The Rural Voice, 1987-08, Page 23i
HOSTING A
FARM VACATION
by Sharon Grose
0 perating a guest house on
your farm requires one
essential quality: you have
to like people.
Grey County host farmers Harry
and Ruth Bender should know. This
is the eleventh season that they've
been hosting guests on their dairy
farm near Neustadt. The business got
started when the Benders bought their
second farm. Until that time, Ruth
had been working for the Rural
Development Branch of the Ontario
Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
The second farm put more demands
on the family, and Ruth decided to
stay on the farm to devote more time
to the operation.
But she still wanted her own
interests and the financial benefits
she received from her previous job.
Becoming a farm vacation host pro-
vided just the type of challenge she
was looking for.
The Benders are one of the 20
families that were involved with the
Ontario Vacation Farm Program when
it started 10 years ago. In the early
years of the organization, Ruth served
as a director. Since the formation of
the Ontario Vacation Farre, Associa-
tion (OVFA), Ruth notes, membership
has expanded to the 90 farms listed in
the 1987 brochure. The OVFA hosts
offer various types of accommodation,
from "at home" lodgings which in-
clude meals and rooms in the family
home to separate cottages or second
farm houses.
The Benders offer visitors an
apartment on the upper level of their
farm house. Guests have their own
cooking facilities and a private
entrance. When they arrive, Ruth
spends about an hour with them
walking through the dairy barn and
explaining the operation. After the
tour, guests are free to come into the
barn and watch the Benders doing
chores, with the stipulation that chil-
dren are accompanied by their parents.
"We raise purebred Holsteins and
have a lot of money invested in them.
We don't want just anybody handling
them. This is a viable farm operation,
not a petting zoo," Ruth notes.
"I have a routine in the barn,"
Harry adds, "and I don't like to have
it disrupted once I'm started — but
guests are welcome to watch while we
chore." Harry compares the bam tour
with a factory tour. You can talk to
the people during the tour and they
will explain how the product is manu-
factured, but you don't actually get
involved in the production.
The Benders enjoy answering
questions about their operation: what
is this crop? why do you grow it?
Harry and Ruth Bender
what is that machinery? And their
guest book illustrates just how much
people have enjoyed their stay: "a
week ago I couldn't spell farmer —
now we are ones," "friendly
hospitality," and "feels like home —
takes me back to my childhood."
"We have met marvellous people
over the years," Ruth says, "We get
Christmas cards from many of our
guests, and several repeat customers."
"Many people who no longer have
a relationship to a farmer but remem-
ber one in their childhood are willing
to pay for their children to experience
it," she adds.
The OVFA was started in 1967
under the Ontario Federation of Agri-
culture. It became an independent
organization in 1977, at which time
23 families were involved. This year,
the OVFA is celebrating its 10th
AUGUST 1987 21