The Farming Families of Iowa. July 2020 by AGE Media and Promotion

July 2020 | www.AgeMedia.pub

Faith / Family / Friends / Farming

of Lyon County

Meet the

VER STEEG AND NIEUWENDORP Families Ella, Mike, Sarah, Evan, Cody and Gene Ver Steeg; and Jacklyn and Nathan Nieuwendorp with their daughters Lydia and Eliza. Story on page 6.

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FITCH FOR FARMING FAMILIES

GLAD TO BE BACK By Bob Fitch, Editor

Bob Fitch

Farming Families magazine is glad to be back in your mailbox! After a two-month COVID-related hiatus, we’re pleased to once again be sharing stories about your neighbors and community . Because our team spends a lot of time meeting in person with the families and businesses we feature, we made the decision to respect the guidelines of health and government officials and consequently put our May and June issues on hold .

The Farming Families magazine philosophy of building community, buying local, and supporting local businesses is more important than ever . We’ll continue to do our best to deliver positive stories about the families, businesses, youth and churches in northwestern Iowa . Hopefully this crisis has helped validate the importance of sustaining strong domestic food production and all of the critical components and people who grow, process, transport and sell food . In the past, too many people have taken for granted the value of a safe and domestically-produced and processed food supply . Last year was extremely challenging for farmers because of poor weather conditions and uncertain international markets . Thankfully, the weather this year allowed most farmers in our area to get their crops planted on time, but the COVID-related disruption in the food processing chain and continued international uncertainties are contributing to ongoing stress for producers . If you feel yourself reaching a state of despair, please seek help . In addition to friends, family and local health professionals who care about you, here are two resources that can help: • Farm & Rural Stress Hotline: Avera/Sioux Center Health . 1-800-691-4336 • www .extension .iastate .edu/iowaconcern or call 1-800-447-1985 .

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July 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

LYON COUNTY FEATURED FAMILY

INGENUITY, CREATIVITY AND FAITH NEEDED IN TIMES LIKE THESE by Bob Fitch

Teamwork, a conservation ethic, innovation in business and production practices, and Christian faith combine to keep the Ver Steeg farm and family strong even in challenging times . Gene “Doc” Ver Steeg and his late wife, Beverly, purchased the farm south of Inwood in 1972, in the middle of his 15year career as a veterinarian in Inwood . He has one more year before he’s completely retired as a co-owner of the farm . “That doesn’t mean I’m not going to continue to be involved .” His son, Mike, said, “He’s welcome to work here as long as he likes .” Gene, Mike and his wife Sarah, their son Cody, and Gene’s great-nephew Nathan Nieuwendorp farm together . They feed pigs wean-to-finish and raise corn and soybeans . Mike graduated from Iowa State University in 1994 . He and Sarah came right back to the farm . “I spent two years as an employee, then formed a corporation that bought the sows . I was farrowing sows and selling weaned pigs to my dad for a while .” Today, Mike and Sarah own shares in two sow farms in South Dakota managed by Pipestone Veterinary Clinic . “That’s our source of pigs . So we feed pigs weanto-finish. We mill our own feed and grow corn and soybeans .” Ver Steegs quit farrowing on their farm eight years ago . Gene said, “Yeah, I remember I had the misfortune of having to pay $7 a bushel for corn before I quit owning pigs . I never got to sell corn for $7 a bushel, but I bought it at that price .” Mike said, “There are probably quite a few guys like me around here who have bought into what Pipestone does managing sow farms . There we’re part of a brand-new 5,000-10,000 sow facility versus trying to have our own 1,000 or 1,500 sows .”

Evan, Ella, Sarah, Mike and Cody Ver Steeg. 6

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | July 2020

Nathan said, “It’s more efficient and less disease pressure than being in northwest Iowa .” Plus, Mike said, the Pipestone System takes care of finding and managing employees . Sarah said, “As a small farmer, those are things that can bog you down, making it extremely difficult to manage and stay afloat.” Three years ago, Ver Steegs bought into WholeStone Farms, a hog processing facility in Fremont, Neb . WholeStone was established in 2017 by 200 pork producers in The Pipestone System in order to create and capture value in the pork supply chain . “That plant has been a shining light in the last couple months . It’s been processing hogs at 111 percent of capacity when others are shut down or working at half capacity,” Mike said . WholeStone has had a minimal number of COVID cases . Cody said, “They were very proactive in handling the situation the way it should have been .” Sarah said, “They kept the employees informed . There were packets of information that they were provided to take home to their families .” Mike said, “It’s managed totally different when it’s producer-owned .” Nathan said, “It’s one single-shift plant which is different than other plants but, still, it was very wellmanaged . There should probably

Jacklyn and Nathan Nieuwendorp with their daughters Lydia and Eliza.

be more producer-owned facilities in the future .” The 700,000 square foot WholeStone Farms processes more than 10,000 hogs per day . “Right now, the cash hog market is terrible,” Mike said . “But the meat price, the cutout is great . So the producer needs to be selling meat instead of selling pigs . That comes to light even more now with this situation . “The importance of having shackle

space is kind of forefront in our faces right now . It was tight before all this happened,” Mike said . Cody said, “It’s been close, but we haven’t had to double-fill a barn yet . We got a barn empty and washed in the same day and the next day we were putting pigs in it .” Sarah said, “There’s lots of ingenuity and creativity that comes into play in times like this . It takes a lot of level-headedness

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Actively involved in the farming operation are Nathan Nieuwendorp; and Cody, Mike and Gene Ver Steeg.

to deal with it . These guys do a good job of encouraging each other and being there for each other and throwing ideas around . They do really well with that . It’s not always easy, but it’s do-able .” Mike is proud of the productivity and efficiency of American pork production . “The productivity of pigs just continues to increase . Sows are birthing more pigs, weaning more pigs, pigs are growing extremely fast, very efficient feed conversions. The U.S. pork producer is just very good at what he does .”

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Protection of water and soil resources is also a hallmark of the farm . Cody said, “Grandpa started our conservation approach . He’s been no-tilling soybeans for many, many years . We try to implement as many conservation practices as we can . To decrease nitrogen runoff, we were the first ones in this area to have a bio-filter in our fields where the tile drains into a big hole with wood chips where it filters as the liquid goes through.” Gene said, “Using manure for fertilizer instead of commercial fertilizer – that increases the healthiness of the soil, the organic matter goes up, and it helps the soil hold more water . We think by no-tilling our soybeans and strip-tilling our corn, we pretty much eliminate the phosphorus part of water pollution . Very little erosion takes place in our fields. I think we can get as good or better yields in soybeans with no-till . In a dry year, I’m sure we’ll do better .”

July 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

Sarah said, “If you’re not taking as many precautions as you can with the land, you can’t hand down a good product for the next generation to start with .” Ver Steegs are also utilizing cover crops to enhance the productivity of their crop land . Cody bought a 15-foot drill to do custom planting of cover crops following an FFA project he did as a sophomore at West Lyon High School . “It was something that Dad and Grandpa wanted to try and they pushed me towards it . In 2014, we bought a 40-foot air seeder . That’s when Nathan and I went into business together as Cody’s Custom Cover Crops .” Cody has a degree in diesel mechanics from Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown, S .D . He worked at Town & Country Implement in Rock Valley for about 1 1/2 years before coming back to the farm fulltime in early 2018 . Cody said they’re continuing to experiment with greater use of cover crops . “Last year I custom-fabricated an interseeder from an old rotary hoe . We planted about 60 acres of our cover crops that way . This year, we hope to try it more .” Nathan said, “You interseed at about the time

you used to be cultivating – so you’re planting your cover crops earlier, planting when your corn is about knee-high . The idea is, if you can get it established earlier, then the cover crop will produce greater biomass in the fall and throughout the winter . “We’ve got some work to do on that . We tried rye last year, you can try legumes, you can try clover, some people try to plant radishes so you can get a big tuber and do a lot of root-building to bust up compaction in your soil . But, of course, your herbicide program is intended to keep your field clean – and that’s going to affect your interseeding . When you plant the cover crop so soon after you’ve applied the herbicides, your residual chemicals will kill the cover crop .” Cody said, “That’s what happened last year on the field we tried interseeding .” Nathan joked: “So at least we know our herbicide program is working .” Nathan grew up in Orange City and graduated from Northwestern College in 2013 with a degree in actuarial science . He worked for Principal Financial Group for several years. “During college, I knew I wanted to figure out a way to farm . After I graduated, I talked to Mike about cooperating on some ground my grandfather owned . So, after two years in Des Moines, I moved back to this area .” Nathan’s grandfather is Gene’s brother . He also works off the farm, doing data analysis and some human resource management for RC Family Farms in Orange City . He and his wife, Jacklyn, live west of Inwood with their daughters Lydia, 2, and Eliza, 7 months .

LEADERS

Mike and Sarah’s daughter, Ella, will be a junior at West Lyon High School

IN QUALITY ANIMAL CARE

“Being part of the community is one of the values that’s very important to us, whether it be our churches or Kiwanis; or serving on other boards like Lyon County Pork Producers, Lyon County Farm Bureau, or Fellowship Village Nursing Home,” Mike said . “It’s important to be active in the community .” Gene is past president of the Iowa Pork Producers Association and a past member of the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission . Faith is also fundamental in the lives of the Ver Steeg and Nieuwendorp families . Nathan and Jacklyn attend Inwood Christian Reformed Church while Ver Steegs are active at New Life Assembly of God . In fact, Mike and Sarah’s second son, Evan, is currently training to be an Assemblies of God pastor at North Central University in downtown Minneapolis . He’s working on the farm during the summer .

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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | July 2020

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Leonard and Deb Hoekstra, Keith and Robyn Kelderman, and Glenn and Lisa Kelderman.

‘FOLLOW GOD’S LEAD AND BLESS OTHERS’ by Bob Fitch

John Calvin, the 16th century theologian, wrote “The Lord has given us a table at which to feast, not an altar on which a victim is to be offered; He has not consecrated priests to make sacrifice, but servants to distribute the sacred feast .” Leonard Hoekstra, manager and co-owner of Doon Elevator Co ., paints the company and himself as among the servants who have a responsibility to distribute the feast . “The Lord blessed us and helped us grow our business,” he said . “Because we’ve been blessed, we need to follow God’s lead and bless others too .” In recent years, Doon Elevator Co . has enhanced its services and grown significantly, adding a new hog feed mill and a new grain elevator which has expanded the capacity of their grain 12

business . In addition to growing the number of employees, Doon Elevator is in the process of replacing their 100-year-old cattle feed mill and updating their dairy feed mill . Leonard started as a salesperson at Doon Elevator Co . in 1983 . Over time, he bought in as a partner with Larry Kelderman and Dave DeWitt . Kelderman died young in 1994, and, over the years, Leonard has had several other business partners . Eventually, he was able to hire both of Kelderman’s sons – and he’s pleased that the world has come full circle allowing Glenn and Keith to be his business partners today . “They are great young Christian guys .” Leonard and Deb Hoekstra, Glenn and Lisa Kelderman, and Keith and Robyn Kelderman “follow

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | July 2020

God’s lead and bless others” by supporting a number of local charities and Christian schools, plus two international ministries . In addition, Robyn is a local and national leader in GEMS Girls Clubs . GEMS stands for Girls Everywhere Meeting the Savior . GEMS welcomes girls of all backgrounds into a safe and nurturing environment to learn and grow as they discover who God created them to be . Clubs are offered in local churches and Christian organizations throughout the U .S . and Canada and 15 other countries . Robyn has served as a GEMS counselor, club coordinator, and as local conference chair . She’s also a resource specialist on the national staff . Leonard has taken a break from

And if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. – ISAIAH 58:10

the elevator business a number of times to make trips to Guatemala as part of Bethel Ministries International . “Bethel builds houses, distributes wheelchairs and food to people in Guatemala who just don’t have anything . I’ve been down on probably eight different trips . Keith and his son Mason also participated in a trip .” Bethel is an inter-denominational ministry which exists “to advance a powerful transformation in the whole of society, one life at a time.” Specifically, Bethel provides mobility to the disabled in Guatemala, plus constructs homes, distributes food, and sponsors education there . Bethel Ministries also provides natural disaster relief, medical assistance, clothing distribution, and support of native pastors and missionaries . “The people are sleeping on a piece of cardboard on the ground . We build them a house – it’s really not

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much more than a carport . But they just think it’s a mansion,” said Leonard . But he said his role is small compared to tireless volunteers such as Steve and Bonnie De Ruyter of Rock Valley who “have been down there countless times .” Bethel Ministries says the heart of God is to care for those who are unable to provide or care for themselves . To a widow who is living in a cornstalk home, or to one whose cooking lean-to was smashed by a landslide two years ago, the small homes are a God-send . While the homes only cost $3,200 to build, they are durable enough to provide families a dry and warm space during the rainy season . For more information about Bethel’s work, see www .bethelministriesinternational .com . Leonard’s passion for international ministry took him to the opposite side of the globe last year . “I was asked by One Body One Hope to go with a group of farmers and others to Liberia to help the Abide in the Vine Disciples Church there .” One Body One Hope is a ministry based in Sioux Center which was founded by Pastor Aaron Baart and his wife, Nicole . It strives to encourage and empower the people of Liberia, West Africa, through Christ-centered evangelism, training and ministry . More information can be found at www .onebodyonehope .org .

Bethel Ministries provides wheelchairs and food to people in Guatemala plus builds homes for residents in need there.

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In addition to many years of civil war in Liberia, Leonard said, “Ebola wiped out entire families in these villages . Pastor Emmanuel Bimba went out and gathered the orphaned children together. He’s on fire to spread the word and people are hungry to hear the Gospel too . He’s started 20 little satellite churches in the countryside . “They minister to all kinds of people in Liberia . They run three orphanages right now . They started a farm down there to help supply some income to support the orphans . Our local crew went down there to see if we could support that or make it more productive .” The One Body One Hope agriculture team leaders are Brad Kooima, Michael Gallagher, Ivan Dorhout, Dan De Groot, Matt Kooima, Austin Lindemulder, Terry Van Maanen, Al Vermeer and Gawen Zomermaand . They serve as an advisory team to Pastor Bimba who leads the Abide in the Vine Disciples Church in Liberia . The mutual goal is to help turn the farm into a fully developed and self-sustainable farm by 2021 . Although Liberians are experienced and able to grow the crops native to their area, there is a lack of infrastructure, medical care, advanced education, business knowledge, construction and farming materials, and financial resources . “It is so, so poor there . The people live on a couple bucks a day . We could also see the need for education . Each orphanage runs a Christian school that people from One Body One Hope have been supporting . But there wasn’t anything once they got out of high school – jobs are pretty tight there . We’re helping to sponsor their college education, whether it’s trade school or whatever . We helped seven with their college education last year," Leonard said .

“Every bit of money that goes there gets put to good use,” he said . “We were able to take along a pretty substantial donation to be used as we saw the need . Some of it was used to put roofs on two churches, some of it went for vaccines for all the kids in the orphanages, some of it went for just housing supplies . Immediately the money was spent and the impacts were seen .” Dan De Groot, a retired pastor who lives in Rock Valley, has gone to Liberia a number of times to help train ministers . On his last trip, De Groot took along solarpowered talking Bibles which is something Leonard and others had previously taken with them to Guatemala . “Pastor Dan said Pastor Bimba thinks they are phenomenal – he wants 200 of them!” said Leonard . “Pastor Bimba doesn’t ever dream small . He sees a need and he’s not bashful about what he thinks it will take . Well, we’re going to

One Body One Hope is a Sioux Center-based ministry which collaborates with Abide in the Vine Disciples Church in Liberia. It strives to encourage and empower the people in that West African country through Christ-centered evangelism, training and ministry.

have to do a little fundraising to get 200 talking Bibles . So that’s the next project we need to work on . “But I have no doubt Pastor Bimba will distribute every one of them and every one of them will be put to good use . If we can help spread the Gospel, it’s a

phenomenal deal .” Leonard is passionate about serving Bethel Ministries International and One Body One Hope . “The organizations are terrific causes and we’re just a small part of it .”

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July 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | July 2020

CROSSES AT INSPIRATION HILLS PHOTO BY BRETT DAVELAAR. BD PHOTOGRAPHY

July 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

SIOUX COUNTY FEATURED FAMILY

STEWARDS OF THE LAND AND FAMILY VALUES by Bob Fitch

Craig and Kristin Hoftyzer take seriously their role of being stewards of the land and the values which have been passed down to them . “I feel extremely blessed . If it wasn’t for the generations before me making sacrifices, I wouldn’t be able to do this . I try not to take that blessing for granted,” Craig said . Kristin added, “Both sides of the family, all those previous generations, they had the same values we try to live by today .” Their home acreage is south of Boyden in Sioux County and is part of the farm Craig’s maternal grandfather, Abe J . Van Roekel, purchased in the early 1950s . “He bought this acreage with the south 80 for about $350 an acre . A few years later, the north 80 became available . Financially, it was way too soon for him and the price had gone up to $500 an acre . But it was an opportunity he grabbed . Decades later, you’re glad he did because it’s been in the family ever since .” Craig’s dad, Jerry, was originally from Osceola County . “He was drafted into the Marine Corps and was in Vietnam . During one of his leaves, he married my mom, Audrey . Then he had to go back to Vietnam to finish his tour.” After Jerry finished his service, they lived in Allendorf for a while and he worked at the elevator there . Then, in 1974, they moved to Sioux County and began farming with Audrey’s father .

Kristin and Craig Hoftyzer

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | July 2020

“My grandpa always fed cattle . He was also an order buyer

for other farmers . As a kid, I remember him putting on lots and lots of miles . There was probably a sale every day of the week – Yankton, Sioux Falls, Sioux Center, Presho . In the fall, he’d go out west and buy them off the ranches . Grandpa also had hogs, but cattle were his first love . He had a good reputation as a cattle buyer,” Craig said . Abe Van Roekel helped both of his daughters and their husbands get started farming in the Boyden area . “Right after I graduated from high school, there were a couple smaller pieces of land that I began renting from my grandpa . I was feeding hogs outside in open buildings, farming a little ground, and working full-time off the farm as well . It’s pretty unusual to see hogs outside any more . When I was doing it, it was a nice way to make money .” His grandfather had backed off of crop farming, although he kept going with the cattle . “I helped dad and, of course, he helped me with loading hogs . My dad and I never had a cross word .” Kristin added, “He’s really grateful for the time he had with his dad .” “My dad died in 2003 and that was about the time I quit the hogs,” Craig said . “It got to the point I had to make the decision to get on board with updating and putting up confinement buildings. I wasn’t sure I liked it enough to make the commitment .” They are strictly crop farmers today .

Jacob, Chloe and Isaac Hoftyzer.

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His grandfather died in 2016 at age 99 . “I was farming some of Grandpa’s ground and my brother-in-law was farming some of it and then my cousin was also farming some . After the dust settled, we all got together around my mom’s kitchen table and we sat there and figured it out. There was no arguing and bickering . It worked out really well . It doesn’t always go that way with families in those situations .” Kristin’s family timeline and story closely mirror Craig’s family story . The daughter of Dwayne and Clarice Alons, she lived on a nearby farm until eighth grade when they moved to Pennsylvania for a year while her father attended the Army War College as part of his long-time service in the Air National Guard based out of Sioux City . When the family returned to Iowa, they moved into the town of Hull, but Dwayne continued to farm and then was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1998 . Craig said his father-in-law “was a big help to me after my dad was gone .” Kristin said, “I have two older

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July 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

In a tradition that stretches back several decades, Craig Hoftyzer always takes photos in his corn and soybean fields on the Fourth of July. He’s seen here with Jacob and Isaac in 2005; and with Jacob, Isaac and Chloe in 2013.

brothers and a younger sister . Neither of my brothers were interested in farming . Craig did some work for my dad because he couldn’t get back from the legislature in time to start spring work . He worked into doing more and more of it .” Craig noted that his father-in-law would say, half jokingly, that sitting in the tractor when he returned from Des Moines was good therapy after butting heads with the opposing party for months on end .

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In September 2014, a tumor was discovered on Dwayne’s kidney . He died a short two months later . “Before he got sick, he had an estate plan in place that allowed us to buy out Kristin’s siblings,” Craig said . “There was a period of time when he thought there wasn’t going to be another generation farming that ground . When we got married and I had an interest in farming, I think, for him, it was nice to see it go on for another generation .” Kristin added, “When dad died, I remember thinking, ‘How are we going to get all of the field work done?’ But Craig has an older friend and neighbor who helps out; and I help more in the field than I used to.” Their sons and Craig’s brother-in-law also help out . Craig and Kristin’s son Isaac is 20 and will be a junior at Dordt University where he majors in business and finance. Jacob is 19 and entering his second year in the electrical program at Northwest Community College . Daughter Chloe is 14 and will be a freshman at Boyden-Hull schools . Craig said, “When I graduated from high school, my dad allowed me to rent some of grandpa’s ground . But our arrangement was I needed to work elsewhere full-time . To him, the experience working somewhere else was important . Looking back, I agree . I learned a lot of things and it gave me a different perspective . It also made me appreciate being back here .

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“I think our kids need to have that same experience, making mistakes on someone else’s timeclock … and then hope they appreciate (the farm) more if they decide to come back .” Kristin said, “Someday, when we are ready to move on, I hope they find a way to get along to work everything out with the farm . If you have accumulated land and you have a successful business, but your kids hate each other at the end, I don’t know that you accomplished much in life .”

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Kristin worked full-time as an accounting clerk at a local business up to the day Isaac was born . “I stayed home with the kids and somewhere in there, I learned how to

do quilting as a hobby . One thing led to another, and now I work pretty much full-time quilting .” Her quilting business can be found online at www . myquilter .com . Since 2004, she has helped others finish their quilts (permanently quilting together the top, the batting and the backing) using her longarm machine and Intelliquilter technology . Craig said, “It was a great way for her to be home with kids but still have a creative outlet and make some money .” The quilt work area is attached to their garage, which makes it convenient for both Kristin and her customers . “It’s a blessing we both have a vocation we love . We’re both blessed by God that we are able to do what we enjoy,” he said . Whether it’s in their farm enterprise, the quilting business, or Craig’s work on the boards of the Farmers Cooperative

Kristin Hoftyzer started quilting as a hobby, but it developed into a business finishing quilts for others.

Society and the Rural Water System #1, the couple strives to uphold the values which have been passed down to them by previous generations . Craig said, “Hopefully in our interaction with our neighbors, friends, or

customers, we’re fair, honest, and do things with integrity . If you practice these, it’s nice when you meet a neighbor on the road and they wave at you – I like to think they’re generally happy to meet you .”

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KEEPING LOCAL HISTORY ALIVE

Historical society leaders Rog Buys and Carolyn Goold inside the Hull Historical Museum, located in the beautifully restored former home of the Rebekah Lodge. The photo at right shows the interior during reconstruction. The Hull Pharmacy sign was in the building when the society purchased it and the was re-hung in the same place after construction was finished.

TURNING LEMONS INTO LEMONADE AND PRESERVING LOCAL HISTORY by Bob Fitch

The heat of July is here and Hull might be just the spot to find a nice cool drink – because the people here know how to turn lemons into lemonade . The “lemon” was an attempt to save a local landmark which had historical significance due to its association with Edward H . Reimann and his wife, Nannie Schoeneman, and their philanthropic and commercial development with Iowa State Bank and Schoeneman Lumber Company . “Originally the society was put together to save the Reimann-Schoeneman house” said Rog Buys, president of the Hull Historical Society . “We tried to the raise money to save the house, but we failed .” Society secretary Carolyn Goold said preservation of the house would 22

have required moving it and the expense was just too much . However, the history preservationists turned that lemon into lemonade . “There were enough of us interested in saving things out of that house as well as other parts of our town’s history that we started looking for a place,” said Buys . The Hull Historical Society agreed on a mission to create an environment to preserve the history of Hull, encourage interactive education of Hull’s history, and to provide a place for events with historical and educational influence. After discussing several possible spots for a museum, they approached Ike Uittenbogaard of Ike’s Construction about a building he owned in an ideal

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | July 2020

location on Main Street on the southern end of downtown Hull . They agreed on a price and the society succeeded in raising $40,000 from donors for the purchase and the necessary renovations and improvements . The building was constructed in 1925 as a Rebekah Lodge hall . (Rebekah is the women’s affiliate of the Odd Fellow’s fraternal order .) While much of the interior had to be refurbished, they succeeded in preserving and refinishing a tongue and groove maple floor. Aside from the maple floor, all the woodwork in the building is new . Goold said the plaster walls were removed and replaced with sheetrock . However, the original plaster and lath ceiling was saved

Whether it’s during Summerfest or on a Wednesday afternoon, a visit to the museum will include a peek at local history . Visitors will see items such as: • The first color television set sold in Hull by the Radio & TV Center . • Vintage military uniforms . • A sample of a Perfection brand stove, a kerosene-heated stove popular from the 1880s until the 1950s . • Toys and baby dolls from the 1900s-1950s . • A square grand piano built in 1869 and a chapel reed organ built in 1917 . • A collection of advertising/promotional items from the Hull Farmers Cooperative Association . • Memorabilia and photos from the Hull Creamery, makers of famous Hull Ice Cream . • The first meeting minutes of the Hull town board . • Models of Hull’s Main Street in 1910 and 1950 built by Arnold Tiedemann . Hull was originally founded in the late 1870s as Pattersonville, but changed its name in 1887 to honor John T . Hull . He was the popular lieutenant governor of Iowa, who had spoken at a gathering of Grand Army of the Republic veterans in Pattersonville in 1883 when he was Iowa’s secretary of state .

and repaired . A ramp was installed on the exterior of the building to make it handicapped accessible . Reconstruction took about 1 1/2 years and they were able to officially open the museum in January this year. Glass cases protect many of the historical items and photos, but allow great visibility in an extremely well-lit setting . Buys said, “Once we bought the building and people knew what we were going to do with it, the donations of historical items just started coming in .” Goold continued, “People come in to look around, see what we have going on here, and they’ll often say ‘I wonder if you might be interested in some stuff we have .’ We have to tell people we might not display everything .” The museum’s scheduled hours are Wednesdays from 1-4 p .m ., although that schedule was interrupted by the COVID crisis . Buys said they plan to have extended hours during Hull’s Summerfest on July 8-11 . At press time, it was not known if there would be any changes to the Summerfest schedule due to COVIDrelated restrictions . Seek information from the Hull Chamber of Commerce on its website or Facebook page . Summerfest usually includes the Fire Department annual BBQ fundraiser and a show from the Boyden-Hull Summer Theater . Saturday starts with a pancake breakfast followed by the biggest candy parade in northwest Iowa . A fun-run, kids carnival, vendor fair, kids pedal pull and food court area all set up along Main Street on Saturday afternoon . The day concludes with the Tailgating CookOff Classic at Rolling Hills Golf Course .

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His address was “replete with word paintings of scenes participated in by many of the soldiers present … It struck to the hearts of hundreds of weather-beaten and battle-scarred veterans … an address of great truth and high order” (quoted from “Siouxland: A History of Sioux County, Iowa” written by G . Nelson Nieuwenhuis) . Nieuwenhuis wrote that when Milwaukee Railroad track layers reached Pattersonville/Hull in July 1879, the town celebrated on the Fourth of July with “a basket dinner … followed by music, speeches and games .” A nearly 5-hour baseball game that day ended with the “railroad boys” beating the town businessmen 93-92 . “There were two saloons in Pattersonville at that time and that fact might explain why the game was so wild and high scoring .” The Sioux County history book says a visiting Sheldon attorney called Pattersonville “a municipal prodigy” because its rapid growth in the second half of 1879 quickly transformed the area from a cornfield to having warehouses, hotels, general stores and other businesses . The attorney said, “In observing these things, one feels as though he was living ten decades in one .”

The Farmers Coop Creamery was a significant employer in Hull for many years. Exterior photo courtesy Grinnell College Libraries.

According to the Niewenhuis’ Sioux County history book, “State and national agricultural history was made in Hull one February day in 1903 . The Sioux County Farmers Institute was held in Hull on Feb . 16-19 that year.” Out of the meeting came a definitive plan whereby the Sioux County Board of Supervisors agreed to provide land, labor and expenses for the establishment of local crop demonstrations in cooperation with the Iowa State College. “The first project dealt with the improvement of seed corn . In the fall corn yields were studied, measured and compared with the yields of others,” Niewenhuis wrote .

A treasure trove of antique items from the Hull Farmers Cooperative is on display at the museum.

712-737-3339 123 Albany St. Orange City The Hull Historical Museum includes a square grand piano built of Brazilian rosewood by Hallet & Davis Co. around 1869. European piano makers began producing the rectangular shaped piano cabinet in the mid-1700s. The piano was gifted to the museum by Gene and Adrie Ruisch. Also on display is a chapel reed organ built by the Williams Organ Co. in 1917. 24

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | July 2020

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July 2020 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine

PLYMOUTH COUNTY FEATURED FAMILY

‘STILL FEELS LIKE I’M PLAYING MOST DAYS’ by Bob Fitch

There’s little doubt Richard Beelner looks like he’s grown up, but he said he’s having the same fun today he had as a little boy .

Richard and Patricia Beelner.

The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | July 2020

Richard Beelner’s fleet of Case tractors.

“Every pair of jeans my mom bought me when I was a kid, she should have bought kneepads for them . I was always wearing out the knees because I was always on the ground playing farm with my toy tractors,” Richard said . “I feel like that’s what I’m still doing today . I’m driving the tractors I like and it still feels like I’m playing most days .” Richard farms the same ground his dad once did west of Remsen . His brother, Mike, owns the land formerly owned by their grandfather . The mailbox names on the properties haven’t changed over the two generations since both are the namesakes of the previous owners . Richard quit finishing hogs two years ago, but is doing the majority of the field work on both places because of his brother’s health issues . However, he did design and work with a local welder to build a lift that allows his brother to get into the combine and a tractor .

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He and Mike do part ways though on the color of tractors to saddle up on . Mike drives green . But Richard is fanatical about his love for his “purebred” Case tractors – as in Case tractors introduced before the merger of J .I . Case with International Harvester . “They are good tractors. My dad bought his first Case tractor in 1958, which is the same year I was born . I don’t know … that might have something to do why I love them so much,” he said . “We had a priest who asked me if he could come out and see my tractors. Of course, I said ‘Sure, but why?’ Well, he said, ‘Every other parish I’ve been, there are

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