Francis Chester

Three milking goats, two dozen laying hens, and a large garden in June of 1946 at the age of 10, was the commencement of my desire to be a farmer and the start of what today is Cestari Sheep & Wool Company. Initially going door to door selling my products was noteworthy, because it gave me experience in dealing with people, a practice I still believe in today at the age of 80.

Francis Chester at Age 12, 1948

Within two years of selling goats milk, eggs, and produce at the age of 12, I operated a farm stand on a newly acquired property that fronted a major highway on Long Island just acquired by my father. This stand proved to be my gateway to the real world of business.  I had to learn how to negotiate purchases from produce brokers and farmers, and how to deal with the public. This operation paid my entire way through college, law school, and graduate school, and also allowed me to buy a small farm in Mill Neck, New York, adjacent to Oyster Bay, Long Island.

During this time, I acquired my first herd of sheep, old type Suffolk’s and Horn Dorset’s, which back then had a pretty good fleece. I had a great time selling both lamb and wool.

In 1968, recently married to my lovely wife, Diane, I sold everything on Long Island and moved our herd of sheep to a farm in Virginia. My marketing approach, by necessity, had to change. In 1969-1970, I proceeded to have our wool processed and spun by a New England mill. Diane and I packed the yarn, loaded it into our car, and took it off to yarn shops in the Washington, D.C. and Northern Virginia.  We sold the finished yarn from 3,000 lbs. of our wool within 2 weeks of our road trip and thus started a new approach to our sheep and wool operation - selling yarn.  It was about this time that I changed breeds, first to Columbia, then adding Targhee sheep later. In the 1970s, wool mills were going out of business around us. I was very concerned about where I could get my wool processed and converted into yarn going forward, so I decided to buy wool mill equipment to establish my own mill. I visited many mills and studied their operations carefully to learn the ins and outs of the manufacturing end of the industry.

In 1981, I set up my first yarn mill with great success. Later, I moved the operation to my present location in Churchville, Virginia. Our business is family owned and operated.  My wife, Diane, is my rock and the caretaker of the herd.  My son, Scott, heads up production at our mill and helps around the farm.  My daughter, Sabrina, is our head sheep shearer in the Spring.  My grandson, Tristan (age 12), helps in our country store, does all the landscaping around our business, helps out on the farm (he herds the sheep on his four-wheeler) and travels with me from time to time to trade shows and events.  My granddaughter, India Rose (age 8), is the new face of our marketing initiative.  

Looking ahead: We have been very happy in Churchville, but would like to move the mill closer to our sheep and expand our operating capacity.  We are in the process of building a new large building to house both the woolen system processing equipment, and also the late model cotton and cotton blend processing equipment which I am now acquiring. This will be, as best that I know, the first commercial wool yarn operation built

in decades in this country.  Our new location will be fronting our home and sheep ranch.

Chester Family

Once completed, we will conduct seminars and tours of our business. I have great confidence in the future of the yarn craft business, and the following incident is added reason for my continued enthusiasm. In January 2016, while traveling to the National Needle Arts Association show in San Diego, California, I took a room at a motel 20 miles from Phoenix, Arizona. That night my son called me and expressed some concerns about the relocating and building of a new plant, as things were, at that point, rather slow. I told him that I would think about his concern and would call him the next day. I prayed about his concern and asked God about my son’s concerns and whether I was doing the right thing. In some way, I was hoping for an answer from Him.

The next morning, the rain had just stopped and the sun started to appear. I hadn’t traveled but one mile when ahead of me appeared the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. The colors were extremely bright. I pulled over and got out of my truck to observe this magnificent sight when all of a sudden another rainbow appeared in back of the first. The rainbows went from Interstate 10 up to the mountains.  To me, this was God’s answer. Also, that day, we took some big orders from around the country. Decision made and answered!  My hope is that our new facility enables Cestari Sheep & Wool Company to continue to produce high quality yarns for generations to come.

Francis Chester will be here at Tolt Yarn and Wool on Saturday July 23rd for a Day with the Shepherd.  He is bringing special products with him that we don't normally carry, like his 100% US merino wool throws and his family farm's sheepskins.  Francis will be doing a special talk from 1pm - 2pm, we hope you take this opportunity to meet this amazing man!