Longtime family-owned Thetford nursery up for sale

Chris Wilson, of West Newbury, Vt., moves plants at E.C Browns' Nursery in Thetford, Vt., on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. Wilson has worked at the nursery for 35 years. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

Chris Wilson, of West Newbury, Vt., moves plants at E.C Browns' Nursery in Thetford, Vt., on Tuesday, June 23, 2020. Wilson has worked at the nursery for 35 years. (Valley News - Jennifer Hauck) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Valley News file photograph — Jennifer Hauck

E.C. Brown’s Nursery is now up for sale. The nursery sits on 11½ acres atop a small hill overlooking Route 113 that runs through Thetford Center, Vt.  (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck)

E.C. Brown’s Nursery is now up for sale. The nursery sits on 11½ acres atop a small hill overlooking Route 113 that runs through Thetford Center, Vt. (Valley News-Jennifer Hauck) Valley News – Jennifer Hauck

After studying botany at New England College, Elmer Brown started E.C. Brown's Nursery with his wife in Thetford, Vt.. While his son has taken over a good part of the business, Brown is proud of the variety of perennials, shrubs, and trees he has brought to the area.  (Valley News - Sarah Priestap) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.

After studying botany at New England College, Elmer Brown started E.C. Brown's Nursery with his wife in Thetford, Vt.. While his son has taken over a good part of the business, Brown is proud of the variety of perennials, shrubs, and trees he has brought to the area. (Valley News - Sarah Priestap) Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. valley news file — Sarah Priestap

By LYLA METHENY

Valley News Correspondent

Published: 12-25-2024 3:01 PM

THETFORD — On Route 113, a short drive from the Interstate 91 North exit, lies the pride and joy of the late Elmer C. Brown.

Over the years, the plant nursery and garden center that Brown started in 1967 has grown into an important part of the Upper Valley’s small-business landscape.

“Elmer was able to share his lifelong passion for horticulture with Upper Valley residents through the nursery and his designs and plants grace countless locations as a result,” read Brown’s obituary.

Brown, 92, died in 2019.

Kevin Brown took over for his father in the day-to-day running of what from the start was a family business. E.C. Brown’s wife, Bertha, served as the bookkeeper. Kevin and his twin brother, Kirk, grew up tending to plants and keeping the “sales jar” at the nursery that’s adjacent to the family’s three-bedroom brick house in Thetford Center.

With the death of Bertha Brown, 96, in January, the family decided the time had come to look for a new steward.

After nearly 60 years as a family business, E.C. Brown’s Nursery is now up for sale.

The asking price is $1.75 million, according to the website for Lang McLaughry Commercial, the real estate company listing the property. The nursery and house, which is included in the asking price, sits on 11½ acres atop a small hill overlooking Route 113 that runs through Thetford Center.

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“We’re very optimistic that given the right time and the right marketing, there are a number of people that would jump at the opportunity to pick this up and run with it,” said Kirk Brown, who lives in Ellicott City, Md.

Since a for-sale sign went up this fall, there have been “some serious inquiries, but it’s not under contract yet,” said Chris Hoskin, the Lang McLaughry sales agent handling the listing.

The Brown family developed an “excellent reputation” in the nursery business and community and wants “someone who can continue that,” Hoskin said.

E.C. Brown was a past president of the Vermont Plantsman Association. “He lived a full life and left his mark on the world,” Kristina MacKulin, executive director of the group now known as Vermont Nursery and Landscape Association, said at the time of his death.

After growing up in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, Brown served in the Marine Corps during World War II. In 1950, he earned a degree in botany from New England College in Henniker, N.H.

Brown began his nearly 70-year career in the landscape nursery business at Henry Field Seed and Nursery in Shenandoah, Iowa. Later, he moved to Fairfield, Conn., where he worked at a nursery and married Marjorie Parker, of Norwich, in 1953. The couple adopted their twin sons in 1961.

Majorie Parker died a year later.

In 1964, Brown married Bertha Cook, of Norwich. They lived in Connecticut until moving to Thetford Center in 1967.

Having a plant nursery and landscaping business of his own had long been Brown’s goal.

More than just selling trees and shrubs, he wanted to build a place where plant lovers felt at home.

If people asked for his help and expertise, he’d offer to stop by their homes to sketch out a landscaping plan that best suited their property and budget.

The family labored tirelessly in a business that was open six days a week. “My dad’s philosophy was ‘work hard and it will work out,’ ” Kirk Brown said. “There’s no problem too big that it can’t be solved.”

Kirk Brown hesitates to say that the family is looking for a “new owner,” because when “you’re doing things with nature, it’s not that you really own it. You’re there and you’re supporting the greater good.”

In a small town, it’s also important that a small-business owner become part of the community, his son said. Elmer and Bertha Brown, who were married for 55 years, struck a balance between work and volunteering where they were needed.

Elmer Brown was a member of the Thetford Volunteer Fire Department, serving as assistant chief for a while, and helping start the town’s FAST squad. Her served as a trustee at Thetford Academy and Timothy Frost Methodist Church. He sang in the church choir and was a founding member of the North Country Chordsmen, a barbershop-style singing group.

Bertha Brown, who graduated from the University of Vermont with a bachelor’s degree in education, helped start Thetford’s Meals on Wheels program, which was initially linked to the town elementary school’s lunch program.

She was involved in developing the nonprofit White River Council on Aging, serving as its chairwoman for eight years and overseeing the completion of the Bugbee Senior Center in White River Junction. With a master’s degree in Christian education, she served as pastor of Timothy Frost church in Thetford Center for 10 years, retiring in 2004.

His parents “complemented each other,” Kirk Brown said.

“My dad idolized my mom, and vice versa. That high amount of mutual respect for each other kept the business going, and there were tough times.

“They would be very proud of how things turned out.”

Lyla Metheny can be reached at lylasmetheny@gmail.com.