Where do you park 100 cows?

In the overall scheme of things, the fire at Perrydell Farms in York Township wasn't that big. No cows, cats or people were injured. The barn where the cows lived was untouched.

According to the experts, an electrical problem started the fire in the milking parlor where there is very little burnable material. All the machinery is made of stainless steel for milk processing and storage. The parlor walls were concrete block. Only the roof beams and trusses were wood, and that's what caused most of the damage.

The milking parlor, what Michael Saylor called the 'heart of the farm' is dead-- for now. It'll be rebuilt in coming days or weeks. But in the meantime, what to do with over one hundred 1,500 pound Holstein cows that must be milked twice a day or risk injury or even death?

It's simple. Call a few of your friends. They jump into their Monster Trucks with even Bigger Trailers, race over to your place before the fire departments finish rolling up their hoses. Forget that the drivers have to wake up in two or three hours to milk their own herds. So they pack up the beefy critters and take them to, um, where?  It's not like you have a dozen kittens or a few guinea pigs. Bossie and 99 of her friends can't squeeze into just anyplace.

Enter the York County wing of the Pennsylvania Animal Response Team-- what, you didn't know there was such a group?--with Linda Spahr and Cindy Johnson leading the charge and making telephone calls. Within minutes, they found a newly vacated dairy farm just six miles away. It was ready to go, and all it needed were some cows. Perrydell Farm was just the ticket.

So, while a fire is rarely a good thing, all the pieces to this puzzle worked out. All evening, the Perrydell folks were saying, "Amazing. Look at all these people. We're grateful for all the support."

They shouldn't have been surprised.  What goes around, comes around. For years, the friendly Perrydell families have opened their farm to schools, churches and other various groups to show people that milk and ice cream isn't manufactured in the back of a grocery store.  Everyone leaves with a smile on their face.

The Perrys have been offered donations to help in the rebuilding effort, but they have declined, suggesting instead that the money be given to the fire departments that worked the fire. How can you top that?

If you get a chance, stop by the farm's retail store--it's open for business as usual. Grab a bottle of chocolate milk. Yep, it's awesome.