Farm family sees fire as opportunity

Walking up to the spot where a wooden barn stood just days ago at Cavendish Game Birds of Vermont is heartbreaking, said Leslie Thompson, but from those ashes new possibilities are arising.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20130317/NEWS01/703179920

Farm family sees fire as opportunity By Lucia Suarez STAFF WRITER | March 17,2013 Rutland Herald SPRINGFIELD — Walking up to the spot where a wooden barn stood just days ago at Cavendish Game Birds of Vermont is heartbreaking, said Leslie Thompson, but from those ashes new possibilities are arising. Thompson, daughter of co-owner Bill Thompson, said the last couple of days have been hard for her family after Wednesday’s early morning fire, but it has brought them together in a very positive way. She said they are now working to rebuild as quickly as possible. “We are meeting with builders, starting to clean up and rebuild immediately,” Leslie Thompson said Saturday afternoon. “We are thinking we have everything adequately insured, but we won’t know until the bills come in.” A fire raged through one of the farm’s bird houses, killing more than 20,000 quail and about 30 Berkshire pigs. The farm sells its specialty Coturnix quail to high-end restaurants as far away as Chicago and Las Vegas. Co-owner Rick Thompson, Leslie’s uncle, said he never would wish for a fire but this is the best time it could have happened because the farm’s slowest months are coming up. The event will allow the family to shut down and perhaps implement some ideas they have only fleetingly thought about in the past. “A total shutdown — I have not done that in 25 years,” he said. “It’s gonna be nice to start with sort of a clean slate.” Leslie Thompson said they will be looking to construct a new state-of-the-art barn that will better fit their needs. They are also looking at implementing energy-efficiency practices around the farm. “We are interested in building a facility that is tight and efficient,” she said. Other ideas include building community gardens and perhaps hosting incubator farms like those at the Intervale Center in Burlington. “We have a lot of land that we don’t use,” Rick Thompson said. “It will be a new experience for us.” He said Cavendish Game Birds will be able to keep some employees during the rebuilding process, but many will have to be laid off. To help them, the family created a fund on the fundraising website www.gofundme.com. As of Saturday, they had raised more than $3,500. “It will go straight to our employees,” Rick Thompson said. “They have been with us for a long time. To be able to help them through the downtime is a huge concern for us because we want them to all come back.” Another concern, he said, would be losing any accounts they have with restaurants across the country. He said many of them have been buying from the farm for a long time and he believes they will stick with them. He added that the support the family has received from the community has been overwhelming. “We’ll be here,” he said. To contact the family, people can email Leslie Thompson at vermontquail@gmail.com or Rick Thompson at cgbfarm@yahoo.com. Donations can be made at www.gofundme.com/2azv4o.