Mr. Butz Dairy

By Kevin J. Curtis

“We’re getting the new sign today,” said Harland Butz—owner of what had been known as the Mr. Butz Dairy for well over a century. As the crew took down the old sign and replaced it with the new, Butz Family Dairy, sign, Harland sighed. He looked at the small group of visitors that he was leading in a tour. “I guess that’s the end of an era,” he said.

“How come you decided to change the name?” asked one visitor.
“That’s a good question,” said Mr. Butz. Then he began to tell the story.

“The Mr. Butz Dairy has been in the family for 114 years. While the building has been remodeled, the products and philosophy are largely unchanged. Dairy products such as specialty cheeses, milk and butter are created on site and in view of the visiting public. In fact, the daily tours are a big part of the operation’s success.

“The store sells a variety of grocery and convenience store products. Most in demand, however, are the Butz products that are manufactured in the adjoining building called the production house. Connected to the production house is the milking barn. Each separate part of the facility has large glass windows that look into the connecting buildings. This way, visitors can see the dairy products being manufactured from start to finish.

“The business has recently gone online, and sales are good. There is even talk of adding on. In fact, the only real drawback that anyone can see… or rather, smell is that when the wind comes from the south, the odors of the barnyard and cows will sometimes waft into the store. Back in the days when my grandfather Nathanial Butz, first started the business on his small farm, this was probably thought to be of little consequence. As the years and decades passed, however, it has become something of a topic of conversation at times.

“About two months ago, there was a tour group in here—a lot like this one that you are in. There was a little boy in that tour… Bobby was his name and he was about four or five years old. Bobby enjoyed watching the cows through the window over there—in the milking barn. He, of course, liked the assorted chocolates and candies in the store where we are now. He had all kinds of questions about everything. He asked what my name was, and I told him ‘Mr. Butz.’ He asked what ‘that bad smell’ was, and I told him that it was from the cows. I explained to him that the cows didn’t use a bathroom like we do, but they just did their ‘business’ outside. I told him that when you are at a dairy farm, that is how the air smells sometimes.

“Bobbie seemed fine with this throughout most of the tour. The wind was blowing up from the south that day, however, and the smell of cow manure was definitely in the air. Near the end of the tour, I was telling everyone about the different cheeses, and cut samples for everyone to try. One or two of the cheeses had, shall we say, a ‘strong’ smell? Well, it just so happened that Bobby was standing behind me with his mom—waiting for a cheese sample when he said very loudly,”
“Hey mom, Mr. Butt’s dairy air really smells bad!”

“Everyone stopped dead,” continued Harland Butz, “Then we started to laugh. It was just too funny! But I knew of course, right at that moment, that I had to change the name.”

© 2010 Kevin J. Curtis