Community Support for Rebuilding the Turner Barn

Updates on Fundraising and Barn Rebuilding

Welcome to Simplicity Farm!

Simplicity Farm milkhouse.

Broad view of the area where the collapsed barn once stood.

Progress is made with the concrete pour for footings for the building.

The concrete is going to take several days to cure.

Once the concrete is cured, construction can begin.

Paul Hartshorn makes his first delivery of lumber that he has been sawing for the past week in his lumber mill.

Fred Viens' excavator is ready to be called into service once the concrete is cured and backfilling can begin.

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Welcome to Simplicity Farm!

The photos above were taken by Amalia Elena Veralli.

4/14/2007  The weather is just NOT making this project any easier!  The ceiling is in and the interior walls have been sheathed.  External clapboarding is on hold until the weather clears up a little.  There is a heater in the new barn to thaw out any remaining frost in the ground so that the concrete floor can be poured next week...weather permitting of course.

4/5/2007  Happy yellow pot...looking for it's owner!  If this is your pot...the Turners want to make sure it gets back home :-)  Please call Marion if this is your pot.  496-3743.

3/26/2007  Building Construction Update - Last week the sheet metal roof was installed on the barn after struggling with snow accumulation and the on-going efforts to remove the snow from the roof.  The work crew also put plywood on the gable end of the barn and framed the eaves and rakes.  This week will focus on installing all of the trim and the clapboards time permitting.  The trim and soffit materials were painted over the past weekend in Sparky Potters shop at Wood and Wood.  Sparky, Ned Kelley, Carol and Charlie Hosford did the painting.

3/19/2007  Fundraising Update - Fundraising has been successfully completed!  The Building replacement fund has raised over $28,000 (this includes the challenge grants we received from Preservation Trust of Vermont for $5,000 and from the MRV Community Fund for $5,000).  Currently the expenses for the barn rebuilding are around $25,000 so there should be ample cushion for any unanticipated costs.

St. Dunstan's Church along with the Warren Church and the Waitsfield UCC have provided monies they have collected directly to the Turner family to help with animal replacement and other expenses not covered by insurance.

There are still a few fundraising activities going on.  The valley elementary schools are raising funds to pay to the care of the cows who were displaced when the barn collapsed and a portion of the registration fees for the Sugarbush Triathalon will be donated to the community fund for the Barn Replacement Fund. 

3/16/2007 Trusses arrive and the crews rush to beat the snowstorm that is anticipated for tonight!  Here is Charlie's report:

To our surprise the trusses actually arrived today....they got unloaded and got erected. It was one of those days that started out slow and ended up being incredibly productive. Ky Koitzsch showed up with his crane truck as the Canadian trucker unloaded the last truss and we started placing trusses before noon and had them all in place before 2:00PM.

Marion Turner prepared a fabulous lunch for 7 people and we followed the lunch spread with another push to get the 2X4 strapping on the roof. By 5:30pm we had the roof strapping in place and covered the roof with a tarp to deal with the oncoming snow.

We simply could not have done it without a fabulous crew of talented carpenters....Bryan Neill, Todd Keller, Mike Russo, Robert Riversong, Ky Koitzsch and Johnny Summers. We had a lot of fun....and the barn now looks like a barn which has Doug and Joe Turner believing that it is really going to happen. We will install the metal roof as soon as it stops snowing...probably next week.

Amalia Veralli was there taking lots of photos and Phil Herbison of Stowe was there shooting videotape/film for a documentary film about farms.  

3/13/2007 A truckload of organic hay arrives from Canada and makes for an exciting morning!  Here is Charlie's report:

The 1000 bales of hay that arrived from Canada early this morning could not negotiate the Turner Farm driveway and ended up stuck across Rt 100 blocking traffic for about 45 minutes. A logging truck came along and pulled the hay truck back onto Rt 100 and he parked on the North Fayston Road and we unloaded the 1000 bales of hay into small pickup trucks (3) and drove them to the Turner Farm. It took all morning instead of a couple of hours.

Marion served a great lunch of beef stew and biscuits made by Dottie Lawliss with lots of deserts from Cooking From the Heart. We had a 4 man crew (Bryan Neill, John Dillon, Peter Hans and Mike Russo) to make the final preparations for the erection of the trusses which should take place on Friday. Everything is moving forward very nicely and with any luck we may have a roof on sometime this weekend...weather permitting.

3/10/2007  Valley youth groups showed up at the Turner Farm in force today to stain the clapboards that will soon grace the outside of the new barn.  In all there were about 25 teenagers, adults, and a dog put to work on the farm.  Here is Charlie's report: 

The team stained all the clapboards for the barn, moved a lot of snow to prepare for the trusses, dug a drainage ditch away from the barn and helped Doug shovel a few tons of sawdust into the storage bin for cow bedding. The participants were from the Warren and Waitsfield United Church of Christ Youth groups and from Green Mountain Valley School. Bisbee Hardware donated all the red barn stain, brushes and rollers and Valley Rent-All donated the tent heaters and propane to keep the barn warmfor the paint crew. Vince and Diane Gauthier organized a a great hot dog and hamburger cookout complete with brownies and spectacular whole milk from the Turner's bulk tank. Marion , Doug and Joey gave a little history lesson about the farm and explained the basics of what it takes to run an organic dairy farm. You need not apply unless you can get up at 5:00AM every morning and work until 7:00PM at night! That includes weekends and holidays. (Susan Roy took some videotape of the event for Ch. 44).  Check out the photos from today by clicking here.

The trusses should be here by Thursday and the crew plans to set them on Friday. According to Charlie, they probably have a day of prep work before the trusses arrive which they hope to do on Wednesday.  Doug has a truck with a 1000 bales of organic hay arriving on Tuesday (he hopes) and Charlie told him we would get a crew of guys/gals together to help him unload the truck and stack it in the barn.  So, if anyone can help on Tuesday, please call Charlie Hosford.

3/9/2007  The American Flatbread Benefit Bake was a HUGE SUCCESS with 366 people eating lots of Flatbreads and raising over $800 for the Building Fund including donations collected in the donation jar at Flatbread on Friday and Saturday nights.  Thanks to everyone who waited the two hours (at times) to get seated!

3/5/2007  Framing was done today and INCREDIBLE progress was made!  As this point the building is done to the point where the trusses are needed.  They are on order and should be in shortly.  And, on the workcrew food front...the meals continue to be amazing!  Click here for more construction photos from today.

3/3/2007  Charlie and Bryan Neill met in the morning at Allen Lumber to determine the materials needed based on the drawings Charlie made for the barn reconstruction. Many of the materials will be delivered early Monday morning at the site and Steve and Jason from Russ Bennet's crew will be there to start the construction. The trusses will be ordered on Monday by Allen Lumber.

Ed Turner (see photo above) and Charlie shoveled the snow out of the barn area so they can move in and out freely. Doug was there trying to remove a cow from the barn that had died this morning...her calf had died inside her and poisoned the mother!  Charlie said what we all know, "Wow...farming is not an easy life by any measure that I know of."

3/2/2007 Those of you who went to the meeting last week at the Three Mountain Cafe might remember when Doug spoke about one of their cows who survived the catastrophe, but was severely injured.  At the time of the meeting  Doug was not sure that the cow, Ellen would make it.  We got great news today!  Ellen has stood up on her own and is now receiving acupuncture treatments!

More GREAT news on the Building Fund fundraising front!  We have achieved our first goal of $10,000 ($11,315 to be exact) raised (received and pledged donations) to earn the Preservation Trust Grant of $5,000.  And, just when we started wondering how we were going to raise the remaining $10,000 to meet the estimated $25,000 cost of  materials the Mad River Valley Community Fund has offered another $5,000 matching grant that will earn $1 for every $1 raised.  In order to assure contributions are applied to the Mad River Valley Challenge Grant, be sure to send your donation check into the Mad River Valley Community Fund (make checks payable to the MRV Community Fund and mark them for the Turner Barn) PO Box 353, Waitsfield, VT   05673.

3/1/2007 Today's work crew was blessed with warm (t-shirt) weather and a delicious lunch of beef stroganoff.  The crew  backfilled the entire foundation...compacted it and they are ready to start the framing.  Freddie Viens spent the entire day helping with his excavator.  Kingsbury Construction loaned the crew 3 power compactors which were invaluable. Thursday's crew included Jay Kearns, Fayston, Karl Klien, Waitsfield, Fred Melanoski, Moretown, and Ned Kelley, Fayston and according to foreman Hosford (tee hee hee) they were an excellent crew of guys.  Charlie also reported that he spoke with Ward Clapborad Mill in Moretown and they will donate all the clapboards needed for the barn. Vince Gauthier has arranged for the church youth group prestain them.  This will be a super project for a group of caring kids and a great help to the project. The youth group will also do a hot dog roast for the crew on a weekend.

2/28/2007 Carol Hosford sells $900 of American Flatbread seconds at the State House.  A lot of people are getting a pizza the action!  Yuk Yuk!

2/27/2007 The concrete forms were removed and the concrete is very green. It will need to cure for another day or two.

2/26/2007 The concrete footings were poured on Monday and will need 48 hours to cure.  Once cured, backfilling can begin.

2/23/2007  We have received a $5,000 CHALLENGE GRANT from the Preservation Trust of Vermont.  For every $2 we raise for the barn rebuilding, the Preservation Trust of Vermont will give us $1 up to $5,000 total.  (When I say "us" I mean the community effort to help the Turners rebuild their barn.)  This means that if we raise $10,000 we will get the full $5,000.  Money donated to the barn rebuilding fund or to the St. Dunstan's general fund that is designated by the Turners to go toward the barn rebuilding, will count toward the $10,000 we need to receive the challenge grant money. 

The meeting last night was fantastic.  Matriarch Marion Turner, farm owners Doug and Sharon Turner and Doug's brother Edward were on hand and talked about their farm, why they are going organic and what it has taken to get there, why they have a registered herd and what that means, and they also talked about the morning of the disaster.  And, of course, they were all extremely appreciative of the work being done by the community. 

2/22/2007  The insurance adjuster was out to the Turner farm today and confirmed what was already suspected.  Unfortunately the auger could not get through the ground to drill the holes for the columns so yesterday Fred Viens and crew came in with their front-end loader to dig footings for the columns for the building.  Today forms are being constructed to pour the concrete footings for the building.  Paul Hartshorn continues to saw lumber for the project.

2/20/2007  From Charlie Hosford...I met with Bryan Neill at the Turner Farm yesterday afternoon along with Ed Read to layout the new building and get ready to dig the holes for setting the columns for the new building. Ed has a 30" dia. auger that he uses in his landscape business that we hope will work. We start digging the holes tomorrow morning at 8:00AM if all goes according to plan.  Paul Hartshorn will start sawing framing lumber for the barn walls tomorrow at his saw mill.

2/20/2007  Charlie says that he talked with Carol Hosford (House Rep for the Mad River Valley) she says it does not look good for getting special financial aid for building failures from the current $3.2 agriculture bill.  It would have to be a new bill.

• Updated 2/19/2007 Donation Jars are being placed throughout the valley and beyond.  You can find a donation cans at Three Mountain Cafe, Mehurons, Shaws, and Appearances Salon along with other locations in the Valley and at the Hunger Mountain Coop in Montpelier.  Donation cans are being coordinated by Julie Pease/St. Dunstan's church.  If you collect donations at your business, call Julie at 496-9686 on how to get the money to the St. Dunstan's donation fund. 

• Updated 2/19/2007 Troy Kingsbury at the Village Grocery is donating to the Turners $0.50 for every gallon of milk sold.

• Fundraisers  We will begin working on organizing a fundraiser.  If you have any thoughts on the fundraiser or if you would like to help out with it, please contact Robin McDermott at 496-3567. 

If you know of other activities that are going on to help the Turners, it would be great to coordinate our efforts.  Please contact Robin McDermott and let her know 496-3567 so that we can get word out.