The site for the new Resort Living in Schomberg complex, to be built by Signature Developments, will be a dramatic change from the original facility that occupied this location for almost 50 years.

In 1938, Mr. Cecil Maynard built the Schomberg Alfalfa Mill on this location. It was one of only five such mills that specialized in the processing of alfalfa in Ontario. The alfalfa pellets were a vitamin enriched food supplement primarily for turkeys, chickens and pigs. The
Maynard operation shipped this agricultural product throughout Ontario and into the northern United States. Some local residents attested to the nutritious value of a few alfalfa pellets and would sprinkle them on their cereal, claiming they were a good health supplement for a lot of aliments.

From the post war period to the 1970's the alfalfa mill was the biggest employer in the Schomberg community, utilizing 40 to 50 men as field cutters, truck drivers, plant production workers and long haul distributors. Mr. Maynard owned and leased up to 2000 acres of planted alfalfa around Schomberg. The peak production period ran from mid spring until late summer. The alfalfa would be cut in the field, chopped and loaded into company trucks and transported to the mill. At the mill the crop was primarily dehydrated (cooked to remove the water content) compressed into dried pellets and packaged for retail distribution. During the peak season the mill operated 24 hours a day - 6 days a week, producing 4 to 5 tons of alfalfa pellets daily.

Perhaps the most lasting memory of the alfalfa mill for many would be the huge plumes of smoke that spiralled from the mill’s tall stacks. The smoke could have a green tinge and the cured alfalfa had a distinctive aroma that residents could detect in the prevailing breezes.

Cecil Maynard was an innovative designer and builder for much of the machinery needed to harvest the crop and the various stages of processing the product in the mill's operation. In 1963 he designed an ice machine that could be attached to a farm tractor. This model could shave, clean and flood ice surfaces very economically and his unique design was used by many local arenas, across Canada and into the United States. After Mr. Cecil Maynard's death in 1966, his son Ken Maynard and associate Mr. Jack Brydon, continued the mill's operation for more than a decade before the alfalfa mill declined in the 1980's.

Come 2006, SigNature Developments Inc., a new kind of land development and home building company, a company committed to preserving the environment, conserving energy and maximizing use of renewable resources, purchased the derelict alfalfa mill property.

The property was contaminated with hydrocarbons, metals, and other substances. SigNature Developments was determined to clean up the property in a method that would protect the environment and keep contaminants from entering the Schomberg River. SigNature Developments has made it a company policy to maximize natural
surroundings and drainage patterns, recycle construction materials and source, wherever possible, local renewable building materials.

With that philosophy, the developer, under the supervision of Shaheen and Peaker Environmental Engineers, successfully restored the land to an environmentally friendly state.

Thanks to Bill Foran for his contribution to this article.

Early this summer, SigNature Developments launched its Triumph Resort Living project, a 130 unit Condominium on the picturesque lands of the old alfalfa mill. Backing onto the Schomberg River and just steps from the charming Main Street of Schomberg, this building hosts a plethora of amenities. An indoor swimming pool, fitness areas, outdoor gardens, and upscale units make it easy for someone to call Triumph North home.

Kudos to SigNature Developments for bringing beauty back to our historic alfalfa mill land.