Doug Ayers
SHAVERTOWN — Doug Ayers paid the mortgage and called the shots at The Lands at Hillside Farms, but didn't mind pitching in to help scoop cow manure.
To Ayers, preserving the 412-acre farm started as a dream in 2005 and it became his life's passion. And that was on top of running two businesses.
Ayers, the local veterinarian who helped acquire, revitalize and run Hillside Farms through a nonprofit group, died Tuesday following a battle with leukemia. He was 56.
A preservationist and animal lover who ran the Plains Animal Hospital and a nearby emergency clinic, Ayers led the effort to buy the farm from the Conyngham family for $4.2 million.
Then, he poured all his resources into restoring the property and keeping it running, said Chet Mozloom, executive director of The Lands at Hillside Farms.
Ayers paid the monthly payment on the $2.3 million mortgage on the property along Hillside Road in the Shavertown section of Kingston Twp., which includes a farm, a museum and a dairy store that sells products made from Hillside Farms cows.
"He was a humble person, but in reality — and now he is not with us I'll say it — he was very successful, but gave everything away," Mozloom said. "He worked as a vet and he ran two businesses and then he shoveled manure alongside us here. He gave everything — his money, his time — endlessly. If anyone else had what he had, they would have bought a lot of toys and a big house."
Instead, Ayers bought a colonial home on 13 acres abutting Hillside Farms to protect the farm from possible encroaching development in the future. The house will be given to Hillside.
Read about Doug Ayers' vision for the Lands at Hillside Farms: www.thelandsathillsidefarms.org/work/our-core-values
Land preservation was another of Ayers' passions.
Ayers was a founding member and longtime chairman of the North Branch Land Trust, which has preserved 18,000 acres of land throughout Northeast Pennsylvania since it was founded in 1993.
"He was a pioneer on a number of fronts," said Paul Lumia, executive director of the North Branch Land Trust. "He thought there was irresponsible development in areas where we should protect."
The group worked to preserve private and public land from any future development.
"Doug was a pioneer, self-starter and champion of NEPA! He will be missed!" the group said in a Facebook post Wednesday.
The Plains Animals Hospital also posted a tribute on Facebook about Ayers.
"It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to our beloved leader and friend. Dr. Ayers lost his hard-fought battle last night with Leukemia. He was a great man, vet, environmentalist and will be greatly missed," the post said.
A Facebook post on Hillside Farms' page said the staff was "heartbroken."
"Had it not been for Dr. Doug Ayers, there would be no Hillside Farms," the post said.
When Ayers took over Hillside, it lost $1 million a year. Now, after adding a nonprofit staff, it's almost breaking even, Mozloom said.
Mozloom, 45, said he believed so much in Ayers' vision, he left a lucrative career as a money manager to help Ayers run the farm.
"When I met him, I was like, 'This guy is for real.' He was a true servant leader," Mozloom said. "He gave me an opportunity to do something else with my life other than make money and survive."
Ayers was engaged but had no children, he said.
While Ayers paid the mortgage, he knew his diagnosis jeopardized his life and provisions were made regarding Hillside's finances should he pass away, Mozloom said.
"He anticipated this for a long time and sort of planned for it," he said.
Last year, Ayers wrote about his vision for Hillside Farms in a posting on the nonprofit's website. He said he mobilized the effort to buy the farm and return the animals to preserve the area's history. He said he sought to run it organically and compassionately — and that the barnyard animals are treated ethically.
"They are raised humanely and produce common products like milk, butter, ice cream and meats. But we make them better. Better, because the animals here live humanely and are fed comparably to the way nature intended," Ayers wrote.
Farm buildings are being restored, the land is being "returned to its original agrarian productivity," and the dairy store is growing in popularity, he said.
"We are a non-profit organization which engages in capitalism to survive. We provide products grown or produced here, locally or via fair trade," Ayers wrote. "Our organization is old fashioned in that we intend to survive by providing an awesome experience while teaching the values of 'loving thy neighbor.' We know of no more valuable lesson to share."
Contact the writer:
bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com
570-821-2055, @cvbobkal
Source: Man behind The Lands, Doug Ayers, succumbs to leukemia at 56
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