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Egg-ceptional couple Clarks have been selling their eggs at St. Lawrence Market for over 60 years It’s cold and black outside and most people are snuggled in their beds, but Harlan and Norine Clark are just finishing up their porridge and coffee and preparing to head off to work. Work for them is just a stone’s throw away in the barn, where they tend to about 1,400 egg-laying chickens from before the sun peaks over the horizon, until after it sets. This amazing couple, who will celebrate their 65th anniver- sary later this year, first met at the old Port Perry skating rink located just south of the Scout Hall, when Harlan was 22 years old and Norine was only 19. After getting married in 1943, they lived for the next three years in the Queen St. home of Port Perry Star owner, Samuel Farmer. Before buying their Prince Albert farm, Harlan had been employed by Peel’s Poultry Farm in Port Perry. But a year after purchasing the property in 1946, he left and they began raising their own egg and meat chickens. From day one, the couple worked side-by-side collecting and grading their eggs, before heading off to market in Toronto. Harlan recalls when they first started selling their products at the St. Lawrence Market, they would travel to the city in his 1932 Chevrolet coupe. The car had a rumble seat which was removed and their eggs and chickens were packed into that space. That was 1947 and last August the couple were recognized by friends, customers and the media for their 60 years selling eggs at the market. “Both CBC and CityTV did a little story about us,” Harlan recalls. Then in January this year they were featured in a full- page article in the Toronto Star. What's really amazing is that Harlan, who celebrates his 87th birthday on March 18 and Norine, who is 84, work about the same number of hours today, as they did 60 years ago. Their gruelling schedule begins every morning when they crawl out of bed at 5 a.m. After breakfast they wander off to the barn 50 yards away to begin their long 12 to 14 hour day. — Harlan starts out by checking and hand-feeding the chick- Harlan and Norine Clark have worked seven days a week for more than 60 years Please see “Seven Days” page 14 raising chickens, collecting eggs and going to market in Toronto every Saturday. website: www.focusonscugog.com FOCUS - MARCH 2008 11