Identical triplets Dan, Tim and Andrew Van Gilst have made it a family tradition to get together at the Ottawa Valley Farm Show. (Nelson Zandbergen photo)
Nelson Zandbergen
Farmers Forum
OTTAWA — There were double and triple takes as identical triplets Dan, Tim and Andrew Van Gilst took a walking tour together around the 2023 Ottawa Valley Farm Show.
The 42-year-old Van Gilst brothers wore the official collared shirts of their respective workplaces as they nonchalantly strode through the aisles of the EY Centre. Each works at different agribusinesses closely connected with Dundas County’s farming community. Dan owns and operates Eastern Engines, a chainsaw specialist in Williamsburg, Tim owns and operates Gasser Agricultural Services, a customs operation in Chesterville, and electrician Andrew is employed as an electrical project manager at Horst Systems, grain bin vender in Winchester. They all live within several kilometres of each other in Dundas County.
Ever since Andrew returned to the area in 2016, the trio have made it a tradition to meet up at the Ottawa Valley Farm Show.
Dan said that he and his brothers don’t often go out together, but it’s a unique experience when they do. Surprised looks and general confusion “happen often enough when we’re together.”
He happily recounted how one farmer at the show, upon seeing them, exclaimed: “I’ve managed to collect the whole set!”
They were born in 1980 to a farm couple — Renny and Bea Van Gilst — who ran a beef and cash-cropping operation outside Chesterville. Identical triplets may be as rare as one out of 200 million naturally conceived births, according to many online sources.
Today, the men are all married fathers with children of their own (9 between them). None has produced twins or triplets, although Tim’s wife, Erin, also happens to have an identical twin sister.
