The Walworthians, Allen, Joan and Doug
The Walworthians
A collection of telephone interviews published in the Wayne County STAR Newspaper and Wayne County MAIL Newspaper, 1994-209
by Kate Chamberlin
“The most enjoyable aspect of gathering information for my weekly column “Cornucopia” for 15 years was conducting telephone interviews with People living in our community who put the accent on worth. Although these have been published in public domain newspapers, Thank you, again, for sharing your hopes for our town, dreams for its future, disappointments with government issues, the early history of our town and their families, and the experiences of entrepreneurship to establish businesses in our small, rural town in upstate New York.
–Kate Chamberlin
The Walworthians
Copyright (C) July 20, 2017
By Kate Chamberlin
Joan and Doug Allen
August 31, 1995, Wayne County STAR Newspaper
Nothing tastes more like summer than tender, juicy corn on the cob. Many people like it salted, peppered and dripping butter on each succulent kernel. I prefer mine au natural!
Joan and Doug Allen have set up a self-serve produce stand next to Quik-Fill on Route 441. Beware, though. The early shoppers get the corn on the cob!
“If the corn is absolutely perfect with no bug or worm traces,” Joan explained.” then the farmer has really drenched the corn with chemicals. We try to find a happy medium between keeping the worms out and a safe-to-eat ear of corn.”
Joan attended Pal-mac Schools while growing up on the farm her grandfather, Arthur Lawrence, began in 1927. Joan’s dad, Harlan, took over working the farm in 1951.
“They were doing a lot of muck farming,” Joan said. “My dad got into dairy cows until ’68. Then he went to snap beans and a variety of other crops for large processors.”
Joan has a degree from Wells College in Math and Physics, but when she and Doug were married in 1983, they knew they wanted to stay in farming.
Doug attended Brockport for several years. He’d been raised on his parent’s farm and worked on several other farms. It was in his blood, too.
While Joan worked in the telephone industry for several years, Doug worked on her father’s farm. They became partners with Harlan and Joan’s mother, Charleen. (Harlan passed away this April.)
In 1988, they set up a road-side produce stand on Route 350. (It was just north of the flat area right near where 350 takes a sharp turn toward the west; where the road slicks over with ice in the winter.) It was a very nice stand with a semi-circle drive-in area and, of course, the best corn on the cob in town! When the wind blew it down in ’92, they began another one on Eddy Road.
“My nephew wanted to sell something,” Joan laughed. “So we put up a card table and gave him some corn and other produce. It was on the corner of Eddy Road and Gananda Parkway. He named it Joey’s Sweet Corner. A lot of people still remember it!”
One thing led to another and the Allen’s put up a Quonset hut across from Joey’s to continue selling directly to consumers.
While they own the farm, they lease space from Stevens and Stanton for the Rte. 441 produce stand.
Joan calls her husband a Man of Vision. He not only has to try to out-guess the commodities market to support his family, but he has come up with a lot of fun ideas to share the farm with others.
In October, the farm is transformed into a Pumpkin Village. Life-sized Pumpkin people are put up in storybook settings. Visitors are challenged to identify the story.
On weekends, a hay ride is available to take you through the Pumpkin Village.
A maze is constructed out of 900 bales of straw. It is a fun challenge for visitors of all ages.
This year’s new challenge is a living maze carved out of grasses that are nearly 6-feet tall.
“The kids do just fine,” Joan chuckled. “It’s the adults who get lost in the maze and can’t get out! I send in my kids to bring out the bewildered bodies.”
Their children Linsey (9), Sarah (7) and Audrey (2) are integral parts of this family farm. An old “hit or miss” engine #27 is hooked up to an ice cream maker. Doesn’t a hay ride through the Pumpkin Village as you savor home-made ice cream sound good?
The Allens sponsor a Pumpkin Carrying Contest. For a nominal entrance fee, the two-person team that caries the most pumpkins, can keep them. The money raised is donated to Gananda’s Dollars for Scholars.
“We have farm implements for kids to climb on and have their photo taken, or they can enjoy the animals in our petting pen or just soak up the feel of living on a farm like grandma did.” Joan remarked.
Families, school groups, scout groups and church classes are always welcomed. It cost a dollar each for the hay ride and the maze, but everything else is free.
Long Acres Farms is located at 1432 Eddy Road, Macedon. Phone: 986-7730 or 986-4202.
In the meantime, watch for the sign on the Rte. 441 road side stand that says “Corn today.”
You’ll be second in line!
kgc Up-Date: Long Acres Farm is still going strong. Of course, the children are all grown-up, but they often return to help out during the open season. They’ve enclosed the former covered patio area which opens up the fresh produce displays. The ice cream is available inside or at the outside window. I like to take my extra thick, double malted milk shake to the open gazebo to enjoy it along with my family and the sounds of the children on the bounce pillow, naaing of the goats, and camaraderie of a close community. Okay, okay. Tasting their new line of wines in the wine tasting room is also enjoyable for the adults.
Thanks again, Joan and Doug, for being Walworthians with the accent on worth.