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Contentment doesn’t mean the Schmidt family has lived a life of ease. A lifetime of hard work came with its share of tribulations, but “We’re here today and had many blessings along the way,” said Elmer Schmidt.
Elmer was born in the house on the home place and they own land his father purchased on the day he was born. “I didn’t get past the eighth grade. I was told I’d be a failure.” After eighth grade, he went to work for his father on the farm. Then he was drafted into the army in 1966. “We went through basic and they
rushed me over to Vietnam. They were desperate for truck drivers. I was over there for 13 months.”
He returned to Sioux County in October 1967. He and Mary Slothouber were married two months later. They had met and were dating before he left for Vietnam. “I walked to Boyden for one of the celebrations and I saw her on a float. A few weeks later, we saw her cruising in Sheldon. We picked up the girls and the rest is history,” he said. The couple will celebrate 56 years of marriage in December. Elmer joked that their
The “Home of Contented Hogs” west of Sheldon is also the home of a family of contented farmers.The Schmidt family: Elmer, Mary, Ashley, Alyssa, Scott, Rebecca and Karlee (in front).
longevity is due in part to him knowing he just needs to always say, “Yes, dear.”
After his army service, he worked for his brothers for a year before the young couple struck out on their own. Not long thereafter, they started a multiplier herd for Ralston Purina, raising gilts and boars for the company’s KleenLeen division. “We were the only one in the company who delivered everything we raised, trying to keep our head above water,” Elmer said.
In 1972, the couple built one of the first confinement buildings in the area. Elmer’s dad still owned the farmland and, while he was in favor of putting up the confinement finishing unit, he didn’t want to be an owner because, “He thought it was totally nuts for him to put up a hog building that cost more than what he paid for the whole farm. Through a lot of talk, we ended up buying a quarter from him. We thought we'd never get that farm paid for in our lifetime,” Elmer said.
The pigs liked the new building. In fact, Elmer said, “People wanted to come and see what the confinement looked like. Disease wasn't as big a deal then, so a lot of people would come
farrowing and the nursery, as well as the production recordkeeping and farm bookkeeping. Previously, she worked at Demco in Boyden as a secretary and bookkeeper after graduating from a secretarial accounting program at Northwest Iowa Community College.
A twist in their tale was the advent of pseudorabies. She said, “After many times of working through blood testing with pseudorabies, we’d get ourselves clean and then it would come back again. We parted ways with KleenLeen then, but we still sold to some Purina dealers for several years because they liked our stock.” The farm’s success was built on premiums earned on the breeding stock, but they left the breeding business in the late 1990s.
Mary said their son, Scott, has “always been a farmer. He always liked machinery and being outside and in the garden with me. So it wasn't a surprise when he decided to farm. It’s what he always wanted to do.”
Scott attended Southwest Technical College in Pipestone, Minnesota, for crop and livestock management. When the program shut down in spring 1995, he returned to the farm for a life of raising corn, soybeans and hogs. “I've been here since. We were still farrowing pigs at the time. We were self-sufficient, milling our own feed, hauling our own manure and raising our own breeding stock.”
Fifteen years ago, Scott began buying his parents’ shares of the family corporation, a process he completed about 1½ years ago. In 2010, they quit farrowing and began custom finishing for Center Feed Store of Sioux Center. Scott said, “We actually got a little bit of a life after we quit farrowing. Farrowto-finish is not as bad as a dairy producer as far as being tied down, but it'd be the next one in line.” They still do their own power washing and manure hauling with help from a part-time employee.
Mary said the generational transition was smooth. “One thing we can be thankful for is that Elmer was very willing to give up the leadership role or the controlling role. Some dads are good at that and some
dads aren’t. He loves working for Scott and just saying, ‘Okay, what do you want me to do today?’ I think they have a really good working relationship.” Elmer agreed: “He's a better boss than I ever was. The best part is he’s got the headaches now and I don’t.” The couple enjoys January through March in Mesa, Arizona, spending time with a community of mostly Midwestern friends in an RV park.
Scott knows his own strengths and weaknesses. “I definitely don’t know it all, so I surround myself with experts, whether it’s somebody in agronomy, banking, taxes, feed or grain marketing. I just tie them all together.”
Scott is the youngest of Elmer and Mary’s four children. Their daughter, Sheila, and her husband, Mark Uittenbogaard, farm between Sheldon and Sanborn and have three sons. Daughter, Sherry, and her husband, Dave Tiedemann, farm north of Hull and have two children. She works for Natural Beauty greenhouses. Son, Steve, and his wife, Jill, work for Campus Crusade for Christ. They have two children and live in Minneapolis. Elmer and Mary have 12 grandchildren and two great grandchildren with one on the way.
Scott and Rebecca were married four years ago after meeting at a divorce care ministry at Sunnybrook Community Church in Sioux City. Rebecca is a native of Sioux City. She has an associates degree in business administration and worked in banking for 20 years, moving up from teller to branch manager.
In Sioux City, she volunteered with children at church and with Big Brothers Big Sisters. After she and Scott were married, that background made for a natural transition to a new career as a paraeducator at Sheldon Public Schools.
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“I love education and working with children. It’s what I’m meant to do. We have a really good team at East Elementary. My co-workers are amazing and then it works great for our family life that I'm off by 3:15. We can do those afternoon sports and running errands that need to be done. Summers off work out great.”
Rebecca’s daughter, Karlee, 11, will be in sixth grade this fall. She loves animals, especially her cats. Karlee likes the wide open spaces and being able to get dirty on the farm. She plays basketball and enjoys creative arts and craft projects in 4-H. She also plays the oboe and is an avid collector of stuffed animals called “Squishmallows.”
Scott has three daughters. The oldest is Abby, who is married to Lane Te Slaa. They live at Inwood. Abby is an ER nurse at Sanford Sioux Falls and Lane is an applicator for Cooperative Farmers Elevator in Doon.
Ashley, 18, will be a freshman this fall at the University of Northern Iowa, majoring in elementary education. She graduated from Sheldon High School where she was an FFA officer; played on the varsity soccer team; and was a football and
wrestling cheerleader. Her SAE for FFA was becoming a student fire fighter. She served in a student role for 1½ years and, when she turned 18 in October, she became a fullfledged volunteer fire fighter with the Sheldon crew. Her favorite part is “the adrenaline rush and riding in the fire trucks.”
Alyssa, 14, isn’t fighting fires, but gets her adrenaline rush in the sport of Taekwondo. She’s earned her black belt, surpassing both her older sisters. Alyssa will be an eighth grader at Sheldon Christian and will go to Western Christian for high school. When she’s not at Taekwondo practice, she’s mowing grass at the farm or playing volleyball, basketball, soccer or softball. She also plays percussion in band.
Elmer and Mary are charter members of Immanuel Christian Reformed Church in Sheldon, where Elmer served as both an elder and a deacon. He was also on the board of Rural Water System #1 and the Avenue of Flags committee in Sheldon. Although he is no longer on the committee, he and Mary still
volunteer to help put up over 700 flags each national holiday in the summer.
Scott also has been a church deacon, plus serves on the board at Sheldon Christian School. He is on the board of directors of Bless You Inc. The multi-denominational volunteer group helps families in need, especially after a natural disaster or other traumatic event. Bless You Inc. owns travel trailers/ campers which are stocked with bedding, toiletries, food and water, and other necessities. The trailers are driven to disaster-stricken areas, where the organization works with local churches and civic organizations to identify people who have been left homeless. The campers provide transitional housing for up to a year while affected families rebuild their homes and lives. Elmer and Mary have supported the ministry by delivering the trailers to many locations in the Midwest. Bless You Inc. has helped families as far away as California and Florida.
While kids, grandkids and hogs are at the center of daily activities and conversation, Elmer said, “Faith in God keeps it all together.”
Westfield, Le Mars and Maurice captured headlines across the region and the country in October and November 1919. The area gave America a preview of the later crime sprees by the likes of Dillinger, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Bonnie and Clyde.
The story begins in Sioux City on Oct. 21, 1919, when 19-year-old Culver Kennedy leaves home to supposedly conduct some business for his father in Hawarden. An employee of his father’s, Lee Barrington, asks to ride along; and they are joined by Barrington’s friends, Barry W. Smith, W. Cullon and James O’Keefe. The three friends are dropped off in Akron while Kennedy and Barrington spend the night in Hawarden. The next morning (Oct. 22), they return and pick up the three others near Akron. That’s when the excitement begins.
Omaha World Herald: WESTFIELD, IA, BANK
ROBBED BY 5 BANDITS. “Five automobile bandits robbed the bank at Westfield, Plymouth County, Iowa, and, after locking the cashier and assistant in the vault, drove toward Sioux City in a highpowered car.”
Kansas City Star: CATCH IOWA BANK ROBBERS.
“Men Who Fled With $4,500 Intercepted at Sioux City.” While the robbers had made a clean getaway, they failed to cut the phone lines going out of town. The mayor of Westfield called the Sioux City Police who were waiting for the outlaws on the outskirts of the city. “The capture was made without firing a shot.”
Winside Tribune, Winside, Nebraska: HOLD BANDITS
ON BONDS OF $7,000. “The five men charged with robbing the Westfield Bank were brought (to Le Mars) in automobiles from Sioux City, Thursday afternoon and lodged in the county jail.” Claiming he was forced to be the driver, Culver Kennedy was released on bond. “Local authorities believe Lee Barrington is the brains of the gang. He is well dressed and well educated and makes a pleasing appearance.” Also transferred to the jail in Le Mars was William Convey who was under arrest for the attempted murder of Plymouth County Sheriff
For many years, the town of Westfield was reported in news accounts across the nation in connection with a crime spree that began there. These are the headlines from the Omaha World Herald on October 23, 1919.
Hugh Maxwell in a ‘booze runner’ gun battle earlier in the summer.” (Elsewhere, it was reported the sheriff’s daughter, Fern, had shot Convey in the June episode.)
Denver Post: SHERIFF AND SON SHOT AND WIFE
BEATEN BY ESCAPING PRISONERS. “William Maxwell, son of Sheriff Maxwell was probably fatally wounded … when he was shot by escaping prisoners in the Plymouth County jail. His father, Hugh Maxwell also was shot; his mother was stunned by a blow over the head and his two sisters were locked in the jail. The men who escaped were Lee Barrington, Harry Smith, W. Cullon and James O'Keefe, captured by Sioux City police after robbing the Westfield bank …”
Seattle Times: JAILBREAK . The escape was staged “while Sheriff Maxwell was carrying in supper to the men. Smith leaped behind the sheriff and shot him in the back. Will Maxwell, son of the sheriff, rushed to the aid of his father and was shot twice, in the eye and
back. His condition is critical, Sheriff Maxwell will recover. After shooting down the men, the bandits stunned Mrs. Maxwell with a blow from a chair leg and locked the sheriff's two daughters, Clara and Fern, in a cell. They … escaped from town in a stolen automobile.”
Pueblo Chieftain, Pueblo, Colorado: PRISONERS SHOOT SHERIFF AND ESCAPE FROM COUNTY JAIL “Citizens of Le Mars, Iowa, today raised $2,500 reward for the capture ‘dead or alive’ of the five prisoners who escaped from the Le Mars county jail last night (Nov. 15, 1919) after one of their number shot and wounded Sheriff Hugh Maxwell and his son, William. Posses were searching northwestern Iowa today in the hope of complying with the terms of the reward, but no trace of the men had been found up until noon.”
Omaha World Herald: RUSH BANDITS TO JAIL IN FEAR OF
LYNCHING. The criminals were re-apprehended on Nov. 17. “Two of the prisoners, Barrington and Convey, were captured in a box car in the railroad yards at Maurice, Iowa, twelve miles north of LeMars, by Peter Vandriel, a farmer. Vandriel
was out with a party searching for the men when he saw them in the railroad yards … They surrendered without resistance, though both were armed. These two prisoners, believed to be the most desperate of the five, were brought direct to
Sioux City, as the officers feared lynching if they were taken to Le Mars … The other three – O'Keefe, Smith and Cullon – were sighted by a posse out hunting for them near Sioux Center.” (The Maurice Times reported the local posse initially included VanDriel, Andrew Hop, Ira Hop, F.W. Holt, M. VanGorkom, Paul VanOort, E.C. Cole, Dick Smith, and Phillip Deutchler. Joining the posse from Le Mars to help capture the second group were Mayor George Eilers, Mark Ryan, E.T. Crowley, E.H. Pierson, R.L. Lobdell, A. Jackson and H. Renner.)
Omaha World Herald: DRIVER OF BANDIT CAR INDICTED AT LE MARS. “The Plymouth County grand jury at Le Mars, Ia., has made public three indictments against Culver Kennedy … who was captured driving the bandit car following the daylight robbery of the bank at Westfield, Ia. Young Kennedy was indicted for entering a bank with intent to rob with larceny and with conspiracy with intent to commit a felony.” (Kennedy later pled guilty and was sentenced to five years in the state reformatory at Anamosa.)
Fast forward to 1921 … Miami District Daily News, Miami, Oklahoma: FUGITIVE SLAYER IS UNDER ARREST
“Harry Smith, one of a gang of five bank robbers who were sentenced to life terms for the murder of William Maxwell, son of Sheriff Hugh Maxwell, at Le Mars, and who later effected his escape from Fort Madison, has been re-arrested and is being held in the Ward County
jail at Minot, North Dakota, for the murder of a deputy sheriff in Kenmare, N.D.” Smith is returned to the Iowa penitentiary.
Fast forward to 1925 … Des Moines Register: LE MARS MURDERERS ESCAPE PRISON. On Christmas Day of 1925, “James O’Keefe, Harry Smith and W. Cullon, members of the notorious Le Mars gang, serving life terms for first degree murder … escaped from Fort Madison penitentiary … A rope secured by Smith, who had been working in the prison kitchen, afforded the means for scaling the 22-foot wall.” They are all re-captured and returned to the Iowa penitentiary.
Fast forward to 1938 … Omaha World Herald: BARRINGTON GETS PAROLE. “Lee Barrington, sentenced to life imprisonment for a Plymouth County murder, was granted a parole today by the Iowa parole board. Barrington will be released in February … The five participants were tried, convicted and sentenced. Two are now in Fort Madison with Barrington. One is in the criminal insane ward at Anamosa reformatory and the fifth was killed after escaping in 1920.”
Sources
• Most of this information was gathered by volunteer historian Mary Kay Krogman and published at www.genealogytrails.com.
• Additional material from www.newspapers.com.
The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding.
I s a i a h 2 8 : 2 6
FARMALL 706
PHOTO BY BRETT DAVELAAR, BD PHOTOGRAPHY
By Bob Fitch
The life of Barry Borchers, and the lives of his sons, Bryan and Tyler, were wrapped up in basketball for many years. They each were part of some great games, sometimes winning on a lucky bounce.
A series of lucky bounces eventually gave the father and two sons the opportunity to work as a team wrapped up in the game of farming. Barry Borchers grew up on his parent’s farm about 10 miles east of Akron. The farm was originally owned by his great-great grandparents on his dad’s side, who settled there in 1877. Barry worked in the fields and helped with the hogs and a cow-calf herd. After graduating from Akron High School, he chose Augustana over Iowa State because it was easier to come home to help farm. He played on the college’s baseball team and initially studied accounting and then computer science before deciding to become a math teacher and athletic coach.
He coached athletics all 36 years he was in education, including 30 years as a basketball coach.
His wife Vicki also has roots in a Plymouth County farm. Although they grew up only four miles apart and their fathers knew each other, he went to school in Akron and she was in Le Mars. They didn’t meet until after high school when they were introduced at a wedding. With nearly identical
upbringings and personalities that clicked, they didn’t mess around and were married 10 months later. She was also on the path to become a teacher, needing to finish her degree at Buena Vista College. He got a job in Fonda, Iowa, in 1981. “I went there as a high school math teacher. I coached football and basketball, golf and softball. At a small school, just about everybody who coached had to coach everything,” he said.
Vicki also started teaching in Fonda. Then she took a position with Le Mars Public Schools where she stayed until retirement three years ago. She taught kindergarten for nearly all of her 36 years in education. About the time she started in Le Mars, Barry took a teaching position in South Sioux City where he also was an assistant football coach and assistant basketball coach. They lived in Hinton and then South Sioux before returning to Le Mars in 1989 when he joined the district as a guidance counselor. He worked his way up the coaching ranks from freshman boys basketball coach to junior varsity to varsity.
As their daughter, Jacci, was nearing high school, he moved over to coach the girls basketball team. “The girls program always seemed like it was kind of second fiddle. In 2002, we took that team to state. It was the first Le Mars team to make it to state,” he said. Later he took on the role of part-time athletic director and continued as a guidance counselor. He retired six years ago.
He said the best part of coaching was “the relationships you make and the kids that you got to coach. You get to know their families. I think the kids had memories they carried with them regardless of how successful the team was. Then you get to see them be successful in their adult life.”
Both Bryan and Tyler played basketball at Le Mars High School and then went to the collegiate ranks. Bryan went to Bemidji State for two years before transferring to Morningside where he studied business and played basketball from 2010 to 2012.
During his senior year in high school, Tyler’s basketball team finished second at state and he was named a captain of the all-tournament team. He played basketball at the University of South Dakota for one year, but then decided Morningside would be a better fit. Tyler told his dad, “I
want to go to a school where I can make a huge difference and I know we're going to play for something along the way.” And he was able to do just that. He was third team All American his sophomore season, second team his junior year and was first team All American as a senior.
When Tyler was a senior, the Morningside men’s basketball team was ranked number one for much of the season. They soundly beat College of the Ozarks in the first round of the national tourney. But then Covid brought a screeching halt to their great run. The tournament was canceled because of the pandemic, which was a hard pill to swallow when Morningside was one of the top four seeds. It was one of life’s bad bounces. However, academically, Morningside proved to be a good fit for Tyler since the school was ratcheting up a new ag science and business program.
Especially after they moved to Le Mars, Barry found time to help Vicki’s uncles, Ed and Wayne Beitelspacher, with their cattle or by driving grain cart at harvest. Barry’s grandfather’s farm became available to rent and, a few years later, so did his parents’ farm. He and his brotherin-law, Scott Renken, worked the acres together.
“Farming is how I grew up,” Barry said. “I never ever dreamt I’d get to come back. But it worked out just because I got back in the area to teach. The longer I was back in it, the more I was hoping these guys (his sons) would get a chance to be a part of it, too.”
He and Vicki live on an acreage east of Le Mars where they had horses and a few head of cows and calves. Growing up, when farm work presented itself, both Bryan
and Tyler took advantage. Bryan said, “As a kid, I always helped Ed and Wayne whenever they needed me and I liked messing around out at Grandpa's."
Tyler enjoyed helping out on the Scott and Jill Renken farm. “Tyler and his cousin, Mitch Renken, were just six months apart and grew up together. He spent a ton of time at their farm. So he got to grow up in that kind of atmosphere. Scott and Jill were like his second dad and mom,” Barry said.
In addition, whenever Borchers’ neighbors across the road – David and Judy Renken – were away, Tyler would care for their hogs. According to Barry, “When Dave and Judy moved to Des Moines to be closer to their children, they wanted Tyler to be able to have that house in the worst way. He was still in college, but they sold it to us on a contract so we could keep it going until Tyler was ready. I farmed it for two years until he
got out of college.” Tyler moved there in 2020 and farms the 140 acres adjacent to the home.
“We wouldn’t be able to do anything without Ed, Wayne and Luke Beitelspacher and Scott and Mitch Renken. Our equipment inventory is pretty limited. It wouldn’t work without the ties to these guys,” Barry said. “We try to give back by running the grain cart, working cattle and covering the silage pile. It’s a great partnership.”
Another time the ball bounced their way was when Barry and Vicki were able to purchase the home and surrounding 40 acres of the original 1877 farm. They refurbished the house and added an attached garage. In subsequent years, a cattle building and a new machine shed were added. Barry is excited that Bryan and his wife, Ally, chose to raise their family on this heritage homestead.
Barry and Tyler lean toward working the crop end of things while Bryan takes charge of the small, but growing cow-calf herd. Bryan is lucky that his “city girl” wife has come to love the cows.
“Ally usually knows what's going on more than any of the rest of us,” Barry said. Bryan agreed, “Ally loves the calves. She grew up in Spencer and never had much concern about a farm. Now here she is living on a farm and loving it. I don't think she would go back to town.” He’s the first one to leave for work in the morning and, when it’s calving season, “She’ll call one of us and say, ‘Number 27 looks like she’s going to calve.’ First thing when she gets home, she’s back checking the cows.” Borchers’ calves are typically sold when they’re at the 700-800 pound range.
as a nurse in cardiac care at Mercy Hospital in Des Moines. She graduated from Allen College in Waterloo. Her dad said, “She’s married to her job.”
Their middle son, Scott, lives in Melbourne, Florida, with his wife, Amy. Both are graduates of South Dakota State University. Scott is an aeronautical engineer for Northrop Grumman and worked on the recently-introduced B21 Raider for the U.S. Air Force. Amy was an exercise trainer at Baylor Hospital when the couple lived in Texas; and has become a health coach since moving to Florida. Barry and Vicki make frequent trips to Florida, while Scott and Amy reciprocate with trips north to Iowa and her family’s home in Brookings.
Bryan balances his farm life with his full-time job as the logistics manager at Heyl Truck Lines of Akron. He referees high school boys and girls basketball games
and men’s college games in the Great Plains Athletic Conference. Ally works at Primebank in Le Mars. They met at Morningside where she, too, played basketball. Ally and Bryan have three children: Parker is 10; Carter is 7; and Cole will be 1 in September.
Tyler plays the same balancing act as a farmer and in his position as an ag and business loan officer at Primebank in Le Mars. His fiancé, Grace, is a native of Bennington, Nebraska; played volleyball at Morningside; and graduated in May with a B.S. degree in nursing. She recently began working at Unity Point Hospital in Sioux City. Tyler and Grace will wed in July 2024.
Barry does a little part-time work for Brock Auction, posting bills and helping on larger equipment sales. In addition to substitute teaching, Vicki also works for Brock Auction, helping with the online sales and anywhere else she’s needed.
Attesting to its quality is the fact that his 80-year-old mom doesn’t have to bake much of her own bread anymore – instead she enjoys the leftovers Ben delivers. “Last time I was home, I brought about 10 loaves to her and put them in the deep freeze. It saves very well in the freezer and is a good alternative to pop in the toaster compared to today’s spongy white bread.”
“My goal is to get our bread as close to what my mom and my grandma made when I was younger –and I think we've done a pretty good job,” said Ben Duenwald, owner of Flyboy Donuts in Sioux Falls.FRIENDS FROM SOUTH DAKOTA
By Bob FitchBen Duenwald is proud to offer their fresh Farm to Table Homemade Bread every weekend at Flyboy Donuts four shops in Sioux Falls.
Ben’s parents, Bill and Gloria Duenwald, farm near Hoven in north central South Dakota. “When I grew up, my mom would make homemade bread using some of the wheat we ground ourselves. We just called it bread … as we didn’t know anything different except for a few times when we would have what we called ‘boughten bread.’ A few years ago while my mom was recovering from carpal tunnel surgery, my dad replicated what my mom was hand-doing into a bigger batch. I expanded into an even larger batch from there. So it’s my mom’s recipe with some credit to my dad.” A vital ingredient in the Flyboy bread is whole grain wheat raised and ground by his dad on the family farm.
Flyboy Donuts is probably the fastest growing donut business in South Dakota. Why add bread? “From the beginning, I always wanted to do some things beyond donuts to show that we have other talents,” Ben said. Flyboy also offers baked caramel and cinnamon rolls. “People can take and bake, especially around the holidays,” he said.
Fresh bread is available Saturdays and Sundays at the company’s four Sioux Falls locations: 57th and Western; East 10th and Bahnson; 57th and Sycamore; and 41st and Sertoma. To ensure availability, customers are encouraged to pre-order bread at www.flyboydonuts.com.
Ben’s road to making donuts was not a straight path. He graduated from South Dakota State University with a degree in mechanized agriculture (now called ag systems technology). After college, he first cut his teeth at a luncheon meat factory in St. James, Minnesota. Then, when his wife was in training to become a physicians’ assistant, he followed her to Des Moines where he had a position in food production. When they moved to Sioux Falls, he became vice president of operations
for Grand Prairie Foods.
When they had three kids in daycare, the couple decided to make some changes. He became a part-time consultant and part-time stayat-home dad – before moving to become a full-time stay-at-home dad. When he was done with that life phase, Ben began looking for a business to buy. “I came across Flyboy, which had only been in Sioux Falls for about two months. The original owner started Flyboy Donuts in Tea, expanded to Sioux Falls, and then closed the one in Tea. I purchased the store at 57th
and Western in Sioux Falls and purchased the brand and kind of went from there.”
Being a “systems guy” with a farminspired entrepreneurial edge, “I always knew I wanted to own something because ownership is in my blood. I can always kind of envision what the next phase will be. And then you just kind of creep into it. I knew when I started with just one location that we would eventually have four locations – but we did it quicker than what I thought we would.”
Immediate and extended family members work in the business, just like on the farm where he grew up. In nine years, the company has grown to include about 10 full-time and more than 40 part-time employees. “We have a really good team that works around the clock at times to produce over 8,000 donuts a day,” he said. All the donuts are fresh – no day-old donuts are sold. But leftovers aren’t thrown away either … nonprofit groups like Bread Break pick up as many of the extras as they can and distributes to charities, schools and shelters.
712-753-4800
From TasteofHome.com
2 medium zucchini (about 8 inches)
3/4 pound ground beef (one reviewer suggested substituting venison)
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2 tablespoons ketchup (reviewers suggested substituting tomato sauce or tomato paste)
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Trim the ends off zucchini. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp, leaving 1/2-in. shells. Finely chop pulp.
2. In a skillet, cook beef, zucchini pulp, onion, mushrooms and peppers over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Remove from the heat. Add 1/2 cup cheese, ketchup, salt and pepper; mix well. Spoon into the zucchini shells. Place in a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
3. Bake, uncovered, at 350° until zucchini is tender, 25-30 minutes.
