BY SALLY BAIR
Lancaster Co. Correspondent
LANCASTER - This week
marked the end of an era when
papers were signed for the final
sale of the Guernsey Sales Pavilion
at the intersection of Routes 30 and
896 to Quality Centers of Orlando,
Florida. Removal of the Lancaster
County landmark could begin next
week so that construction can get
underway for the proposed
shopping center which will occupy
the site by next Spring.
Pennsylvania Guernsey
Association officials said the sale
price of the property, which they
purchased 40 years ago, was
nearly $1 million, and it is hoped
that tiie well-known Guernsey cow
which symbolized the Bam and the
name “Guernsey” will remain as
part of the proposed commercial
development. The Dairy Queen
restaurant, originally built by the
Guernsey Association, will remain
open.
The final chapter in the saga of
the Guernsey bam began 32
months ago according to Business
Manager Lee Yost, and was
written Tuesday after about 70 to
80 meetings on the future of the
building. Guernsey Association
President Wilmer Campbell said,
“We’ve had all kinds of buyers.”
However, various technicalities
delayed the final signing until this
week.
The decision to sell was not made
lightly, but changes in the
economy, in the Guernsey breed
and in the location itself dictated a
different reality for Guernsey
breeders. Campbell said. “This
was one of the hardest decisions
I’ve ever had to make.” Campbell
dispersed his first herd of Guern
seys at the Bam four years after it
was completed, and re-built his
herd partly with cows purchased
there. He says, “I’ve probably
attended 100 sales there. I’ve sold
quite a few animals there and
bought quite a few.” Campbell has
a herd of Guernsey at Halifax,
Dauphin County.
Nevertheless, with increasing
costs of taxes, water, sewer and
energy, the Guernsey Bam has not
been profitable for the Association
for quite a few years. “Til we paid
all the expenses, we were losing
money,” Campbell said.
Yost concurred, “It was a
matter that financiall we couldn’t
operate the Barn anymore. There
was no insulation and the building
was mostly windows and cement.
It was losing money every year.”
Ruth Ann John, assistant
business manager for the
Association said increased costs
and decreased activity both played
a part in the decision. She said
there was a need for major
One last look at the facility before the lights in the barn go out for the final time
Landmark Sales Bam Saga Ends
renovations aimed at making the
building more energy efficient.
Guernsey sales, the purpose for
which the Bara was originally
built, have decreased to about four
per year, compared with two to
three activities a month when the
bam was first built.
William Juzi, former manager of
the Guernsey Association, recalls
that there was a strong need for the
building at the time it was built in
1947. The Association had been
holding sales at the Egg Auction
building in Coatesville, and that
building was not only not for sale,
it was pretty much out of the
center of the actio n.
On the other hand, the land at the
intersection of Route 30 and Route
896 seemed ideal. John Bleiholder,
a fieldman of the Association at
that time, recalls, “When we built
it, it sat in the middle of
hayfields.”
“Progress” came to Lancaster
County, however, and the Bara is
now at one of the most heavily
traveled roads in the county.
Campbell says, “It’s in the middle
of a metropolis.” Noah Graybill,
whose father owned the farm from
which the land was purchased
recalls that the association paid
$6,000 for six acres.
Despite evidence that there was
a need for the building because of
the prosperous and growing
Guernsey industry, there was
some opposition Juzi recalls.
“There was a difference of opinion
about how much to spend.”
He adds, “There was no
argument once it got underway.
The place was very much in
demand. We had to schedule sales
way a head of time and it was
pretty hard to accommodate
everybody who wanted to use it.”
Both he and Bleiholder recall
vividly the dedication of the Barn,
with its first sale. The date was in
November, and there was heavy
ram. Of course there was no paved
area as yet, though Juzi recalls
ordering many truckloads of stone
to allow the trucks to get close to
the barn to unload the sale cattle.
Nevertheless, it was very muddy
and many sale visitors parked on
the side road to escape being stuck
in the parking area. They sub
sequently got tickets from the local
police Juzi says with a laugh,
‘They were all mad at me. I said I
never told them to pack on the
road ”
Bleiholder added. “Almost
everybody got stuck. There was a
lot of excitement.” It was a day to
be remembered.”
Juzi also recalled that the
Association “never borrowed a
penny” to pay for the building.
Yost pointed out, “It was Golden
Guernsey milk royalties that
Signs of the past and future. The sale of the Guernsey Sale Barn in Lancaster was
completed this week. Next week the landmark barn and sign will be demolished in
preparation of the spring 1987 construction of an outlet facility
helped build the barn. Because of Bleiholder contends that there
the trademark, the Association was no other place like it, adding,
received a royalty on every quart “There isn’t to this day.” He said
of milk that was sold.” hundreds of sales were held there
Yost adds that herds producing
Golden Guernsey milk were under
strict supervision, with the
Association doing their own in
spections. He said, “Pennsylvania
was the biggest producer of Golden
Guernsey milk.” The cholesterol
publicity helped spell the the
demise of Golden Guernsey milk,
and the final nail was put in its
coffin with the bankruptcy of
Abbott’s dairy, the last dairy of
any size offering Golden Guernsey
milk.
Bleiholder noted that consignors
to the first sale donated the money
their animals brought, or half the
cost their animals brought. Some
simply gave donations. In any
case, the money materialized for
the Barn.
Juzi says building the bam was
• the best investment we ever could
have made.” Bleiholder concurs,
“It made good sense to do
something. We used to have two to
three sales a month. There was
some opposition and some people
thought we were wasting a lot of
money to build in the middle of a
hayfield.”
Campbell recalls, “It was a very
debated question at the time.
There were those who thought we
shouldn’t build it, but my hat’s off
to those who made it happen. It
was the best decision they ever
made in their lives and they
deserve the credit.”
over the years, including “special”
Guernsey sales, royal sales, state
sales and dispersals. Backus
Brothers also held many Garden
Spot sales over the years.
Bleiholder says, “It was a service
to the dairy industry.”
Yost agrees, “I worked with the
sales business quite a bit, and it
was a top facility. There was no
other place to go with the kind of
barn we had, where cattle could be
washed inside, and there was an
arena to show in. We were the only
Guernsey Association to have a
sales pavilion.”
In the early days, Juzi
remembers worrying about
whether the consignments would
bring enough money. “I was afraid
if they didn’t, people wouldn’t
bring more cattle.”
He sought consignments from
neighboring states as well as
Pennsylvania and added, “The
prices were satisfactory because
they would come back with more.”
Bleiholder adds, “People could
buy and sell with confidence. ’'
Campbell noted, “We had a good
reputation with our consignment
sales. We usually had about 50
head in each sale held once a
month. About 12 years ago we cut
back to about four or five sales a
year and recently we had just
three or four.”
He noted that the number of
Guernsey herds in Pennsylvania
has decreased by two-thirds since
the busy days of the Guernsey
Barn, also cutting into the
economics of hosting the sales.
B. Snavely Garber, a well-known
Guernsey breeder from Willow
Street, says there was an element
of prestige felt by those who sold
cattle at the barn. He said, “We
felt smart selling there. It was a
pleasure to be able to sell cows in
comfortable surroundings, instead
of in a windy barn. Here, we had
prestige.” He remarked that there
were more Guernsey herds than
Holstein herds in the county at that
time.
Garber also credited Bill Frew,
owner of Paradise Seed Company
and a Guernsey breeder, with
being coordinator of the project.
“He helped the farmers get
together,” Garber said.
Richard Maule, Quarryville,
said he felt building the facility
was a good idea, and added, “I
bought a lot of cows there. I always
tried to do the best to use good
judgement in buying cows.” He
noted that the good animals could
be counted on to bring good money.
Auctioneer for the sales was
Walter Dupes, who continued to
sell there until his retirement.
Tom Groff, Lancaster, was
caretaker of the Barn for 14 years
until a heart attack in 1980 forced
him to become less active. Groff
shares the sense of loss that many
people express about the sale. “It’s
sort of a shame that the building is
not staying. It is a landmark. It
was the only building of its size in
Lancaster County. A motor vehicle
could drive into it.”
Groff recalls that the Barn
played host to everything from
wedding receptions to antique
shows to the cow sales. The busiest
year experienced by the Barn was
when it was once used 312 days of
the year!
One of the side benefits of the
sales was the education of tourists
who drove through that part of
Lancaster County in increasing
numbers. Groff remembers that
when the bam was open on sum
mer evenings there were
frequently a lot of tourists wat
ching the milking process. It is
these same tourists who will be
customers for the proposed 30-
store outlet center.
Groff said that in his 14 years he
only remembers having one cow
which he considered dangerous,
and he and the other barn workers
stayed away from her. After she
kicked at him with both hind feet,
he also suggested that she not be
led into the sale ring, and she
wasn’t. He says with a laugh, “But
that was the only animal in the
whole 14 years.”
And so, the landmark will go.
Many Guernsey breeders will
mourn its passing; indeed
dairymen everywhere will miss
the Barn, and will probably con
tinue to use it as a reference point
for directions. But Yost says
succinctly, “You have to face
reality.”
The reality is that today’s
economy will not support a costly
landmark. The landmark must be
t henshed in hearts and minds for
its positive contribution to the
Guernsey breed over its nearly 40
> ear history.