EASTERN ONTARIO: After working 30 years at Cannamore Orchard, he bought the business

CRYSLER — Local boy and longtime employee of Cannamore Orchard at Crysler, a popular agri-tourism spot and apple orchard, is looking to take over the business.

Started in 1982 by Dennis and Claire Taylor, an orchard soon grew to include pumpkin and strawberry patches, a spooky wagon ride and plenty of other enticements to draw a crowd.

Three summers ago the older couple made the decision to look for a buyer for the farm. “Selling a farm can take a few years,” said Dennis Taylor, but just a year later, longtime employee Mat Kelly said he wanted to buy the place.

Born and raised on a hobby farm just down the road in Crysler, Kelly started working at the orchard 30 years ago, when he was 12 years old. “Picking windfalls was my first job.” Not much ever kept him away; even when he went to university in Windsor to study theatre. When he had a break he worked at the orchard. About the only exception was a few years he spent working with a friend in Kitchener on a puppet show while hunting for full-time work. But the hunt turned up nothing, so Kelly came home. He’s always enjoyed working outside, the bosses were good, and a small core of returning crew gave the seasonal working crew a family feeling.

He wasn’t surprised when he heard the orchard was up for sale, as the Taylors had talked about retirement before, but he wasn’t planning on buying it at first. He didn’t think he could pull together enough cash and another guy had already been looking into it. “The understanding was that I’d just keep working here.” Then his financial situation changed when he received an inheritance on his wife’s side and his parents offered to help.
If all goes well, they take over next March. Of course, a global pandemic might be the worst possible time to take over a tourist destination of any kind, even a local one, so there’s some anxiety there, he said. Plus, this is all new to him. “I’ve never run a business before, so that is something that is going to be a bit of a challenge.” But his wife has experience handling paperwork. “So I think, together, we’ll be able to pull this off.”

Kelly does have some relevant experience, aside from working at the place for three decades. He’s a published playwright of community theatre. His mystery comedies have been performed locally and as far away as Vancouver and Tucson, Arizona. Blending mystery and laughter seems a skillset tailor-made for running a spooky, family-friendly agri-tourism destination.