1887 - 1980
Born in 1887 in Norfolk County Monroe Landon was dedicated to his pursuit of knowledge whether the topic be farming and livestock or some other living creature. In fact, his friends would comment that while he was studying at the Ontario Agricultural College he would spend most of his time in the library, more even than the time he spent in the classroom. Upon his graduation from the OAC, Mr. Landon was a farmer and breeder of purebred Jersey cattle which he often showed at the Royal Winter Fair and Canadian National Exhibition.
Aside from being a successful farmer, Mr. Landon was very involved in his community. In 1928 a group of progressive farmers and businessmen formed the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce and elected Mr. Landon as the president. He served as president for 13 years and during that time he helped establish the organization in a number of ways including the circulation of a bulletin to let locals know the latest research as well as proven farming methods. Mr. Landon valued education and during his time as president would encourage teachers to inform their students on farming and also convinced teachers to have their classes plant trees on Arbour Day.
Flora and fauna were a special interest to Mr. Landon, who lectured on the preservation of woodlots and the installment of windbreaks in order to restore the land of Norfolk to productive cropland. He also organized the annual Norfolk Naturalists walks where experts would tour people around Norfolk County to seek out native species of the area like the Blue-Tailed Skink which is Norfolk’s only lizard.
Mr. Landon was very concerned with the preservation of nature and lobbied the provincial government to establish legislation that would promote the planting of trees and discourage the removal of forestation. In 1946 the Provincial Tree Conservation Act passed thanks to Mr. Landon’s efforts. The following year Norfolk was the first county in Ontario to pass Tree Cutting By-Law #86 due to Mr. Landon’s lobbying. Under this by-law the “Tree Conservation Commission of Norfolk County” was created and Mr. Landon served as chairman for 13 years. In his later years Mr. Landon bought 132 acres of forest for preservation which is now known by the name of Landon Woods where many conservation events occur to this day.