‘Our journey is over’: Glendale Farms owner recounts history, discusses legacy

Before this land’s future was passionately debated in crowded city council chambers, Mary Beard-Foster roamed that picturesque acreage, filling cartons with free-range eggs.

Other than the three henhouses that came about in the 1940s and hogs for a short time in the 1960s, Glendale Farms was always a cattle farm.

“It’s so, so neat to have grown up in all that,” Beard-Foster said.

Now, the three big tractors and one small one have been sold off. The last cutting of hay happened a while back. The cattle no longer wander the hills. It is now a blank 230-acre slate, awaiting whatever comes next.

The Trussville City Council in November 2022 approved a resolution for the purchase of 230 acres of Glendale Farms, where a development that would have included 419 homes and a fourth city elementary school was denied in August 2022. The Beard family owns the property. Paul Ott Carruth Jr. and Lindsey Bowers Carruth have assigned a first right of refusal on some of the land to the city.

Much has been said about Glendale Farms in Trussville the last couple years. However, there were more than 80 years of family history there before the land became so much about the future. Beard-Foster’s grandfather, Richard Beard Sr., bought the farm in 1936.

A few years later, Glendale Mills & Supply Co. was opened on modern-day Main Street, in the location of present-day Edgar’s Bakery. It was a co-op store. It expanded into hardware in the 1960s and was added onto in the 1970s to sell furniture and appliances.

“That store was the beginning of Glendale Farms,” Beard-Foster said.

But why name it Glendale? Beard Sr. lived in Nashville as a kid, and one of his favorite parks was called Glendale Park.

“He loved that park, and he loved the name Glendale,” Beard-Foster said.

Beard-Foster’s father, Richard Beard Jr., lettered in football at Marion Institute High School and later Auburn University and LSU. He served in the United States Air Force from 1951 to 1952 and, upon discharge, went to Glendale Farms to manage the property with his dad. When Beard Sr. was elected Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture & Industries, Beard Jr. took over running the farm.

“My dad got real, real involved,” Beard-Foster said.

He owned the property from 1973 until his death in 2019. He was twice chosen as Jefferson County’s Most Outstanding Young Farmer and served as president of the Jefferson County Cattleman’s Association. He was president of the Trussville Civitan Club and Trussville Chamber of Commerce in 1961. He served on the Trussville City Council, Trussville Utilities Board and Marion Institute Board of Trustees. He owned and managed Glendale Mills & Supply Co. from 1964 to 1992, at which time the property became Sticks ‘N’ Stuff.

A lake covering five or six acres was added to the property by Beard Sr. It was stocked with bluegill, bream and largemouth bass. Beard-Foster’s husband, Rick Foster, has reeled in a 12-pounder.

From the 1960s on, Glendale Farms was strictly a cattle farm, breeding Angus and Brahman cattle. Beard-Foster was always instructed not to get attached to the cattle, but how could you not? She can look at old photos today and remember their names – Georgie, Roscoe and her favorite, Sweet Pea.

Her father’s pride and joy was a white Brahman named Buford, who ate from a persimmon tree when he was a calf. At 2 months old, he became Beard Jr.’s pet. He owned about 200 photos of Buford. Buford died at age 6. The loss was so hard that Beard Jr. moved on from Brahman cattle and brought in Limousin cattle.

“It was just devastating for my dad,” Beard-Foster said. “He was just such a pet.”

Beard Jr. died in 2019, leaving the property to Beard-Foster. At the north end of the Glendale Farms property on a blustery but beautiful recent January afternoon, she talked about not trading her 67 years of life on the farm for anything, about how her family’s heritage developed her as a person.

It’s been incredible for me in my life. I would love for every kid in the world to experience what I had at this farm.

Mary Beard-Foster

She and her husband want to spend more time with their son, Harrison, and his wife, Melissa, and granddaughters Lilly and Olivia. Now, she said, a newer tomorrow is appropriate.

“Our journey is over,” she said. “The journey for a newer tomorrow for it is there. That’s how I look at it.  It’s been incredible for me in my life. I would love for every kid in the world to experience what I had at this farm.”

The family won’t be far away. A barn that will include a kitchen and other space is under construction on a parcel of the property the family retained. They’ll have the memories and the views, though the landscape is certainly going to change. Despite the Glendale Farms Preserve development being denied in August 2022, the plan is still to construct a fourth city elementary school on the property. Beyond that, options abound. Beard-Foster hopes enough of that picturesque property remains so that whenever a school is constructed, children peer through classroom windows and are inspired.

“You can’t help but look out a classroom window and look and just go, ‘Wow, this is incredible,’” she said.

Maybe some of those children will be so inspired to one day earn a scholarship from a program that Beard-Foster and her husband are creating. The name is still being finalized, but the program will be for students who are working and plan to work trades for a living. The scholarships will start at $2,500 and could go as high as $5,000. Glendale Farms won’t be the same as it was for more than 80 years, but the family legacy can continue with this scholarship program.

“We want them to be the future of America with welding, with knowing plumbing, knowing agriculture, knowing those things, and not be in debt,” Beard-Foster said. “To us, it’s giving back. It’s just giving back. It’s important to us. I think it’s important to the future of America.”