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Vegreville Farm Family Receives Alberta Century Farm and Ranch Award
Vegreville Farm Family Receives Alberta Century Farm and Ranch Award
Michelle Pinon - News Advertiser
For 129 years the Hoggins/Cole family have farmed in the Vegreville area. Wednesday, July 19, was a very special day for matriarch Lorna Hoggins, 94, and several of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who were on hand for the special presentation Heritage House.
Fort Saskatchewan-Vegreville MLA Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk presented the Alberta Century Farm and Ranch Award on behalf of Nate Horner, Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, in recognition of more than 125 years of family farming in the province.
In addition to a bronze plaque, the family received special certificates in recognition of their outstanding achievement. Armstrong-Homeniuk read in part a letter from Minister Horner, which stated: Accept our congratulations for 125 years of family farming in Alberta. It’s a remarkable achievement for your family to work on the same homestead for all those years.
For your family’s longstanding contribution to our province. The farming and ranching community in Alberta has been built on generations of hardworking Albertans like yourselves, who are devoted to agriculture, family and their rural communities.
For more than 125 years your family has cared for the land and helped to build a vibrant and sustainable agricultural industry in the province. It takes a tremendous amount of hard work and determination. These are the qualities that are exemplified by our farmers and ranchers who are the foundation on which this province was built.
We know that the long-term success of agriculture sector will continue to rely heavily on the care and dedication and the excellence of farmers and ranchers as they put into their operations each and every day.
I would like to thank you and your family for being a vital part of Alberta’s heritage and for helping build our future for our province. Best wishes for your family’s continued success and lasting legacy.”
According to the chronological framework:
• George Cole and his wife Alida came to Vegreville from Minnesota to stake out parcels of land for each of Farm Family their six children in 1894.
• Merton, (son of George and Alida) was married to Sarah and they had five children: George, Cecile, Myrtle, Roy and Walter. Merton built the original farm house in 1900.
• Roy, (son of Merton and Sarah) and his wife Agnes had one daughter Lorna. They moved to the farm in 1930 and operated the Waskawa Jersey dairy farm from 1937 to 1958.
• George and Lorna were married on Feb 7, 1955. She moved to Germany in December of 1955 to join George who was a soldier in the army and stationed there before moving to the farm in October of 1957. They took over the farm in 1958.
• George and Lorna had four children: Richard, (Rick) Heather, Karen and Darlene.
• Rick took over the farm in 1985. He and his wife Dawn had three children: Cole, Karleen and Allie.
• Darlene married Bill Muntz, and they had four children: Melissa, Charles, Matthew and Kristopher. They moved onto the subdivided portion of the southeast part of the farm in 1991. Darlene continues to live there with her daughter Melissa and granddaughter Hunter.
• Rick currently lives on the farm along with son Cole and his fiancé Nicole and their children Colten and Bennett.
Lorna said she felt proud and honoured to receive the award. Lorna was three-years-old when her parents moved to the farm. She lived on the farm until 2015. Her husband George passed away in March of that year. Since that time she has called Heritage House home.
As a point of interest, this farmstead is the site of the original Town of Vegreville located five miles southwest of Vegreville on the Holden Road.
