That same Sunday, Jennifer attended “A Feast for Five Senses” an annual fundraiser for Slowfood Utah. By all accounts, it was a fabulous dinner, and wonderful group of people. Dean Peterson, the CEO of Harmons, a locally owned chain of 12 grocery stores in Utah, had called and invited us to be his guests. But we had already accepted an invitation from Vennessa Chang. Dean had been up to visit us, along with Bob Harmon and two other store employees, a few weeks ago.
Our relationship with Harmons started this last winter when Christie Catrow, the person in charge of all the stores deli departments, contacted us and asked if she could bring a few folks up to make cheese with us. So Shalimar, the cheesemonger at the District Harmons, and Kyle, a manager at the Brickyard Harmons, and Christie and I spent the day making a batch of Gruyere. I was intrigued by what I learned about Harmons management philosophy that day. These folks had all just returned from a trip to New York City and Murray’s Cheese Shop, all to learn about cheese. And Harmons had hired a consultant to come teach all the stores’ cheese department folks about the world of cheese. Amazing, they seem to believe that the folks that sell you something, ought to know something about what they are selling!
Then one day in May, I was in the cheese parlor printing some leaflets for the upcoming Gardener’s Market in Logan, when I saw a car drive past the back of the parlor and park right next to the manure pit. I thought it was an odd place to park a nice car, but out popped four folks, three of whom I had never seen before and the fourth, I had only seen on TV (Bob Harmon). They introduced themselves and soon we were touring the whole place, meeting the girls, and sampling cheese. The more we talked, the more I was impressed with what I was hearing. It seems that Dean and Bob like to take a few employees on road trips every so often. They just pick a spot on the map and then allow themselves to stop as many times along the way and discover what is “out there” as Dean describes it. So they were headed to Malad, Idaho and decided to swing in on us.
After we finished with the farm tour/tasting we went down to the Black and White Days Holstein show that just happened to be taking place that week here in Richmond. It is one of the oldest shows in the country and brings in dairymen from as far away as Wisconsin and California. Kent Buttars, a dairyman from here in the valley, spent quite a bit of time with us showing us what the judges look for in the “perfect” milk cow. While chatting with Kent, I learned that they were shipping milk from the show to Casper’s Ice Cream, a wonderfull little ice cream factory here in Richmond. When the Harmons folks heard that, they were off to see where “Fat Boys” and “Cascos” are made.
In addition to having an amazing management philosophy, the folks at Harmons are “true believers” in the BuyLocal movement. They actively seek out local products and put their money where their mouths are as far as buying from and offering support to local farmers and producers. So for any of you in areas where there is a Harmons, I would encourage you to pay it a visit, if you don’t already shop there. And by spending your grocery dollars with Harmons, you are helping many small, local producers as well. -PS
On Monday, June 4th, our second grandchild, Arrington Raymond Fitch was born. He weighed in at 7 lbs 10 ounces…about the same as a small wheel of Snow Canyon Edam! He and his parents are all doing fine. Many of you may know Nick and Michelle from either the Salt Lake or Park City Farmers Markets, as they sold our cheese at both all last summer. Needless to say, you won’t be seeing them sell for us this summer.
Grandma Jennifer is happy make as many trips to Salt Lake as possible…for work of course. Our first grandchild, Annica, is almost one-year-old. She is crawling, standing, not-quite walking, and just beginning to say a few words. After taking last summer off from the markets, Sage, Annica’s mother and our daughter, has generously offered to sell for us two Saturdays per month. The other two, you’ll see either Jennifer or I peddling our wares.