As it Happened: The Archive Edition - The Goodbyes Episode

It was the end of the line at the Kellogg's plant in London, Ont. The cereal plant shut down operations in December of 2014. And three months later, a family in Timmins opened a box with a special goodbye message from Kellogg's workers.

Stephane Gaudette is a high school teacher in Timmins. In March of 2015, he sat down to breakfast with his children, opened a box of Frosted Flakes, and saw that there was writing on the bag of cereal inside. 

It read "this was the last box made at the London, Ont., plant at Kellogg's, on Dec. 5, 2014," said Gaudette. He immediately recognized the significance of that box. 

The Kellogg's plant had operated in London for more than 75 years. And for Mike Cascadden, one of the employees who signed the cereal bag, the plant was not only part of Canadian history, it was part of his family history. He explained his Kellogg's ties to As it Happens host, Carol Off.

"Between myself, my grandfather, my dad, my aunt, my cousin, my brother, everybody - 184 years of service. So that company is in my DNA," said Cascadden.

That deep family history is part of the reason Cascadden was compelled to leave a note on the last bag of Frosted Flakes to go down the production line.

"It was kind of a last thought thing that I did it. My supervisor came and said 'we're not going to be running that product again.' And that last bag that was going down the line, I thought 'you know, I'm going to grab and I'm just going to put a note on it saying this is the last bag to be distributed. I thought 'wow,' some kid's going to open this up and it's going to be amazing,"

But Cascadden says he never thought about it after he wrote the message, so he reacted with complete disbelief when he learned Gaudette's family had found his message. He was at work at his new job when he learned the news.

"I had my phone on vibrate and it just kept going off. My buddies that I used to work with were all getting hold of me and I couldn't believe it. It was a whirlwind day of emotions and disbelief," said Cascadden.

He agreed that the family who found his message in the cereal reacted just as he had hoped they would.

"Yeah, it couldn't have went to a better family. Look at the lessons that this is going to generate for students, [Gaudette's] family, for everyone. The volatility of manufacturing in Ontario is not about the unions. It's business, and this is what businesses are doing. They're picking up and they're leaving to make it cheaper somewhere else."

Cascadden expresses no ill feelings toward Kellogg's, saying it was a fantastic company. He worked with Kellogg's for 24 years. But he admits his last day was tough.

"It was an emotional, tear-filled shift. I was a young man when I started there. So it is emotional because I grew up with these guys."

Cascadden and Gaudette have since spoken as they tried to decide what to do with the box.