QUINCY, Mich. — Labor Day weekend said farewell to the summer season and was celebrated with free ice cream and flavored milk at Preston Farms in Quincy, Mich. On Aug. 30, the Preston Family let the latch out of the farm gate and invited the neighborhood in for their fifth annual Preston Family Farm Tour and Ice Cream Social. 

 “We’ve been doing this for five years now. We are close to the lakes here, and we wanted to invite the public in to show them that we care about the land and that we care about the animals and show them our farm,” explained Paula Preston of Preston Farms. 

Scooping up 42 gallons of ice cream every year, this year the Prestons gave away other dairy products too. 

“We keep adding things every year for people to enjoy, and this year I wrote a grant and received funding from UDIM (United Dairy Industry of Michigan) to give away dairy products,” she said. “So this year, in addition to the ice cream, we gave away Go-Gurt, cheese sticks and chocolate, white and strawberry milk.” 

Guests were greeted by members of the Preston family and, with education in mind, they were given a sheet of questions to answer as they went through the farm tour. The milking parlor was in full swing for visitors to see how the cows were milked, and the commodity barn was open with dairy nutritionists on hand to explain about the balanced diet of a cow and how crucial it is for cows to receive good feed. 

Wagon loads of people toured the farm to learn about how the sand bedding is recycled, how the cows are fed each day and how the manure is handled. Visitors had a chance to get up close and personal with “Scarlett,” the Grand Champion cow from the Branch County Fair. Several people took selfies with “Scarlett” and the friendly red and white calf by her side that was born recently. 

While older children enjoyed the pedal tractor race course made with bales of straw, younger toddlers crowded into the “Corn Crib” and, with shovels and buckets, they played in the box filled with shelled corn. 

With more than 600 people perusing the family farm, the Prestons claim they could not have pulled it off without their volunteer help. 

“Each year we put on a lunch for all the volunteers before the event, and this year we counted over 100 people,” Paula said. “It takes a lot of volunteers, and that’s what makes it fun; you look forward to getting together and seeing each other but also working together, and your farm community becomes your family.”

Having five years under their belt, the Prestons have no vision of getting as big as a “Breakfast on the Farm” event. “We really just want to inform people and give them the opportunity to look and see the farm. We hope to continue doing this for years to come,” Preston said. 

Preston Farms is a family owned and operated dairy farm located in Quincy, Mich., and is run by the third and fourth generations of the family.