It took a village of good friends to steer Grassy Hill Farm owner Joe Moncheski in the right direction after the 2013 blizzard. In 2010 the farm celebrated its 100th anniversary.{{more}}
Moncheski suffered severe damage to all six of his greenhouses. Three were completely demolished from the weight of the snow and two suffered extensive damage.
Walking the farm recently, the damage was evident seeing all the twisted metal poles and collapsed roofs.
Last Saturday, a team of seven men from Binkley & Hurst made a five-hour trip to Moncheski’s farm from Lancaster Country, Pa.
Binkley & Hurst is a farm equipment dealership with a location in Lititz, PA.
Moncheski has used this company for 30 years. He recently called for a price on a piece of equipment for a friend.
Chuck Sauder, who works for Binkley & Hurst said he asked Moncheski how he weathered the storm.
“I could hear in his voice things weren’t good,” Sauder said.
Sauder said he checked with his boss and assembled a crew to head to Orange.
In addition to bringing a crew he took up a collection and raised enough to purchase all the necessary supplies to get the biggest greenhouse fully operational.
“I can’t thank him and Binkley & Hurst enough. They even supplied the trucks to bring the greenhouse material,” Moncheski said.
Sauder said they were doing Jesus’s work.
“We are here to show Jesus love. In doing this we are helping a friend and neighbor in need. It has nothing to do with business … Joe is like a brother to us,” he said.
In addition to the loss of the greenhouses Moncheski said much of his tractor equipment was damaged. He still has not been able to reach much of the equipment due to the collapsed buildings.
After the storm Moncheski said his family had to crawl on their stomachs to reach hay for the farm animals that needed to eat.
The men who gave of their time and drove the five hours include Brian (Chuck) Sauder, Brandon Sauder, Tim Good, Wes Miller, David Shenk, Bryan Monroe and Dean Weinhold, Jr.
Once the greenhouse is up Moncheski said he will begin to seed the parsley and peppers. He expects they will be on schedule with perhaps a week’s lag time.
“We’ll be okay. Our Mother’s Day retail might be affected but we’ll take it one greenhouse at a time,” he said. He estimates the storm set him back about $60,000 damage plus tractor equipment.