My first article in the Montreal Gazette was on the reappearance of the Elmhurst Dairy cows. The full article can be found here.
Over the years that I worked as a reporter for the Free Press, I had heard about these cow heads more than once. I heard they were in storage in the old Evantide Home on St. Jacques St., near Connaught Ave. It didn't take much searching online to verify what I already knew: The cow heads had spent some time forgotten in the Eventide Home. Here is a blog post about it with photos. However, as noted in the Gazette article, Parmalat properly stored the heads once officials with the company learned they were there and that they had significant historical value for many Montrealers.
It was an interesting article to research as I soon discovered that many different people had different names for the cows, including a descendant of the Elmhurst Dairy's founder. She knew them as "Elsie and Elmer." Elmer, Lynda Trenholme told me, was named after the glue company because glue is made from cows.
The most interesting part about this article was being able to read reactions from readers. For years, I have been a bit isolated from the internet because the Free Press never had an online presence. This article was widely shared on Facebook and all the memories were fun to read.
I wish I could have enjoyed ice cream at the Elmhurst Dairy many years ago but, alas, it was closed one year before I was born.
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