The Maine Potato Board recently announced they have awarded the 2022 Maine Potato Industry Recognition Award to a local farm family with a legacy going back to the 1600s.

Long overdue recognition 

This award is given to individuals or families who have shown outstanding commitment and support of the Maine potato industry. The family of Victor and Gloria Winslow of Mapleton are the recipients of this year's award. "When you look across Maine agricultural landscape its hard to see a farm family that cuts as wide a swath as the Winslow's. Their influence is statewide in markets that connect nationwide and worldwide.” Those words came from the former commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Walter Whitcomb.  

The Winslow Family via The Maine Potato Board Facebook Page
The Winslow Family via The Maine Potato Board Facebook Page
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Many people in the central area of Aroostook County are familiar with the Winslow family and their impact on the local communities. Victor and Gloria carried on the farming legacy from earlier generations, and worked in a wide array of roles. From farming their own crops to sales and equipment manufacturing, the Winslow family fingerprints are all over the local farming industry. The legacy has been carried on by Victor and Gloria's own family of eight boys.

The past and present meet with the eight boys

Known to many as the "Winslow Boys”, they all recognize the sacrifices previous generations made to set up current and future generations for success. They express their appreciation and carry the legacy on with great pride. The oldest of the boys, Todd, said, “We were blessed to have generous parents and brought up with a glass half full perspective during a time of big changes in agriculture.” He went on to reference his father, Victor, and his grandfather telling them that agriculture was going to be prosperous for the boys, and “they were right.” The Winslow boys recall growing up on the small family farm working alongside their brothers, parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. You will be hard pressed to find a family so large in numbers that is so close to one another. That is part of the Winslow legacy that was built in the 1600s, and continues today.

The Winslow's look back on history, and encourage the future generations

Upon receiving the award, Victor and Gloria's third son, Lynwood thanked all the Maine Potato Board for the honor and said “Our family continues to have the passion and optimism for agriculture and would encourage any young person to consider it as a career, where you can do something different every day and work with some of the best, hardest working people out there.” The Winslow family continues to work hard and adapt to the changing times with an upbeat and positive outlook. We need more of that today.

Congratulations to Victor, Gloria, and their eight boys Todd, Frank, Alvin, James, Lynwood, Noah, Gene, and Bert. To learn more about the Winslow family and the award, go here.

Vintage Photos - Life on the Farm in Aroostook County (1942)

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