The McKay family of Stamford, Vt., are breathing new life into the vacant farm stand on Simonds Road. David McKay, left, Luke McKay, Erica Mazzeo, and MaryLou McKay pose at Wednesday's grand opening.

Lines of pumpkins will be replaced with Christmas trees in time.

Three greenhouses will keep fresh produce growing.

<

>

Crates of squash at the farm stand, which will be open year-round offering seasonal produce and items. 

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — A new owner has taken over the former Chenail's Farm Stand at 877 Simmonds Road.

McKay's Family Farm is located in Stamford, Vt., and raises cattle, sheep, horses, goats and more. They also grow a variety of vegetables, and have expanded into the greenhouses at the shopping plaza near the town line. 

"We've been in Stanford for 16 years building our production. And we decided that we kind of do hay and produce all over the place. We have a lot of leased land that we use, and wanted to be able to expand," said owner Luke McKay at Wednesday's celebratory opening.

"We were selling to a lot of restaurants and local stores and some farmers markets and we just figured that this was a centrally located area being great for the community. And it was vacant for so long and the old Chenail's farm stand had such a great name and reputation, and people were sad to see it go and we figured this was a great opportunity for us to really bring back life to Simond's Road."

The farm stand and nursery closed last fall. It was part of a shopping plaza just south of Pownal, Vt., owned for 40 years by the late Richard Chenail and his wife, Donna. Their daughter Pam Shea continued to run the garden center after Richard's death in 2011. The plaza was sold at auction earlier this year.  

"Folks coming from Williamstown to Pownal to go to work, or Pownal from Massachusetts. It's a quick, easy, simple stop for them, coming by, and so many people have missed being able to stop and get a dozen ears of corn or stop to get a pack of apples or flowers for mom and dad," he said.

Chenail's had been seasonal but the McKays plan to keep the farm stand open year round, selling goods based on the season. In the springtime, they will sell garden supplies, flowers, hanging baskets, and more, and add ice cream in the summer. In the wintertime, it will be Christmas trees, and other winter and holiday related items. They plan to also offer items from other local farms. Currently for the fall season, they have pumpkins and fall decor.

"We want to branch out and help our neighboring farms to sell their goods. And then, of course, summertime will be ice cream out front. We have a little trailer coming. We'll have a lot of Amish-made furniture, which is something that the Chenail's used to carry in stock," he said.

The McKays have three greenhouses to grow plants for sale. They also plan to have a special family event every month to attract customers.

"We have a great mum yard out back where we can grow all of our fall mums. So it'll be every month we plan to have something, an extra event to draw in the families as of right now, the only thing we have set for this year is pictures with Santa, which will be December 7," Luke McKay said.

The McKay family wants to make sure that their products are affordable and will add meat products once they get a freezer installed.

"The biggest thing for us is we want to make sure that it's affordable for every family to be able to come in and buy produce. And we plan to put a meat freezer in with all of our own beef and pork that we raise on the farm," he said.

"Anybody that has in the past purchased from the Chenail's Farm Stan, they have a product that they liked, that they had, and we would love to hear from people to be able to bring that product back, whether it's a special flower that they liked, or a product, mulch, or whatever we want to be able to help out the community in any way possible."

The stand is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

• Most Read

• Most Comments

• All News

• Events at Williams

• Photos