Stepping back in time

I grew up on a farm in West Michigan.  My Grandpa was a farmer who had 9 kids; 5 boys and 4 girls. 2 of those boys, my Dad and my uncle took over the farm.  However, in 1970 the state decided to run a highway through it and took a lot of the land.  Because of the highway, what was once country farmland, is now quite developed.
Now there is a restaurant sitting where the barn was. I remember going to that barn to see the cows and find my Dad.
The restaurant has a wall with old pictures from the community, including several that are meaningful to me. The last time I was there, I took pictures of these old photos to share with you.

Here's the photo wall.

My Dad was a dairy farmer, but the area is also known for "muck" fields, which is a dirt that works really well for growing celery and onions.  I worked on a celery farm all through high school and while I was going to nursing school. This old picture shows people harvesting celery. By the time I was working doing this, it was all harvested with machinery and taken to the celery barn to be washed, trimmed and packed by us.

This was where I went to school for kindergarten and 1st grade, then we got to move up to the newer building. I remember going to the basement for gym class and art.
This building has now been renovated and is used as a day care.

Here's the barn that used to stand where the restaurant stands now.  Peter DeWeerd was my Grandpa.

This is a photo of many of the area farmers at a meeting, probably taken in the early 1960's.  I remember my Dad going to these Farmers Co-op meetings.

Here's a little section of the picture above. It shows my Grandpa on the right, my Dad next to him, and my Uncle next to my Dad.  I think it's so fun to see these old pictures.  Thanks for letting me share them with you!