Millicent Rooney is co-owner of Monument Farms Dairy in Middlebury.  Monument Farms began in 1929 when Millicent’s parents, Richard and Marjory James, traveled from New York with their children to their new farm. The James family started bottling milk in their basement, carrying equipment upstairs to wash and sterilize it. Millicent and her brother, Steve, helped with the home delivery system as well as the bottle washing. By 1938, the dairy was pasteurizing milk, and expanded the business with the purchase of adjoining farms and additional cattle. Millicent graduated from UVM and spent 2 years working with the Vermont Department of Health. After her marriage she and her husband, James, traveled the world in the military, stopping for a period in both Ohio and Michigan. In the early 1960’s, Millicent’s father “let us know that he needed some more help,” so with their 1-year-old son, Jon, they headed back to Vermont. Her husband handled machinery and equipment as plant manager and Millicent gradually worked into the Accounts Payable and Payroll for the successful family business. Her father insisted that you had to get bigger to succeed, but the key to their success has been to keep their service area manageable. Monument Farms now milks around 450 cows and their largest customer is Middlebury College. They had the first Vermont Seal of Quality Commissioners’ Choice Award in the state. While the next generation now runs the operation – son Jon manages the plant while Steve’s sons, Peter and Bob, are in charge of the farm, crops and buildings, as well as sales and delivery – Millicent is still in the office and keeps a watchful eye on the business. Much of the success of Monument Farms Dairy has been the willingness of the family to get involved. They have been listed as active Farm Bureau Members since 1930 and are recognizable faces in their community. Millicent says “we have a heritage and it’s up to us to keep it and make it better for the next generation.” 

Dr. Everett Harris was born in Morrisville and raised on his family’s farm in Wolcott. He graduated from Peoples Academy and received his B.S. in Agricultural Education from UVM. After 10 years of teaching high school, he received his Doctorate in Vocational Technical Education and in 1978 became an Associate Professor in Occupational and Extension Education at UVM. After a career spanning 22 years, he retired as Professor Emeritus and began working as Interim State Consultant for the Vermont Department of Education in Agriculture and Natural Resources and as the state FFA Youth Organization advisor. He helped establish statewide employment projections for technical education programming and worked in an advisory role with career and technical centers all over Vermont. He was awarded an honorary American Farmer Degree by the National FFA, a Distinguished Service Award by the National Alliance of Business and honored as an outstanding member of the education community by the Vermont Department of Education. He served as President of the Board of Trustees of the Vermont FFA Foundation and was on the National FFA Board. Some in the state say he turned the FFA in Vermont around, helping to re-invigorate the program and increase membership. Everett played a pivotal role in helping updated vocational agriculture and natural resources education programs’ curricula at the state and national levels. Because of his patience and foresight he has been credited with singlehandedly saving many vocational agricultural programs from elimination and bringing these programs to new relevance in the 21st Century. Everett died on March 3 of this year.

Dr. Henry Atherton of South Burlington has been an important key in the milk quality world since his graduation from the University of Vermont. He started the Dairy Plant on campus as a Graduate Student and was a member of the faculty from 1953 to 1989. When the new dairy science building opened in 1949, it was a state-of-the-art facility for studying one of the state’s signature agricultural products. Said Dr. Atherton, “It came on line at a critical time, when the dairy industry was adjusting to the use of refrigerated bulk tanks and our research team began doing studies on cold tolerant bacteria, milk flavor and shelf life. There was a world of possibilities in dairy foods that needed to be studied.” He was very involved with the transition to bulk tanks on farms and ran the milk flavor program for many years. One of the most important accomplishments of the department was the determination of the right ratio of creams, and the right processing required, to enable the use of frozen cream to supplement fresh cream in coffee and whipped creams. The Dairy Bar at UVM, a student-run program under the auspices of the Animal Sciences Department, was started in 1950 by Dr. Atherton. It was a small operation with seven or eight flavors of ice cream, cottage cheese, and later, yogurt. Said Dr. Atherton, “We were no Howard Johnson’s by any means!” But the entire ice cream food chain – pasture and Holsteins – were all nearby, and many today still mourn the passing of the Dairy Bar on campus. Dr. Atherton also played a role in the development of the Northeast Dairy Practices Council in 1970 – known today as the Dairy Practices Council. The group became a national organization for industry, education and government to come together for the betterment of dairy. The organization continues to provide input to milk quality guidelines, and gives industry participants the chance to interact at workshops and meetings to discuss challenges and opportunities. He was on the Executive Committee for two terms beginning in 1970 and played a major role in the beginnings of the Vermont Dairy Industry Association.