NEWBROOK – On Friday, June 20 Glenn and Donna Toronchuk were formally recognized as a provincial Century Farm, commemorated with a plaque presentation from MLA Glenn van Dijken.
“I would like to congratulate you on your Alberta century farm and ranch award from the province of Alberta,” said van Dijken.
“Farming and ranching consist of hard work and sacrifice combined with a healthy dose of energy and unrelenting faith.
“My personal congratulations to you and your family on this historical event.”
Glenn Toronchuk, better known as Alec, said his parents immigrated with his grandparents and two brothers by ship from Ukraine.
His grandpa was always looking for good land and was looking at the riverbank as a place to get a homestead.
They settled there for a couple of weeks in one spot and then they moved to another section across the road and homesteaded there.
His dad felt the land was too sandy and went east of Newbrook.
“He got the homestead there, which is not sand but rock,” said Alec Toronchuk.
“It took 100 years to pick them (the rocks) and they're still there.”
His parents married and they had seven children, six boys and one daughter.
Alec was the youngest and did farm work before, during and after school, using the farm and chores as his excuse not to be at school.
They raised cattle on the farm.
His father passed and left the farm to Alec, who took over in 1966.
He admits he went on a spending spree after he inherited the farm, selling an animal for good times, but his mother cautioned him to curb the spending.
Alec worked in the oil fields for the last 20 years while farming grass and pasture, but has been retired from that work for two years now.
Donna arrived here in 1952.
They married in 1974 and just celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary on June 22.
Donna raised chickens, ducks and broilers. She still has laying hens but isn’t selling anymore.
They have kept a big garden and have had a hard time keeping the wildlife away from eating their vegetables.
The Toronchuks received the Alberta Century Farm and Ranch Award, a heavy black metal plaque with gold lettering, presented from Premier Danielle Smith and Agriculture and Irrigation Minister R.J. Sigurdson.
Van Dijken said the province likes to recognize stability, sustainability and the dedication that it takes to keep a farm going for that many years – generations in the ups and the downs in the agricultural community.
He said it is a huge feat.
The letter of distinction from van Dijken states recognition for the spirit of envision, complemented by a new land of limitless natural resources, is what brought our forefathers to Alberta.
They settled the land to build the family farm or ranch, the place many continue to call home today.
Keeping the farm or ranch actively operating, generation to generation, is an impressive achievement for any Alberta family.
The Alberta Century Farm and Ranch Award salutes those families who have owned and operated the same land for minimum of one hundred years.
van Dijken wished the Toronchuks blessings and wellness in the future.
