A22—Lancaster Saturday, October 8,1963
BY TRISH WILLIAMS
KEMBLESVILLE Giving up a
good paying job when jobs were
scarce; seeking a sizable loan
when there were none; trying to
buy farmland against a transition
to residential building; and
fighting local opposition to a new
industry; Thomas McKeon bucked
the odds and won.
McKeon, a man of impressive
stature, who describes himself as
“a stubborn Irishman,” was un
daunted by the obstacles. The
lifestyle he strove for had much
greater meaning to him than
anything that got in his way.
What McKeon envisioned was
establishing a vineyard and
winery, where he would live and
work at peace, in a “pleasant
lifestyle.” What he had not an
ticipated, was the opposition that
would confront him in attaining
that vision.
A resourceful man, McKeon
enlisted the assistance of the
Chester County Agricultural
Development Council (ADC) to
help him get established. ADC
formed with the intent to retain the
County’s farmland by encouraging
and assisting ag business. ADC
saw McKeon’s concept of the
vineyard as feasible way to do
that.
Unbuttoning the white-collar
McKeon, a PhD chemist, first
started thinking about starting a
vineyard about seven years ago. At
that time he was working as a
research chemist for General
Electric in Philadelphia, earning a
comfortable salary, with full
benefits, and living in King of
Prussia.
Why then would he give up this
financial security for farming?
“I was tired of working for
someone else,” said McKeon,
displaying the independent nature
of a farmer. “1 decided I could
have a pleasant lifestyle combined
with a business that I felt that I
could do a good job at.”
McKeon was a wine fancier,
growing a few varieties of wine
grapes in his backyard and making
his own wine while working for
GE. He had even dug a wine cellar
in the basement of his home.
When McKeon sang at the
wedding of Gerry Olsyn, assistant
superintendent of the Morris
Arboretum in Philadelphia, he
discovered Olsyn shared Ms en
thusiasm for viticulture and
winemaking. Olsyn had begun a
small demonstration vineyard at
the arboretum, and took some
cuttings from McKeon’s vines to
add to the collection. Like the
cuttings, the friendship grew.
The two later started throwing
around the idea of becoming
partners in their own wine
business. Following their own area
of expertise, they agreed Olsyn
would manage the vineyard, and
0
Brandywine vineyards offers a gifts selection packaged in
decorative wooden boxes created by a local craftsman.
McKeon would manage the
winery.
When the two began to look for
land suitable for the enterprise,
McKeon realized the time involved
in getting the project off the
ground would be more than he
could give while working at GE. So
he left the company.
“The personal metamorphosis
was tremendous,” recalled
McKeon. “It was quite a change
going from the security of GE to
putting everything you own on the
line for your own business. For
tunately, my wife, Margaret,
works, and was able to pull us
through the transition.”
Rolling up the shirt sleeves
Making the commitment was the
first step on a long path, filled with
flavor
local
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their quest for preserving farmland, representatives of the Chester County 1
Agricultural Development Council, Bob Mcßae, left and Steve Kehs, helped McKeon get
his winery established as an agricultural accessory, believing that farmland will only be
preserved if it is profitable to the farm.
obstacles, diversions and dead
ends.
McKeon set about gathering
ammunition, the facts and figures
he needed to arm himself for his
fight to get started. He started
visiting vineyards in California,
New York and Erie, Pa., observing
cultural practices and winemaking
techniques. As he traveled he
looked for a possible site. At first
he considered the Nappa Valley in
California, the largest con
centation of vineyards in the
United States.
After realizing that it was nearly
impossible to break into the Nappa
Valley area, McKeon and Olsyn
decided on a site in Pennsylvania.
Agricultural experts at Penn State
recommended locating in the
southeast part of the state, where
soil and climate are more
favorable for growing grapes.
It took the two partners two
years of searching for a site with
the right technical requirements
and potential needed consumer
support. McKeon estimates they
looked at between 75 and 100
properties throughout, Lehigh,
Berks, Bucks, Delaware, and
Montgomery counties before they
settled on their present site in
southern Chester County, owned
by William Wingate.
“The Wingate property seemed
delightful for our purpose,” said
McKeon. “Located on a road with
good traffic count, the property
offered rich, deep Glenelg and
Manor loam soils. Most of the
fields are between three to eight
percent slope, facing south to
southeast. This would allow good
water and air drainage, allowing
the soils to warm up early in the
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(Turn to Page A3B)
the chemist at work
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McKeon, a PHD chemist, enjoys the comforts of his own
laboratory.
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