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2020 Lewis County Agricultural
Society Hall of Fame Inductees Announced

July 20, 2020   07:45 a.m.
    Press Release from Lewis County Dairy Industry Building Committee:

    The Lewis County Dairy Industry Building Committee is pleased to announce that
    the 2020 Lewis County Agricultural Society “Hall of Fame” recipient is Bill and
    Dorothy Gracey.  

    Bill and Dorothy spent the majority of their lives dairy farming.  Their dairy farm
    Grace-Way Farms is located on Route 26 north of Lowville.  Their farming legacy
    is now being carried on by their daughter and son-in-law Christina and Marc
    Laribee and their children.  

    During their farming years, Bill was very active in the farming community
    including many years serving on the Lowville Producers Co-op Board of
    Directors. Their family showed cattle at the Lewis County Fair and their
    granddaughter is now carrying on that tradition.

    In their retirement years they developed a love of researching the history of dairy
    farming in Lewis County.

     In 1994, when the Dairy Industry Building was constructed, it was decided to
    include a “History Room” where memories and artifacts of the dairy industry
    could be on display.  A simple letter written to the Journal and Republican asking
    if anyone from the community would be interested in helping create exhibits, drew
    an immediate response from Bill Gracey.  “Yes,” he said, “I would be very
    interested in helping with the Dairy Building History Room,”  and for the past 26
    years Bill and Dorothy have worked behind the scenes to pull together a
    tremendous wealth of information on our local dairy industry.  

    On a walk through the History Room you will find a map of milk bottling dairies
    that once existed in Lewis County and a notebook with detailed descriptions of
    the farms that had these routes and pictures of the farms.  There is a notebook of
    all of the milk bottle cardboard “caps” and a beautiful cabinet filled with the actual
    milk bottles from the days of home delivery of milk by these dairies. The beautiful
    cabinet was donated by the Graceys.  

    You will also see charts and maps detailing all of the cheese factories that once
    existed in Lewis County and many pieces of equipment and tools once used in
    dairying. Bill and Dorothy spent hours and hours behind the scenes researching
    and preparing the information on the milk bottling routes and cheese factories
    that is on view in the History Room.

    And still today, 26 years later, Bill and Dorothy are quietly working on updating
    and adding to the exhibits in the History Room. And they personally own a huge
    collection of Lewis County milk bottles.  

    Congratulations and thank you to Bill and Dorothy Gracey!

    Full video from the presentation is included below:
Gary Rosiczkowski, left, announces Dorothy and Bill Gracey, right, as the 2020 Lewis County
Agricultural Society Hall of Fame inductees.