The 1700's

The name "Burtch" (with its various spellings) is an English family name, coming from the birch tree. The European tree is different from the common North American birches with their papery bark. During the colonial days, many long-standing families in the Niagara fruit growing region were granted large tracts of free land by the British government. The Burtch's worked in the fur trade for the Hudson's Bay Company. They walked south from James Bay to the Niagara Falls area and had to purchase their land from the early settlers. From the beginning, they were entreprenureal "self-made men".

The family may also have some German roots because of the long tradition of making saurcraut.

Great-Great Grandfather

The first Ken Burtch was a farmer who may originally have worked in St. Catharines before moving to the area around Jordan. It is believed that he once travelled by ship and horse from Upper Canada to Russia to demonstrate an early horse-drawn grain combine, a long and dangerous trip.

Great Grandfather

His son, Len Burtch (1860?-?), was born around the time Canada became a country. He was a grape farmer who played the fiddle. His wife was a loose woman who performed abortions. There is a story that she would hang a towel on her clothesline to let the neighbourhood men know when her husband was out in the fields. They had two children: Mary Burtch (married to Loel Eller) and Ken Orin Burtch.

Grandfather

"K. O." (Kenneth Orin) Burtch (1890?-1983) was born in the era of the horse-and-buggy and lived long enough to see the space shuttle. An aggressive wheeler-dealer, handsome lady's man and sneak thief, his wife oversaw the farm while he spent his time dickering and trading. He was an award-winning runner, a motocyclist, a barber, a shootist and a stock trader. He earned his way through the great depression doing factory work.

K. O. (with Archy Hanes and another partner) ran an apple cider mill which they sold and the mill became the basis for Jordan Wines, a major Canadian winery in the 1960's and 1970's. The original stone building is now the location of the On the Twenty upscale restaurant.

He made most of his money by purchasing Jordan Fruit, a fruit exporting company, from J. A. Wills. In those days, fruit was shipped by boat down the Twenty Mile Creek in the Jordan Valley and from there onto Lake Ontario. With the arrival of the railroad, Jordan Fruit moved to Jordan Station and became one of the biggest fruit exporters in North America. The name "Jordan Fruit" became recognized as far away as the Middle East. The Jordan Fruit building in Jordan Station is now a self-storage business.

With horse-drawn earth moving equipment, K. O. helped to build Highway 8 through the Jordan Hollow. K. O. and G. S. O. were infamous for racing cars backwards through the Jordan Valley, across the Red Bridge.

He moved to Second Avenue (Honsberger Avenue) in Jordan Station and started Shady Lane Fruit Farms, named for the maple trees along the driveway. He married "Kit" (Catharine) Edith Wills, who taught school in Vineland. Kit's mother was from the Ball family: the Ball's Falls Conservation Area is named after them.

K. O. was an Ontario 2-man and 5-man team shooting champion. In his retirement years, he was passing through Florida and signed up for the Sarasota Shoot. An complete unknown in the state, he took first prize with a score of 98/100.

K. O. and Kit had two children: Mary Burtch (married to Alfred Savage) and Kenneth Allen Burtch.

Father

"Kenny" (Kenneth) Allen Burtch (1934- ) was born in Jordan Station. His early hobby was racing speed boats. He was the Canada-wide unlimited (that is, outboard) class champion and placed second in the D-hydro class. His boat was called "The Little Nip" because he said he needed a nip of alchohol for courage before getting in. Because he rolled his boat more than any other driver in the competition, he learned that one has to take risks in order to win.

Kenny was a inventive and ambitious farmer with no tolerance for mistakes. In the early days, he worked as a mixed fruit farmer, growing pears, plums, peaches, cherries, grapes and strawberries. In those years, mixed crops were required to keep money coming in during the year. He partnered with his brother-in-law Alf Savage in "Burtch and Savage Farms". With the advent of limited corporations, he went solo and formed Burtch Farms Limited. In 1969, he became the first man in the world to own and operate a mechancial grape havester. These machines allowed farmers, for the first time, to specialize in growing grapes. Working long hours and hiring outside help, Kenny was able to brag one year that he took six months of vacation days.

Kenny was a constant innovator in the grape industry and was always technologically ahead of his peers. He was the first person to use a concentrate sprayer in grapes. He was one of the key designers, if not the creator, of boom-style weed sprayers. He also invented the self-levelling, high-speed grape cultivator. Several Niagara grape farmers built unsuccessful imitations. Not all experiments were successful. With Vic Skull, Kenny experiment with burning weeds with propane but the heat caused too much collateral damage. He was nominated Niagara Grape King three times for his efforts, but turned down the honour each time because the ceremonial duties would take him away from his work.

Kenny married three times. He had two children: Kenneth Owen Burtch and Sharon Ruth Allison Burtch.