Billings Farm Vermont is the place to be for me...

  Having grown up on a Vermont farm, 75 year old Jim Ide he has a lifelong love of animals and farming. Finding work off the farm more lucrative, he spent most of his career in the industrial area.  He worked the longest as a mill wright – working with large industrial machinery.  After “retiring”, he decided he wanted to stay active.  Following his love of cows, he joined the staff at the Billings Farm & Museum, Woodstock, Vermont, one of the great operating dairy farms in America and a museum of Vermont’s rural past.  He has been working at Billings Farm & Museum for the past 9 years as an Interperter.   

 

Jim looks at his next passage as, “I came back for the cows.  I grew up on a farm, went into regular business and retired.  But now I am back to the farm.  I like the cows.”

 

“He is happy to be working with the animals at the Farm and the animals love him, too”, according to Susan Plump, Billings Farm.


Comments (7)

Said this on 11-24-2008 At 07:44 am
ONE OF MY FAVORITE PROGRAMS ON T.V. IS "SUNRISE EARTH" AND THIS MORNING IT FEATURED BILLINGS FARM. WHAT A TREAT. I AM A 72 YR OLD ARTIST IN BRITISH COLUMBIA AND HAVE A WONDERFUL MEMORY OF THE OLD FARMS IN ALBERTA WITH THE WONDERFUL ANIMALS ETC. THIS PROGRAM REVIVED THE OLD SOUNDS THAT UNFORTUNATELY, MANY CHILDREN TODAY WILL NEVER KNOW.
Anne
Said this on 11-24-2008 At 05:05 pm
I love this article! My grandpa is amazing...and so is Billings Farm and Museum!! :]
Carolyn Worthington
Said this on 11-24-2008 At 06:24 pm
Your grandpa IS amazing! I interviewed and photographed him and he is very, very special! He definitely inspires people of all ages! The Billings Farm is truly a special place.
Rachel Bertrand
Said this on 11-25-2008 At 07:05 am
You're great Grandpa Jim! So glad to see you're enjoying your "retirement".
patience
Said this on 11-25-2008 At 08:54 am
one of Mr. Ide's earliest American relatives was willed some cows in Massachusetts in the 1640s....."I give unto Nathaneell the sonn of my sonninlaw Nicolas Ide my browne heifer and my two steere Calves "

must be in the genes.... love ya Dad !!!
Mary Beth
Said this on 11-25-2008 At 01:06 pm
While growing older can be unpleasant for some of us, this article demonstrates how our retired population is really living history. In Mr. Ide's case, he was fortunate enough to work with some of the "older folks" in a variety of fields when he was young. He has quite a bit of Vermont history to offer in addition to his extensive knowledge of dairy farming. Those of us who visit Billings farm (and/or happen to be his family) are very lucky to benefit from Mr. Ide's life experience in Vermont.
Judy
Said this on 11-25-2008 At 04:38 pm
'Grampa's Farm' holds many great memories for my son and I as we visited over the years. Grampa Jim was even the focus of a fourth grade essay on a 'special person'. You're famous! Great article.
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