AVC presents PEI's Jewell Dale Farm with 2017 Green Hat Award
The Atlantic Veterinary College (AVC) has honoured the Jewell family and Jewell Jewell Dale Farm Inc., of Meadowbank, PEI, with the 2017 Honourable Eugene F. Whelan Green Hat Award for their contributions to the College and veterinary medicine.
UPEI President and Vice-Chancellor Alaa Abd-El-Aziz and AVC Dean Greg Keefe presented Kevin Jewell, representing Jewel Dale Farm Inc., with the award during the University’s Founders Day Ceremony on September 22. Jolene Vermeulen, AVC Class of 2019, read the citation. Also present were members of the multi-generational Jewel family.
AVC established the Honourable Eugene F. Whelan Green Hat Award in 2000 to pay tribute to people who have had a significant and positive impact on the College and veterinary medicine in Atlantic Canada.
Citation:
Jewell Dale Farm is home to three generations of the Jewell family: Roy and Elaine, who started the farm in 1959; their son Kevin and his wife Cheryl; and their sons, Logan, Kyle, and Joel. The farm is managed collaboratively with each member taking on various responsibilities. Logan manages the herd of 115 Holsteins (along with a Jersey or two); Kyle looks after the crops; and Joel, who works at the local John Deere dealership, is their mechanic on call. Cheryl looks after the books for the farm; Kyle’s wife Jane, who grew up on a dairy farm in Nova Scotia, manages the young stock; and Logan’s wife Megan is a veterinarian and graduate student at AVC. It is truly a family affair!
The family’s passion and care for their animals is evident. When you walk into the barn at Jewell Dale Farm, you see a bright, airy space, where the dairy cows feed and scratch their backs on rotating brushes, walk around on rubber mats designed to reduce stress on their hooves, or rest on foam mattresses.
The Jewell’s commitment to the health and welfare of their herd has not gone unnoticed. Valacta, a regional dairy herd improvement organization, named Jewell Dale Farm the top herd in Prince Edward Island in its 2016 Herd Performance Index.
Jewell Dale Farm has been a client of the College’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital since it opened in 1988. But the Jewell family are more than clients. Their involvement with AVC runs much deeper. They have been a mainstay in the College’s teaching program, providing opportunities for thousands of veterinary students to learn about bovine medicine, herd production, and management.
They have participated in numerous dairy research projects and are strong supporters of other AVC activities such as its annual vet camp program for 200 young junior and senior high school aged youth and the student-run Bovine Club.
The family’s support of AVC extends beyond the farm. Currently, Cheryl is involved in the veterinary medicine priority of UPEI’s “Inspire Campaign.”
Dr. Shawn McKenna, Service Chief of AVC Farm Service, nominated the Jewell family for this year’s Green Hat Award.
“The Jewell family exemplifies the teamwork that is essential to a good relationship between veterinarian and producer,” he said. “They are so supportive of the work we do. It’s beneficial for both of us.”
For their contributions to the education of future veterinarians and to the Atlantic Veterinary College, we are honored to award the 2017 Honourable Eugene F. Whelan Green Hat Award to the Jewell family and Jewell Dale Farm.
