Around The Turn Of The Centurythe Elder Dolana Young Merchant Mariner From County Leitrimirelandhad Jumped Ship In Boston In Search Of A Better Life And Doggedly Worked His Way Across America To Californiawhile Employed In The Laundry Room Of A Hospital In Los Angeleshe Met His Future Wife And Started A Familyeventually He Decided To Use The Experience He Had With Cattle On His Father S Farm In Ireland And Bought A Few Cows In 1918The Year Mike Was Bornand Began His Own Dairy He Produced And Distributed Milk Throughout Los Angeles For Several Years And In 1928 Decided To Move The Growing Operation To North El Montebut In The Late 1930S A Milk Price War Broke Outand In 1942 He Sold The Business Four Years Later His Son Mikewho Had Been Working As A Field Man For Carnationresolved To Get Back Into The Dairy Business On His Ownhe Assumed The Operations At Driftwood Dairy In El Monte On April 11946Consisting Of One Cash And Carry Store And One Home Delivery Routein Its First Month Driftwood Grossed $6 800A Fair Beginning But A Far Cry From The Over $100 Million Annual Sales Of The Dairy Today Driftwood Prospered Over The Yearsexpanding Its Milk Production And Distribution To The Point Where Its Market Now Includes Schoolshospitalsconvalescent Hospitalsindependent Marketsrestaurantsbakeriescoffee Housescafeterias And Even Other Creamerieswe Distribute A Full Line Of Dairy And Related Products Still Growingdriftwood Dairy Recently Modernized Its Plant And Laboratorythus Continuing To Service The Ever Expanding Southern California Market Almost 60 Years Have Passed Since Young Mike Started With Driftwood Dairyhe Has Turned A Dream Into A Major Corporation That Has Helped Shape The Progressive History Of El Monte
