Farm house offers immeasurable comfort to cancer victims
By Tom Mackie
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
Most farms are devoted to agriculture or to raising domestic livestock. But at the heart of all farms is the land. What the owner does with that land often directly impacts the people and community around it.
One such farm in Bucks County that continues to impact thousands of people was once known as Greeenfield Farm. Owned by the Cliff family for four generations, this 80-plus acre dairy farm provided a sundry of dairy products for over 200 years.
Joe Cassel
, who lives at Ann’s Choice, is a walking encyclopedia of local knowledge, recalls the giant farm which he could clearly see from his own farm, where he grew up across the street from Ann’s Choice.
"The Cliff family’s Greenfield farm was much bigger than our farm," he recalls. "My father worked as a mason, and when he came home he tended to our smaller 15-acre farm. We raised chickens and vegetables."
Later in the 20th Century, much of the Greenfield farm was bought by the government and turned into the Naval Air Development Center, where pilots honed their craft during times of war. All that remained was the family’s huge white stone home.
Land rich in opportunity
When Erickson Communities purchased the land a few years ago, much of the former farm and air center was transformed into a bustling community that more than 1,300 people would call home, Ann’s Choice.
"It’s amazing to me to think that the dirt under our homes is from the Cliff farm," says Joe. "Now it’s the place I call home. So close to where I grew up and now the place where I enjoy so many great activities."
One of the things Joe likes about Ann’s Choice is the abundance of land—103 acres of rich tilled farmland steeped in history. A history that Joe’s seen transformed before his own eyes.