Laurie Maye Avolio [Brooks] (c1960-a2013)

Dates

Birth: Circa 1960 USA
Father: James Alvin Avolio 1935-2013
Mother: Mavis Jean Gurr 1938-2013

Marriage: Unknown
Husband: Daniel Savory Brooks c1960-a12013

Death: After 1980

Children

Stephanie Ann Brooks c1980
Margot Suzanne Brooks c1980
Peter Lee Brooks c1980
Jill Florence Brooks c1980

Notes

In the obituary for James Avilio who died 2 January 2013, Jim is survived by [...] his children[...] Laurie Brooks and husband Daniel of West Pawlet, VT".

In the obituary for Mavis Jean Avolio who died 23 December 2013 Mavis is survived by her children [...] Laurie Brooks and husband Daniel of West Pawlet, VT"

Entry in Ancestry U.S., Cemetery and Funeral Home Collection, 1847-Current for Laurie Brooks (Avolio) father James A Avolio.

Two entries in Ancestry U.S., School Yearbooks, 1900-1999 for Laurie Avolio in 1979 and 1980 and one for Laurie Maye Avolio in 1980, at South New Berlin Central School, South New Berlin, New York.

Entry in Unadilla Valley Alumni Association Including New Berlin Central School, South New Berlin Central School & Unadilla Valley Central School graduation? Audrey Avolio 83.

Entry in Thomas and Elizabeth Stafford for Laurie Avolio children Stephanie Ann Brooks, Margot Suzanne Brooks, Peter Lee Brooks, Jill Florence Brooks.

Entry in Waygoose Farm

We are Dan and Laurie Brooks, owners and operators of a small dairy farm located in West Pawlet, Vermont where we milk 25 cows, both jersey and brown swiss. We sell fresh raw milk from pastured cows. We bought the farm in January 2011 and after extensive renovation to the barn, milk production began that May. Dan has been a dairy farmer all his life, having grown up on his family’s dairy farm in upstate NY. Laurie is an artist and has a degree in studio art from Hartwick College, with concentrations in drawing and printmaking. Our 16 year old daughter Jill helps with chores whenever time allows. Our farm is certified Animal Welfare Approved, www.animalwelfareapproved.org, which means that our animals are raised humanely, and this is verified annually by the AWA’s auditors. We are the partner farm to our neighbors at Consider Bardwell Farm, where the bulk of our lovely rich milk is made into some of their award winning, aged raw milk cheeses. The high butterfat and protein content of our super rich jersey milk makes exceptional cheese and we are very proud of this partnership. We also sell homemade pies at the farm and at local farmers markets. All of our fruit pies are made by hand, from scratch, by Laurie using as many local or home grown ingredients as possible, and all of our meat pies are made with beef, veal, chicken or pork that we have raised ourselves. Our turkey pies are made with local free range turkeys. We love visitors! If you are going to be in the area stop by and sample our amazing milk! Contact us at waywardgoosefarm@gmail.com or 802-645-9074 to arrange a tour!

Entry in Eat Well Guide About Wayward Goose Farm

In the summer of 2009, Daniel and Laurie Brooks made the decision to leave the family farm in New York state where Daniel was raised, and where the couple had lived for 28 years. After many months of searching, their daughter, Margot, who at the time was managing Consider Bardwell Farm in West Pawlet, Vermont, sent home some photos of an old blind African Grey goose that had wandered into her yard mourning the death of its mate. When Margot found the goose’s owner down the road, she learned that he was planning to sell. This neighborly visit eventually led to the purchase of the Brooks’ new family home in January 2011 and its name, Wayward Goose Farm, as well as a lasting partnership between the new farm and neighboring Consider Bardwell Farm. Daniel and Laurie sell the majority of the milk from the mostly Jersey dairy herd to Consider Bardwell, who make a range of award-winning aged raw milk cheeses. “The high butterfat and protein content of our super rich Jersey milk makes exceptional cheese,” Daniel explains. “We’re very proud of this partnership.” Indeed, the partnership between the two farms continues to go from strength to strength. In 2013, Wayward Goose Farm and Consider Bardwell were jointly awarded the Vermont Sustainable Farm of the Year in recognition of their work to promote both sustainability and local agriculture in their area. It was their partners at Consider Bardwell who originally convinced Dan and Laurie to become Animal Welfare Approved. The AWA standards, says Daniel, represented “things they believe in and were mostly already doing.” They are proud to raise their cattle out on pasture and feeding them mostly hay and minimal grain when grazing is unavailable over the winter months. The Brooks like to “keep it simple,” managing the cattle according to their needs and minimizing stress, leading to healthy, robust, and low-maintenance animals. The Brooks are very happy to be in their new home with their daughter Jill, who graduates from high school this year, and will spend a year in Belgium as a Rotary Foreign Exchange student before going to college. They also enjoy working closely with their son, Peter, who now manages Consider Bardwell Farm. It is also a great location for Laurie’s art studio, where she works with watercolors, acrylics, graphite and linoleum prints. Laurie’s artwork is inspired by her life on the farm. Although it’s “not always easy to pay the bills,” says Daniel, “we really like what we do.” Although most of their milk goes into Consider Bardwell’s cheese-making operation, Daniel and Laurie also sell liquid milk directly from the farm to local customers. To learn more about Wayward Goose Farm, visit http://waywardgoosefarm.tumblr.com or reach them at waywardgoosefarm@gmail.com or (802) 645-9074. You can also follow Wayward Goose Farm on Facebook to stay up to date on farm news, photos, and events.

Entry in Way Goose Farm adds

Dan has been a dairy farmer all his life. In addition to milking cows, Laurie is also an artist, having received her BA in art from Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY in 2006. She works primarily in watercolors and gouache, colored pencil and graphite and finds much of her inspiration in her life as a dairy farmer.

Entry in Go Fund Me

Due to the unfortunate sudden closing of Consider Bardwell Farm we are left without a market for our raw milk. We are actively seeking out new milk markets, but in the meantime the well-being of our herd of Jersey cows hangs in the balance. We are not commodity dairy farmers. Our farm model is centered around the production of high-quality, primarily grass-based milk and a commitment to regenerative agricultural practices. This model was established to fulfill our contractual obligations to produce premium milk suitable to be made into raw artisanal cheeses. Milk production is not like a faucet that can be turned off – although we are now left without a milk market and no source of income, our cows still need to be fed and milked. While we are still able to sell a portion of our product to our raw milk customers, we are currently being forced to dump the majority of our milk because of the loss of our market. We want to do right by our cow herd and our community. We have already been forced to sell several cows to cut costs. This breaks our hearts. Our cows are not just animals – they are invaluable co-workers, partners, and the heart and soul of our farm. They have allowed us to provide our customers with high quality raw milk. This milk was also turned into award winning cheese. We want to continue to allow to them to do what they do best; contribute in meaningful ways to the lives of our neighbors, to our loyal milk customers, and to the health of the land. We are reaching out to our community in hopes of raising funds to allow us to continue to care for our cow herd during this interim period while we are without a milk market. We have calculated the costs of feeding our herd for one month. We hope that this time period will buy us some time to figure out if we can continue as a farm, or if we must shut down production. We are optimistic that we will be able to continue, and have been bolstered by the outpouring of support we have already received from folks in the cheese industry and within our community.

Relationship

Laurie May Avolio was the second great grandneice of Sarah Jane Gill, wife of my great grandfather George William Payne.

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