The Thomsons have embarked on a new venture, Farmer Bill's Country Market.

In the midst of getting prepared for their new enterprise, they were approached by the Kellogg's company for permission to use a particular site on their farm to make a commercial. This is not the first time that their farm was sought out for a commercial. In June of 1995, Dairyland filmed in their hay field which was bordered with trees that were needed for their shoot.

Speaking with a Kellogg's representative, I was told the Thomson's farm had been chosen by their production scout who traveled throughout BC to locate a lone tree on a hill for the commercial. To find just the right setting was not an easy task, but the Thomson's farm offered that perfect setting with the Linden tree on a hill in their hay field.

This particular Linden tree was planted over 40 years ago by Bill and his late uncle Ted (Ed) Thomson. It's more than just a tree. It holds a special meaning for the family as it was the wish of the late Jim Thomson that this be his final resting place so that he could be close to everyone and everything that he held near and dear in his heart.

The Thomson family have lived on the farm for over 100 years. Three generations have dairy farmed here for 99 years.

On April 1st (1999), Bill and Dezi made the difficult decision to get out of the dairy trade and the transition has not been an easy one for them. They still continue to farm their land by making hay, growing sweet corn, pumpkins, zucchinis and raising beef animals.

The story of leaving the dairy operation was published in the Country Life farm paper and the BC Report magazine, CHEK TV aired their story in July, and Thursday, September 16th, the TV program Country Canada came out to get their personal story on how the worldwide farming crisis has affected their dairy industry.

As optimistic individuals, they are now looking to the future with confidence and excitement as Farmer Bill's Country Market starts to evolve. They have wonderful innovative ideas that include more than selling farm fresh produce. This will be an Agri-Tourism farm market with farm tours and getting first hand information about the serious concerns that connect the farming industry with the consumers' food supply.