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Getting to know B.E. Simpson

In 1956, AT the age of 17, B.E. Simpson signed on for a one-year job at Vesey’s Seeds. Today, 55 years later, he, his wife, Shirley, and his son, Gerry, own the company. With close to 100 employees during peak season and a catalogue circulation of 1.7 million, Vesey’s is among Canada’s largest mail order gardening companies. Saltscapes talked to B.E. Simpson about growing up on a small farm, how failing high school Latin got him into the seed business, and why he can’t retire.

Q Where did you grow up?
A In a little community called Bayview, next to Cavendish. We had a small farm—dairy, hogs, crops, grain, hay—and a custom sawmill and grist mill. We had our own electricity from the water-powered mill. Our neighbours would not have had that luxury.

Q What was your least favourite chore?
A Thrashing grain, a once-a-week job in winter. That was a dirty job. We had to get that done if we wanted to go to the pond for hockey. Our parents were always supportive of us having fun, but we had to get the chores done first.

Q What did you do for fun?
A We played ball. We lived handy to the beach, but we weren’t there that often—we might get there on a Sunday. We didn’t have a lot of free time. We might get to town two or three times a year, or take a day and go to the Exhibition in Charlottetown, which was a big thing.

Q Do you have memories of the fall harvest?
A We had what we called “holidays” in the fall. For two weeks, school would close so farm families would have help available for harvesting potatoes. In those days, potatoes were picked by hand. 

Q How much were you paid?
A I can remember two dollars a day. You might be able to get five if you picked a long enough strip. I worked with a guy—he’d take twice as much, and if you could keep abreast of him, you were considered a pretty good worker. You’d pick until five o’clock, have some supper at the farm, and then you’d put the potatoes in the basement. Most people stored them there because they had clay floors and were not heated.

Q How did you start at Vesey’s?
A I was 17; I had taken Grade 11 in Charlottetown and failed Latin. I didn’t have any desire to spend the summer studying Latin, and the one thing I knew was that I couldn’t go into the priesthood [laughs]. I stayed home and worked on the farm for the next year, but my mother encouraged me to seek something else. The following year, I started with Vesey’s.

Q What was Mr. Vesey like?
A He was a very astute person and a great judge of character. He also taught music in his earlier years—he was a piano teacher. Each fall he would go to New York and take in some of the theatre productions. That was his holiday. In the community, he would put together a program of plays and musicals for a week or 10 nights to raise money for a community hall or a church. It was a way to bring people together.

Q Has Vesey’s continued as a philanthropic company?
A We support the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Charlottetown. I feel I’m helping my own family, and my staff and their families. If none of us need it, we’re the luckiest people in the world. We also support the Prince County hospital in Summerside. I had an uncle who was a doctor there and he delivered me when I was born there. And I’ve always been involved in sports. My first investment in Vesey’s was a truck, which I also used to pick up kids on Saturday mornings to take them to a rink 10 miles away.

Q Why haven’t you retired? You’ve earned it.
A The best day I can have is a busy day. I tell my wife, “You’d better just leave me where I am. I might be more of a nuisance at home.”

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