Eight Red Angus cows and their calves arrive at Shaw Cherry Hill Farm in Gorham on Sunday. Robert Lowell / American Journal
The first cattle at Cherry Hill Farm in Gorham in 65 years grazed unfazed by a crowd of onlookers Sunday immediately after being unloaded from a trailer.
The eight registered Red Angus cows and their calves drew dozens of spectators to the 258-acre farm on Main Street that Jon and Danny Shaw began resurrecting seven years ago. Jon Shaw said they didn’t tell anyone about the herd’s arrival until two days before. When word got out, visitors from far and wide showed up.
Jon Shaw, left, and Lee Wormell watch the Red Angus cattle settle in at Shaw Cherry Hill Farm in Gorham. Robert Lowell / American Journal
Lee Wormell of Westbrook and his grandson, Brendon Wormell of Wormell Farms in Cumberland, trucked the cattle from upstate New York to Maine in a 930-mile drive Saturday. The cattle bedded down at Wormell Farms that night and were delivered to Cherry Hill the next day at noon.
Danny Shaw said the farm will supply beef to the Gorham restaurants MK Kitchen and Sebago Brewing.
The nonprofit Shaw Brothers Family Foundation’s goal is to preserve the town’s agricultural roots at the property. They’ve relocated and reconstructed at the site of a 200-year old barn, which now houses a kitchen, restrooms, conference room and donated space with utilities and an elevator for the Gorham Historical Society.
Construction of a modern barn for the new beef herd is well under way and the cows are grazing in a 25-acre newly fenced pasture.
Cherry Hill Farm, at Gorham’s eastern gateway near the Westbrook city line, also has three miles of public trails with walking access to the Presumpscot River and outdoor skating rink for the winter. Hunting is not allowed.
A cow steps out to its new home Sunday at Shaw Cherry Hill Farm in Gorham. Robert Lowell / American Journal
“What they’ve done for this community is unbelievable,” Town Council Vice Chairperson Ron Shepard said Sunday.
The Shaw foundation bought the site in 2016 from ecomaine, the recycling and waste disposal company.
Dale Rines of neighboring Walnut Crest Farm traced the history of Cherry Hill Farm back to a land grant in 1730 when Maine was part of Massachusetts. The Shaw brothers’ grandparents, Herb and Margaret Shaw, once operated the farm for several years beginning in the 1930s.
Jon Shaw said in the those days the cows crossed the highway to a barn to be milked. When his grandparents’ lease expired, R.J. Grondin bought the property and moved his dairy herd there from Westbrook in 1946. The Grondin cows were sold in 1958 or 1959, according to Shaw. Lee Wormell said his father handled the sale.
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