Scott County City to Country Tour, 2012

The Scott County office of the University of Minnesota's Extension Service held its 14th Annual City to Country Farm Tour on Saturday, September 29, 2012. Nancy and I set up our farm display in a large tent at Casey Acres, near Prior Lake. A display by Tim Dolan of Minnesota Corn Growers was next to us, and filling the rest of the tent were tables set up for visitors to eat lunch. The mild weather made it a perfect day for the over 550 people who attended the event.

The tour included three farms: Casey Acres, Prior lake, MN; Green Acres, Credit River, MN; and SMSC Wozupi TSA Garden, Prior Lake. Since the locations were within a few miles of each other, visitors could easily drive from farm to farm to tour all of them in a day and come and go without any particular schedule.
Consequently, Nancy and I decided that instead of doing a program, we would use our space to display our Farm Heritage photographs, which included having the television run a DVD of farm photos that turn on a 3-second delay and lasts for 25 minutes. This worked out really well because visitors could view while they eat, leave to see a scheduled farm demonstration, and then return to view more photos whenever it was convenient.

Before visitors came in the morning, Nancy snapped a photo of the food tent and an oak tree (above), which has been around a long time as well. The food was tended by Girls Scouts under the leadership of Kevin Giles.
Also, we were lucky to meet meet Helen Casey, whose sons Pat and Rob run the farm.
Casey Acres is a Century Farm, which means it's been in the family for 100 years or more. It has been in the Casey Family since 1855 and is presently owned and operated by brothers, Rob and Pat Casey, and their family. Pat's son Calvin is the sixth generation on the farm.

The dairy farm has a comfortable stanchion set up. The family has 100 head of dairy cows (mostly Holsteins), farms 1600 acres of land, and manages a beef cow/calf operation of 40 head.

Tim Nelson, who works at Valley View Dairy Co-Op in Hastings, came early to set up to distribute milk and shakes. He stopped to visit with us and view our display. Then he bought his son Brett, pictured below, a book.

Brett picked out What I Saw on the Farm.

Visitors were free to roam around the farm on their own, and there were a number of stations where they could stop to read explanations of the dairy process.

Children love to get close to the cows.

The above sign explains about the barn pictured below.

 Everyone liked to visit the calf huts.

 The hospital barn, shown below, provides a place for cattle needing temporary extra care.

 At the "What do cows eat?" station, a knowledgeable guide (standing) explained the contents of each pile of food, and she readily answered questions from the curious audience members who enjoyed the opportunity to feel and smell the food that cows eat.

 Children and adults enjoyed the self-guided tour, but volunteers were always nearby to ensure safety and answer questions.

Some children took time to sit down and read a few of my books.

At 2:00 PM Pat Casey (wearing the green cap in photo below) brought in a cow to demonstrate the milking process.

Visitors crowded close (but not too close) to watch the milking demonstration.

The above sign answers many of the questions I get asked most often by children after I do my Farm Heritage Program at elementary schools. I thought I'd add it at the end for those who aren't quite sure.

We'd like to thank Laura Kieser from the Scott County Extension Services for inviting us to attend the show. We especially thank our neighbors at Casey Acres for inviting everyone to tour their farm, and we thank the many volunteers and sponsors who donated time and money to the project, which is sponsored by the University of Minnesota Extension Service.

Every modern dairy farm is clean every day, but to prepare a large operation so the public is free to walk about takes a lot of preparation. We are all thankful that farmers volunteer their facilities and that the extension services and the farmers take the time and effort to have the program. 

It's a great opportunity for adults and children to view a modern farm operation. Check out the website and put the show on your calendar for 2013. www.co.scott.mn.us

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Corn Show at Glasgow, Wisconsin

Last April Sandy Ravnum, Media Specialist for the Galesville-Ettrick-Trempealeau Elementary Schools in Wisconsin, invited me to do my Farm Heritage Program in each of the three schools, and when Nancy and I came there, she guided us from school to school and gave us brief tours of each school. We had a really fun day.

Sandy understood how impressed we were with the area and the schools, and she decided to invite us to a local harvest celebration near Glasgow, Wisconsin, which is simply called "The Corn Show."

Last Saturday, after taking an enjoyable drive down Highway 61 from Redwing to Winona and then driving about another 25 miles through the beautiful countryside of Wisconsin, we arrived at the site of The Corn Show about 10:45 A.M. Nancy and I soon learned the area was rich with rural heritage and the people were eager to share their stories. So let me say first, we thank the people of Glasgow for sharing their farm heritage with us.

The site of The Corn Show is the school house and school yard of the country school which was built in 1921. The local organization takes care of the school and uses it and the sheds behind it for their annual harvest celebration.

The activities of The Corn Show were a combination of those found in a small county fair and a country school picnic.

Sheds in the back displayed produce to be judged:

Pictures from local families of past farm activities were displayed in an adjoining shed:

Machinery brought in by local farmers was displayed on the grounds:

 The basement of the school displayed preserves and crafts to be judged:

 In the afternoon games were scheduled to be played by adults and young people, but first the club served a great noon meal in the basement of the school.
After the leisurely meal and much visiting, people gathered upstairs in the schoolhouse to hear my one-hour Farm Heritage Program.

The stage in the front made the schoolroom a great place to perform. Nancy displayed our books and farm heritage photos along the wall of the room.

Audience members seemed to enjoy the show. Many were teary-eyed and gave me kind comments after the show, and several game me hugs.

In the afternoon popular games included the "bale toss" where men competed to see who could throw the bale the best distance and, pictured below, the ball toss and the rope pull.

Two young men competing by trying to throw the ball into the milk can.

Teams competing in the "tug of war."

After items were judged, ribbons were handed out and places were announced.

Our friend Sandy Ravnum, who invited us to the event, won the quilt competition.

Sandy's son Ted restored a 1965 John Deere 3020, which according to her husband Steve, was purchased by his family in 1965 and was the biggest tractor around the area at the time.

Owner demonstrating a small feed grinder powered by a small engine.

To show the size of the winning sunflower head, Sandy holds her hand next to it.

We revisited the photo display to get some closeups.

School interior in the 1940s.

There were lots of great pictures of harvesting (too many to post), but one that caught my eye displayed the pride and joy shown by farmers who no longer had to shovel oats or carry sacks when they unloaded grain. If you are on of those who remember unloading oats by hand, you understand what a big deal an elevator and a hydraulic hoist was at the time.

Before we left, we visited with Sandy and Dan, who is the president of The Corn Show organization.

Sandy, Dan, and I enjoying swapping stories as we visited before we left the event.

Jane Thompson, who had purchased a book after my program, caught us before we left to get a photo.

Sandy and I in front of the school.

We couldn't resist snapping a photo of a beautiful, huge oak (above)

before we hit the road for home (below).

The Glasgow Corn Show is an authentic harvest festival consisting of local people showing their produce to be judged. It is not an event designed to attract thousands of people, but it is more like a wonderful, friendly neighborhood get-together.

And yet, 2012 MARKED THE 96TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR OF THE EVENT!

Now that's real farm heritage!

 Nancy and I felt privileged to be there and especially honored to be part of their entertainment program. 
We thank Sandy for inviting us and for sponsoring our lunch, and we also thank the many members of the organization for their effort in putting on the show. Their hospitality toward us made us feel welcome and helped us enjoy the entire event.

Photographs by Nancy A. Fredrickson

Dozinky 2012

Dozinky is an annual Harvest festival at New Prague, Minnesota, that celebrates the Czech Heritage and the Farm Heritage of the city and the surrounding area. The September event is always fun and well attended because it features the sale of Czech foods, ethic-related items, and a Parade of Farm Pride.

Czech Village is managed by the volunteers of the Czech Heritage Club of New Prague.

Nancy and I felt honored to be invited to display and sell our farm heritage books and Czech apparel at a booth located in the Czech Village, which consisted of a group of tents in a space between two downtown building on the north side of the main street in New Prague. Pedestrian traffic kept us busy all day as friends stopped by to say hello and as customers checked out our books, tee shirts, sweat shirts, caps, and visors.

Nancy at our booth in the Czech Village.

 Street scene about 9:00AM (above)

Street scene at same location about 11:00 AM (above and below)

By noon both sides of the street were lined with people eager to watch the Parade of Farm Pride, which features a variety of floats from organizations, musician, political figures, and tractors new and old.

In the above photo, my cousin Ben Cervenka drives his restored D15 Allis Chalmers.

 Street vendors were busy and the Czech Village was packed during much of the day. Visitors were eager to listen to the Czech music and watch Czech dancers perform in the tent at the far end of the Czech Village, shown on the right of the above photo.

Nancy and I wish to thank everyone involved in organizing and managing Dozinky 2012.

We especially thank Vi Chromy and Deb Ziskovsky for inviting Nancy and me to display and sell our books and apparel at the Czech Village. We were proud to be part of it.

Visit New Prague during Dozinky next year. You and your family will be glad you did.