The staff at the Killarney Paterson Grain terminal had a nice surprise when area farmer, Jamie Shule, passed on his winnings from CJRB's Meals in the Field contest - a free lunch valued at $150 from Boundary Co-op's deli.

General Manager of the Killarney terminal, Shayne Skeoch, says he was pleasantly surprised when he got the call from the CJRB office about receiving the free lunch for his staff, thanks to Jamie Shule.

"Jamie is a long-time customer of ours and very loyal," shares Skeoch, "and I guess he thought that maybe he would be too busy, or it wasn't going to be the right timing, so he passed it on to us.  The last 2 weeks have been really busy with long hours, so we really appreciate this!"

Skeoch says going through the summer months, with lots of heat but little rain, he's been pleased with what's coming into the elevator.  "Actually, the guys who have gotten the oats, the wheat and the barley off, I've been very surprised at what's coming off so, I think it's above average in our area.  Now, we're just into the canola and oil seeds and hopefully, the same will be seen with higher yields.  But we'll see in the next 10 days."

Between the grain producer and the staff at the elevator, it becomes a partnership of sorts.  "We have a very good working relationship with the farmers, and we have a lot of loyal customers who come year after year," explains Skeoch. "We try to help them out and sometimes we get unexpected trains and then we make a few phone calls, and they're willing to help us out too, so it goes back and forth."

Eleven staff work out of the Killarney terminal for Paterson Grain. "Yes, we're busy! We're open during the harvest here at 6 am till 9 at night.  So, some long hours, and so we appreciate the meal. Thank you to CJRB, Boundary Co-op and Jamie Shule!"

The full meal was delivered to the Patterson Grain terminal in Killarney on Wednesday at noon, and yes, Jamie Shule joined the crew around the table!