14 CountryAcres June

Look inside and meet the people from our rural community...

Hemker’s legacy...page 2

A need for speed...page 12

With them in spirit...page 14

Mergen fi nds baseball a rewarding hobby

...page 16

A Supplement to the Star Shopper Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment

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WAY OF LIFEcontinued on page 6

SCHLICK continued on page 4

CountryCCCCountryountryountryountryountryFocusing on Today’s Rural Environment

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Sunday, July 20, 2014 • Edition 7

A way of life

LONG PRAIRIE - Eddie Swartzentruber chuckles and strokes his beard, a twinkle in his eyes when he’s told Gide-on Gingerich had suggested he be interviewed for Country Acres. Both men are friendly, easy to talk to and have plenty of ammunition for a good sto-ry. Both are businessmen, in-telligent and good at what they

ST. MARTIN – When Joe Schlick was looking at a way to build a bike, he didn’t al-ways go with the obvious an-swer. “I always heard that the solution to the problem is out-side the box,” Schlick said. “These bikes are defi nitely outside the box.” Schlick has been building bikes for almost 12 years at his home near St. Martin. “It’s fun because it is a challenge for me to try and fi gure out how to build them,” Schlick said. His interest in building bikes began when his two nephews, Greg and Steve Lau-er, were planning on building a two-person recumbent bike, which allows the riders to sit like they would in a recliner. “I fi nally asked Greg af-ter two years how progress was going,” Schlick said. “He told me they hadn’t done any-thing.” Greg also had told his un-cle he was looking for some-one to help build the bike.

PHOTOS BY MISSY MUSSMANJoe Schlick has been building bikes for almost 12 years at his home in St. Martin. This year, Schlick will be riding a bike he built in 2012, which he is pictured with here, in The Ride Around Minnesota (TRAM). This will be his 23rd year riding in the TRAM.

PHOTOS BY DIANE LEUKAMThis horse waits patiently while his young drivers, Rueben and Ura Swartzentruber and Joe Gingerich pick up feed at Homestead Equipment and Feed near Long Prairie.

Thinking outside the boxSchlick builds bikes, rides in TRAM

Feed business source of income for Amish family

“That’s where it all start-ed. I began to think about it,” Schlick said. “I was a dairy farmer at the time that knew how to work with mechani-cal things and weld. I thought

maybe I could build it.” Schlick came up with a plan for the bike and showed it to his nephew. “I made the proposition that if I built the bike, he could

ride it with me,” Schlick said. “He said he would.” Schlick immediately got started on the bike. He found two old 10-speed bikes, took the seats and handlebars off of them and put a 4-foot linkage between them. One bike was painted red and the other was painted green. “It looked like something Red Green would have on his show,” Schlick said. Greg thought so, too, so he contacted the show to see if they could have permission to call it the Red Green Recum-bent. “They ended up giving us permission,” Schlick said. “We even got to meet Red Green in Willmar. It was a real interesting experience.” Once the bike was fi n-ished, Schlick and Greg rode it in the 2002 TRAM, (The Ride Across Minnesota) which is a fundraiser for the Nation-al Multiple Sclerosis Society, while his wife, Mary Jo, stayed home and milked the cows. “This year is my 23rd year riding in the TRAM,” Schlick said. “I saw an ad on TV in 1990 about it, and thought it would be fun to do. It’s well organized and I love the cama-raderie. There are a lot of re-peat riders that are now great friends I see once a year.”

Page 2 • Country Acres - July 20, 2014

Country Business

By CAROL MOORMANStaff writer

FREEPORT – What used to be Mark Hemker’s dream is now the dream of his and wife, Joan’s, children and spouses, Heidi and Chris Roering, Jack-ie and Josh Poepping and Anne and Roger Blenker and Marcus. Hemker Park & Zoo, north-east of Freeport, is a fl urry of activity every day, with Joan and each of their grown children performing their tasks, from feeding animals to cleaning out pens, to giving tours. Knowing the family is continuing a labor of love started by Mark many years ago would make him proud–and happy. So would the fact that this fall a baby giraffe will be added to their growing menagerie of animals. Eight years ago, Mark looked forward to adding a pair of baby giraffes. He designed a tall shed with narrow doors for these gangly animals to walk through. Mark’s progressing cancer put a halt on those plans, but his dream didn’t end after he died on June 6, 2006. That Christmas, sitting around the table with her chil-dren, Joan admits it was like a thousand pounds was lifted off of her shoulders when their chil-dren told her they would carry on their dad’s vision which now has become his legacy. “Heidi said, ‘This used to be our dad’s dream. Now it’s our dream,’” Joan recalls early one morning walking around their 25-acre park, with animals in almost every corner. What started out in 1977 as a hobby for Mark, opened to the public in 1996, with what was close to 50 animals and today includes close to 200 animals.

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PHOTOS BY CAROL MOORMANAubrey (left) and Ella Roering pet Ruby, a black-footed penguin, held by their mom, Heidi at Hemker Park & Zoo in Freeport.

Joan said Mark’s idea for the zoo was to make it a learn-ing experience. “Mark wanted to educate people about all the animals we have here,” said Joan. “Dad said he wanted people to see animals from all around the world and they could come right here to rural Minnesota,” said Heidi, the oldest of the Hemker children and the moth-er of their four grandchildren, Ella, Aubrey, Leo and Paisley. Those animals include a gi-raffe. “I promised the kids that when the last of them graduated from college I’d bring in a gi-raffe. Marcus graduated in De-cember,” said Joan. A family-run alternative farm, all the Hemkers pitch in. On this morning, Heidi is get-ting ready for tours and people who walk through their gate. They are open daily from 10

a.m. to 6 p.m., May 1 to Oct. 31. “I tell kids they should try and jump as far as a kangaroo,” she said, admitting there’s no way she can jump that far. She said they have a takin, a goat-antelope species. “The beast in Beauty and the Beast was a modifi ed takin,” said Heidi. Jackie, following in her mother’s nursing footsteps, has put her nursing career on hold. On this day she drives around in a truck with a water tank on the back, fi lling up water troughs. Marcus is in charge of keeping the pens clean and grass cut. Anne, a teacher by trade, is ed-ucating 10 children in the fi rst of what will be three summer camps. “She teaches them about things like geography and in-corporates that into meeting the Minnesota graduation stan-dards,” said Joan.

And Ella and Aubrey are busy running around having fun. That’s what kids do at the zoo. Ask Ella what her favorite animal is and she quickly says, “the bunnies.” Joan takes care of the fi -nancial part of the family busi-ness. She is also in charge of bottle-feeding the baby animals as well as ground beautifi ca-tion, planting fl owers and other plants. She loves strolling down the walking paths describing aspects of her husband’s dream, which continues to grow each year, this year including a new home for their Silver and Arctic Fox and Canadian Lynx. What was once a butterfl y house has close to 125 color-ful budgies (parakeets) fl ying around. Nearby, a male Austra-lian Black Swan swims in wa-ter, protective of its mate sitting on a nest. One of their fi rst buildings, which housed ducks, is now their education building, which she knows would make Mark happy. “Kids can touch and feel stuff in here,” she said, of items like large antlers lying on a ta-ble. “We just want people to have a fun day at the zoo. And if they take a piece of knowledge with them, we feel we’ve bless-ed them in some way.” She fl ips through a book of photos made by a mother who brought her children to the zoo and gifted them with the book. People come from the Twin Cities and Fergus Falls. College students traveled from Mankato State this past school year. Area schools also bring their students to the zoo. She said the zoo is also a draw for other local businesses. “People might stop to eat somewhere, fi ll up with gas or buy groceries,” she said. When asked her favorite animal, Joan has a hard time choosing. “Maybe the gazelle. They are such a pretty, graceful ani-mal,” she said. Marcus said they have some of the rarest animals found in

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July 20, 2014 - Country Acres • Page 3

PHOTO SUBMITTEDIt truly is a family affair at the Hemker Park and Zoo, northeast of Freeport, first started by Mark Hemker. Above, his wife, Joan, (center) is pictured last winter with their children, Jacqueline, Marcus, Anne and Heidi, who carry on his legacy. The reindeer are among the menagerie of animals the Hemkers tend to each day.

Bactrian camels are one of many types of animals residing at Hemker Park & Zoo.

Minnesota and even in the United States. Most are born in captivity and brought to the zoo. “We have the best African collection of animals in Minnesota,” he said. There’s the Beisa Oryx, Sable Antelope and the Dama Gazelles, an African antelope, and the Alpine Ibex. “That’s the national animal of Pakistan,” said Marcus, who is working on a new Swans from Around the World display. Their herd of reindeer has grown to 25. “We have animals from every continent,” said Joan. Animals challenged with Minnesota’s cold cli-mate are taken inside during the winter. Joan said the Bactrian camels, which people think might have a hard time during Minnesota’s winters, adapt with their thick, heavy fur. Like most of their animals, they raised the camels from babies. She smiles when talking about how tame camels are and that her son-in-law, Josh Poepping, likes to ride a camel. Kangaroos are content to lie on the ground. A

baby kangaroo, called a joey, peeks its head out of its mother’s pouch, the protective mother shoving it back into the pouch. Joan said that baby was no big-ger than her little finger when born. While most animals roam in fenced-in areas, some are housed inside, like the green iguana, mar-moset, python snake and African Black-footed Pen-guin. They also offer a number of activities, including summer camps, a beach party, Brew at the Zoo and this fall a Zoo Fest and Boo at the Zoo. Information can be found on their website, www.hemkerzoo.com, or by calling (320) 836-2426. The Hemkers are excited to share what they have with others. “We hope people will pack a lunch and come and spend the day here,” said Joan, adding they try and keep the admittance price affordable.

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Page 4 • Country Acres - July 20, 2014SCHLICK continued from front_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

This four-wheel bike is one that Schlick is most known for. He built a tricycle for two people and added a one-wheel tagalong to fit one more person. He rode it with his brother, Jim, and nephew, Greg Lauer, in the 2007 TRAM.

This two-person, three-wheel bike was the second bike Schlick built. The riders sit back-to-back. The bike chain is put in a figure eight pattern, which allows both riders to pedal forward.

Schlick checks over his first bike he built, the Red Green Recumbent. This bike was two 10-speed bikes with the handlebars and seats removed and a 4-foot linkage between them.

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back. The challenge with this bike for Schlick was figuring out how to ar-range the drive train with the riders seated the way they were. “I ended up putting the bike chain in a fig-ure eight pattern, which allowed both riders to pedal forward,” Schlick said. “We could have had one of the riders pedal-ing backward, but there wouldn’t be as much power there.” In 2004, Schlick worked on a two-person bike again, but this one had two wheels instead of three and the riders were again seated back to back. “It was hard to bal-ance when we were rid-ing that bike,” Schlick said. “But it was Greg’s favorite bike.” After a year break, Schlick built a two-wheel bike with the ped-als mounted where the front fork would be. “It was something different,” Schlick said. After riding it in 2006, his niece, Jenni-fer Miller, approached Schlick and asked him what he was planning to build for the next year. “At that time, I had no idea,” Schlick said. “But Jennifer thought I should build a three-per-son bike.” A three-person bike was not easy to build. “If we went three

people long, it would be too long, and if we went three wide, it would be too wide,” Schlick said. Finally, Schlick built a tricycle for two people and added a one-wheel tagalong to fit one more person. Schlick rode in the back with his broth-er, Jim, and Greg riding in the front. “That was my claim to fame,” Schlick said. “I started to get the rep-utation at the TRAM of being the only one who builds his own bikes. People would come up to me and ask me what I was riding that year.” After the three-per-son bike, Schlick start-ed building one-person bikes. For 2010, he com-pleted a bike that had front wheel drive, and in 2012, he built one that looks a lot like a store-bought bike. “That was the last one I had made,” Schlick

said. “I plan to ride it again this year.” Even though he doesn’t ride all of the bikes anymore, Schlick still has them housed in his garage. “They are all out there yet,” Schlick said. “I like to call it my muse-um of bicycles of ques-tionable design.” Schlick left for the five-day, 290-mile TRAM ride again sched-uled to start in Pipestone on July 14, making stops in Marshall, Redwood Falls, St. Peter and New Prague and finish at the Welch Village Ski Re-sort. He will be riding with his brother, Jim, and his daughter, Katie, 26. “They will each have their own bikes, but mine will be the only one that was built,” Schlick said. Looking back on his years of building, Schlick wouldn’t have it any other way.

After riding the bike that year, Schlick wanted to build something dif-ferent. “It was fun to ride

that one, but I knew we could build something better,” Schlick said. And build something better he did. Schlick

built a two-person, three-wheel bike. The bike had one wheel in the back and two in the front with the riders sitting back to

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Page 6 • Country Acres - July 20, 2014WAY OF LIFE continued from front_____________________________________________________________________________________________________do. Both are Amish. A week earlier, Gingerich sat in his furniture shop seriously consider-ing being interviewed, but eventually shook his head and said, “I’m afraid I have to decline. You’d be better off talking to Eddie.” Swartzentruber, 49, and his wife, Mary, 47, live about 10 miles from Long Prairie among a community of 40 Amish families that stretches across about 14 miles. They have three chil-dren: Ananias, 26, (married to Barba-ra), Becky, 25 and Cevilla, 23 (married to Paul). Cevilla and Paul have one child, Ella, one year old. Eddie is an elder in the community and very experienced with the “outside world,” or “the English,” as they refer to non-Amish people, since the Amish primarily speak German. He, along with Mary, who does the bookkeep-ing, Ananias and Barbara, run a busi-ness called Homestead Equipment and Feed. They have approximately 100 regular customers, half Amish and the other half not. Primarily a feed busi-ness, they didn’t start out that way.

The business The Swartzentrubers started their business in the mid-80s in southern Minnesota, but have been in the Long Prairie area for nearly 20 years. Orig-

inally, they didn’t sell feed at all, but did shoeing and trimming of horses. Now they still do shoeing and trim-ming, but mostly sell feed. They also make and sell new equipment, and re-store old machinery that is often made of both wood and steel.

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“A lot of the machinery we restore isn’t used at all; people set it in their yards,” says Swartzentruber. They are dealers of Pioneer Equip-ment, which is a company out of Ohio that makes horse machinery and other equipment for the Amish. In front of the barn sits a pail with shavings from horse hooves. Ananias does most of the shoeing and trimming now, while Eddie is more involved in the feed side. He started selling feed to fill in, and now is busier with that than anything. They sell Big Gain brand feeds for horses, chickens, goats, sheep, rabbits, cats and dogs. As Eddie describes the feed he sells, a young boy walks into the feed room. Rueben and Ura Swartzentruber,

ages 13 and 12, along with Joe Gin-gerich, 11, are there with their horse and buggy to pick up feed. Their bare feet, straw hats and shy smiles on an-gelic faces are typical of Amish chil-dren. Earlier, two vehicles had pulled up to load feed. When asked how many customers he has on an average day, Swartzentru-ber shrugs, saying, anywhere between 10 and 30. “Some days not very many, and some days it’s like a zoo.” Sitting by the desk again in the barn/feed shed in the soft light of a rainy day in early June, he continues to describe his feed business. Organic minerals, some of which are Natural Heritage Approved (NHA), have become a big seller for the Swart-zentrubers. They are free of GMOs (genetically modified organisms), her-bicides and pesticides. A “no soy” line is also popular. They sell a lot of these feeds to people that raise chickens for eggs which they sell, and live chickens for people living in the cities. Accord-ing to Swartzentruber, it’s important to them to have the no soy feed, because most soybeans are genetically modi-fied. Another concern is the natural es-trogen found in soybeans. “This can cause problems in young females,” he says. Transitional feeds also sell well. They are not certified organic, but follow those guidelines. “These come from producers that are in the process of becoming certified,” he said. Swartzentruber is quick to give credit to Dale Hansen of Luxemburg Feed Service near St. Cloud for his help. “He’s helped me out so much put-


Family horses Jess (left) and Betty munch happily during their time off from pulling an Amish buggy.

Between 10 and 30 customers pick up feed daily at the Swartzentrubers’ business, Homestead Equipment and Feed.

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ting together feed rations. We wouldn’t be where we are today without him.”

Amish life In addition to the Swartzentrubers’ feed, machinery and horse shoeing business, the Amish in their commu-nity are involved in many enterprises. There are sawmills, other blacksmith and farrier shops, furniture makers, harness and tack shops and a bulk food store, along with crafts like quilting, basket making and jam and jelly mak-ing. According to Swartzentruber, farming is intermingled with the other businesses. They need to rely on other sources of income to help pay for the land. “Probably 75 percent of us do something besides just farming.” In the Long Prairie Amish commu-nity, there are three country schools, spaced out for distance. The children walk, or if it’s too far, the parents take them. Once the children are old enough to drive, they are given a gentle horse with a buggy to take them. When asked

what age that is, he replies, “It just de-pends on the kid. They are all different, just like your kids.” Each school has a small barn for the horses. Amish children primarily speak the traditional German until they start school, at which time they study En-glish. They also learn reading, writing and arithmetic, along with German reading and writing. Children go to school through the eighth grade. Each of the three schools has its own teacher, who covers all the grades. Large gardens and livestock grown on the farms help to feed the family. Breakfast usually consists of bacon and eggs and hash browns. The large meal is at noon, and supper is light, usually soup. Kitchen stoves are heated with wood in the winter and kerosene in the summer, since it doesn’t heat up the house as much. Favorite foods are meats, potatoes and gravy, and fruits and vegetables. The Amish tradition is based on religion, and families take turns host-

ing the worship services in their home. Worship is every other Sunday, with the Sundays in between being taken up for family time and socializing. When asked about some of their customs, Swartzentruber is reluctant to say much, because of the many miscon-ceptions and misinterpretations there are about the Amish. “From what I’ve heard, there are a lot of reality television shows and books out there that have nothing to do with reality,” he says. Amish women generally have their children in their homes, attend-ed by midwives, but if necessary, they will be born in a hospital. Cesarean sections and other medical services are available to those that need them. The Amish are self-insured for medical expenses. If there are higher medical expenses, the entire community pitch-es in to pay them. Likewise, if there is a fire, storm or any other destructive event, they all help rebuild. The elderly are cared for in the home, and occasionally, hospice or nurses come out to the home. At the end of life, burial takes place in their own cemetery, which is permitted, surveyed and recorded by the State of Minnesota. Banking is done with regular checking accounts and loans. The Amish pay income, property and sales taxes like anyone else, though they do not pay social security taxes and sign away their rights to benefits. “We fill out Form 4029, which is an exemption from paying social se-curity taxes and a waiver saying we’ll never collect,” says Swartzentruber. Travel is mostly by horse and bug-gy. The horses travel approximately ten miles an hour. For longer distanc-es, they use “taxis.” In other words, non-Amish people, mostly retired and looking for a job, haul the Amish to

their destinations using their own vehi-cles, charging by the mile. In the event of an emergency, such as fire or medi-cal, they will go to a neighbor’s house to call. Swartzentruber feels fortunate to have the neighbors he does. “Our neighbors are all very nice,” he says. The interview wraps up, and Swartzentruber goes back to work in his machine shop. Outside, the family’s horses, Betty and Jess, munch happily in the pasture, off duty for the moment. Contented sheep and a cow rest as clouds threaten more rain. The only sounds are birds singing, the occasional clinking of met-al from the machine shop and a buggy driving down the road in the distance.


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ST. CLOUD — Apple trees and cra-bapple trees went through a tough win-ter, cold wet spring, and now seem to be having some issues with their leaves. Apple scab could be the culprit. This spring’s conditions, moist and cool, were perfect for an infection to occur. Apple scab is caused by the fungus Venturia inaequalis, which will over-winter in infected leaves or leaf litter on the ground. The spores eject from last year’s leaves, and quickly mature in spring and will infect new buds. Al-though the infection occurred earlier in the spring, the symptoms often don’t be-come prevalent until mid-summer. Due to the wet spring conditions, apple scab is affecting many apple and crabapple varieties this year, including some that normally are quite resistant. Symptoms of infection usually start as olive green to brown spots on the leaves with an irregular or feathered edge. As the infection spreads, the spots merge together and look dark brown or even velvety in appearance. In heavy infections the leaves may turn yellow and drop off the tree; leaving the tree quite bare. Fruit can also be infected; common symptoms are also olive green to brown spots on young fruit, which can later become hard and black or corky, making the fruit inedible. Severe-ly infected fruit may be deformed and crack open. Typically apple scab does not seri-ously harm the tree; however keeping good records of frequency and severi-ty will help make proper management decisions. For repeated infection can cause the tree to be more susceptible to winter damage. To minimize the effects of apple scab one should practice persistent sani-tation of leaf litter. Rake all fallen leaves and burn, bury, or dispose of them in a sanitation disposal. Additional manage-ment practices include pruning. Well

pruned trees provide air movement, al-lowing leaves to dry off more quickly and not provide the desired environment for the fungus to grow. Finally minimiz-ing other physiological stress such as watering during drought periods will help keep the tree healthy. If replacing or planting new, con-sider the variety. Resistant varieties are available, although as mentioned even these can be infected on very wet years. Some varieties are considered immune and do not require any fungicide sprays at any time. Immune apple varieties in-clude Dayton, Freedom, Liberty, Mc-Shay, Pixie Crunch, Pritine, Redfree, and William’s Pride. Resistant flower-ing crabapple varieties include: Prairief-ire, Ann E., Coralburst and Red Jewel. Unfortunately there aren’t man-agement practices that can be done mid-season when symptoms are most prevalent. Fungicide application timing is critical to the success of preventing infection. Product for the homeowner includes captan, lime-sulfur, and pow-dered or wettable sulfur. This provides a protective coating that will inactivate any spores that land on foliage. Repeat applications need to be applied in time-ly intervals according to the fungicide label. Commonly this is when the leaf buds are swollen and begin to open, exposing a half-inch of leaf tissue, and again after blossom petals fall. This preventative effort breaks the disease cycle and will prevent further infection later in the season. However if the cycle is not controlled, the leaf and fruit in-fection will occur and will be a constant threat throughout the entire season. Monitoring your crabapple and ap-ple trees for apple scab is important. Follow the management practices indi-cated to help ensure the health of your trees for years to come. For more infor-mation on apple scab visit http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-gar-den/fruit/apple-pest-management/ap-ple-scab/

Check your apple treesBy BETH BERLIN

University of Minnesota Extension

Apple scab


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How long have you lived in the country? Around 28 years.

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What’s your favorite thing about living there? It’s peaceful and quiet. I see deer all the time, turkeys walk through the yard and there are pheasants around.

What’s your favorite activity to do at your place? I live to go four-wheeling around my place or fi shing at one of the nearby lakes.

What’s your most memorable country living experience? Seeing the deer each spring. Once the snow melts, the deer come down from the hills to the alfalfa and grass fi elds to eat.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? I like to go fi shing at one of the local lakes or up on Otter Tail Lake. I also love to go hunting. I go prairie dog hunting every year out near Isabel, S.D. with a bunch of farmers I pick up milk for. It’s a blast. I also like to deer hunt up in the Foley area.

Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know? I’m a full-time milk truck driver and put on around 85,000 miles a year. I own my own milk truck and have been hauling milk for 31 years. I’ve owned my own truck for 20 years and the truck I haul with now is a quad axle that has a 5,800 gallon tank.

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Since the inception of Country Acres, it has been my privilege to meet many people I’d otherwise never have met. The people we come across in this publication are exceptional. Maybe it’s the down-to-earth country lifestyle, may-be the enthusiasm, the genetics…who knows, but whatever it is, it works for me. A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to get out and take photos for a project, and it was just nice to talk to the people. One woman had extensive, beautiful gardens, and with the sunshine and nice breeze com-ing through the trees, it was a little piece of country heaven. And with her sunny, positive outlook on life, I could have

Feeling fortunate

PHOTOS BY DIANE LEUKAMPepper jack cheese made by Maryann Gingerich.

I bought these beautiful strawberries while working on the Eddie Swartzentruber story.

stayed all day. Another had a dairy she was proud to show

me, and remembered me from many years ago. It was nice to catch up a little. Jerome and Darlene Young were a pleasure to visit with last month. Both were so kind and friendly, I didn’t want to leave. (By the way, I misidentifi ed Darlene as “Dorothy” in the

photo of last month’s “Cher-ished Memories” story, which I attribute to wedding head. I know that’s not a very good excuse, and unfortunately once you publish something, what’s done is done). This month’s “Cherished Memories” is with Mary Schwinghamer from Alba-ny. At 99, she has a wealth of

knowledge I wish everyone could soak up. It was a joy to meet her, and since she want-ed me to verify facts with her brother, Victor Schwingham-er, 96, of Sauk Centre, I had the pleasure of visiting with him as well. (Another brother, Ervin, lives in Australia and will be 94 in September. Now those are some great genes!) Early last month I visited with numerous Amish people. I’d never done that before, and I found them to be very welcoming and happy people. The Amish have always been somewhat of a mystery to me, and I felt like I was getting a glimpse into that “mysterious” life. Maryann Gingerich agreed to share recipes with us for July, and I needed to get photos of her kitchen, since Amish custom doesn’t allow photos of the people them-selves. It was raining hard

at the time, so the children–all nine of them–were in the house. As I stepped in, I was directly in the kitchen. It was quite dark, because of course there was no electricity. That in itself was different; we’d certainly have had our lights on in those circumstances. (I may never again be so quick to turn on a light.) Maryann opened a couple curtains to let more light in so the photos would be better. The room was large, and despite their simple life, it had a table and fl ooring we’d pay the big bucks for. I guess it makes sense that an Amish woodworker would take his craft into his own home. When I think of the Amish, I also think of the chil-dren, and they didn’t disap-point. Gideon and Maryann’s children were well-mannered and pleasant. They didn’t say much, and I had the distinct

feeling they were observing me more closely than I was them. It was interesting to hear Maryann and the younger ones quietly speaking in German. I was also intrigued by a block of cheese the size of a large coffee can sitting on the counter. Maryann was making a different kind of cheese each day that week: gouda, cheddar, pepper jack and I forget what other ones. This one was pep-per jack, and I asked if she’d be willing to sell it, feeling a little squeamish about buying food that was intended for her family. She said that was no problem, but it needed to age in the cellar for a month. That meant I’d get the opportunity to come back! I did go back a month later, both to pick up the cheese and to show another gentleman, Eddie Swartzentruber, his sto-ry (read it on page 1). While at Eddie’s, his wife, Mary, and daughter, Becky, brought out some gorgeous strawberries they had just picked. I bought some, and drove back to town with a lot to think about. While it’s defi nitely a privilege to take a peek into another culture, I feel the more different we are, the more ob-vious it is how much we’re the same. The Amish culture is about as country as it gets, but each and every one of us has our own brand of “coun-try.” For me, Country Acres is about meeting people, and to be a part of that on a monthly basis makes me a very fortu-nate woman indeed.

by Diane Leukam


VILLARD – If you are looking for Brady or McKenzie Gerdes on the weekends this summer, you will more than likely find them sitting behind the wheel of a stock car. “I like to go fast,” Brady said. “It’s fun.” McKenzie agreed. “I always wanted to go fast,” she said. When Brady (20) and McKenzie (17) aren’t working together at Villard Implement with their parents, Chad and Sandy, they are racing their stock cars each weekend in Fergus Falls and Alexandria. Chad and his brother, Ryan, serve as Brady and McKenzie’s pit crew while Sandy cheers them on from the race trailer. “It’s fun to be around the family like that,” Brady said. Brady and McKenzie started their love for racing at a young age. “Dad asked me if I wanted to race go-karts when I was seven,” Brady said. “He didn’t have to talk me into it. I was on board.” Chad saw Brady’s talent that first year. “He did real well,” he said. With her older brother start-

PHOTOS BY MISSY MUSSMANMcKenzie and Brady Gerdes race their stock cars throughout the summer. The Gerdeses live near Villard in Pope County.

By MISSY MUSSMANStaff Writer

ing to race, four-year-old McKenzie watched, but knew she wanted to be on the racetrack, too. “I wanted to be like him,” McK-enzie said. “I wanted to race when he started, but I couldn’t until I was six years old.” During that year, Brady taught his younger sister how to drive. “Mom didn’t like that he did that

when I was that young,” McKenzie said. “But it happened anyway.” Once McKenzie turned six, she started racing go-karts, too. After racing go-karts for close to six years, Brady was ready for a real car. When he was 14 years old, Brady started driving a Midwest Modified car in the B Mod class. “I was ready for the big cars,” Brady said. Brady’s first race was something he was excited about, but at the same time a little anxious. “I was nervous for that first race,” he said. “But once I got in the car, it all went away.” Brady drove his Midwest Mod-ified for three years until he got his Modified stock car and started racing in the Modified class at the age of 16. When it came to picking a number for his car, Brady knew just what he wanted. He decided on the number 2x. “I am a big Rusty Wallace fan, so I wanted the number 2, but a few of

the cars that were racing already were number 2,” he said. “So I decided to throw an x on it. Plus, other cars with an x on them tended to be faster cars, too.” While Brady was racing stock cars, McKenzie wanted to as well. “I wanted to race a big car like my brother. I’ve always looked up to him,” she said. “He was good starting out and I wanted to be the same way.” McKenzie got a Midwest Modified car and is racing in the B Mod class this year. For McKenzie, finding a number for her car was easy. “I decided to have the number 13x,” she said. “I wanted 13 because that is the date of my birthday, and I did an x like Brady.” “She copied my x,” Brady added. This year marked McKenzie’s rookie season racing stock cars. “I was nervous for my first race,” she said. “I expected to get lapped, but that didn’t happen.”

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Gerdes siblings love to race cars


The Gerdeses, who are pictured (from left), Sandy, Brady, McKenzie and Chad, make racing a family affair. Sandy watches the kids race while Chad and his brother, Ryan, serve as Brady and McKenzie’s pit crew.

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the cars that were racing already were number 2,” he said. “So I decided to throw an x on it. Plus, other cars with an x on them tended to be faster cars, too.” While Brady was racing stock cars, McKenzie wanted to as well. “I wanted to race a big car like my brother. I’ve always looked up to him,” she said. “He was good starting out and I wanted to be the same way.” McKenzie got a Midwest Modified car and is racing in the B Mod class this year. For McKenzie, finding a number for her car was easy. “I decided to have the number 13x,” she said. “I wanted 13 because that is the date of my birthday, and I did an x like Brady.” “She copied my x,” Brady added. This year marked McKenzie’s rookie season racing stock cars. “I was nervous for my first race,” she said. “I expected to get lapped, but that didn’t happen.”

Both Brady and McKenzie have had success recently on the racetrack. Brady has won a total of five rac-es over three years, with two of those wins happening this season. But his first race in the Modified class race has been the most memorable. “On the last lap, I passed Travis Saurer. I was in the second-place posi-tion before I passed him,” Brady said. “He is one of the toughest racers to beat. To pass him and get a win was a pretty big deal.” For McKenzie, her third night rac-ing in the B Mod class is what she re-members the most. “I ended up getting in the top 10. I came in smiling,” she said. “As a rook-ie, it is not that common to place that high. Most of them spin out often, but I haven’t yet, knock on wood.” Sandy remembers McKenzie’s third night racing as well. “The first thing she said when she got out of the car was that she made the

top 10,” she said. “I was so proud of her.” Chad and Sandy have seen McK-enzie’s improvement in a short amount of time. “My stomach does flip flops when I watch her race,” Sandy said. “But she is getting there.” Chad agreed. “She is better than I thought she would be this early,” Chad said. As racers, the Gerdeses have their superstitions. “I have lucky shirts I wear,” Brady said. “But I never eat sunflower seeds on race day or anything with a shell. Every time I have, I have gotten into a wreck of some kind.” McKenzie has a superstition of her own. “I don’t wear my own racing shirts either,” she said. Despite their success, Brady and McKenzie take the week between rac-es to get their cars ready and find where

they need to improve for the next race. “Dad tells me where I screwed up the last race and Ryan will give me advice on which lines I should run,” Brady said. Chad and Ryan also help McKen-zie, but Brady is the one that has taken her under his wing. “He has helped me a lot,” McKenzie said. “But he is tougher on me than Dad or Ryan are.” Brady agreed. “I’m not going to sugar coat it,” he said. “I tell her what she needs to fix.” Sandy has also seen that relation-ship between her kids. “Brady likes to prep her. He likes to drive with her to the races to do that,” Sandy said. “He’s a good broth-er.” Currently, Brady is leading in points at Fergus Falls and McKenzie is

eighth in points at Alexandria, which is unique for a rookie. “I’m hoping to make the top five in points or get Rookie of the Year in Alexandria,” McKenzie said. When Brady and McKenzie are

not working or at the racetrack, they are at the Minnewaska Area Go-Kart track in Westport. Brady is the flagman and

McKenzie keeps score for the races. For the Gerdeses, racing is not only about doing well on the track, but spending time as a family. “It makes me proud to watch them,” Chad said. “It is great because I get to be with the kids doing what they love to do as a part of their pit crew.” Sandy agreed. “It’s a thrill to see them win and do well,” Sandy said. “But for us it is a family thing.”

Brady helps McKenzie get her car ready for a test drive on June 30.

“It makes me proud to watch them. It is great because I get to be with the kids doing what they love to do as a part of their pit crew.

~ Chad Gerdes


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With them in spiritMarthaler tractor joins unique tractorcade PADUA – Alex Marthaler may not have been present at a tractorcade near Padua on June 21, but he was certainly there in spirit. Alex Marthaler was a Padua-area dairy farmer, a husband, a father of six and a friend to many who died on May 20 after being stricken by duodenal cancer, an aggressive form of stomach cancer. It was discovered just 83 days before he passed away. “He had been feeling under the weather last winter,” said his second youngest son, Howard. “He wasn’t eat-ing right. We couldn’t figure it out until doctors found the cancer after a first look missed it. Then it all made sense.” Alex, who was 72 at the time, was in the midst of restoring a 1955 Far-mall 400 tractor he bought three years ago. The tractor was identical to a trac-tor he bought and farmed with nearly 50 years earlier. On the Saturday of the tractorcade, which was organized by Dave Bailey and the Sauk Centre FFA chapter, 28 tractors were featured in a route around the Padua and Grove Lake area. One of those tractors was Alex’s Farmall 400, driven by Alex’s brother, Herb. The tractorcade was not only a way for antique tractor owners to show their tractors but also was a fundraiser for the Eagle’s Healing Nest. Sauk Cen-tre FFA members Ben Middendorf and Eugene Marthaler presented a check to the Nest for $770 the following week. For the first year and-a-half after

By RANDY OLSONStaff writer

PHOTO BY DIANE LEUKAMThe Alex Marthaler family (from left), son Harold Marthaler, daughter Wendy Drobny, wife, Darlene Marthaler, daughter Tammy Marthaler and son Howard Marthaler are pictured with a Farmall 400 diesel tractor that was restored in his honor. Not pictured are sons Jason and Glen Marthaler. Alex passed away on May 20.

buying it, Alex did a lot of restoration work on the Farmall 400 before the af-fects of the undiscovered cancer crept up last year. “My brother, Jason, myself and others worked hard to finish restoring

the tractor after dad got sick. We were hopeful to have it done in time for the tractorcade so my dad could drive it in it. When he died, we doubled down on finishing it for the tractorcade. It was important to dad,” said Howard.

“We ended up getting everything done the night before the tractorcade. Although we really wanted to complete it before he died, it ended up working out really well considering everything. The tractor is in real good shape. Dad


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PHOTO BY DIANE LEUKAMThe Alex Marthaler family (from left), son Harold Marthaler, daughter Wendy Drobny, wife, Darlene Marthaler, daughter Tammy Marthaler and son Howard Marthaler are pictured with a Farmall 400 diesel tractor that was restored in his honor. Not pictured are sons Jason and Glen Marthaler. Alex passed away on May 20.

would be proud.” In recalling what the original Far-mall 400 was used for, Howard said that it was used mostly for field work on an Osakis-area dairy farm Alex op-erated after he got married in 1966. Around 1970, he and his wife, Darlene, and their three oldest children moved to a dairy farm near Padua, where he lived the rest of his life. “They moved to the Padua farm right before I was born. They milked 30 to 40 cows until he added on to the barn in the early 1980s,” said Howard. Alex’s first Farmall 400 was a unique model whose engine ran on die-sel but started on gasoline. Internation-al Harvester, who produced Farmalls, built this type of tractor between the 1930s and the late 1950s. In the 1980s, Alex converted his first Farmall 400 to a straight gas engine. “My brother Jason restored that tractor, and then my dad bought the next one,” said Howard. Alex and Darlene Marthaler raised

six children on their Padua dairy farm: Wendy, Glen, Harold, Howard, Tam-my and Jason. Today all but Glen live around Sauk Centre. “My goal was to farm when I got out of school, but by the time I grad-uated there was no way for anyone to buy up farmland,” said Howard, who is part-owner with his brother, Jason, of MBC Drainage, a tile design and in-stallation and water drainage company. “We both started with MBC after graduating high school. In 2004, we bought out the former owner, Dave Bailey, who still works with us as man-ager,” said Howard. “We worked our tails off, and the next thing we know we’re part own-ers. We both try to live up to our dad and the model of hard work he set for his kids. We really enjoy the work and the people we work with. It’s like anything, you have to enjoy what you do. Then it’s not work, it’s just enjoy-ment.”

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Mergen finds baseball a rewarding hobby

RICHMOND – Chances are, on a summer Sun-day afternoon you can find Stearns County Commis-sioner Jeff Mergen at a baseball game. Sixty-five-year-old Mergen, who was inducted into the Farming Baseball Hall of Fame Sunday, July 8, has a lifelong love of the game. “It is part of who he is,” said Nellie, his wife of 40 years. “He loves baseball. He was playing baseball when we met. He loves to come out here.” “Out here” is the Farming Flames baseball dia-mond. Farming is a member of the Stearns County League. Mergen has spent a lot of time on that diamond as player, manager and coach since 1971. A former mathematics teacher at Rocori and Cathedral, assis-tant wrestling coach at St. John’s University and for-mer wrestling coach at Rocori and Cathedral (he was AA coach of the year in 1999), he has a knack for working with those age groups. “I just enjoy coming out here and hanging around with the young people,” he said. “I see some young guys coming through, and I see a lot of potential. Ev-ery year it is exciting to come back.” Even as he and Nellie raised four children, Rus-sell, Tracee, Adam and Angie, in Richmond, he kept coming back to Farming baseball. Mergen was on the Farming team from 1971 to ‘77 and had a lifetime batting average of .237. In 1973 he hit .357 and in 1975 .310. He also found other ways

PHOTOS BY HERMAN LENSINGJeff Mergen (back row, far right) was inducted into the Farming Baseball Hall of Fame July 7. Present at his induction were his family (front, from left) grandchildren Regan, Max, Charlie and Lilly; (second row), daughter Angie, son Adam, daughter-in-law Mandy; (back) son Russ, daughter Tracee, Nellie and Jeff.

to get on base, as his .473 career on-base percentage showed. He had a good eye for the ball, drawing 11 walks or hit-by pitches in 1973 and 15 walks or hit-by pitches in 1975. Primarily an outfielder, Mergen also did some designated hitting. Ironically, as both player and coach, he missed most of the metal bat era. “When I was playing, the metal bats were just starting to come in, and they really weren’t that much different than the wood bats,” he recalled. “When I started managing (2002 to ‘05) was the first year without metal bats. We did a lot of running and bun-

ting and stuff.” Mergen coached the team to state in 2002, the last year the Flames reached state. They finished among the final eight teams. He recalled the request for him to manage was not a big surprise. He was teaching a night course at St. Cloud Technical College in February of 2002 when Nellie called him and said two of the Flames’ players were at his place and wanted to see him. He knew they were going to ask him to manage. They must have been pretty sure he would say yes.


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PHOTOS BY HERMAN LENSINGJeff Mergen (back row, far right) was inducted into the Farming Baseball Hall of Fame July 7. Present at his induction were his family (front, from left) grandchildren Regan, Max, Charlie and Lilly; (second row), daughter Angie, son Adam, daughter-in-law Mandy; (back) son Russ, daughter Tracee, Nellie and Jeff.

Jeff Mergen (front) was congratulated by (from left) Chris Wehseler, Zack Koltes, Aaron Nett, Greg Holthaus and other members of the Farming Flames when he was introduced as a Farming Flames Hall of Fame member.

“When I got home, I found out they didn’t even bring beer. They each were on about the third one (beer) of mine,” he said. He accepted their offer anyway. Mergen was prepared to be a man-ager. He was a student of the game and had some good teachers. At Farming it was Elmer Schleper. A member of both the Farming and Minnesota Baseball Association Hall of Fame, Schleper was best known for being a sharp man-ager and one who could and would work an umpire. Mergen also saw a dif-ferent side of Schleper – he could step outside the box to motivate players. In 1977, Mergen’s final year as a player, the Flames, at one point, were in the midst of a losing streak. “Just before the game, Elmer an-nounced we were all playing too tight. At that point, he produced a bottle of brandy and instructed us each to take a swallow and pass it on,” said Mergen. He didn’t remember who won, but the story is still a favorite. Mergen had others he learned from. He coached in the Rocori program for 15 years, holding positions at the junior

high level as an assistant coach and was an assistant coach to Bob Karn at Ca-thedral for three years. They won one state title during that time. Something he learned from all of them was to value the knowledge of your opponents. Mergen has kept notes on opponents, their tendencies, strengths and weaknesses. “I like to get their signals,” he said. Wins and losses have not always worked out in the Flames’ favor the past few years. Even on the day of his induction, the Flames fell to Lake Hen-ry. Mergen, however, noted the team has a lot of potential. “Lake Henry has had our number the past few years, but the other night we beat St. Martin, the number one team in the division, 1-0,” he said. Mergen plans to keep helping with the team as long as he is able, and after that he will more than likely show up at a ball game at the Flames’ diamond or some other local diamond. He said central Minnesota is a great area for a baseball fan. “Especially the Stearns County League,” he said.

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By BETH BERLINUniversity of Minnesota Extension

Most vegetable gardens have at least a few tomato plants in them. Gardeners that have tomatoes this year should be watching for signs of disease. Early blight (Alternaria so-lani) and Septoria leaf spot (Septoria lycopersici) are two fungal diseases commonly associated with tomato plants. Watching for the signs and then managing it will help ensure you still have a successful harvest. Symptoms of these fungal dis-eases include the plant’s lower leaves turning yellow, then eventually turn-ing brown, drying up and falling off. Early blight and Septoria leaf spot are common in Minnesota and it is not uncommon for tomatoes to have both diseases at the same time. How-ever, Septoria leaf spot is the most common fungal disease. This disease can affect plants at any stage of plant development. Round, yellow spots develop on the lower leaves; these spots enlarge and turn brown to gray. Tiny black fruiting bodies then form in the center of the leaf spots. These fruiting bodies produce spots which cause secondary infections upwards throughout the plant. Severely infect-ed plants may have complete defoli-ation, which if fruit is present, may leave them too exposed to sun and

result in sunscald to the fruit. Early blight infects tomato leaves, stems and fruit. This is seen as brown concentric rings inside the leaf; stem and fruit spots are also characteristic of early blight. Brown spots are surrounded by yellow leaf tissue. As spots enlarge, more of the leaf tissue turns yellow, and eventu-ally brown. Fruit can also be impact-ed; spots on the fruit are seen as dark brown to black tissue that is sunken on the fruit and has a leathery appear-ance. Lesions have a concentric ring and may become covered with black fungal spores. Both Septoria leaf spot and ear-ly blight fungus will overwinter in infected plant residue in the soil as well as on nightshade weed hosts. Both diseases can also come into the garden on contaminated transplants or seeds. Wet conditions, and wa-ter splashing from rain or watering spreads the fungal spores onto new leaves, leading to more infection. Gardeners can even spread the fungal spores on their hands, gloves or cloth-ing. Preventing these diseases can be a very difficult task; however, with persistence it can make the diseases manageable. Here are some helpful tips: • Destroy any infected plant ma-terial and weed frequently through-

out the season. As soon as symp-toms are noticed, remove any in-fected leaves, and dispose all material. Do not remove more than one-third of the

plant’s leaves. • Use crop rotation in your garden to keep lingering pests and disease from causing issues the following year. Rotate plants so that tomatoes are not planted where potato, peppers or eggplants have been planted in the past three to four years. • Water plants at the base of the plant early in the day and stake or cage plants to increase air circulation and keep leaves dry. Keeping plants off of the soil prevents the disease from spreading through water splash-ing on the leaves. • Use mulch around the base of the plant to help prevent water splash from carrying spores upward into the plant, as well as to help maintain an even supply of moisture. • Consider applying fungicides, especially during rainy seasons when disease is more prevalent. Monitor the plants and apply the fungicide as soon as symptoms are discovered. This will not be a cure; it only pre-vents the spread. Always read labels carefully, ensure it is labeled for to-matoes, and apply as directed. Fun-gicides labeled for use include: Bor-deaux mixture, Chlorothalonil, liquid copper, Mancozeb and Maneb. Tomatoes are a very sensitive plant to physiological conditions, including herbicide damage, and are susceptible to many different diseas-es, especially early blight and Septo-ria leaf spot. Scout your garden fre-quently for any signs of disease and act immediately. For more informa-tion on health issues with tomatoes, visit http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/diagnose/plant/vegetable/to-mato/

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By SABRINA LEY By LEAH MIDDENDORF

On the road with fi nalists

Meeting people a highlight

It’s hard to believe that the state fair is less than six weeks away.

What better way to celebrate than with a trip up to the Polk County Fair. On July 12-13, seven out of the twelve Prin-cess Kay Final-ists, including myself, got the chance to expe-rience our Butter Blast weekend. This weekend

was planned by MarJenna McWil-liams, the 60th Princess Kay of the Milky Way. With our bags packed, we all headed for Fertile, Minn., MarJen-na’s home county. We were given the opportunity to work both a malt wagon and educational booth while interacting with excited fair goers and teaching young kids to milk. I could see the excitement for the dairy community and interest from people about learning more about dairy. We also got to serve delicious malts at the malt wagon. The fun and education didn’t stop there, as we ventured out to the Steinmetz Dairy just outside the town of Mahnomen. At the farm vis-it, we girls got the chance to see the new innovations and advancements of robotic milkers and calf feeders. Personally, I had never seen a robot-ic milker in motion, which was very exciting to me. Seeing how dairy farming has had the opportunity to advance and improve cow comfort and production was an experience all in itself. The Steinmetzes were so passionate about their livelihood and open to sharing their life with people. Along with a weekend fi lled with events, my fellow fi nalists and I got the chance to get to know each oth-er better. It was a great opportunity to get to know each girl, where they come from, and what makes them who they are. In last month, along with Prin-cess Kay responsibilities, I have been plenty busy with local opportunities to share my knowledge in dairy. I’ve been able to serve ice cream at a few local farmers’ markets, help with customer appreciations and practice my princess wave in local parades. With the state fair fast approach-ing, I look forward to growing and continuing my dairy journey and connecting with my fellow fi nalists and the community.

Do you remember your fi rst day of school? The fi rst time you entered ju-nior high, or even college? Were you more ner-vous about your studies and your teachers, or were you more focused on the opportuni-ty ahead to meet people and make new friends? Growing up I was always that per-son who was ex-cited to take up a challenge to meet new people. As I am living my dream as a Stearns County Dairy Princess and a 2014 Princess Kay of the Milky Way Finalist, I fi nd myself doing just that. This summer thus far has been full of events such as parades, Breakfast on the Farms, open houses and radio inter-views and advertisements, but overall, the opportunity to meet consumers, families and farmers is the best part about this experience. I love the chance to get to know people and their families, educate them about what my family and other dairy farmers do each day, and how important it is to get three servings of dairy every day. As the summer goes on, I am also meeting more of my peers such as my fellow 11 fi nalists. Recently the 60th Princess Kay of the Milky Way, Mar-Jenna McWilliam, hosted a Butterhead Blast inviting all of the 2014 Princess Kay Finalists to join her for a weekend of promotion and education. This past weekend was busy with the Todd Coun-ty Breakfast on the Farm, a farm tour using robotic milkers, the Polk County Fair, and the Fertile town parade. The Todd County Breakfast on the Farm was a fantastic time, when we got to tour the farm, share our same passion with the Paskawitz family, and enjoy cheeseburgers. During the course of the weekend, too, I also enjoyed the Fertile town parade, where we got to see many smiling faces and hear cheers from the crowd. The education and promotion of this past weekend was spectacular but my favorite part was the chance to fi -nally sit down with my fellow fi nal-ists to get to know them and have the chance to share our mutual passion and stories. All of us young ladies have had the same experience being named as a fi nalist but it is amazing to see how each one of us is unique and how we each have something different to bring to the table. I could not ask for a better, more passionate group of girls to share this awesome experience with as coronation approaches us in fi ve short weeks.

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Itch controlCherished memories from years pastSchwinghamer farm has storied history

By DIANE LEUKAMStaff writer

Pleasant View Dairy Farm was thriving in the years when Mary Schwinghamer of Alba-ny was growing up. Born on June 30, 1915, (she recently celebrated her 99th birthday) Mary was nine years old the sum-mer of 1924 when this feature photo (middle) was taken. She remembers the occasion as the baptism of her sister, Irene. She also remembers it as the occasion when a Min-nesota legislator was on hand to introduce a new crop called “alfalfa,” which could help farm-ing to be successful. The event was called “Alfalfa Day.” The Albany High School band was there to play, which also helped sponsor new uniforms for the group. “All the cars were from people who came to hear the man promoting alfalfa as a crop. There wasn’t much at the time. From then on, alfalfa came to Minnesota,” said Mary. Judging from the standing water, Mary fi gures it must have rained recently. The boy in the photo was Mary’s brother, Bert.

History of the farm Pleasant View Dairy Farm was originally set-tled by Mary’s grandfather, Joseph Schwingham-mer. Being some of the fi rst white settlers in the area, naturally they came across the Native Americans. “Indians were here, and grandpa dealt with them; he knew how to speak some of their lan-guage.” There was a lake (still called S c h w i n g h a m e r Lake) on the farm, and the Indians camped there and came and traded with him. Mary’s father, Isidor Schwingham-mer, (somewhere along the line, one of the “M”s was dropped) was next to farm the land and run the dairy. Already during the time of Mary’s youth, the animals were of a high quality, as the writing on the side of the barn would indicate, which reads: “Reg-istered and High Grade Holstein-Friesian Cattle, Chester White Swine and Rhode Island Red Poul-try.” “Everything was pedigreed, even the pigs and chickens,” she said. “We also had a tourist park on the farm called ‘Camp Radio.’ People came to camp, and we even had a building for baths and showers,” said Mary. “Camping is a wonderful thing.” The tourist park would have been just off to the right on the photo.

The shower building was small with a fl at roof. Water was pumped up to a tank on the roof where it was warmed by the sun during the day and used for showers in the evening. Though many people brought tents, there were two tourist cabins; one was a log cabin, the other one not. There was a small artifi cial pond with a bridge over it, and near-by, an uncovered frame of a wigwam. Isidor taught his kids to swim in the lake. In that same lake, a locomotive once derailed from the tracks next to it and sank gradually into the mud and down into the lake; it has never been recovered. Isidor retrieved the bell before it sank and it was used as a dinner bell for the family from that time on. The gravel road in the foreground also sparks memories for Mary. Not long after the photo was taken, a new paved road was built, and she can re-

member her and her brother, Vic, being allowed to sit on the steam shovel when it wasn’t running. The bottom photo of the barn shows the family dog, Fido, dig-ging out on the lawn. Mary remembers the dog once saving her brother, Bert, from the bull, and how the bulls were so dan-gerous. One day the bull had gotten out, and Bert tried to run but fell. Isidor saw it from a distance and yelled for the dog, who bit the bull in

the leg, getting him away from her brother. Also in that photo, note the large haystack in the background, and its interesting contour. These are just a few of the countless details Mary Schwinghamer can remember. She could

never tire of looking at photos and telling their stories. With a great love of history, she has served as the president of the Al-bany Historical Soci-ety. Having recently moved, she is look-ing forward to re-or-ganizing the many boxes of photos and documents in her apartment, to ensure they are available for future generations.

Mary Schwinghamer points to a display of historical photos in her apartment in Albany.

In the summer of 1924, the Isidor Schwinghammer farm near Albany hosted “Alfalfa Day,” when a new crop was introduced with hopes of helping farms to be more successful.

Pleasant View Dairy Farm near Albany in the early 1920s. Note the haystack in the background, and the family dog, Fido, that was credited for saving the life of one of the children, Bert Schwinghammer.


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Itch control There are many different things that can cause itching in our pets, but one of the most common causes is allergies. Dogs and cats can be allergic to anything they eat, breathe or touch. An allergy is an overreaction of the immune system to an otherwise harmless sub-stance. Regardless of the cause, the most common symptom in dogs and cats is itchy skin. In the dog, the itching tends to occur around the face and eyes, on the belly and armpits, and leads to licking and chewing of the legs and feet. They often have chronic, recurring ear and skin infections. In cats, itching and scratching tends to be around the head and neck. There can be exces-sive grooming with hair loss, and a scattering of tiny scabs around the neck and down the back. In both, the scratching can lead to open sores from self trau-ma. In this article, we are going to talk about the animal equivalent of hay fever or airborne allergies, also known as atopy. Food allergies are a topic in themselves. Atopy is quite often infl uenced by genetics, with cer-tain breeds being predisposed to having allergy problems; terriers are the poster children for allergies. Symptoms usually fi rst occur between one and three years of age, of-ten worsen as the pet gets older, and may start as a seasonal problem that eventually becomes a year-round issue. Al-lergies can only be controlled, not cured. We often arrive at a diagnosis of atopy based on symp-toms and history, but allergies to things like dust, pollens, mold, trees, grasses, etc. can be specifi cally diagnosed using one of two tests. The gold standard is intradermal skin testing, which generally requires a trip to a veterinary dermatologist’s offi ce but is considered the most accurate. It is the same type of testing done on people. The second test is a blood test which looks for the antibodies to com-mon allergens found in your geographic area in your pet’s blood. There are two general approaches to dealing with al-lergies and all the itching they cause. Treat to minimize the symptoms or try to alter the body’s response at the level of the immune system. Best results may be attained by com-bining several treatments. First, let’s talk about treating to minimize symptoms. I consider the fi rst line of defense to be the omega fatty acids found in fi sh oils. They have anti-infl ammatory properties without negative side effects and by themselves can help 10-25 percent of itching dogs. The do not work quickly, taking up to 4-6 weeks to achieve maximum effect, so hav-ing allergic pets on them year round is often a good idea so there is no lag period when allergy season rolls around. The next step is to add antihistamines. The only real negative side effect is drowsiness which tends to lessen as they are used every day. Cats respond very well to antihis-tamines but dogs not as reliably. About 20-30 percent of dogs will benefi t, but you may need to try several different ones to fi nd the one that works best. A two-week trial is recommended for each antihistamine before deciding if it is helping. Next we move to the big guns–corticosteroids. The most commonly-used oral one is prednisone. This class of drugs is very effective at relieving itching and allergy symptoms–but at a price. The short-term side effects are increased drinking, increased urination and increased ap-petite. These often lead to excessive weight gain and uri-nary accidents in the house. Long term, they can suppress the immune system, cause muscle weakening, affect the liver and the list goes on. For these reasons we always try to work down to the lowest effective dose and limit use to less than four months out of the year. Steroids used topi-

cally have fewer and less severe long-term side effects and can be used when symptoms occur in limited areas like the

armpits or groin. Bathing can be very valuable in treating aller-gies as it physically removes the allergens and can have ingredients that calm and soothe the skin. Colloidal oatmeal shampoos and cream rinses pull infl ammatory toxins out of the skin and can give one to three days of relief. Whenever using a medicated shampoo, always leave the suds in contact with the skin for 10 minutes for them to be effective. It may be the longest 10 minutes of your life, but if you rinse them off prematurely they won’t work as well. Consult your veterinar-ian to be sure your pet does not have secondary

bacterial and yeast infections that commonly occur with allergies as you will never get the itching under control if they are not resolved. Finally, let’s talk about attacking the root of the prob-lem–the immune response itself. Taking us back to our al-lergy testing results, a “vaccine” of sorts can be created for your individual pet’s allergies and your pet can be de-sensitized with repeated injections of very small amounts of the offending substance. This approach diminishes the body’s overreaction or allergic response to those allergens. Injections initially are given roughly twice a week but over time can be spaced as far apart as 3-4 weeks. You must continue allergy shots for 9-12 months before deciding if they are helping. Fifty percent of pets will have an excel-lent response, about 25 percent will get some benefi t, and 25 percent will not be helped. There is a newer allergen-specifi c immunotherapy that is given under the tongue instead of by injection, but it must be given much more frequently. Either form of al-lergen specifi c immunotherapy is usually for life. Alterna-tively, there is an oral drug called cyclosporine (Atopica) that is not allergen specifi c but rather down regulates the entire immune system to treat allergies. It can be just as effective as allergy shots. The most common side effect is stomach upset, but there are ways to minimize or eliminate this problem. Finally, if you know what your pet is allergic to, it is sometimes possible to eliminate the immune response by avoiding those allergens altogether.

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ST. MARTIN – Ro-man Schaefer has an idea for making area land more productive and addressing concerns regarding erosion. He would also like to see land reclamation–but not in the way most see it. “About two years ago I had a plan to take topsoil from the wet-lands and distribute it on the hills and the fields around it, to put it back where it came from,” said the retired farmer. Schaefer has a lit-tle experience with that concept. Three years ago, on his property, he built a pond into which water drains. He built it to catch water runoff and to do more than hold wa-ter. “It’s on a 70-acre field of sandy soil,” he said. “I got the permits from the government to put in this pond and use that water to irrigate.” One of the condi-tions of the permit was that the topsoil taken from the excavation had to be distributed on the field. “That’s what we did. We hauled it on the

By HERMAN LENSINGStaff writer

Schaefer has ideas for reclaiming the best of the county’s soil

fields and spread it on the hills,” said Schaefer. Water that ran off from that field ran back into the pond. He used the water to irrigate the field. The pond is 250-foot by 35-foot and gener-ally 6 feet deep. There is one portion that is a little deeper, where the irrigation pipe intake is placed. The plan worked well. Schaefer not only saved the cost of a well but also found an added benefit. “When we were harvesting, my son was running the combine. He was cutting through the field and I was following him. I thought the corn was big. I called him (on a radio) and asked what the yield was. He said about 180 bushels to the acre. When we got to the part of the field where the irrigation did not reach, it was 20 bushels to the acre.” In Schaefer’s view, that difference came from two things. First, the water was rainwater, and since it sat in pond, it was warmer than well water. “Rainwater is better than well water, as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

Secondly, since the water was runoff, some of the nutrients that ran off with the soil were in the water. Those nutri-ents went back onto the field. Schaefer is not about to claim everyone would have that kind of corn yield, simply because they are irrigating with rainwater runoff. But he does see value in creat-ing holding ponds and using topsoil as a bene-fit for both the short and long term. “In the 1800s, there were a lot of wetlands,” he said. “As land was cultivated, dirt went into low places. That’s the topsoil, the best there is. We should take it and put it back on the hills, where it came from.” Holding ponds would also serve another purpose. It would slow down the rate at which the water runs from the area. “There would be more room for water. As runoff, it would go into a low area that was exca-vated,” he said. Schaefer is well aware that he is buck-ing a family tradition. His father often recalled the number of wetlands (22) on their farm. Now,


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PHOTO BY HERMAN LENSINGIrrigating with water runoff from the land around Roman Schaefer’s holding pond provided well above average yield from his cornfield. Schaefer has visions of re-claiming more topsoil, and runoff water for the land.

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there is one. He knows he comes from a line of people who wanted to drain land. “My grandpa was a ditcher,” he said. “He had a shovel and he had a scraper drawn by horses. He would burn ditches in the fall.” Schaefer continued that tradition for a num-ber of years, as the fam-ily’s land holdings ex-panded. He owns 1,260 acres. His son, Keith, rents land from him and operates Evergreen Dairy. “I always made land from land that was wet,” he said. “I tiled land. Now, I am so far that I want to save land.” Not that he tiled ev-erything. Right next to the family farm, actually right along his driveway, is a slough-hole. It is one the largest in Zion Town-ship. “I could have drained it 25 years ago. They contacted me ask-ing if we were putting in a big drainage ditch. I said no. I said I like to hunt and used to like to trap,” he said. Had he agreed to ditch the water, more than hunting and trap-ping would have been lost. “There is so much water coming in from two square miles. If we had put in the ditch, it (the water) would have

shot down to the Sauk River,” Schaefer said. What he has seen in the Sauk River in recent years has caused him to think about draining fields, soil and water run-off and holding areas. “I look at the river now, and it is black. The best topsoil we have in Stearns County is going down the river to New Orleans,” he said. Schaefer realizes his vision of how to slow the loss of topsoil, as well as reclaiming it, is not one that most have ever thought about. It is something he believes must be thought of. “There isn’t a farm-er–hardly any farmer–

that doesn’t have 160 acres, who doesn’t have a low slough area that you could dig out,” he said. “We could put the soil back on the land and hold the water.” Holding the water would not only provide an irrigation source, it would also benefit aqui-fers. “We need this water to go down, to regenerate our sub-soil,” he said. “It could sink into the sub-soil. Now, it just flows away.” He also said the con-cept is one with roots in a long tradition of water use. “Years ago, we had cisterns in houses,” he

said. “We should save the rain water. It is soft water.” Schaefer doesn’t imagine any of his vision coming true quickly. He noted there are permits to be obtained, weather conditions must be right to allow for the work and there is funding that will be needed. Despite those obstacles, he thinks the use of the holding ponds and irrigating is an idea that should be explored. “It is something we, as farmers and conser-vationists, ought to be thinking about,” he said. “Eventually, everything has to be taken care of.”


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What did you plant in your garden this year? This year, we planted quite the variety. We planted potatoes, broccoli, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles, pep-pers, carrots and beans. We also have sweet corn separate from our main garden as well as fruit trees, grapes, strawberries, rhubarb and raspberries. Is there anything new that you tried this year? Why? Yes, we tried some lima beans along with regular beans this year because we had tried a new hot dish with lima beans in it and really enjoyed it, so we thought why not try and grow some.What has been your biggest challenge with your garden this year? The big-gest challenge this year was the rain. Between trying to get it planted and trying to get in to till the weeds under, it’s been difficult. We had a total of 19.1 inches of rain from mid-April until June 21, which makes it tough to get much gardening done.What do you enjoy most about gardening? The quiet, relaxing time and eating the fresh, chemical-free produce from the garden. The produce from the garden has a better taste than from the store. We have enough variety of things to choose from that we can eat fresh produce over half the year.What is your favorite recipe using garden fresh produce? Both salsa and rel-ish are great when using garden fresh produce. Tell us your most useful gardening tip. My grandma always told me don’t put fresh manure on the garden. Instead put it on a pile for a year and let it rot and then you will have less bugs to worry about.

What did you plant in your garden this year? Two varieties of tomatoes, one called ‘Amish Paste’ that I have not planted before. Also, carrots, broccoli, cauli-flower, eggplant, Brussels sprouts, spinach, parsnips, cabbage, red, green, jalape-no and banana peppers, green beans, pea pods, cucumbers, dill, zucchini, lettuce, radishes, zinnias and gladiolus. Is there anything new you tried this year? A ‘William Baffin’ climbing rose. I love the bright pink blooms and how it grows up the trellis as it matures. What has been your biggest challenge with your garden this year? The mos-quitoes! What do you enjoy most about gardening? It’s all so beautiful and it makes me happy! The many varieties of flowers I am able to grow creates a profusion of color all season long. My yard is conducive to gardening, so it’s really not a chore to grow things here. I don’t fight the wind as I did when we lived on the farm. I love eating what I grow from the vegetable garden as well.What is your favorite recipe using garden produce? I make a terrific vegetable pasta sauce with fresh tomatoes, herbs, eggplant, peppers and even add a chopped up carrot and spinach for good measure. Also, stir fry with fresh veggies. Tell us your most useful gardening tip. Keep on top of the weeds. A messy garden is not pretty in my opinion. It’s really not that hard to do if you mulch in spring. Gardening is great exercise for the mind and body. I look at gardening as fun, not work, so I think one has to have the desire to have fun!

What did you plant in your garden this year? We plant a variety of garden produce; some of the crops are tomatoes, peppers, greens, summer and winter squash, beans, pumpkins, cucumbers, root crops, potatoes, melons, raspberries, popcorn, cut flowers... Additionally, we have a large herb garden with over 50 varieties of herbs that are used in our line of jarred culinary herbs and herbal teas.Is there anything new you tried this year? Why? We try planting new things every year. This year some new crops are parsley root and several different heir-loom pepper, tomato and winter squash varieties.What has been your biggest challenge with your garden this year? There are so many variables in gardening, that each year is a challenge with its own re-wards. The early, excessive rains have been difficult in some areas of our garden, forcing us to reseed some rows. We grow naturally without using chemicals, so pests are always challenging. What do you enjoy most about gardening? Harvesting and selling our goods at market is rewarding. Additionally, having delicious, nutritious produce for our own consumption is why we originally started gardening.Tell us your most useful gardening tip. Keep tomato plants healthy by fertil-izing properly throughout the growing season to reduce possibility of diseases/blights.What is your favorite recipe using garden produce?

Creamy Kohlrabi8 to 12 kohlrabies, washed, peeled and sliced 4 Tbsp. butter1/3 cup flour ½ tsp. salt1/8 tsp. white pepper½ tsp. dill weed1 tsp. dry mustard1 ½ cups chicken or vegetable stock 4 oz. shredded farmer or white cheddar cheese Put prepared kohlrabi in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes or until tender. Meanwhile in another saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat. Stir in flour and season-ings. Add stock and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Drain kohlrabi and combine with sauce. Serve immediately.

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What did you plant in your garden this year? Potatoes, peas, radishes, kohl-rabi, beans, carrots, romaine lettuce, fennel, spinach, collards, bok choy, parsley, oregano, pumpkins, squash, sweet corn, cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, straw-berries, onions, ground cherries, rhubarb, basil, chives, garlic chives, green pep-pers and broccoli.Is there anything new you tried this year? Pretty much the same as other years.What has been your biggest challenge with your garden this year? Mosqui-toes and weeds. Also, the first batch of radishes went into tops.What do you enjoy most about gardening? We love to grow and eat as much of our own food as we can.What is your favorite recipe using garden produce? Tomato products such as tomato juice, tomato soup, spaghetti sauce and salsa. Also, we enjoy caboodle from the cabbage.Tell us your most useful gardening tip. Don’t let the weeds get ahead of you. Also, make sure the ground has enough moisture.What is your favorite recipe using garden produce? Tomato products such as tomato juice, tomato soup, spaghetti sauce and salsa. Also, we enjoy caboodle from the cabbage.

Caboodle Cook about 1 1/2 cups noodles for 10 minutes. Fry noodles in about 2 Tbsp. butter; when about 1/2 noodles are crispy, add 1/2 head cabbage that is thin-ly sliced, about 1/2 cup carrots, sliced thinly, 1/2 onion thinly sliced, 1/4 cup chopped celery, 2 cloves garlic, minced. Brown till all is crispy and add some garlic salt and pepper to your taste. Yum yum!

What did you plant in your garden this year? Potatoes, sweet potatoes, to-matoes, peppers (all salsa variety peppers, mild and hot), peas, beans, onions, asparagus and raspberries.Is there anything new you tried this year? Sweet potatoes Why? I love trying new things each year, since we love sweet potato fries we thought we would give it a try. Last year we grew brussels sprouts; the year before, celery, which was amazing. What has been your biggest challenge with your garden this year? Besides the ever-growing weeds that pop up daily...probably having the hot weather veg-gies not growing as well. I got behind this year and got planted later because of the cold and wet spring. Some things are very small and I think the produce will be later or smaller too.What do you enjoy most about gardening? I love sharing produce, and love making salsa. This is my staple garden produce and I can about 100 pints every year, it’s great to have on hand! I love researching new and fun ways to garden, tips on harvesting delicious baby red potatoes early by digging carefully on the side of the plant, grabbing the small reds, and then setting the plant down again to let it keep growing more. What is your favorite recipe using garden produce? Besides my salsa recipe (I call August-September salsa season), we love grilling, so potatoes, peppers, brus-sels sprouts, asparagus and onions are grilled several times a week. Now I can’t

Lisa SchmitzRichmond

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In the Albany Industrial Business Park209 CTY RD 156 • ALBANY, MN • 320-845-7199

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wait to grill sweet potatoes! Olive oil, salt and pepper are my summer staples; we grill vegetables all the time!Tell us your most useful gardening tip. Try planting something new every year, don’t be afraid to experiment, usually it turns out great! Every spring, even after the garden is tilled, I usually have “free surprise” vegetables that grow, usually from the last year tomatoes that I didn’t pick up, or the onion I forgot, or from the compost I placed in the garden the previous year. I usually have random plants growing, but I love it!


Hearty Hamburger Soup2 Tbsp. butter 1 cup sliced carrots1 lb. ground beef 1 1/2 tsp. salt1/4 tsp. pepper 2 cups tomato juice4 cups milk, divided 1 cup chopped onion1/2 cup chopped green peppers 1 cup diced potatoes1/4 cup fl our 1 tsp. seasoned salt

Melt butter in saucepan; brown ground beef. Add onion and cook until transparent. Stir in re-maining ingredients except milk and fl our. Cover and cook on low heat until vegetables are tender, about 20-25 minutes. Combine fl our and one cup milk. Stir into soup mixture; boil. Add remaining

milk, bring to a boil and serve. This makes a large amount of soup.

Yummy Yummy Chocolate Cake

2 cups fl our2 cups sugar1 tsp. baking powder2 tsp. soda1 tsp. salt2/3 cup cocoa3/4 cup vegetable oil1 cup milk2 eggs1 tsp. vanilla1 cup coffee (prepared, not coffee grounds!) In a large bowl, combine sugar, bak-ing powder, soda, salt, cocoa, oil, milk, eggs and vanilla. Beat thoroughly, then add the cup of coffee. Batter will be thin. Care must be taken while cake is in the oven. The slightest bump may spoil it. Bake at 350º for between 30-45 minutes. (See Maryann’s note.) You can’t tell by looking; test with toothpick to determine

when done.

Tootsie Roll Bars1 cup brown sugar 2 eggs1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. vanilla1 pkg. chocolate chips 1 cup chopped walnuts3/4 cup butter 1 3/4 cups fl ourSalt 1 3/4 cups oatmeal1 can condensed milk

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Put 2/3 of mixture in jelly roll pan. Melt chips and condensed milk. Add nuts, pour over mixture in pan. Drop remaining dough over top of chocolate mixture. Bake at 350º until golden brown. (See Maryann’s note.) Will get

bubbly on the top.

A note from Maryann: our stoves are more diffi cult to regulate temperature than gas or electric stoves. Sometimes the oven may suddenly get hotter or cooler than expected, so we have to adjust the baking times. For that reason, these baking times will not be exact for your oven, and you will need to experiment.

Recipes Submitted byMaryann Gingerich

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“Calling all country cooks!”If you would like to share your favorite recipes on our Country Cookin’ page, contact Diane at 320-352-6577,

or [email protected]’d love to hear from you!

Rhubarb Coffee Cake1/2 cup shortening1 cup sugar1/2 cup brown sugar1 eggCream together and add:2 cups fl our1 tsp. soda1 tsp. salt1 cup buttermilk or sour milk1 tsp. vanilla1 1/2 cups fi nely-cut rhubarbTopping:1 cup white sugar1 tsp. cinnamon1/2 cup chopped nuts

Mix topping and sprinkle over cake. Bake at 350º until top is brown, and doesn’t leave a dent when touched. (See Maryann’s note.)

Husband’s Delight8 oz. cream cheese, softened2 cups sour cream or 1 cup milk1 small onion, chopped1 1/2 lbs. ground beef2 Tbsp. butter16 oz. pizza sauce1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce10 oz. noodlesSaltPepperVelveeta cheese

Mix cream cheese, sour cream and onion. Brown meat in but-ter. Add pizza sauce, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Cook noodles. In a 2-quart casserole dish, layer cooked noodles, beef and sour cream mixture. Top with cheese. Bake at 350º for 15-20

minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Best Ever Banana Bread1 3/4 cups all-purpose fl our 1 1/2 cups sugar1 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt2 eggs 2 ripe bananas, mashed (1 cup)1/2 cup vegetable oil 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp. buttermilk1 tsp. vanilla 1 cup chopped nuts

In a large bowl, stir together fl our, sugar, baking soda and salt. In another bowl combine eggs, bananas, oil, buttermilk and vanilla; add to fl our mixture, stirring just until combined. Fold in nuts. Pour into a greased 9x5x3” pan. Bake at 350º for one hour and 20 min-utes. (See Maryann’s note.) Cool on wire rack.

AMBY’SContinued on page 2A

BY LIZ VOSStaff Writer

BY LIZ VOSStaff Writer

PHOTO BY LIZ VOSMona, Amby, Brian and Kurt Schneider, along with longtime employee Kevin Soenneker, stand in front of Amby’s Foods last Wednesday. The Albany grocery store is celebrating 40 years in business this month.

Avon Women of Today make a diff erence for the community and each other

Amby’s Foods celebrates 40 years as Albany’s grocery store

Motorcycle crash On 07/02/2014 at approxi-mately 1730 hours the StearnsCounty Sheriff’s Of ce re-sponded to a motorcycle crashwith injuries on County Road156 near 330th Street in Al-bany Township southeast of Albany. Albany Fire and Res-cue and Gold Cross Ambulance also responded. Tyler Hopper, 23, was driving southbound on Co. Rd. 156. County Rd 156 has several curves in that area. Hopper failed to negotiate acurve and drove off the road into the east ditch. He was in chest high water for a few min-utes. Hopper was transported

Service, growth and fellowship

Growing with the community

After an hour-long walk on the Wobegon Trail last Tuesday evening, members of the Avon Women of Today sat together for some conver-sation and laughter. It was an evening of wellness and friendship, just a couple of the concentrations of the group, which has been making a dif-ference in Avon for 31 years.

“We focus on service, growth and fellowship ” said

Customers rotate through the parking lot and breeze-way of Amby’s Foods day after day. Smiles and greet-ings are shared as friends and strangers alike pass each other in aisles. It’s a friendly place with plenty of charm; just what a small (but grow-ing) community like Albany needs and has held onto for 40 years.

The local grocery store has grown over time, from what started as Thelen’s Mar-ket with wooden shelves on Main Street in Albany all the way to the newly remod-eled store on First Street, just down from Albany’s main four-way stop.

Inspired by Norb Stelton, a local insurance agent, Amby Schneider, a Meire Grove na-tive, made a decision in the early 1970s: he wanted to work for himself.

ing of service. Members give their time

at events like the Boo Bash and Turkey Bingo in the fall, the Magic of Christmas event in December and host blood-mobiles throughout the year, along with brat sales, a spa-ghetti dinner and the list goes on. Most recently, they volun-teered their time to assist with Avon Spunktacular Days.

Nearly all funds raised from the group’s events are put directly back into the

Avon policelooking for burglary suspects

The Avon Police Depart-ment is actively investigatinga burglary/theft which occurredat Avon Elementary Schoolsometime on July 5. Damage and theft of elec-tronics is believed to total$5,000. Contact the Avon PoliceDepartment or Crime Stoppers:1. Online at http://tricounty-crimestoppers.org2. TipSubmit Mobile App for Android and iPhone3. Text-A-Tip to CRIMES (274637) – start message withTRITIP4. 24-hour tip line 800-255-1301

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