About Us

Both Chris and Doris were no exception. They ran the u-pick cherry and asparagus business and would pitch in on the dreaded cherry-grading belt. Since cherries did indeed grow well on the property it was decided to plant more, this of course was done with a shovel. As the trees grew and began producing cherries it was quickly noted that there was a great need for help to pick the fruit. It was a yearly struggle to find and maintain pickers. One year it got so bad that Marv contacted the sheriff, drove the cattle truck to Charlevoix, bailed out some of the inmates and drove them back to pick the fruit. Try that in today’s society and see how fast you make the evening news!! The brothers remedied that in the late 60s by being one of the first in the area to try a new kind of mechanical harvester. It was a Rube Goldberg contraption that mounted to a tractor, had large tarps, and metal pans. They bragged that it could harvest a tree in less than 5 minutes (In comparison today we do about three trees/minute.) Not only that, but it didn’t get tired nor did it get drunk on Friday night. Cherries were only a part of what the farm raised. It was during this period when they came up with the logo of the 3 C’s which stood for cherries, cattle and corn. The cattle were raised to their finished weight then sold to the market or to the general public. At that time, you could buy a side or a quarter beef, have it butchered at John Burns slaughter house in Ellsworth or have it cut up and packaged at the Atwood shopping center in Atwood. As the business grew so did the need to update the barns. It was in 1978 that the decision was made to tear down Vets old barn. While Drenth Bros. were bulldozing the barn over Marv summed it up by saying “ I know its progress, but I feel like crying”. Yes, Vets old barn is gone destined to be a foggy memory from a distant time……….or is it!!!???