Tobacco History on Block in Delhi

Source from:  The Brantford Expositor 07/27/2009

Hundreds of former tobacco growers came to Delhi yesterday to bid farewell to an old friend. The occasion was one last auction sale in the Tobacco Auction Exchange building on Argyle Avenue. The goods this time were not cured bales of leaf. Rather, they were the forklifts, pallet carts, roller tables, banding machines, auction clocks and other items that made the sale of tobacco possible in this building for nearly 50 years. Parking on the seven-acre property was hard to find when Shackleton Auctions of Springfi eld commenced proceedings at 10 a.m. "We had two mass meetings here in the spring about the quota buyouts, and this rivals that big time," said Rick Cerna of Langton, a past employee of the Ontario Flue Cured Tobacco Growers Marketing Board. "You're closing the doors here on an era. You see a lot of retired farmers. They want to see the building one last time." The disposal of assets is the focus of the tobacco board now that its mandate as a marketing agency has been terminated. Hundreds of growers surrendered 271 million pounds of quota this spring for $1.05 a pound. Today, 118 licensees continue to grow for manufacturers on a contract basis. Proceeds from yesterday's auction belong to former quota holders. Now that the machinery of the auction system has been sold, the newly-appointed tobacco board will turn its sights on selling the real estate. This includes board headquarters in Tillsonburg and the 65,000-square-foot exchange in Delhi. The tobacco board will soon post advertisements seeking requests-for-proposal for the Delhi warehouse. The board has gone the RFP route instead of a straight-up sale because it wants some control over what happens to the property. "There has to be a use for this facility that helps the entire community," said Chris Van Paassen of Port Dover, an appointed director of the new board. "It needs to benefit the people who own it -the growers and the board. And it also needs to help the community." The sense of history attached to yesterday's auction was never far from anybody's mind. "The end of an era," was a comment frequently heard. "It's a sad day that the system is disappearing," said Delhi Coun. Mike Columbus, who has attended the exchange on a regular basis since he was seven years old. "A lot of people here have a lot of history with the auction system. There used to be three auction exchanges (Aylmer, Tillsonburg and Delhi) and we are grateful that Delhi was allowed to keep this one till the end." The exchange in Delhi was much more than a clearing house for tobacco. It was also a place where growers came together in winter to socialize and trade information on best practices. This traffic was also critical to supporting local businesses. Vic Janulis of Windham Centre grew tobacco most of his life. Like most every quota holder, he took the federal buyout. Janulis said the exchange had lost its lustre as a social gathering place in recent years. "There was more of a social aspect to it five or six years ago," he said. "Since then the doldrums have set in. For some people it was important socially to come in at least once a week. But the bloom came off the rose when it started to wane and everybody saw that there would be an end to it." For Diane Meulemeester of Silver Hill, yesterday's auction represents the end of the security tobacco growers enjoyed under the quota system. "I came to get a piece of the history, because when it is gone it is gone," said Meulemeester, who grew tobacco for 20 years. "It's an eerie feeling. A part of the guarantee is gone -our poundage, our price, knowing what to expect. I'm sure the new way is intimidating to a lot of growers." Jerry DeCarolis of Walsh went from 120 acres of tobacco last year to soybeans and cash crops this year. He will miss the certainty that came with the quota system, but he also understands why it is no more. "With a global economy, supply management doesn't work anymore," he said. "You can't stay in the past. You have to move with the times. "We all have a lot of attachment to this place, and it was good for us while it lasted. But you have to move with the evolution. This is an antiquated system, and it is time to move on. But for a lot of farmers it is hard to do so. It was a communal gathering place for growers, and we won't have that anymore." Enditem