by RD Vincent, author of the Donbridge Series
Walking along the country roads of my parents’ farm, I decided to stop off at my grandmother’s house. I could see her pruning her peony bushes in the late summer sun. As I walked up to her yard, the house phone rang loudly, and she quickly dropped her shears and headed to the house to answer the phone, all the while unaware that I was near.
Approaching the front door, I waved to my grandfather who was tending to a barrel fire in the backyard. Entering the front door, I heard my grandmother set the phone into its receiver and upon the table I saw a fresh bowl of potato salad wrapped in cellophane. My grandmother saw me from around the kitchen corner and gave her usual hello and then explained to me that my father had just returned from a farm auction.
Apparently, while there, he had the fortune of placing the winning bid on a calf and wanted me to come home to see the tiny beast. My grandmother, who was already grabbing her purse, asked that I take the potato salad because she and my grandfather had already made plans to join our family for dinner that evening.
Loading the car, my grandmother waved to my grandfather who quickly doused the barrel fire with water and then made his way to the car. When he entered the car, we pulled out of the drive and headed down the road. Driving along the roadways, we passed an old dilapidated farm. “You know, that farm reminds me of a story long ago about two men who owned a lumber mill and saved a very special breed of cows,” my grandmother said.
The Tanner Farm was one of the newest farms to come to pass in Donbridge. In all honesty, they were not really farmers at first. They were actually lumbermen and as such all of Donbridge would get their lumber from the Tanners to build their homes and businesses. The Tanners were known for their crates as well which were used far and wide by shipping companies who traversed the Atlantic Ocean.
One of their prominent buyers was a butcher who the Tanners knew very well. This butcher admired the Tanners and even adored the great valley of Donbridge. One day while talking to John Tanner the butcher told John he would make a great farmer one day. John only laughed at the notion and exclaimed that milling was enough for him. But the butcher just smiled at John with a kindly expression.
Now it was said that this butcher had a secret. He had a long-standing agreement with a country across the ocean. The story held that a ruler had declared all Red and White Holsteins were not the preferred color for the breed and only Black and White Holsteins would survive and so this butcher agreed to aid the monarch by taking in shipments of Red and White Holsteins to the Americas for slaughter or so the butcher promised.
One day, while the Tanners were milling some oak, a delivery from the crate company arrived at their shop. John Tanner, intrigued at the delivery, called his brother over to investigate the occurrence. The crate was clearly stamped Fragile and from within the crate, John could detect movement. Curious, the two opened the crate with great haste. Raising the lid, they peered inside to find a Red and White Holstein calf. Astonished at this, the two removed the sides and, from the crate, built a small shelter for the tiny beast.
A week later, two more crates arrived at the Tanners’ mill and inside each crate two more calves were munching on hay. This went on for several months and soon, the Tanners had nearly 100 calves on their property. Over time, the crates slowed with the passing of the American Revolution and the Tanners herd reached nearly 200 Red and White Holsteins. The number was so large that John and Robert could often be seen ushering the cows from one end of Donbridge to the other for thick pastures. Time passed, and the Tanner Mill slowly went out of operation as the Tanners officially became farmers in the great valley of Donbridge.
Just as my grandmother finished her tale, we arrived at my parents’ house. I unloaded the car and brought the potato salad into the house. My grandfather and grandmother headed to the barn to see the newly won addition to our farm. Running out the side porch, I caught up with them. Entering the barn, I saw the dim lights were on and there my father and mother stood outside of the calf pen inside our barn. Nestled below the thick hay was a Red and White Holstein calf with a small collar around its neck that read Tanner Farm. I looked up to my grandmother who just smiled with her usual assured look.
Picnic Potato Salad
4 large peeled potatoes
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 minced onion
1/2 cup chopped sweet pickles
2 chopped carrots
2 celery stalks, chopped
3/4 cup mayo
2 tsp. vinegar
1/2 tsp. oregano                                  
Directions:
Chop potatoes and add salt.
Blanch them or cook until firm.
Drain and let cool.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients including the potatoes and stir. Let cool.
Top with Paprika and serve.
Serves 9