ELLSWORTH — With 102 years of hard work under their belts at the Ellsworth Cooperative Creamery, Joe Hines is now enjoying retirement and his brother Dean Hines is winding down his career.

“We’ve been here since we’ve been in diapers,” Dean said. “Dad started hauling butter out of here in ‘43, and he hauled milk through 2000, I’d say 2005 maybe.”

Joe started working for the creamery in 1966, and Dean followed in 1975. When Joe started, the company had recently completed the cheese factory, and they made butter and powdered milk.

Later, Joe got his cheesemaker’s license, then went to the warehouse to track inventory and load product, worked in the wastewater plant and finally, served as plant superintendent for his final 25 years until 2018 when he retired at 70, tallying 52 years at the creamery.
In 1968, Joe was stationed for 15 months in Korea during the Vietnam War, and recently returned to visit the country.

As his time at the creamery went on, Joe accumulated a pasteurizer’s license, the well license, the cheesemaker license and the wastewater license. Dean said the state has continued to add required licenses, so they have to continue to stay up to date on them.

Dean got his head butter maker’s license which he used until the creamery stopped the use of the churns around 1978-79. Dean is still working at the creamery, recently celebrating 50 years with the company. For the past 30-plus years, Dean has worked out in the field, working with the farmers to ensure they meet regulations and are aware of what’s going on in the industry.

“I’m not going to go as long as [Joe] did. If it’s three days sooner, I will, but I’m not working to beat him,” Dean said with a laugh. “He’s got the record and I am not going to do that because he’s been a great brother to work with.”

The brothers have each worked for four managers during their tenures. Joe worked for Howard Carpenter, Lyle Brenne, Ken McMahon and Paul Bauer. Dean worked under Brenne, McMahon, Bauer and Kevin Pieh. They said nearly everything was done by hand at the time they started, whether it be transferring product, raking, mixing, churning or anything else.

They still visit people who have worked with and for them, because they helped make things easier on them.

“I see my guys that worked for me, and I was, some of them, 20 years younger than what they were,” Joe said. “It’s hard for a young punk to tell these old guys what to do. I see them out there now and I thank them every day… You made my job good.”

At their peak, Dean said they had around 500 farmers in 1992 operating through the creamery, and they are down to about 175.
“The farms have gotten so much bigger,” Dean said. “We bring in more milk [now] than we ever have.”

A major change the two have noticed over the years is a change in milk quality. Dean said people are more conscientious of putting out a great product, and regulations have gotten tougher.

Dean said when he was under Joe’s supervision, he would often be given the grueling jobs, but did not complain because Joe would always be the first one to step in and help.

When the two would get off work, they would head home and work on their own family’s farm.

“My mother worked like a hired hand out there, and my dad was gone most of the time trucking except on the weekends,” Joe said.

There were a few things that kept the brothers around for 50 years each: their coworkers, their drive and their health.

“Some of these guys would complain, ‘Jeez, I work 40 hours a week and all this and that,’” Joe said. “Well, the rest of us were working 75 or 80.”

Joe said they heard people complain that the Hines family had it all but was always bothered by it because he felt they earned everything they got in life.

“We know when to work and we know when to party,” Dean said.

Dean added they could likely count on one hand each how many times they called in sick over their careers.

Joe has been working as a driver for the food shelf in his retirement. Dean is looking forward to spending more time with his family and maybe taking a few vacations along the way.

“We’ve only been taught one thing,” Dean said.

“I enjoy working,” Joe followed.

“I guess we got that instilled in us,” Dean said. “We were pretty young and we never knew enough to quit.”