Rich (left), Wes (center) and Mark (right) Weesies stand inside a greenhouse at Weesies Farms in Montague Township.

But, that’s the case with Weesies Brothers Farms Inc. in Montague.

The business is not only surviving; it is thriving in a difficult economy, and the family and employees want to share the centennial milestone with the public during a celebration this week.

The business will be having giveaways all week (July 26-31) at its Garden Center on Fruitvale Road. On Friday and Saturday (July 30-31), during business hours, there will be farm and greenhouse tours, and on Saturday there will be free hot dogs, pop, chips and ice cream for visitors.

In the parking lot there will be an antique truck, tractor and tools display, and a perennial garden.

While it has been the hard work and determination of many family members and valued employees working together, which has resulted in a thriving business, the Weesies family knows the solid foundation which the business has been built on.

“It’s a good foundation we’ve built on,” said Wes Weesies, one of the third generation of the family in the business.

That foundation is their faith in God which has been passed down by the founders, Edward and Elizabeth Weesies who moved from Muskegon in 1910 to raise 13 children on the farm.

And, the family has always worked toward one goal, according to Larry Weesies, one of the third generation who has retired. “You do your best for one goal.”

The business has survived serious celery diseases, devastating floods, changing economy and markets, and has creatively used labor and technology during its 100 years.

Edward and Elizabeth were Dutch immigrants who met and married in Muskegon (1890). Edward had worked in a lumber company, and in the summer, worked in the celery fields. By 1910, they had 10 children.

At that time they bought the first 50 acres, barn and house from Heilka and Rica Sikkenga.

The Weesies began growing vegetables in the muck soil, and started a greenhouse. The 10 children, boys and girls, were old enough to work on the farm and tend to the cows, chickens and pigs. All farming was done using horses.

“It was pretty much hand to mouth to survive,” said Larry Weesies.

Income came by peddling the vegetables in Montague and Whitehall, out at Michillinda and the Sylvan Beach resorts on Lake Michigan, and the Rochdale Resort on Brown’s Pond along the White River.

Larry said his grandfather bought his first delivery truck in 1917. One of his sons who worked in a Muskegon factory, loaned his father the money to buy the truck. That son, later came back to the farm during the Great Depression when factory jobs dried up.

“In the 1920s, things picked up,” Larry said. “They were good years.”

During that time the oldest three sons left the farm for Muskegon, but by then Edward and Elizabeth had 13 children.

However, the winter was still bleak on the farm and income was needed.

“The oldest two sons, in their teens, were sent south to get jobs in the winter,” Larry recalled the family history. They traveled as far as St. Louis and New Orleans to work. They returned to the farm in the spring.

In the late 20s the three oldest sons, Claude, Harry and John joined a partnership with their father and called the business, E. Weesies & Sons.

While the country was throw into a depression with the Stock Market collapse in 1929, the 1930s were good times on the Weesies farm. It expanded to grow lettuce and celery which was transported to the Mark Dock in Muskegon to shipment, by boat, elsewhere. Produce was also trucked to Ludington and Traverse City.

It was in the 30s that the farm property began to expand. They bought an adjacent farm.

The Weesies also began to hire men who lost jobs in the depression. One of the homes on the farm was turned into a bunkhouse to shelter the workers.

In 1929, the home now occupied by Rich Weesies and Diane Weesies, was started, and was the talk of the town. The Montague shop teacher took his students to the home to watch its construction.

In 1937, Edward died, and two more sons, Ben and Ed, joined their older brothers.

The 1940s, the war years, were also prosperous on the farm. The men stayed on the farm to help produce food for the country and soldiers. The farm purchased 400 undeveloped acres along the White River and built dikes to make acreage farmable. Celery was shipped to military bases and overseas to war zones to help feed soldiers.

And, in the late 1930s a greenhouse was built to grow flowers, a project of Harry Weesies. Flowers were sold while peddling the vegetables.

The Weesies faced a labor problem in the 1940s. Most of the children had grown and many area men had joined the military and were fighting in World War II.

The solution was using German prisoners of war who lived in camps in Shelby and Fremont. The prisoners were trucked daily to the farm and worked under an armed guard.

Larry has faint memories, at the age of four, of walking among the German soldiers. “They didn’t scare me. Who scared me was the guard. I think that was because he carried a gun and was in uniform.

“They (prisoners) were good workers. Many of them were professionals (back in Germany).”

The farm faced another labor problem after the war. The economy picked up and men went to the factories to work.

The U.S. government stepped in to help farms across the country by starting a program to bring Mexican nationals to the farms areas for labor. That was the first migrant program.

“Celery is very labor intensive,” Wes said. “Before the harvester, the celery was hand cut.”

The migrants were dropped off at the Muskegon bus station and assigned to farms.

In the 40s the greenhouse operations expanded. Four used greenhouses were purchased and moved to the farm. They are still in use today.

But, then a disease nearly wiped out the celery. At that time, the farm grew golden celery (yellow), but it was hit by the disease. Then researchers developed the Pascal celery (green) which was marketed as the replacement.

The operation became more mechanized in the 1950s and so it grew. A Grand Haven tractor began the mechanical picking of the celery. The operation grew from 40 acres to 75 acres in the 60s and 120 acres in the 70s. They even began growing two crops a year to keep up with demand.

In the 1960s the first garden center was build on Walsh Road, and more mechanization in the process replaced much of the hand labor needed.

Mechanically picked celery was loaded by conveyor into self unloading trailers which delivered the product to the packing house where it was unloaded right onto the processing line.

The dirtiest job, hand weeding the celery fields, was later replaced with a mechanical weeder.

The farm, through all the years was big on recycling. All the trimmings from processing the celery plants, were spread on the fields for fertilizer.

In 1959, one of the five brothers, Claude died, and the remaining four were older, so the operation became incorporated with the third generation taking over. The third generation Weesies are: John (deceased), Calvin, Larry, Gary, and a Dutch immigrant sponsored by the Weesies, Casey Timmerman.

In 1976, when the older brothers retired, Rich and Wes Weesies, also third generation of the family, joined the corporation. They already were employees on the farm.

In the 1980s, more greenhouses were built for the flower operation.

There was also a growing need for plant identification when selling them to consumers. A plastic tag was developed by Louis Schmidt in Montague. That operation has since gone international, but is still headquartered in Montague - Master Tag.

The flower operation really took off in the 1980s when the Hamilton sowing machine replaced a hand operation. It not only speeded up the operation, but resulted in better quality plants.

While the flower business was taking off, the celery growing was winding down as a result of disease, competition, a declining market, low prices and the cost of labor.

The last year Weesies grew celery was in 1998. By then the farm had gotten out of the fresh celery market, but was providing celery to the Campbell company for use in its V-8 drink. In 1998, Campbell ended that contract.

It was then the Weesies’ put their entire focus on the flower business.

In 1997, the current Montague garden center was built. In 1999, Weesies expanded by building a garden center in Manistee. Since then centers have been added in Hart and Spring Lake (2006).

Community Centered

Over the years the Weesies Brothers Farms has been involved in the community. In government, John Weesies, and later his son, Wes, have served as the Montague Township clerk.

The business has also provided flowers, at cost, for the beautification of the causeway between Montague and Whitehall. They have also donated labor to plant the petunias.

The business has arranged for the onions which are a part of the delicious fish boil put on by the White Lake Area Sportsfishing Association in August.

The Weesies are active in the churches they are members of, and the business donates remaining flowers to several organizations which give them to low income residents.

“Otherwise, some people would not be able to afford flowers for their yards,” Rich Weesies said.

The Weesies said business is better than ever with the growing move to plant vegetable gardens for fresh produce and to save money on family food budgets.