By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Mike and Jamie Belleville know what some customers are going to order before they speak a word.
“The boys,” as their mother Marguerite called them, have been feeding the cravings of county residents for decades.
“We grew up in here,” Jamie said as he stood behind the counter stocked full with ribeye steaks, pork chops and roasts. “A lot of our customers are second and third generation.”
The Belleville brothers know the value of passing down the knowledge of one generation to the next. They are on the fourth generation at the meat market. And they have shared their expertise with countless youth in 4-H and FFA at the Wood County Fair.
“We see what it does for the children,” Jamie said about the ag programs for kids. “I think it benefits the whole community.”
“It’s developing leaders for the future,” Mike said, explaining that 4-H and FFA polish the skills of young people.
The brothers were recently named to the Wood County Agriculture Hall of Fame for their work behind the counter at the meat market and behind the scenes with youth at the county fair.
Mike, 76, and Jamie, 73, still show up for work everyday at the market.
“I still enjoy getting up and going to work,” Mike said.
Their business model remains the same after years.
“Quality and service are what keeps us in business,” Mike said. “You come in here and you can buy 500 pounds or you can buy half a pound. We’re here to sell to the people what they want.”
That means keeping up with the trending tastes of customers – like the “everything is better with bacon” craze, Mike said.
Together, Mike and Jamie Belleville have devoted more than 125 years to Wood County’s agriculture industry.
The Ag Hall of Fame recognized the brothers for unwavering commitment to high-quality farming practices, to providing first class meats and customer service at Belleville Brothers Meat Market, to supporting youth at the Wood County Fair.
The Belleville brothers carry on the agriculture tradition that started back in 1912 when their grandfather, Archie Belleville, and his brother, Leo, established the meat market in Bowling Green.
The next generation of owners consisted of brothers Ivan and Russell Belleville from 1933 to 1974. Mike and Jamie took over the family business in 1974 when their father, Ivan, unexpectedly passed away and their uncle, Russell, retired.
Their meat market is all local – from start to finish.
Through the years, they’ve grown the business by starting their own cattle feeding operation, purchasing additional farmland to support feeding the cattle, and adding a meat processing facility. All the corn they grow is used to feed the cattle each year, which are then processed and sold through the meat market.
Jamie and Mike have been members of the Wood County Farm Bureau for 45 years. Mike has also served on the Mid-Wood board of directors for 20 years, and Jamie has served as a Gideon for 20 years.
The Wood County Fair has played a huge role in their personal and professional lives.
In the early 1980s they partnered with the Wood County Pork Producers to create a new sandwich to be sold at the Wood County Fair – the pork-a-lean.
Since its inception, Mike and Jamie have worked with the Pork Producers to make and sell approximately 350,000 pork-a-lean sandwiches at the Wood County Fair. Oftentimes, on Saturday night at the fair, the Bellevilles can be found behind the grill, cooking up pork-a-leans and chatting with customers.
The Pork Producers use the proceeds from the sandwich sales to purchase the premiums for exhibitors at the Wood County Fair livestock sale.
Around 2005, the Bellevilles also started working with the Wood County Cattlemen to supply hamburgers and ribeyes for the beef stand at the fair. The beef booth is a partnership between the Wood County Beef Producers and Elmwood FFA. During the fair, Elmwood FFA operates the booth and uses the profits from the sale to support their chapter activities throughout the year.
Also at the fair, the brothers supply the sausages served at the Sam’s Italian Sausage food stands, and they supply several meats for the Liberty Township food pavilion.
In 2005, the pair also started, and continue to sponsor, the annual Wood County Junior Fair beef carcass show, which recognizes the animal whose meat is most likely to taste the best – the most important trait according to Jamie and Mike.
And every year, at the end of the fair, the brothers can be found sitting in the buyers’ chairs at the livestock sale, purchasing cattle, hogs, sheep, goats and chickens to support local 4-H and FFA youth.
“The decades of sweat, hard work and sacrifices by Jamie and Mike were not done to achieve personal success, but to cultivate and care for the farmland, to support and promote local agriculture, and to ensure that the communities they love have access to high quality, locally-based food,” according to the Hall of Fame. “Agriculture is a way of life and a tradition for Mike and Jamie Belleville, and a love that they’ve passed down to the next generations.”
Previous recipients of the Wood County Agricultural Hall of Fame award include Joseph R. Hirzel, Ray W. Reynolds, Harold Weihl, Jack Miller, Richard Bostdorff, Richard Farison, Riker Seed Farms, Phyllis Henry, James F. Bostdorff, Michael Shertzer, C. Fred Haskins, Wallace C. Wagner, Bernard J. Scott, and N. Keith Bradley.
