Thanks to Sandy FranceHere’s a pic from the early 50’s of a parade before the donkey baseball. Jim Brown of Strathburn dairy is holding the donkey and Thorpe Kelly of Peterson’s Ice Cream is riding the donkey. The event was sponsored by the Almonte Lions Club.–
Tom EdwardsLOL Ray Paquette I was just reading this and I remember a donkey baseball game at the park, maybe around 1970
Tom Edwards I remember donkey baseball too! I think it was a Civitan Club event.
Pete ReanTom Edwards YEP I REMEMBER US PUTTING IT ON A COUPLE OF TIMES IT WAS SO MUCH FUN
STRATHBURN DAIRY J. M. BROWN. ALMONTE. on Reverse Good for 1 Quart of Milk “
Sept 1971
One of Almonte’s oldest businesses. Strathburn Dairy, which has been owned and operated by James M. Brown and family for the past 27 years, has been sold to Mr. Fred Veenstra of Maple Leaf Dairy, Carleton Place. The sale became effective on September 15th. Customers are asked to note that deliveries will continue uninterrupted by the same route salesmen and delivery schedules will remain unchanged as well. The only change will be the addition of a weekly special presently being offered by Maple Leaf Dairy. For a time Mr. Veenstra will operate under the name Strathburn Maple Leaf Dairy. He purchased the Carleton Place operation January 1st of this year and prior to that was the distributor of Borden products in that area. Mr. Brown will continue to operate Strathburn Farm and his 20 head dairy cattle business. He purchased the business on August 1st, 1944 from Mr. Fred Forsythe who bought it from Mr. Archie Rosamond. It is believed to have been in the Wylie family prior to that, it has always been called Strathburn Farm.
Fred Veenstra
Throughout the years that I frequented the Maple Leaf Dairy, the chips began to be a little past their expiry date, and some things developed a film of dust over them, but that didn’t matter as you went there for Fred. Fred told me he had bought the building from Bill Rintoul in 1970 and at one point he had six drivers delivering through the area- even as far as Bells Corners and Stittsville. But, as we both discussed, sometimes you need to make changes in your business and Mike McNeely took over the delivery business in the 1980s, but Fred kept the store.
The Maple Leaf Dairy was open from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. each day, and no matter what time you went in Fred was standing behind the cash with a smile. I could never understand why he never married as he was a good looking man and always had a kind word and a smile. Sometimes he would hand out a dollar or two to those who needed it, and sometimes he would wave his hand in the air telling someone to pay him when they could. A more humbler generous man you could not find anywhere in the town of Carleton Place.
Sometimes he would laugh at my incessant playing of the lottery- but that was just between me and him. The day I heard of his death from liver cancer I cried- and after that I stayed on my side of the river to play my lotto. I knew how hard it was to run a business and thought Fred had deserved a whole lot better. But, even though I did not get to say goodbye to Fred I knew it was not forever, and it was definitely not the end. It simply meant that I would miss him until we meet again.
In memory of Fred Veenstra from the Maple Leaf Dairy
Fred Veenstra
(Died December 30, 2010)- Barker Funeral Home
Peacefully in hospital, Carleton Place, Ontario on Thursday, December 30, 2010.
Photo from- Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum.
Maple Leaf Dairy -249 Bridge Street Carleton Place–Joann Voyce added When this picture was taken this was Langtry’s Dairy/ The building to the right was the Beer Store–
Jayne Graham Best ice cream cones..
Dawn Jones Fred Veenstra. Such a nice man. Always so helpful.
Angie MacDonald Cromlich Fred was a nice fella. I looked very forward to stopping by, whether it be with mom, my grandma, or running over from my aunt and uncle’s house that was across the street – I would walk in with a couple quarters and walk out with a bag full of penny candies. He was also open Christmas Day. Our family tradition was sharing scratch tickets….. The adults would have us kids running back and forth to buy more scratch tickets with our “winnings”. Ron MacDonald
Jo-Anne Drader Nelson On a Friday night all the kids in town would be on a mission. It was movie night at the Townhall. First stop was The Dairy. Kids would be lined out the door. We would all take turns choosing our penny candies from behind the counter. Fred would put them in small paper bags. You could get a lot of candy for a few cents back then.
Sandy Hudson Had many an ice cream from there!
Beth Sweeney I worked at the Maple Leaf Dairy when I was a very young teen (50 cents/hr) scooping icecream, making milkshakes. I don’t consume either of these to this day. Too exhausting selling so many for so long! Fun times tho! Bill Rintoul was the owner way back then. He kept alot of us neighbourhood kids employed over the years. Good memories.
Rick Redmond I remember a couple of the girls that worked there. From scooping ice cream, over time, their right arms got very strong, and they could beat a lot of guys at arm wrestling.
I’ve been looking for a Strathburn dairy bottle from Almonte for sometime now , today with help from Taylor Code and Ryan Goode we were able to find a few shards of some 
definitely nice to have these untill I can get an intact one. Adin Daigle
Unexpected Almonte
Strathburn Farm & Dairy, #Almonte. Phone 128W
The photo shows two horse-drawn dairy wagons, courtesy George Brown & Ian H. MacLean, who sent me photos & info, thank you!
Strathburn Dairy was located to the north of Malcolm and Strathburn Streets’ intersection, and was notable for Guernsey milk, which has more butterfat than milk from Holsteins.
The Dairy was started by the Rosamond Woollen Mill (date unknown). It was purchased by George Brown’s father, JM Brown, in 1944. Fifty-six head of cattle, a combination of Guernsey and Holstein, were milked twice daily. JM Brown was a Master Breeder and showed his cows in fall fairs including the Ottawa Winter Fair.
All milk cans and bottles were washed by hand. Tickets or tokens were used by customers to purchase milk. Cream was also sold. The dairy also had two DeLaval pasteurizers, an oil-fired steam boiler, a cream separator and homogenizers. In 1953, Strathburn Dairy put their first truck on a route. In 1956, the second and eventually a third truck. These were open pickup trucks. Any photos of these out there? Anyone?
Photo credits for bottle, bottle cap and token pics go to the North Lanark Regional Museum, thank you! Strathburn Dairy had specific tokens for Guernsey milk (brown below). The heart-shaped tokens were for Holstein milk
Distant Cousin of… the Dairy Distillery, in Almonte! 
Strathburn Farm
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TBT -20 years ago.
STRATHBURN DESTINY’S SARAH
First prize four year old . Senior & Grand champion World Dairy Expo. She was Best Udder of the show, Total Performance winner & Production award.
Sold to the late Allan Barr as a 2 year old, she would be the last of many Madison Champions for Woodland View. She also won her class as a 3 year old & was Intermediate Champion & Reserve Champion.
After being sold in the Woodland View dispersal, she would return to Madison under new owner Jason Clark & win her class for the 3rd consecutive year & be named Reserve Grand Champion.
While not the biggest cow on the show circuit at the time , her incredible udder set her appart, winning best udder of the show at both WDE & the Royal.
No “genomics”, no “fancy numbers”, simply a great dairy cow
Strathburn Farm
Memories of Fred Veenstra and Gummy Bears — Elizabeth Edwards Smith
Treasured Memories of Fred and the Maple Leaf Dairy
What did you Buy at The Dairy?
lindaseccaspina 
Hi Linda
This is really sad. I had this in my email and was saving to read at a later date.
Fred always had my Saturday Ottawa Citizen for me on Sundays. I would often not get out to get it the day before. Back in 2000.
He was a wonderful person. May he rest in peace.
Bonnie
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