ROCKPORT, Maine — While much of the world will be watching British royalty at Saturday’s coronation ceremony, there will be some kids and parents in Maine happily greeting local celebrities: the newest crop of calves at Aldemere Farm.
The annual Calf Unveiling Day is an eagerly awaited event. This year, 13 Belted Galloway calves, like debutantes at a society ball, will be introduced to the public.
Those calves, each black with a distinctive white stripe or "belt" around their middle, are the new generation of a herd of beef cattle that began in Rockport 70 years ago.
Over time, partly because of their visibility in the busy Rockport/Camden tourist area, the Belted Galloways have become another image of Maine, almost as familiar as the lobster, gull, and moose.
"They love driving by and seeing them," Heidi Baker said, farm preserve director for the Maine Coast Heritage Trust, which now owns the farm and the herd.
"The kids like it, they have this really eye-appealing look and for me, it allows us to get people’s attention and start talking and teaching about agriculture. Other breeds can’t do that as well."
The herd began around 1953, when farm owner Albert Chatfield brought a few animals from Pennsylvania, and then imported more from the breed’s native Scotland. Heidi’s grandfather became farm manager in 1960 and helped Chatfield build and expand the herd, which in turn became the foundation for Belted Galloways in the U.S.
"And we are the longest-running Belted Galloway herd in North America at this point, and much of the genetics of the cattle you see all over the U.S. come directly from here," Baker said.
Chatfield gave the property and the animals to Maine Coast Heritage Trust in 1999. Baker’s grandfather stayed on to help the conservation group, then Heidi Baker’s father returned to Rockport from a corporate job, and he took over as farm manager. Baker said she came to the farm in 2010 to manage the herd and now oversees the entire operation.
The focus, she said, is twofold: preserving and promoting the farm and the breed, and educating young people and the general public in agriculture.
That work happens through events at the farm and through the involvement of kids in several ongoing programs where they work with the animals, such as 4-H.
Elizabeth Eaton of Hope said she began at Aldemere as a 10-year-old.
"I struggled in school and it was a great experience to be with the cows," she said.
And working with the animals appealed to her. Eaton said she convinced her parents to let her buy cows of her own. She eventually went to Ohio State and earned a degree in agricultural science.
Now she works part-time jobs at Aldemere and another farm and tends to her own herd of 19 Belted Galloways.
Stories like that are what Heidi Baker points to as the work of Aldemere Farm. Helping build up kids, and with luck, build future farmers.
“In middle school, there isn’t a lot kids have control over at that age, yet they want it and really need it. So they have responsibilities here, and when people talk about when we were all farm kids, that was an important piece. They get that here. They have an animal that’s theirs and they have to take care of it and manage it and make decisions."
For the adults, the decisions include raising money to keep the farm going. Baker says the $400,000 annual budget comes from donations. They sell some hay and some animals as well to grow and expand the breed. She said they used to sell beef, but with the growth of three other local commercial farm herds, Aldemere has decided not to compete with those farms in the beef market. Instead, the farm gives beef to local food pantries.
They also are still in the midst of a major $3.2 million fund drive to pay for a large new barn that’s under construction. On Saturday, Baker said they will update progress on the fund drive as people gather next to the new barn to admire the new calves.
Despite everything else, the calves remain the stars of this show.