Murdock Farm Dairy Bar Marks 58 Years as a Thriving Winchendon Business
Creating jobs and memories for three generations of Toy Towners, not even COVID slowed them down!
A Winchendon institution, looking almost exactly as it did when it opened 58 years ago--and we wouldn't want it any other way.
Photo by Inanna Arthen
from left, Renee Tenney-Eldredge, Madison Eldredge holding a framed photo of her brother Morgan Eldredge, her mom, her grandmother and herself, and Karen Brooks.
Photo by Inanna Arthen
Since 1964, the Murdock Farm Dairy Bar on Elmwood Road has been a beloved summertime destination for Winchendon residents, lake cottage "summer people" and ice cream lovers from the whole Monadnock region. Part of the Murdock farm, which the Girouard family has been running since 1885, the ice cream stand and its crunchy gravel parking lot have hardly changed since it opened. Murdock Dairy Bar has provided local youth with summer jobs for over 50 years, kept running through COVID, and is still a thriving concern, as busy and successful as its owners can manage. The Courier recently sat down (at one of the brightly colored picnic tables next to the stand) with three generations of Murdock Dairy Bar owners and staff--owner June Girouard, her daughter Karen Brooks, and former and current ice-cream scoopers Renee Tenney-Eldredge and her daughter Madison Eldredge--to talk about this Winchendon icon.
In 1964, Ms. Girouard explained, "We had the dairy farm with the dairy cows, and we processed and delivered milk door to door, and we had a surplus of milk, so my father-in-law said we should open an ice cream place." Henry Girouard was a builder before he became a dairyman, Ms. Girouard said.
Ms. Brooks added, "and so they did that, but he built the dairy bar in the style of a ranch house, so if the ice cream did not take off, he would have a house to rent."
The ice cream definitely took off, and it's never slowed down, so the building never needed its Plan B. The dairy farm side of the business, however, underwent more change. The milk production aspect of the farm ended about twenty years ago.
"In 1994, they stopped delivering door to door," Ms. Brooks explained. "And they basically did that because of our bottling milk in general, because of all the restrictions that were put on."
"It just got to be too much," Ms. Girouard said. "Then everybody was getting older too. We didn't have the help that we normally have. I mean, at one time, this was a really thriving farm." Milk prices were also substantially down and stayed that way. In 2004, the family decided to sell off their dairy herd.
The dairy bar now makes its own ice cream using a premium prepared base from New England Ice Cream, to which custom flavors and mix-ins are added to create the stand's many signature varieties of frozen confections. Among the more unusual choices are Moose Tracks, Bear Tracks, Mudslide, Cookie Monster, Udderly Hash and Caramel Crunch. The stand offers numerous different ice cream sundaes, such as brownie, rainbow, strawberry shortcake and Reeses, but the most creative must be the "Dirt Sundae"--any favor of ice cream topped with cookie crumbs, chocolate syrup and gummy worms. The pumpkin ice cream (now available) is made from a recipe of Ms. Girouard's grandmother's. There are a few sugar-free and dairy-free options, as well.
Ms. Brooks said, "This place really took off during COVID, and I don't know if it had something to do with people just wanted to get outside, at that point. They could come, they could be outside. They could still enjoy...at that point was when we started getting all the cows again. I think people would just come, they'd hang around, they could get an ice cream, the kids can run around, which I think made a huge difference. But I don't know if social media has had something to do with that, too. Because it's crazy how busy we are. It's busier in the last couple of years. It's crazy."
As far as the return of cows, almost a decade after the departure of the dairy herd, Ms. Brooks said, "So that would be my son," Andy Brooks Jr. "Okay, he's the one who got into the cows. I mean, I've always loved cows but horses are my thing. Cows are not my thing. I would not have the cows if my son did not want them, because I did not need the extra work. So he got a couple of cows in 2012. But it was probably only three years ago, right around COVID, when he decided that he wanted to do Texas Longhorns. And so we got a couple of Texas Longhorns and now he has like twenty-five of them."
As followers of the farm's Facebook page know, the Longhorns have babies, a definite attraction for visitors of all ages. Some of the Longhorns are sold, "but then he always buys a couple more," Ms. Brooks said. The cows are friendly, but you do have to be careful working around them just because of their size and the size of their horns.
The farm's several goats originally were Easter presents for the children, and only the 14-year-old matriarch still belongs to the farm. The other two goats are loaners to keep her company. The farm also has two spotted pigs named Lola and Shovel, and peafowl, who have been known to go roaming.
The farm cuts, bales and sells hay, but the drought has definitely impacted this year's yield. In a good year, the farm grows all the winter feed for their stock as well as selling hay to customers. This year, they've had to bring in additional feed from Vermont.
There are family businesses in Winchendon, but Murdock Dairy Bar has employed generations of multiple families. Ms. Tenney-Eldredge said that her mother, M.J. Helie, and her aunt, Joyce Carrier, both worked in the ice cream stand in the 1960s right after it opened. Their brother, Ms. Tenney-Eldredge's uncle, Dennis Ducharme, worked as a driver delivering milk for the farm. In the 1980s, Ms. Tenney-Eldredge herself and Ms. Brooks were employed as ice cream servers in the summers. Now Ms. Brooks' daughter Kelsey, and 14-year-old high school freshman Madison Eldredge, Ms. Tenney-Eldredge's daughter, are working the scoops for customers old and new.
Ms. Brooks named several current staff whose parents and/or grandparents also worked at the stand or on the farm. "We tend to have a lot that come back," she said. The Dairy Bar staff are all girls while the farm work is mostly done by boys--but not all of it. "We do have girls that come help us hay, and they'll put the boys to shame any day," Ms. Brooks said. "We had a couple of girls come in, the boys were like, didn't know what to do with themselves. Because they were outworking the boys by far. And the girls always challenged them to to come work in the Dairy Bar. Boys were always like, 'I could do that easily.'" All present agreed that it's not as easy as it looks.
Half-joking, Ms. Tenney-Eldredge said, "the great thing back when I got to work here was for me, was we got to eat ice cream. So that was awesome." More seriously she went on, "And then I just remember, this was the spot to go, like you said, with all the Little League games, so when they got out, oh boy, you get ready...so those are my memories. Like just how busy and like you said, this was the only place to go so this was the spot. It was just a great atmosphere to work in, it was laid back, but professional and you just enjoyed coming to work."
"It was a lot of fun to be here, you know, all the guys at work doing hay, and everybody got to be friendly with everybody," Ms. Brooks said. "All the teenagers came."
Current ice cream scooper Madison said she likes the job and hopes to keep working summers there while she's in high school. "It is a fun job, like my mom was saying," she said. "And the atmosphere, the people are really nice here, and welcoming. We do get to sample the ice cream. I really enjoy it."
Teens can start working at the Dairy Bar when they are 14. There are some state restrictions on the number of hours they can work.
Ms. Brooks says that they aren't planning to expand the business, as it is extremely successful right now, and expansion would require more people and more work. They will be continuing to "fix up the farm," a process which can be seen every day by visitors.
The Dairy Bar will be open through Sunday, September 25, and then close for the season. Their hours are currently 1:00-9:00 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 1:00-8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. You can follow the farm news, including videos of the animals, all year round on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MurdockFarmDairyDairyBar. The farm is located at 62 Elmwood Road, Winchendon.
All those colorful signs in the windows are hand-made, until recently by Ms. Girouard.
Photo by Inanna Arthen
Featuring the seasonal special, Pumpkin ice cream--hurry, it's only here until September 25!
Photo by Inanna Arthen
Winchendon Voters Align with Massachusetts in Most Primary Contests
1,104 Winchendon voters cast ballots in the state primary election, which was held on Tuesday, September 6 in the Old Murdock Senior Center, with early voting available in Town Hall during the previous week. According to the Massachusetts Secretary of State website, as of August 27, 2022 Winchendon had a total of 7,330 registered voters, so the town had a 15.1 percent voter turnout for the primary election. (See www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/enrollment_count_20220827.pdf (PDF) for complete details.)
The Town Clerk's office has posted the official results for Winchendon. (See https://www.townofwinchendon.com/home/news/state-primary-962022-official-results (PDF)) Toy Town voters agreed with the rest of the Commonwealth in most of the contested races. The only two exceptions were the Republican primary race for Lieutenant Governor (Winchendon preferred Kate Campinale, who lost to Leah V. Allen statewide) and the Democratic primary contest for Attorney General (Winchendon preferred Shannon Liss-Riordan, who lost, despite a $9 million bombardment of postcards and Internet ads, to Andrea Campbell statewide).
Winchendonians who voted in the Democratic primary showed resounding support for Maura Healey's candidacy for Governor, awarding her 525 votes over challenger Sonia Rosa Chang-Diaz's 79 votes. Ms. Healey will square off against Republican Geoff Diehl in November.
In contested races including both male and female candidates, a woman received the most votes from Winchendon voters in all but one. The exception was incumbent Secretary of State William Francis Galvin (D), who challenger Tanisha M. Sullivan failed to unseat.
According to information provided to the Courier by the Town Clerk's office, 614 primary voters chose a Democratic ballot, while 490 chose a Republican ballot. 27 Winchendonians voted with absentee ballots; there was one Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee (UOCAVA) ballot. 556 citizens voted early by mail-in ballot and 72 voted early in person. 448 Winchendon voters came to the polls in Old Murdock on Primary Day.
In Massachusetts, unenrolled voters may choose to vote in any party's primary as long as they only vote in one. As of August 27, 2022, Winchendon had 1,122 registered Democrats, 960 registered Republicans, and 5,118 registered voters (about 69.8 percent) unenrolled in any political party. As seen in the table below, this is a significant increase in both the number of registered voters and the percentage of those voters who are unenrolled in Winchendon, even though, according to the 2020 Census, Winchendon's population has fallen slightly (to 10,352 according to the 2020 Census QuickFacts table).
| 2022 | 2020 | 2019 | 2017 | |
| TOTAL | 7,330 | 7,041 | 6,758 | 6,864 |
| Democrat | 1,122 (15.3%) | 1,280 (18.2%) | 1,247 (18.4%) | 1,332 (19.4%) |
| Republican | 960 (13.1%) | 1,018 (14.4%) | 977 (14.4%) | 942 (13.7%) |
| Unenrolled | 5,118 (69.8%) | 4,598 (65.3%) | 4,386 (64.9%) | 4,447 (64.8%) |
| Libertarian | 45 (0.6%) | 40 (0.6%) | 30 (0.4%) | |
| Green-Rainbow | 11 (0.1%) | 14 (0.2%) |
The Secretary of State's office no longer lists any other parties besides Democrat or Republican in its statistics, although there are 30 other "legal political designations in which you can enroll" listed in a table here: Massachusetts Directory of Political Parties and Designations.
Winchendon Town Clerk Wendy Stevens told the Courier that she and Assistant Town Clerk Debra Skinner worked about 17 hours on Primary Day, "which isn't unusual," she said. "The tallying at the Senior Center usually takes a couple hours, then Deb and I come back to the office to put together the spreadsheets, post on the website and report the results to whomever requested them by email. My warden and assistant warden work about 15 hours on Primary Day and most of the election workers work about 8 hours." This does not include the hours spent testing the voting machines, setting up, and supervising in-person early voting during the week prior.
Winchendon voters who would like to learn more about the candidates who will be on the November ballot may find the website Ballotpedia a helpful resource. According to the Lowell Sun, candidates for Governor Geoff Diehl and Maura Healey are discussing plans for one or more debates. Interested voters can follow updates on the candidates' websites. The General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 8.
For the approximately 869 Winchendon residents over the age of 18 who are not registered to vote (as well as new folks to town, welcome!), if you are eligible to vote, you can register in the Town Clerk's office in Town Hall, 109 Front Street, 978-297-2766, Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. on Mondays). The last day to register to vote in the November election is Saturday, October 29, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Town Clerk's office.
Toy Towners who voted in the Republican primary decided the following:
Governor
Geoff Diehl, 315 votes (winner statewide)
Chris Doughty, 173 votes
Lieutenant Governor
Kate Campinale, 255 votes
Leah V. Allen, 212 votes (winner statewide)
Attorney General
James R. McMahon III, unopposed, 419 votes
Secretary of State
Rayla Campbell, unopposed, 412 votes
Auditor
Anthony Amore, unopposed, 407 votes
Representative in Congress (Third District)
Dean A. Tran, unopposed, 416 votes
Member of the Governor's Council (Eighth District)
John M. Comerford, unopposed, 397 votes
Representative in General Court (Second Worcester District)
Bruce K. Chester, 282 votes (winner District-wide)
Jeffrey L. Raymond, 120 votes
Sheriff (Worcester County)
Lewis G. Evangelidis, unopposed, 408 votes
Toy Towners who voted in the Democratic primary decided the following:
Governor
Maura Healey, 525 votes (winner statewide)
Sonia Rosa Chang-Diaz, 79 votes
Lieutenant Governor
Kimberly Driscoll, 252 votes (winner statewide)
Eric P. Lesser, 214 votes
Tami Gouveia, 119 votes
Attorney General
Shannon Erika Liss-Riordan, 272 votes
Andrea Joy Campbell, 217 votes (winner statewide)
Quentin Palfrey, 105 votes
Secretary of State
William Francis Galvin, 495 votes (winner statewide)
Tanisha M. Sullivan, 113 votes
Treasurer
Deborah B. Goldberg, unopposed, 553 votes
Auditor
Diana DiZogli, 356 votes (winner statewide)
Christopher S. Dempsey, 218 votes
Representative in Congress (Third District)
Lori Loureiro Trahan, unopposed, 571 votes
Member of the Governor's Council (Eighth District)
Tara J. Jacobs, 236 votes (winner District-wide)
Michael Anthony Fenton, 146 votes
Shawn P. Allyn, 81 votes
Jeffrey S. Morneau, 56 votes
Senator in General Court (Hampshire, Franklin & Worcester District)
Jo Comerford, unopposed, 529 votes
Representative in General Court (Second Worcester District)
Jonathan D. Zlotnik, unopposed, 409 votes
District Attorney (Middle District)
Joseph D. Early, Jr., unopposed, 544 votes
Sheriff (Worcester County)
David M. Fontaine, unopposed, 535 votes
