friends. We had like 185 people on the yard. We had a big tent up, had a chicken barbecue and it was a wonderful occasion. It was a very happy occasion. That's amazing. Yeah, it was quite the milestone. [00:32:11:12 - 00:32:26:06] Speaker 2 And with Josiah starting this off in 1815, what are some history elements of the farm that you can tell me about or how it's expanded over time, the kind of ebbs and flows that may have occurred from its inception? [00:32:28:06 - 00:32:47:19] Speaker 1 Well, of course it expanded for Josiahs. He bought more land as soon as the canal came through and he got some money in his pocket. And he bought in the early 30s, 1830s I believe, the lot on the south side of West Transit Church between Latin and Densmore. [00:32:49:01 - 00:32:55:14] Speaker 1 And that was for his son. And that house is 1823, the brick house on the corner. [00:32:56:16 - 00:33:20:18] Speaker 1 Yes, yeah, so he had that land for him. So I think as they have prospered, they bought more land and expanded and shared it with their, as bonuses, for some of their managers. So we have several successful farmers in the area that started out as managers on our farm. That's amazing. Yeah, yeah. [00:33:20:18 - 00:33:29:18] Speaker 2 Perhaps you know or maybe don't, but this is a more curiosity thing for me. At its peak, do you know how many acres the Lamont farm would expand? [00:33:29:18 - 00:33:31:17] Speaker 1 Oh, a few thousand. Oh my God. [00:33:32:20 - 00:33:32:20] (Laughing) [00:33:32:20 - 00:33:34:00] Speaker 2 That's kind of what I anticipated. [00:33:34:00 - 00:33:34:18] Speaker 1 Yeah. [00:33:34:18 - 00:33:35:07] Speaker 2 I was curious. [00:33:35:07 - 00:33:46:08] Speaker 1 If I went in the history book, I could find out, but it was two or three. It was quite a bit. But we had land all over. We had land in Lindenville. It wasn't contiguous. [00:33:46:08 - 00:33:50:23] Speaker 2 Yeah, I can't expect it was 3,000. It would be basically the whole county. [00:33:50:23 - 00:33:53:19] Speaker 1 No, I don't think it was up to three, but it definitely was to two. [00:33:54:23 - 00:33:58:22] Speaker 1 And it wasn't contiguous, you know. MBs, same, huge. Yes. Huge. [00:33:58:22 - 00:34:22:16] Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. And the farm has embraced innovation over the years, and you can correct me if I'm wrong here, but it's introduced new ample variety, such as the now named variants to Snapdragon and Ruby Frost, along with other forms of storage, such as a controlled atmosphere storage that we mentioned. And how have you seen these changes shape the farm's role in the community and the apple industry as a whole? [00:34:24:22 - 00:34:31:09] Speaker 1 Roger started an organization with four other apple growers in New York State, [00:34:33:15 - 00:34:59:01] Speaker 1 different parts of New York State. So it was covered. It wasn't just locally here. And it has now become crunch time. And he negotiated with, this was over a period of several years, he negotiated with Cornell to buy the rights, not he, but the organization, to buy the rights for Snapdragon and Ruby Frost. And at the time they were just numbers. [00:35:00:02 - 00:35:06:08] Speaker 1 It was, they were named several years later. But yes, so that was, [00:35:08:04 - 00:35:34:03] Speaker 1 those apple trees are to be grown only in New York State. So that's a New York State apple, where many other places like Honeycrisp, it may have started in Minnesota, but it's grown all over. So they had more control of it. And it was developed by Dr. Susan Brown in Geneva Experiment Station, Cornell's Experiment Station. [00:35:35:04 - 00:35:40:07] Speaker 1 And so they were, Cornell was willing to let the group, [00:35:42:02 - 00:35:48:12] Speaker 1 I can't say have it, because Roger said we have no money to buy the rights, but he made a, [00:35:49:12 - 00:36:02:06] Speaker 1 negotiated with them where Dr. Brown gets a certain percentage and Geneva Experiment Station for apple research gets a percentage of the apples that are sold. [00:36:03:08 - 00:36:45:21] Speaker 1 And of course the research at Geneva Experiment Station, they were thrilled because Cornell was cutting their budget. And so this gave them some guaranteed money. And so that was very successful on that. And it started out with 144 growers and it included small growers. It was giving the small farmer a chance to do something bigger rather than just having big farmers being able to produce the fruit. So the smaller farmer was very interested and appreciative of it. For sure. Yeah. [00:36:47:17 - 00:36:52:18] Speaker 2 And then has the Lamont farm primarily been apples throughout its years? [00:36:52:18 - 00:37:00:06] Speaker 1 Oh no, they've had many crops. When I first came, they had probably 100 or acres of tomatoes. [00:37:01:10 - 00:37:03:17] Speaker 2 Which I know it used to be a big, big thing in the Hunts factory. [00:37:03:17 - 00:37:07:23] Speaker 1 Sure, Hunts was here. But then California, they couldn't compete with California. [00:37:08:23 - 00:37:25:17] Speaker 1 And harvesting is difficult, all handpicked. You don't wanna go through once and lose your whole crop with tomatoes. So they didn't do that too many years after I was here. They used to race cabbage. [00:37:26:19 - 00:37:31:17] Speaker 1 They had green beans, I call them string beans and yellow beans, [00:37:33:13 - 00:37:37:14] Speaker 1 crops, wheat, corn, field corn. [00:37:38:16 - 00:38:26:10] Speaker 1 I don't think we ever grew sweet corn that I'm aware of. And back when Roger was a youngster, they had feeder lambs. They would get the feeder lambs. They would come by rail to Densmore Road. And he was so excited because his grandfather would, Roger went to school on the corner of Densmore. Yes, at Densmore and West Transit Church till he was through second grade, then they centralized. Well, he loved it. Grandpa came to get me out of school and I had to help with the sheep, the lambs. And so they would raise the lambs till springtime and ship them to New York for Easter. That's amazing. Yeah, yeah. So they did that. And of course, apples all the time, they had pears. We still have sweet cherries, [00:38:27:21 - 00:38:55:23] Speaker 1 peaches. They had a lot of peaches at one time. And Grandma Belle, she sold peaches at the end of, in our driveway at the end of the sidewalk there. And they would come from all over because peaches can only be grown in a certain area because of the climate. So yeah, that was, so there's been many changes, many changes, yeah. [00:38:55:23 - 00:39:02:12] Speaker 2 And you mentioned out of curiosity, the schoolhouse on that corner right there. Do you know any of the history regarding that schoolhouse perhaps? [00:39:02:12 - 00:39:09:21] Speaker 1 No, you'd have to ask CAST about that. All I know is Roger went there and he loved it. [00:39:09:21 - 00:39:12:15] Speaker 2 Especially when he got to go out and home. [00:39:12:15 - 00:39:15:17] Speaker 1 Yeah, and he could go home for lunch. I wish. You know, [00:39:16:17 - 00:39:23:08] Speaker 1 Grandma made lemon pie. I could never make a lemon pie like Grandma's. I tried, but I could never make it like Grandma. [00:39:24:09 - 00:39:33:22] Speaker 1 But yeah, it was, he loved it and it was small. And you know, and when, yes. And then when he went to third grade up because of centralization, [00:39:35:06 - 00:39:46:15] Speaker 1 I said, well, what was a big change? And he says the cafeteria was so noisy. Oh, the magic. Yeah, you know, and they were used to either eating at school or going home or, you know. [00:39:46:15 - 00:40:09:10] Speaker 2 Just a weird change nowadays with, when I went to school, if say I had to go out to my car in the parking lot right next to the cafeteria, you can't step out of the school. They wouldn't let you do that. And so for a period of time, you were a teacher as well. There are some things that you can tell me about teaching throughout your time. Maybe a rowdy student or something. Oh, I won't get into students. [00:40:10:23 - 00:40:11:00] (Both Laughing) [00:40:11:00 - 00:40:14:10] Speaker 3 I had some from your family. They were good students. [00:40:14:10 - 00:40:15:17] Speaker 2 I can only imagine who they were. [00:40:15:17 - 00:40:17:14] Speaker 1 I had Marsha, she was the wondrous. [00:40:17:14 - 00:40:18:15] Speaker 4 She's probably the rowdiest. [00:40:18:15 - 00:40:21:01] Speaker 1 No, no, no, not at all. [00:40:22:10 - 00:40:26:15] Speaker 1 Teaching is very challenging, but it's also very rewarding. [00:40:28:21 - 00:40:32:18] Speaker 1 We have a good school system in Albion. [00:40:34:03 - 00:40:47:00] Speaker 1 The teachers care about the students. And of course, there too, times have changed. I know. Yeah, times have changed on teaching, but I enjoyed it very much, yeah. [00:40:47:00 - 00:40:58:13] Speaker 2 And kind of looking at the innovation and agriculture changing over the years, how have you balanced the preservation of tradition with embracing more modern farming methods? [00:40:59:15 - 00:41:01:07] Speaker 1 Well, you have to change with the times. [00:41:04:05 - 00:41:17:16] Speaker 2 And then with managing a farm, I kind of tapped into this earlier, but what would you argue were some of the most challenging endeavors that you and Roger ended up facing? Perhaps something in the realm of the miniature tornado in a way or other things. [00:41:17:16 - 00:41:23:02] Speaker 1 Right, I didn't manage the farm too much. He took care of that. He was in partnership with his brother, [00:41:24:08 - 00:41:26:09] Speaker 1 and his dad, but his dad died early. [00:41:27:17 - 00:41:45:12] Speaker 1 So he and George were in charge of the farm and they got along very well and they each had their own responsibilities and respected each other's views very much so. And yeah, there's always lots of challenges on the farm. [00:41:45:12 - 00:41:49:20] Speaker 2 Yeah, that's all, whether it's your best friend and worst enemy. [00:41:49:20 - 00:41:56:20] Speaker 1 Exactly, exactly. You have to depend on the weather and you have no control of it. [00:41:56:20 - 00:42:00:07] Speaker 2 No control of it. Especially with how arid this summer has. [00:42:00:07 - 00:42:15:14] Speaker 1 Oh, this summer has been really. Very bad. I don't think it's ever been quite this dry for so long. We've irrigated for many years. I can remember him irrigating 60 years ago when I came, but yes, [00:42:16:22 - 00:42:21:08] Speaker 1 it's hard. It's hard, you just don't have control of it. [00:42:22:14 - 00:42:41:09] Speaker 2 And then Albion and Orleans County have a very strong sense of neighborliness. How would you describe the flavor of small town farming life here, whether it be the neighbors that have existed on Densmore Road, such as myself as one of your neighbors, or other people in the community, how this all kind of ties together with being a farmer here? [00:42:41:09 - 00:42:51:05] Speaker 1 Right, well, in our case, the farm has been here, it seems like forever. And the neighbors, we have wonderful neighbors, [00:42:53:01 - 00:42:57:22] Speaker 1 the cast, the curbies, and they've been friends for generations. [00:42:59:11 - 00:43:20:03] Speaker 1 Generations, we're not just talking mom and dad. 20 years ago, yeah. His grandparents, his parents, he and David and Paul grew up together, our kids grew up together. There's four generations right there that I know of, and I'm sure before that, because you lived in such a small area. So yeah, [00:43:21:22 - 00:43:32:16] Speaker 1 it has been, they've been very fortunate. Very fortunate to have such nice neighbors. And everybody's willing to help each other and do things if they need, and yeah. [00:43:33:20 - 00:43:40:06] Speaker 2 Would you argue that in some ways has changed over time in some ways? Oh, of course. That people have become more secluded, I suppose? [00:43:41:07 - 00:44:10:19] Speaker 1 Secluded, I don't know about secluded. Probably there's maybe not quite as much socialization as there used to be. We have a different kind of, there are two changes, a different kind of society now, where before I think they did many things with the church. Many of them went to the same church, and they did church things together. They would get together in their homes and play cards or dinners. [00:44:12:05 - 00:44:18:12] Speaker 1 But yeah, so in that respect, probably things have changed. Gotcha. [00:44:18:12 - 00:44:32:03] Speaker 2 And then you and Roger have been part of many local projects, such as rescuing a cast iron hitching post and supporting various museum initiatives. What has driven that passion for preserving the past? [00:44:32:03 - 00:44:36:21] Speaker 1 The appreciation of history. He loved history, yeah, yeah. [00:44:36:21 - 00:44:46:11] Speaker 2 And what are some of the contributions you've made towards the Cobblestone Museum, for example, that are echoed or revealed today in some ways? [00:44:48:05 - 00:45:25:19] Speaker 1 I don't know about revealing, but they're going to be adding on here, and we participated in donating some money for that. If I find things, I bring them here and donate to the museum. I'm trying to go through a few things. You know, if they can use it. But it's an important aspect of our community and our history. And deserves to be preserved. Yes, exactly. It deserves the preservation of it. And we have such a wonderful group working with it now that's great. It's really great. [00:45:25:19 - 00:45:31:07] Speaker 2 I think I had heard you say prior to the interview that this room that we are in was on behalf of you and Roger. [00:45:31:07 - 00:45:31:19] Speaker 1 Well, [00:45:32:20 - 00:45:34:03] Speaker 1 you can skip that. [00:45:34:03 - 00:45:34:18] (Both Laughing) [00:45:35:23 - 00:45:37:07] Speaker 1 We'll be humble about that. [00:45:38:17 - 00:45:50:13] Speaker 2 And can you recall a time when the community really came together, whether it be for a celebration, such as your bicentennial or a cause, or during a challenge that you may have been facing where just people came together? [00:45:50:13 - 00:45:51:05] Speaker 1 Oh, yes. [00:45:53:16 - 00:45:57:22] Speaker 1 I would say probably about 2010, maybe. [00:45:59:09 - 00:46:07:04] Speaker 1 Roger was asked, there was a committee that called him and said, "Would you be on our committee to raise funds for a new library?" [00:46:09:11 - 00:46:10:23] Speaker 1 And he said, "Yes." [00:46:12:08 - 00:46:22:01] Speaker 1 So he was very active in that. I did some, but not as much as he did. So Roger and Dick Remley were co-chairmen of fundraising. [00:46:23:06 - 00:47:14:03] Speaker 1 And they had lots of community people. We would meet together as a committee. And there was always somebody else that wanted to help raise the money or to do it. So it was a very good community activity for everyone in the community. It wasn't just for people interested in history or for senior citizens. The library is for absolutely everyone. And I go there frequently. No, we both do. It's from little tots to senior citizens. They deliver books to shut-ins who can't get there. So they still... And the other library was difficult for people to get to, steps, heavy door and lack of space. [00:47:15:14 - 00:47:38:17] Speaker 1 It was a very major. Right, so this new library, it was a big endeavor, but it ended up being a gem in Albion. It's just a jewel. It's just wonderful. So that was a terrific endeavor that so many people participated in. It's a beautiful thing. [00:47:38:17 - 00:47:47:00] Speaker 2 The fruits of their labor are ever present today. In some ways I would argue that other than farms, a library is the backbone of a town. [00:47:47:00 - 00:48:01:10] Speaker 1 Of course, you have to have the information. And now they have computers or they put, initially they even had computers in there because so many people in this rural area didn't have computers or computer services. [00:48:01:10 - 00:48:03:10] Speaker 2 Some people don't even have wifi around here. [00:48:03:10 - 00:48:11:10] Speaker 1 Well, I thought they were working on that. But yeah, so that was certainly a community endeavor. [00:48:12:22 - 00:48:14:03] Speaker 2 So that's beautiful. [00:48:15:05 - 00:48:22:19] Speaker 2 And you spent much of your life involved in community history. What do you think makes this region in particular its heritage worth preserving? [00:48:25:06 - 00:48:31:08] Speaker 1 Well, the beauty of it, the historical part of it. We have so much wonderful history here. [00:48:32:21 - 00:48:34:11] Speaker 1 We've got a beautiful cemetery, [00:48:35:13 - 00:48:41:09] Speaker 1 1843, and we've got the Medina Stanstone Tower. [00:48:42:19 - 00:48:53:09] Speaker 1 Yeah, and I think it was your great grandma that raised money to repoint it and have it refurbished for 76. [00:48:54:16 - 00:49:05:09] Speaker 1 And so yeah, that was a great restoration. And now they're raising funds to restore the chapel, which needs to be done too. [00:49:05:09 - 00:49:17:19] Speaker 2 I got to go inside of it for the first time at the Mount Albion Cemetery Tour. It's definitely in dire need of it. And that was also the first time I got to see her name on the stained glass the right way and not backwards from the outside. [00:49:17:19 - 00:49:26:07] Speaker 1 Yes, right, right, right. Well, hopefully now when it gets restored, they'll be able to use it more and more people will be able to go in. [00:49:26:07 - 00:49:31:11] Speaker 2 I would love to see it turned into somewhat of a miniature museum in a way or some history about that. [00:49:31:11 - 00:49:35:23] Speaker 1 I don't know all their plans with it, but you can't have a building and not a good roof. [00:49:35:23 - 00:49:41:01] Speaker 2 Exactly, and I know that the funding is definitely getting towards the [00:49:41:01 - 00:49:43:08] Speaker 1 goal of their time. They'll make it, they'll make it. [00:49:44:22 - 00:49:51:06] Speaker 2 And what do you remember, because we had talked about this at one point, about the establishment of the Gans Carlton Church, perhaps. [00:49:51:06 - 00:49:57:07] Speaker 1 Oh, okay, well that goes way back to Josiah and his son Platt. [00:49:59:00 - 00:50:04:21] Speaker 1 Originally when Josiah and the neighbors met, they met in homes. [00:50:06:00 - 00:50:11:00] Speaker 1 And then in 18, I believe it was 49, [00:50:12:18 - 00:50:16:16] Speaker 1 Platt Lamont sold a plot for them to build a church. [00:50:17:16 - 00:50:23:10] Speaker 1 They wanted to build a church. And that's on West Transit Church Road. And there is a house there, [00:50:24:20 - 00:50:31:08] Speaker 1 Major Tyler's house is there. And they seem to think, they don't know exactly, or I haven't heard, [00:50:32:13 - 00:50:54:07] Speaker 1 about across the street there. So they had a church there. And then in 1865, they moved it down to the ridge because there was a little, I think, hamlet down there. And the corner of Densmore, Kent Road, and the Ridge Road. And the church still stands today. [00:50:54:07 - 00:50:55:05] Speaker 2 You can still see the tower. [00:50:55:05 - 00:51:02:12] Speaker 1 And so in the late 60s, the church, [00:51:03:20 - 00:51:28:07] Speaker 1 there was Kent Church, East Gaines Church, and the Bridges Churches, they formed a parish and they shared a minister. Well, I think this had been before then. But anyway, they decided to build a new church. And they raised funds for it, and they built on Ridge Road at the end of Brown Road, on what was the Murray property. [00:51:29:13 - 00:51:44:05] Speaker 1 And so the three churches combined and had a new church there. And then the East Gaines Church was sold, and it's an antique shop, I believe. I think you're right. Yeah. [00:51:46:04 - 00:51:55:20] Speaker 2 And this is a almost humorous question, but if you could transport someone back to Albion during your earlier years here, what would you want them to see, hear, and experience? [00:51:57:08 - 00:51:57:13] Speaker 1 Well, [00:51:58:22 - 00:52:02:12] Speaker 1 enjoy the beauty of the land. [00:52:03:17 - 00:52:12:05] Speaker 1 We've got the lake, the canal, wonderful historical places. We got a lot of history here, beautiful churches. [00:52:13:07 - 00:52:13:12] Speaker 1 Yeah. [00:52:14:14 - 00:52:22:00] Speaker 2 And looking back, what do you consider to be your greatest personal success? Not just in farming, preservation, but throughout your life? [00:52:22:00 - 00:52:25:01] Speaker 1 Oh, the kids, family. That's the right answer. Yeah. [00:52:26:04 - 00:52:28:05] Speaker 1 You hope that they've done fine. [00:52:30:04 - 00:52:35:23] Speaker 1 But you hope for your children to do well. And there are times you questioned it when they were small. [00:52:39:09 - 00:52:49:02] Speaker 2 And what do you hope that future generations of your family and here of Albion or Orleans County as a whole will remember about you and Roger and the Lamont family heritage? [00:52:49:02 - 00:52:56:19] Speaker 1 Oh, well, not me. They probably won't remember people so much as hopefully they will remember [00:52:59:11 - 00:53:01:17] Speaker 1 Genesee Orlean's migrant ministry, [00:53:04:20 - 00:53:09:20] Speaker 1 Orlean's community health, the storage up here on the ridge. [00:53:11:20 - 00:53:14:15] Speaker 1 Helping to preserve history, [00:53:16:04 - 00:53:18:07] Speaker 1 the library. Yeah. [00:53:20:12 - 00:53:22:05] Speaker 1 Roger also worked on, [00:53:23:14 - 00:53:25:23] Speaker 1 that was quite early in our marriage. [00:53:27:08 - 00:54:01:12] Speaker 1 He worked with a committee on changing our government in the county from supervisors to legislators because the people weren't equally represented. And they went before a judge in Buffalo and he was the one that made the decision. So now I believe there's four legislatures and or four districts I mean, and three at large. So everyone is equally represented and not just the bigger towns. [00:54:03:00 - 00:54:15:00] Speaker 1 So hopefully those are things that have been accomplished here and not necessarily with your name on it. They were humble about things. They liked helping others. [00:54:16:08 - 00:54:42:08] Speaker 1 Like George with the Apple Storage and Roger with the apples, he wasn't, they were not doing it for their own personal benefit. They were doing it for the other apple growers or other people like the health concerns and migrant ministry and things. So they were, and they were humble about it. Yeah, you didn't know about it and yeah. [00:54:42:08 - 00:54:44:20] Speaker 2 More for their posterity, the community. [00:54:44:20 - 00:54:47:20] Speaker 1 Yeah, they wanted to help others. That's what was, [00:54:49:00 - 00:54:49:07] Speaker 1 yeah. [00:54:49:07 - 00:54:55:05] Speaker 2 And how would you like the Lamont Farm story to be told 50 or even a hundred years from now? [00:54:55:05 - 00:54:57:14] Speaker 1 Oh my God. Well, I won't be here. [00:55:00:06 - 00:55:00:07] (Both Laughing) [00:55:00:07 - 00:55:08:00] Speaker 1 Oh dear. Well, I think it's maybe not our story but it would be the agricultural story. [00:55:08:00 - 00:55:12:23] Speaker 2 Definitely, kind of woven into that framework or the tapestry of Orleans County. [00:55:12:23 - 00:55:20:14] Speaker 1 Right, right. I mean, that's the biggest employer I believe is agriculture in this county. So it should be appreciated. [00:55:22:03 - 00:55:33:12] Speaker 2 My last question for you is what advice would you give to young people growing up in Orleans County today with everything you've seen and the changes that have occurred? What do you think would be the most important thing for them to remember? [00:55:36:13 - 00:55:38:20] Speaker 1 I think you have to have a positive attitude [00:55:40:03 - 00:55:54:11] Speaker 1 and appreciate what's here. And sometimes it's hard to appreciate what's around you until you go someplace else and see, and then maybe you do appreciate home more than you did before. [00:55:55:12 - 00:56:23:13] Speaker 1 Lots of perseverance and willing to take a chance maybe to do something else or try something else. It's not easy, it's not easy. And there are two times have changed where it's very difficult like to start a business. You need so much money and it doesn't mean you're going to make it. So there's a lot of perseverance to do with it but you have to have a positive attitude. [00:56:23:13 - 00:56:24:15] Speaker 4 Definitely. [00:56:24:15 - 00:56:35:19] Speaker 2 Well, that concludes the questions that I have for you. Are there any things that you'd like to share with the audience or any stories, anecdotes? I know that you brought the Lamont Farm History book with you as well. [00:56:35:19 - 00:56:37:17] Speaker 3 Oh, that was my crutch if I eat it. [00:56:39:21 - 00:56:39:23] (Laughs) [00:56:39:23 - 00:56:43:10] Speaker 1 Stories to share. Ooh, I shouldn't touch that. [00:56:45:03 - 00:56:49:01] Speaker 1 Let me see. Well, we were talking about the library. [00:56:50:15 - 00:56:52:05] Speaker 1 Well, they were having, [00:56:53:05 - 00:57:01:06] Speaker 1 doing the fundraising and it was coming along nicely but they hadn't reached their goal of 900, [00:57:02:06 - 00:57:06:04] Speaker 1 999,000, whatever it was, but it was just under a million. [00:57:07:18 - 00:57:17:21] Speaker 1 And it was holiday time. So we had a Christmas party for the immediate committee and their spouses. [00:57:19:08 - 00:57:27:03] Speaker 1 So Roger had just received from John Sawyer his pledge of 200,000. [00:57:28:21 - 00:57:33:02] Speaker 1 And Mike McFarland had received, [00:57:34:14 - 00:57:46:13] Speaker 1 he had initially had a pledge from the Huyg's, Maurice and Courtney Huyg. And then he received another pledge for him for 250. [00:57:47:19 - 00:57:53:20] Speaker 1 So we went way over, we were over a million then. Oh, that was a happy evening. [00:57:53:20 - 00:57:54:15] (Laughs) [00:57:54:15 - 00:58:01:21] Speaker 1 It was wonderful. And the Huyg's have been very, very generous, very generous. [00:58:03:00 - 00:58:51:20] Speaker 1 We had a mortgage, I mean, we had the initial million plus and then they had a mortgage and I think it was like a 35 year mortgage and we paid it off in 10 years thanks to the Huyg's because they would send a nice check occasionally, maybe every other year and they've given up to a million dollars for that library. So they came, so the library had no mortgage after 10 years. They paid for that gem in 10 years thanks to the Huyg. And many other people, I don't say that, but they were the largest contributors and they don't live here any longer. They're in Maryland and look at how they, he appreciated his past and he comes back every year. [00:58:51:20 - 00:58:54:00] Speaker 2 He was at the museum about a week or something. [00:58:54:00 - 00:59:11:22] Speaker 1 Oh was he? I missed him this year, I saw him last year. I would have loved to have seen him. But it's people like that that really, really help the community. So you never know what someone like you, what you will do in 30 years. [00:59:13:03 - 00:59:13:08] Speaker 1 Yeah. Yeah. [00:59:13:08 - 00:59:15:17] Speaker 2 It may not be a huge monetary contribution. [00:59:15:17 - 00:59:17:18] Speaker 1 Well that's not the only kind of contribution. [00:59:17:18 - 00:59:18:08] Speaker 2 It'll be something. [00:59:18:08 - 00:59:51:23] Speaker 1 Yeah, that's not the only kind of contribution. The other contributions are worth it. It's just that Maurice and Courtney were out of state and that's something that they could do to help from his past. So otherwise we'd still be paying off the mortgage in interest galore. And he always sent it with, he didn't want any kind of publicity about it, put it towards the mortgage. Yeah, he was very specific. Yeah, put it towards, yeah, he was very, [00:59:53:12 - 00:59:57:19] Speaker 1 you knew about it, but he didn't want it blown up on the hub every time. [00:59:57:19 - 00:59:58:13] Speaker 2 Huge recognition. [00:59:58:13 - 01:00:07:23] Speaker 1 No, no. And stuff like that. He too, very humble, very humble. So yeah, that was wonderful. So that was a really fun evening celebrating that. [01:00:09:11 - 01:00:09:12] (Laughing) [01:00:09:12 - 01:00:31:20] Speaker 1 Yeah, and of course we've had lots of fun times with the kids and the family and our children are all out of state and grandchildren, so I miss that. But when they come home, it's great to hear the fun and laughter and chatter in the house. It just-- Oh, I can only imagine. It just wakes up the house. Whole new atmosphere to it. Yeah, it's terrific, it's terrific. And they know their heritage. [01:00:33:23 - 01:00:35:12] Speaker 2 Well, is there anything else that you'd like to share? [01:00:35:12 - 01:00:37:04] Speaker 1 No, I think I've done enough. [01:00:37:04 - 01:00:41:08] Speaker 2 That's all good. Thank you so much for coming by today, Ingrid. We appreciate it more than you could [01:00:41:08 - 01:00:44:16] Speaker 1 possibly know. Thank you, I'm the newcomer, so. [01:00:45:20 - 01:00:45:21] (Laughing) [01:00:45:21 - 01:00:48:13] Speaker 2 The newcomer that's been here for over 60 years. [01:00:48:13 - 01:00:52:19] Speaker 3 Not over, 60. This was the 60th year. [01:00:52:19 - 01:00:57:15] Speaker 1 Yeah, no, I've loved living in Albion, so it's been nice. [01:00:57:15 - 01:00:59:05] Speaker 2 Well, thank you so much for your time. [01:00:59:05 - 01:01:06:10] Speaker 1 You're very welcome. Appreciate your interest for being a young man, your interest in history and what you're doing. That's great. [01:01:06:10 - 01:01:06:10]