The original homestead was adjacent to the farm of Jules Remmery, who was Joseph and Madeleine’s brother in law. They decided to move to Rosser because their brother in law offered half his dairy barn and it was close to the City of Winnipeh to ship the milk. They originally purchased 5 acres of prairie and 32 milk cows with proceeds from the sale of their grain farm machinery and horses.

In June, 1924 they built their first house. They lived in this house only four weeks when a fire was caused by a pot of jam which biuled over the stove. At the time, Madeleine and Joe were milking in the barn with two-month old Julian in his carriage. Albert, who was asleep in the house, had fortunately just learned to crawl out of his crib. Joe found him on the floor beside his crib and both escaped. Not one single item was saved.

The family moved into the second home in October of that year. The home consisted of three bedrooms, a large kitchen, and a full basement. Joe built the cupboards for the new house.

Albert and Julian walked to Ulster School which was only one tenth of a mile away. The teachers often used to board at Madeleine and Joe’s. Miss Beatrice Kenny boarded for four years and paid $12.00 per month. Joe and Madeleine were active in the school district. Joe was one of the three trustees along with Paul Grenkow and Charles VanSteelant. Madeleine was school secretary for six years.

In 1926, they built a temporary barn with a straw roof. The first permanent barn was built in 1928 and was 102 feet long. Another 80 feet were added in 1944. The barn is still being used today.

Lots of labour was required in the early days. Joe’s brother, John, and one hired hand plus an extra for haying helped to get the farm going. Initially, all the hay was made at the bog, 15 miles north of the farm, past Stony Mountain. The hay was put up in the bog and stacked. Over the winter they would go with the team of horses to pick up feed for the cattle. John would leave at 5:30 am and sometime return with no hay due to the fact he could not find the haystacks in a storm.

Milk from the dairy was shipped daily to Cresent Creamery in Winnipeg. Two teams of horses were used alternating on different days. The original cans were dropped off at the CPR Orpa siding just east of the farm. The train came every second day and would stop to pick up passengers at 10:00 am and would return 5:30 pm. If the missed the train back to Orpa, it was a long cold walk home in the dark.

The Gamby’s first truck was a Chevrolet half ton purchased in March, 1928. It was used to haul the milk to Winnipeg every day, and bring back a few bags of feed which cost only $9.00 per ton for the cows. Their first car was a Nash bought in 1930.

While the mode of transportation improved, the roads left a lot to be desired. Washouts were common on Highway No.7 and on Rosser Road. Joe was hired by the local councillor. Jack Stewart, to repair and grade the roads in various years throughout the 1930′s. Joe won a $10 gold piece for having the best graded mile on Highway No.7. The night the he won the gold piece, they held a banquet at the Fort Garry Hotel. He decided to go along with the crowd and smoke a cigar even though he didn’t smoke. He came home as white as a ghost. The gold coin was later spent on a “rainy day”.

As the farm prospered, the Gambys continued to purchase more land and more cows. Their first tractor was purchased in 1934, in Internation Harvester, boughth from Mr. Percy Beachell in Rosser.

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When Rose and Alex were married, life was no different than before. The land was farmed, cows milked, cream separated, and the garden tended. They had two children: Eunice and Melvin. Alex passed away in 1945, and Rose sold the horses and farm machinery, and rented the farm to the first Mennonite family that came to the Whitemouth area in 1945.

In the meantime, Rose went to a wedding in Whitemouth. There, she met Jake Stark, visiting from Steinbach, attending the wedding of the daughter of his uncle, Steve Stark. The couple married in 1948, and took up the farm again on April 7th, 1948. Rose and Jake have one son, Dennis.

Before Jake married Rose, he lived near Steinbach on a farm with his parents. He and his brother cut jackpine and cedar shingles (on a shingle-maker) for a man named Davidson at Marchand. After he was married, he farmed and worked out, first for Vadeboncouer in 1948, cutting birch off the river bank east of Oscar Noel’s farm. The brush was cut away before the forebay was brought to its present level. He then operated a cat and sheeps-foot packer, packing the new dikes. That winter, he drove a White truck for Vadeboncouer hauling rock out of the new tailrace channel below the power house. He then worked for Carter Construction on the 5th and 6th generators doing carpentry work for $1.10 per hour. In the early 50’s he worked, building MacArthur Falls power house. He then worked on a small power house at Ear Falls. Ontario with Herman Beeskau, Willie and Ed Liske. He then worked for Malcolm Construction at the Atomic Energy Site. They built the research and development building. then a storage warehouse, the power-house and then the reactor building. He was the second man hired on at Pinawa by Malcolm Construction.

In 1965, he built his new dairy barn, and started a dairy herd. His first shipment of milk to Grunthal dairy was on July 11, 1967. After Jake drove around among the neighbours and persuaded 15 to ship milk, Hamm Transfer came to the area and picked it up.

The farm was sold in October of 1978: they now have retired into a house in Whitemouth.

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