A few days shy of his 100th birthday, Charlie Nickerson, founder of Out Post Farm in the mid-1950s, was the guest of honor at a party at his Thistle Dew Farm on the Holliston-Ashland line. Carol Lambert, Charlie’s niece from Michigan greeted folks as they arrived. She said others from Florida and Wyoming were attending.
Charlie is the last survivor of nine siblings, seven boys and two girls. The party was filled with their descendants from near and far…along with many friends. Toddlers ran and tumbled, dogs nudged through the crowd while the local band, the Tune Timers, played the soundtrack of Charlie’s life. People danced under the canopy where tables and chairs were arranged. Food, of course, was provided by Out Post.
WWII
Charlie received honors and proclamations from political figures and several Veterans’ groups. He was always proud of the U.S. military. At the beginning of WWII, Charlie was too young to enlist, and his parents wouldn’t lie for him. He chafed at being sidelined and ran away from home. At one point, he lived in alleys in Harlem. He’d clean people’s car windshields for a few coins. A janitor at Woolworth’s noticed him and could tell he was hungry. He introduced himself as Frank Harris and told Charlie to go to Woolworth’s lunch counter and tell them to charge a meal to my account. “Eat as much as you want,” Harris told him. Later, Harris took him home for a few days.
When he did finally get to enlist, Charlie was a scout for the elite reconnaissance unit of the 82nd Airborne Division. Ultimately, he completed four combat jumps, including D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, and received two Silver Stars and a Russian medal of Valor.
His military career is literally the kind that movies are made of… in fact, the movie, “A Bridge Too Far,” depicts events at Operation Market Garden in Holland…and Charlie was there serving under “The Jumping General,” Jim Gavin (Ryan O’Neil in the movie). One day, the unit was marching along when they were ambushed by enemy soldiers with a machine gun. Charlie and company were ordered to retreat. But being a bit of a risk-taker with a can-do attitude, Charlie jumped from the back of the truck and crouched and crawled under the gun fire and destroyed the machine gun. He was 18 years old. When Berlin was occupied, Charlie was standing on the riverbank armed and ready, a la Robert Redford in the movie.
He was also there for the liberation of the first of the concentration camps, which was just two miles away from Berlin. The residents of the city insisted they were unaware of the camp, but Gavin made them visit the site, bury the bodies and hold a service for the dead.
The day that the war ended, Charlie’s best friend stepped on a mine and died – an event that stuck with Charlie forever.
Thank you to nephew Jeff Nickerson for sharing stories about Charlie.
Home
Back home he and his friend, Richie Lansing, decided to sail around the world, but things went amuck, and they had to reimagine their adventure. They heard money was good picking cotton, so off to Texas they went, siphoning gas out of people’s cars to make the trip. Unfortunately, cotton season was over by the time they got there, so it was off to Denver to see one of Charlie’s brothers. The two men walked around the city asking people if they knew Herbie Nickerson, and the Irish luck of one Charlie Nickerson shone down and someone did. He spent two years out west as a cowboy!
By the time he was looking to buy a farm in this area in 1955, he was married with several kids. He and wife Barbara drove through Holliston with rowdy and tired kids in the back seat and decided to stop for snacks. They parked in front of Fiske’s, Charlie noticed a real estate sign, inquired about land…and well, Out Post was born. Lucky day again!
Out Post
Many of the partygoers used to work at the farm. Sharon Ablondi, a neighbor, spoke about playing with Charlie’s kids all the time, retrieving eggs and maybe being a bit helpful. I asked her, and others, if they had a favorite memory of Charlie: “He helped my family, he’d do anything for anyone” was the response from several. “He never asked for anything for himself.” Some recalled the hayrides, but to a person, everyone loved Charlie. He paid forward the kindness of Frank Harris hundreds of times over.
Charlie was entrepreneurial in his business. His product line evolved from chickens and pigs to the turkeys. He was very active in the Massachusetts Farm Bureau and well-known. He had an intuitive understanding of the advantages of selling direct to customers long before other farmers caught on that it was more profitable than wholesaling.
When he retired, he finally got to sail around the world, this time with his daughter. He turned the keys and the turkeys over to long-time employee Adrian Collins who knew that if he held steady and just continued to do what Carlie had done, with occasional additions like the BBQ nights, the business would be fine. He wasn’t going to risk everything that Charlie had so carefully crafted.
“When Irish Eyes are Smiling”
The Tune Timers, including Holliston favorite Jerry Kazanjian on bass guitar (former middle school band director and music teacher), provided music for dancing and listening throughout the day. As I was leaving, a sing-along began (a family tradition). The song sheet had Irish tunes and patriotic songs, happy songs, “good feelings” songs, and wound-up with the themes of each of the armed forces. Charlie is a proud Veteran and hardworking, but he is also just plain fun and funny. He is creative and adventurous, and one of my favorite people ever.
I took one look back as I departed and saw Charlie with his arm around Molly Mitchell, heads touching. Molly, her husband and three children drove down from Newburyport – she had worked at Out Post probably 35 years ago, and they corresponded by letter for years. It occurred to me that at 100, a person is the oldest one at the party, probably with few near his age…but so many people, of all ages, drove or flew here to celebrate this one unassuming, generous man, you know that he is special. One of a kind.
Secret
The day after the party, Debbie Crispo, one of the organizers, told me that Charlie was very happy with the whole day. He was pleased with the many citations and honors from the Governor, Senate, House, and local and veteran organizations.
If you want Charlie’s secret to long life, get up early (five a.m.) work hard, take a break at 10:00 for a muffin, have your big meal at noon, take a two-hour nap, and work hard until six or seven p.m. (I’ve got the nap part down pat.)
P.S. See the related article done by Bobby Blair https://hollistonreporter.com/hollistons-oldest-veteran-celebrates-100th/
