Growing up on his family farm, Malcolm Fraser—more commonly known as “Mac”—remembers a lot of things. He remembers the small dairy herd, the pigs, the maple syrup, the wood and he remembers hoeing turnips. “It’s the first thing all the Frasers got to do on the farm: hoe turnips,” he laughs.

The farm itself, which has been in his family since 1798, and which he bought from his father in 1970, is located in Cookshire, in the Eastern Townships. Currently, Fraser raises polled Herefords.

In addition to being a farmer all his life, Fraser also worked at the Cookshire post office for 35 years. “That’s where I got all my money, so that now I can farm,” he says half-jokingly. But farming has always been something he has enjoyed doing. “Well,” he admits, “sometimes in the morning I don’t enjoy it,” he chuckles. “I guess that if it’s in your blood, it just stays there.”

His involvement with the QFA dates back to the early 1960s when he became a member. Since the 1970s he has intermittently been both president of the Bulwer region QFA as well a director on the provincial board.

Fraser is also very involved in numerous other community groups in his area. So many in fact, he finds it hard to list them all. In addition to his QFA duties, he is also the secretary of Bulwer’s UPA mini-sector, and is involved with his local church, St-Paul’s Resthome in Bury, “and many others,” he says. One of his longest running engagements is with the Cookshire Fair which he has been a part of since the 1960s.

In recognition of his years of volunteerism and community involvement, Fraser was awarded an “Outstanding Townshipper Award” in 2002 by the Townshippers Association.

His long-time community involvement was inspired in part by Don MacMillan, his “modern-day mentor.” MacMillan was an MAPAQ agronome who attended almost every meeting regarding agriculture in the region. “He brought me to all kinds of meetings,” admits Fraser. “He cared about everybody and wanted to help people, especially kids, get involved.”

Another person who had a big impact of his life was Warren Grapes, who Fraser knew through both the QFA and the Cookshire Fair Board. “He was a great pusher for the QFA,” he admits.

As Fraser says, “If you’re interested in something, you try to be active in it.”