Traveling through Great Valley, you might not expect a book idea to emerge, but Cathy Lacy found some inspiration right down the road from her, literally.
“Donut on the Farm,” as it’s been so entitled, is based on the true story of Donut the cow on Snowbrook Road. Living on the road, Lacy noticed that a very unusual cow used to always be on the loose. As she soon found out, the cow’s name was Donut and she pretty much ran the farm, the owner’s would say.
After hearing that, Lacy, a former Salamanca art teacher for 36 years, was inspired.
The soft-cover book, “Donut on the Farm” is about Donut and all the other animals on the farm. The children’s book transports people onto the farm where we see how happy Donut and the gang are on the farm.
“The book really explores how happy they are because it’s an organic farm and how everyone’s healthy and they (the animals) get good hay,” Lacy said. “The farmer is very busy, so Donut helps … This enables him to spend more time with family.”
One of Lacy’s goals with this book was to educate and encourage people about organic farming and robotic milking that makes this farm different from others.
“This is to have them (children) be aware of the differences between organic and regular farming,” Lacy said.
In this endeavor, Lacy was not alone. She had the help of her daughter-in-law who helped her with the publication software and 11th grade ECS student, Kate Seiflein, who took some of the pictures of Donut that are featured in the book.
Seiflein became involved with the book because her step-father Dan Brown owns the farm where the story takes place. Currently, the library at ECS already has a copy of the book and many classes have already read the book, Lacy said.
Lacy is in the process of getting more copies printed, but people can contact her to reserve a book at mamalacy@wildblue.net. Books will be sold for $8.
However, this may be the first book Lacy’s written, but it won’t be her last. Lacy is planning to write another book about Eleanor Roosevelt. No, not the former First Lady, but Lacy’s very own chicken who sleeps with the dog and eats food with the cats. Soon you’ll have a chance to learn more about this curious hen when Lacy’s next book is published.
