Author: Norfolk Heritage & Culture

Agricultural Hall of FameJacob Joseph Proracki(2024)Born in Manitoba on July 23, 1918, Jacob “Jake” Proracki was the son of hard-working Ukrainian immigrants. His farming life began when the family sought opportunities in Norfolk County, moving to Round Plains in 1923. Jake worked alongside his father growing asparagus and strawberries before transitioning to tobacco. Upon his parents’ retirement, Jake took over the family farm with his wife Olga and five children.  During the early 1960s, Jake began experimenting with greenhouse watering applications in an effort to save Olga the...

Agricultural Hall of Fame Tom Haskett (2024)Born in Simcoe on September 22, 1941, Tom’s drive to become a farmer was well established as a youngster despite being warned of its many hardships. After graduating from Simcoe High School, Tom apprenticed as a millwright, working in Delhi and later at Borg Warner Auto Parts in Simcoe. In 1966, he married Joan Collin, a nurse at Norfolk General Hospital, and the two saved enough money to purchase Tom’s grandparents’ farm near Vittoria. The couple raised their family, continued on with their own careers, and invested everything into the 50-acre...

Agricultural Hall of FameKernal Peanuts (2023)Kernal Peanuts Ltd. Was set up when the former tobacco growers saw an opportunity to start fresh given the decline in the tobacco industry. The sandy soil that made the area so prosperous for tobacco was also a key element for peanuts but given its never-before-grown status, the first crops were largely experimental leading to incredible amounts of time, capital and determination by Racz.Ernie Pacz handles all the HR, packaging, marketing, accounting and retail while Ernie looks after the machinery, planting and direct farm-related duties....

Agricultural Hall of FameJohn Strickler Martin (2023)The Honourable John Strickler Martin had always had a keen interest in raising chickens, even as a young boy. Though born in Haldimand County in 1875, Martin and his family soon moved to Port Dover near Silver Lake where he attended school and eventually began teaching at the Port Dover High School. His Silver Lake home provided the perfect environment for breeding chickens, working late and rising early to attend to them. Despite this, Martin found it challenging in balancing teaching career with his pursuit of chicken breedingMartin...

Agricultural Hall of Fame Irene Anderson (2023)Irene (nee Nemeth) Anderson was born in Toronto in 1932 and became interested in art at an early age. Following the family’s purchase of a tobacco farm near Langton, Irene’s artistic skills were nurtured by a childhood connected to the rural, agricultural environment. By all accounts, she loved the daily routine and nearly all aspects of tobacco farming; especially planting season which would become a familiar theme in many of her sketches decades later.Irene attended Simcoe High School, acquired her grade 10 diploma followed by courses at...