Farm Testimonials

I believe the Spry farm offers many benefits to our community. They offer a chance for youth to understand where and how food is grown along with an opportunity for them to experience farm animals and a hands on approach to learning about animals and farming. 

Some other  benefits include an opportunity for the Sprys to interact with their customer base and cultivate relationships with them to see their needs and grow possible partnerships. 

Also, for our labour market, it offers opportunities for jobs in our community. 
It offers a great entertainment afternoon to take children outside and be active, benefiting their mental and physical well-being. 

The Farm has operated for five years without incident and although it does carry a risk, the benefits far outweigh the risk. 

It would be a shame to not have this opportunity in our community.  

Nicke Paddock
An advocate for healthy and safe communities that prosper

I would like to share an experience that I had on a class visit to The Spry Farm. I am a kindergarten teacher and have been for many years. We have taken classes on numerous types of field trips over the years all of which have been enjoyable for the students, staff and parents who joined us. Our visit to The Spry Farm was incredible. We had a large number of little ones and the organization, safety precautions, engagement with the students and overall welcoming made everyone feel at home. It is an incredible thing to see little children and animals together. The staff were so relaxed and shared knowledge of their different animals in age appropriate language and gently encouraged interaction between the children and all of the animals. They shared safety information and were very aware and conscious of all interactions between the students and the various animals.

This business provides a wonderful opportunity for children who may not have a chance to see and interact with, as well as learn about animals and how a farm operates to care for and raise the animals.

The fact that the owners and their family are people who have been part of this community for generations is a testament to the dedication that they have to being a part of and sharing with our districts communities.

I was very impressed with The Spry Farm and so we’re all of the students!
Thank you for having us, we will be back!

Cheri Tolton-Whatley

I have visited the Spry Farm a couple of times with my teenage sons. My oldest son really loves horses and animals and he immediately felt connected to the environment.  He still talks about the visits and follows the Instagram page to get a glimpse into the lives of the animals he connected with.

The hosts were kind, friendly, and were very knowledgable with the animals at the farm. The farm was clean, safe, child friendly, family friendly, and it was a great experience for my family. 

We are looking forward to visiting the farm again sometime soon. We are so fortunate to have the Spry Farm in our area where we could visit and interact with the animals in a safe and clean environment. Animals are such therapeutic and calming beings and with the year everyone has had with the pandemic it would be amazing to get outdoors and visit the farm!

Shelly Jones

The Spry Farm is a family friendly local farm which prides itself in a safe, educational and fun environment for people and families of any age. I was fortunate enough to visit them with my niece and sister in law for a hay wagon ride, and tour around their farm to visit with a variety of animals such as goats and chickens. Many family members and friends of the Spry Farm were around to help and supervise throughout the day. Everyone who goes there enjoys it and it would be a shame if the district lost such a unique environment. I have yet been able to get one of their pumpkins, as they are so popular, they sell out fast! I look forward to visiting them again with my own daughter 🙂 
Thank you for all you do.

Tirzah Baird

I wanted to write this [testimonial] to enlighten those who think this business is high risk and not worth insurance…I volunteered for the Spry Farm a few times over the summers and there has been nothing but laughs, smiles and fun to be had. The Spry family provides an amazing outdoor experience for children and families in the community to learn about farm life and animals. Every single animal on the Spry farm is well behaved and trained to be around people. As a volunteer, I helped with handling some of the animals while kids and parents engaged with them. I have been around plenty of farm animals in my lifetime and I can attest to the safety that is implemented for this business to do the activities they do. This program and business is providing more learning, community engagement and family fun than it could ever cause harm. Terminating this program would take away one of the few hands-on learning experiences that are available to children and families in the Rainy River district which would be an extreme detriment to the community. Not everyone has the opportunity to engage in a program like this and being in a Kinesiology program at a top university in the country, I am a firm believer of outdoor engagement and the proven benefits it has for children’s mental, physical and intellectual well being. Taking this away would strip yet another experience for children to learn valuable life skills before growing up and going out into the world. Additionally, the Spry Family are the most considerate people I know and if there was even the slightest chance of putting the general public at risk they would not be providing this program. They put extensive work, money and labour into this program to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible and every individual is safe. 
I truly believe this program is essential to the community and should absolutely continue to provide valuable knowledge to children, adults and families across the Rainy River district.

Kaitlyn Gouliquer

We look forward to visiting the Spry Farm every year, multiple times a year.  We absolutely love that it is close to town, family operated and so welcoming with all of their friendly faces and cute animals.   My children love going, as do us grownups.  We enjoy that we can go on tours, learning about their property, their animals and their hopes to expand their farm.  This is what our small community needs, it is safe, fun and bringing business to a local family.  We look forward to visiting The Spry Farm again, hopefully soon! 

Sincerely Jon, Kailey, Hudson and Georgia Yellowega

The Spry farm is a great asset in our little community for kids and families alike.
I have never personally visited the Spry farm, but both my daughter and nephew have been there on a few occasions for field trips with their school. I have always felt very comfortable and excited having my daughter participate in activities at the farm. I am so grateful she gets to experience a little bit of the farm life through this local farm and hope that they can continue taking kids their through schools and other programs.

Stacey Cridland

My husband and I have both visited the farm with our 2 young children. We both felt the farm was well run and our kids had a great experience. We really enjoy having this kind of farm in our community.

Marialisa Laurella

Our family has visited the Spry Farm on multiple occasions during a number of seasons. Our children love to see the animals in person, and learn new fun facts from the owners. All of our visits have been educational for the children and very well organized. We really missed the Spry Farm during the 2020 season. We are hoping we can return soon!

Joelle Katona (and family)

We have went to the Spy farm several times the children loved it and they would never of had the opportunity if not for Spry Farm allowing visitors to their well run business. There was never any risk to visitors or else they would not of allowed visitors. Thanks again Spry Farm you run a fabulous business.

Tracy Walton

The Spry Farm is an amazing place for our small town. With nothing much here, it is a fun, educational and all around great place to take kids. I’ve only been there once but I’ve always wanted to go back as well as both my kids. Keeping their agritourism service would be an asset since there are many people who love visiting them and the animals.

Marissa Walton

Dear Spry Farm
We wish to send you our heartfelt gratitude for the superior way the classes of school age children were always treated when they came to your farm to the school outings to learn so much about all the farm animals.  These children still talk about how much fun it was for them to learn about them all. We hope you’re able to keep doing this for many more years to allow many more to experience this too.  Thankyou very much for providing these fun learning experiences to the ones who otherwise would miss out living in towns.  With so much talk of mental health problems we think a lot more times like you are providing would help them so much. Take care and we will always treasure these memories too

Grandparents of students who love these events too
Carolyn & Calvin Stafford
Stratton, ON

I have visited the Spry Farm and it is amazing. The animals are super friendly to adults and children; the farm is clean and organized; they have safety protocols in place; they are knowledgeable,including the children, and offer an informed program and can answer questions. This farm has been beneficial to school groups, family outings which allow children to learn and appreciate farming. Loosing this business would be a huge loss to our children’s education in this district.

Vicki Jewell

My students were captivated by the lovely animals at the farm. The hosts were so kind and patient with my students. I can’t think of a better way to spend a morning or afternoon. Miigwech!

Maragret Walczak Atkinson

We just had our boys’ birthday party at the Spry Farm and have nothing but great things to say about our experience. They had a beautiful shady spot all set up for us and everyone loved seeing all the animals. We would definitely book another party with them.

Carly Whalen

Just writing to express our sincere thanks for the service you provide to our community.

We have only lived in this area for about 3 years and we were made aware of your wonderful farm experience when our daughter started school. We have been to the farm on a school visit, 2 personal visits and a special event. Each time we were treated with kindness and a welcoming spirit. There is always a well-trained student or farm hand to guide us through transitions from each area and to answer questions and keep us safe. With a young child that is a very important thing.

Having been to some bigger farm experiences in Southern Ontario I can say that The Spry Farm is top notch with excellent customer service and animal husbandry. Leanne and Tyler, along with the rest of the family, you are doing a terrific job and we hope to visit again soon.

Sherie Lees and Family