MANOR - Henry Boutin was beaming as he celebrated his 96th birthday, bringing in the last canola swaths of the season on Sept. 21 from a farm east of Manor.
“Thank God," he said. "I’m pretty happy to be alive and to still be able to help out with the harvest. You see, I was hit by lightning on August 1st and sure didn’t think I’d live to tell the tale, but to be able to get back out and combine was truly the icing on the cake for me.”
Boutin started seeding crops on his own in 1944, purchasing his farm in 1950. Upon semi-retiring in 1995, he sold the farmstead to his son Paul. However, he continued to farm a half-section of land, putting in his last crop in 2016.
Over the decades, there have been only three years where Henry didn’t reap a harvest due to Mother Nature.
Boutin was surrounded by his family for a celebratory supper later that day at the Golden Heritage complex in Carlyle. They were all thrilled that he was able to get back in the saddle or the combine seat again.
