KOWZ Home and Recreation Show, Owatonna

KOWZ, a radio station based in Owatonna, sponsored a Home and Recreation Show at the Four Seasons Arena in Owatonna last weekend. The event ran Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and featured many displays for the home and recreational items, including boats.

A special feature in the show was Lee Sackett, who owns Lee. J. Sackett, Inc., assembling a 1949 8N Ford that he and his workers restored over the past few months. The tractor was purchased and donated by KOWZ to be given away  at a free registration drawing at Farmfest 2012 at the Gilfillan Estates near Redwood Falls this summer. Lee donated his time to the project and local vendors donated the parts.

The 1949 Ford 8N restored by Lee Sackett and awaiting assembly on Friday, March 23, 2012

Some of the parts that will be installed are laid out in an organized fashion. 

Many more parts are in containers and will be laid out as needed.

It was fun watching Lee and Gordy, who both worked restoring my 8N, attach the parts.

 I talk to a customer by my book display and my newly restored 8N as Lee and Gordy work on assembling the 1949 8N behind me. Note the camera on tripod which is on the table by the Allis-Chalmers tractor. Lee videotapes the assembly and plays fast at shows he attends.

The lineup of tractors Lee has restored and displayed at the show

Gary is one of Lee's men who worked on the restoration of my tractor and he posed with me for a photograph in front of the my 8N. 

Tammy Barnes, a teacher who had arranged for me to visit St. Mary's School at Owatonna last December, recognized us and stopped to chat. Pictured above from left to right are Tammy's husband John, Ian, Colin, Tammy, and me. It's always a thrill for Nancy and me to meet students and teachers who remember our visit.

Lee Sackett's wife Shannon and their three daughters came to visit and help Lee with the assembly.

Their eldest daughter, Karrin, immediately selected my book, A Farm Country Halloween, from our display and began to read.

Lee and Shannon's six-year-old daughter Karrin settling in to read a story.

Several of the vendors nearby commented on how great it was to see the whole Sackett family working together on the tractors, and a couple mentioned that the children were the best-behaved they'd ever seen.

Although I suppose I have to give most of the credit to the parents, I mentioned that maybe the books and tractors had a positive influence.

The tractor as we left it on Friday (above),

and the tractor when we returned on Sunday (below).

On Saturday we attended a show at Cold Spring, which will be in my next blog, but when we returned to the Owatonna show on Sunday, the assembly of the 8N was completed. All that remained was the final touch of painting the "Ford" script on the side. This is a project Lee usually does himself and he saves it for last.

Lee very carefully follows the embossed script with his brush. This is tricky business, especially when people stop to watch, but Lee seems to stay focused on the project regardless. In fact, he actually seemed to welcome conversation with people who stopped by to chat as he painted.

 I talk to a customer (above) while Lee works on the other side of the tractor (below).

The Sackett Family. From left to right, Kenna on Shannon's shoulders, Karrin, and Lee holding Kelly.

Nancy and I thank KOWZ radio for sponsoring the event and Lee Sackett for displaying our 8N and having us display our books at his booth. We also thank all the people who stopped by to talk tractors and books, especially those who purchased one or more of our keepsake Collector Series, which I hope helps them pass their Farm Heritage on to the next generation with pride and love.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Goldfinch Estates

On November 22, 2011, at Goldfinch Estates, I did a Farm Heritage Program, 

which included my story A Farm Country Thanksgiving.

Goldfinch Estates is a Senior Living Community located in Fairmont, MN, and Nancy and I love to be invited there to visit and do a Farm Heritage Program. This is our our fourth time at the facility and each time we have been greeted by Marilyn Oelke, the energetic and fun Community Life Director, who always has a farm story to tell.

Marilyn Oelke, Community Life Director at Goldfinch Estates, poses for a photo with me.

Marilyn also took a shot at appealing to the group to look for pictures of threshing for our newest book called  A Farm Country Harvest, which we hope to have out in 2013.

Residents at Goldfinch are always eager audience members and story tellers. They make a very responsive audience and Nancy and I love listening to their stories after the show. Several Residents stopped to chat and purchase books after the program.

We thank Executive Director, Erin Maidl, for having us at Goldfinch Estates again, and we thank Community Life Director, Marilyn Oelke for arranging our visit. We also thank all the residents who attend my programs year after year. We love your smiles and your stories.

We look forward to returning soon.

All Seasons Preschool & Inver Glen Senior Care

All Seasons Preschool and Inver Glen Senior Living are in the same building, and as one senior told me, "The children come to visit us every day." Other seniors around her nodded and smiled.

Many seniors arrived early at the large community room and visited with Nancy and me as we set up. Senior comments about the "children coming" were always accompanied with a smile of anticipation.

Teacher Amy Lemieux said that the key to daily visits is to have he Preschool and seniors in the same building. Otherwise, winter offers a special challenge of dressing up with coats and boots and headgear. Since the kids are in the same building, they just walk over to visit the seniors. "It's like a field trip for them," Amy said.

The seniors were all seated when the children, who are 3-5 years old, arrived and I could hear some greetings being exchanged. One child made the rounds of shaking hands with a number of his senior friends.

Performing for this mixed group was a joy for me. The children and the seniors were very responsive to everything in my show. Maybe visiting the seniors every day makes the kids more eager to hear stories. In any case, children came up with some of the best questions ever, and not just for their age-group but for almost any-age group.

Of course, I showed them how to teach a newborn calf how to drink out of a pail.

About ten minutes later, after the show, one child remembered that I had said we had to take the cow and calf back to the barn. She asked, "Why do you need to take the calf to the barn." Other questions included, "Why do people live on farms." These questions may sound basic, but understanding the answers are crucial to understanding anything about the food we eat. The audience listened intently to my answers.

Nancy and I had the distinct privilege to meet and chat with Kenneth Fritz, who has written three books and will soon see his fourth book published with Outskirts Press, Inc., Denver, Colorado. After the show Ken, his wife, and his friend stayed to chat with us for several minutes. Ken was a farmer, a soldier, an electrician, and a writer.

Ken holds a couple of my books and I hold three of his.

Nancy and I really enjoyed our visit to All Seasons Preschool and Inver Glen Senior Living, and we wish to thank Amy Lemieux of All Seasons and Sue Hastings, activities director at Inver Glen, for arranging our visit.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Holiday books for the holiday season

  The mother of the grandmother pictured below purchased my book, A Farm Country Halloween, last summer to give to her great grandchildren on Halloween.. 

She emailed me to tell me her great grandchildren loved it.
She said, "My darling city great grandkids were spellbound and listened to every word."
I freely admit that this made my day.

Just to warn you, this is a shameless plug for my books.
But here it is––the holiday season.
And sure enough, you are going to read books about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
This is good, I think.

But why not read a stories about Halloween, Thanksgiving, 
or Christmas that actually display your farm heritage? 


Why only read the child some fantasy about Christmas in New York City or some made-up place?

Lydia, who was 100 yeas old, bought A Farm Country Halloween last year because she said it showed exactly what it was like when she went trick or treating as a kid. She wanted to pass that on to her descendants.

A customer who bought the A Farm Country Thanksgiving told me she loved the old-fashioned Thanksgiving that showed kids sledding and playing in the hay barn. No television in the house allowed people to visit, not argue about football or which parade to watch.

A Farm Country Christmas Eve shows a farm family being brought closer together by the simple things as they work together to finish chores on Christmas Eve.

My stories are based on actual events–things that farmers really do.
Kids love them.
Adults enjoy the nostalgia.
And I've been performing these stories 
for kids and adults for over 11 years.

I write these stories to try to pass on our farm heritage in an entertaining and accurate way,
but it only gets passed on if someone buys the books. Consider buying several for yourself or as gifts for others.


These are Collector quality books that can be passed on from generation to generation, just like the farm heritage they display.




Check out my website www.gordonfredrickson.com where you can see sample pages of my books before you order, or email me at twogfsc@integra.net to order books. Or just give me a call to ask questions.

By the way, shipping is free.

Happy Holidays!
Have a great Thanksgiving!
Merry Christmas!

Thanks for listening.