The Farming Families of Iowa—June 2023

VANDEN BOSCH

Terri and Loren Vanden Bosch of Doon. Story on page 24.

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CRAIG COOP: WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME

By Bob Fitch

Single location coop elevators seem to fade into the sunset a little bit more every year, with merger after merger after merger. For many, that’s been a good route to increase buying power and profits. But there are always a few exceptions to the rule, a few fish who swim against the stream.

Farmers Cooperative Company (Craig Coop), now in its 113th year, is proud to be both an exception to the rule and a success swimming against the stream.

According to long-time delivery driver Jerome (Jerry) Puhl, working at Craig Coop has brought a lot of satisfaction. “When you've seen the place grow as much as it has in my 47 years, a guy feels like he accomplished something. Even though it’s a job, you’ve been a part of it. It took board members who believed we could do it – expanding and getting new business. They stuck their necks out, but it worked. The board takes pride in being a single location coop.”

Between the two of them, Connie Hutton De Boom and Jerry Puhl have a total of 93 years of service to the Farmers Cooperative Co. in Craig.

Connie Hutton De Boom, who has been doing the accounting at Craig Coop for 46 years, agreed with Jerry. “Our shareholders like us the way we are.” A good share of the customer loyalty and ability to attract new business is the personal touch of being a single location and having employees who stick around a long time. “We're kind of like Cheers – everybody knows your name,” she said.

The longest serving employees at the coop, Jerry started in March 1976 and Connie started in January 1977. Jerry recently retired from his full-time delivery job, but was right back at work in a part-time slot the next week.

ALMOST READY TO CALL IT QUITS

In the mid-‘70s, Jerry recollected that the board of directors was just about ready to throw in the towel. The coop’s net sales reached $300,000 in 1957, but stalled at that level through 1976. Connie said, “The place was pretty run down. We couldn't really get a loan from the bank. That’s pretty broke when the bank won’t loan you money. But we had a farmer who was well-to-do and he was our financial aid. He believed in the place. Plus there were some young people coming on the board who thought maybe they could bring this thing around.” Two of those board members from that era are still active members – Edgar Nicholson and Gerald Westhoff.

Another key factor in the coop’s upswing was the board’s hiring of John Becker, who started as manager less than two

The Craig Coop has significantly invested in service and storage to meet the needs of members.

weeks after Jerry was hired. John had experience with Farmland Industries in Sergeant Bluff. He retired as manager in 2012.

Net sales grew 500 percent in the first year with the new team and attitude. Sales and net earnings continued in a gradual upward trend from there. By the co-op’s 75th anniversary in 1985, sales

were closing in on $6 million per year. Today, annual sales exceed $100 million.

The trio hired in 1976 and 1977 was a tight-knit team. According to Connie, “It was only Jerry, John and me, you know. Everybody covered for everybody. Once in a while, I'd have to go out and throw bags. If something needed to be done, you

just did it, whether it was in the job description or not.”

REMEMBER WHEN?

These days, Connie finds herself being the person who says “Remember when?” “So many things have changed. During harvest, there were lineups hours long because you only had so many pits. All the retired moms and dads would come sit in line and visit for hours and hours. That's when grain was hauled in little 150-bushel wagons. If a farmer got a 250-bushel gravity wagon, then he was uptown. Then they went to 350-bushel gravity wagons and then 500+ bushels. Then it was straight trucks and now a large percentage have semis. Harvest is fast-paced with larger and faster equipment. Now, if farmers or truckers have to sit in line 10 or 15 minutes, that’s a long time.”

In the 1980s, she had the coop

A scene at the Farmers Cooperative Co. in Craig about a 100 years ago.

hold off on adding computers for bookkeeping until a separated office was built – she already had enough trouble keeping the photocopier running with all the dust coming from the attached mill. “In 1996, the coop built an office and that's when we got our first computer. It's been a lifesaver. Before that, everything was done manually. During harvest, you'd have loads and loads of scale tickets and I would spend long hours just catching up.” A large task of better organizing member’s equity was also achieved.

Jerry also witnessed his individual workplace evolve – it’s gone from

running a manual auger on a 7-ton feed box to running a 27ton high speed unload tractortrailer equipped with cameras and remotely-run controls. Jerry and others put a lot of labor through the old mill. He said the new automated mill was a nice upgrade. “I remember the day we did 100 ton of milling, and we thought we accomplished something, and it took 14 hours to do it.” Now 100 ton can be accomplished in two hours from the seat of a desk chair.

Jerry said one thing that hasn’t changed is that the Craig Coop

board of directors has always valued its employees and treated them well. The longevity of employees is proof of that. Once somebody is hired, “They stick,” he said. A proof point might be that his son, Mike, has worked there for 13 years, running the feed mill for the coop today. Other long-time employees are Phil Niehus with 28 years of service and Owen Smith and Jay Becker, both at 24 years.

EMBEDDED IN THE COMMUNITY

Jerry grew up on his parent’s farm east of Chatsworth. Today, he and his wife, Judy, live on an acreage on the edge of Chatsworth. They have four children and six grandchildren. Being on his new part-time schedule, he plans to spend his free time fishing and helping his son, Alan, in his construction company. Their daughter, Jodi, lives in Hartford, S.D., and is a radiologist with Avera Health. Daughter Debbie lives in Hawarden and works on the post-op surgery floor at Mercy Hospital.

Connie has called Craig home her entire life. Her dad was a trucker and her mom was a registered nurse. She’s married to Dave De Boom. Between the two of them, they have five children and eight grandchildren. Her son, Brett Hutton, DNP, ARNP, is a practitioner at the clinic in Paullina, part of the MercyOne Health System. Dave’s son, Darren De Boom, is the owneroperator of Siouxland Outdoor Power in Ireton. Their daughter, Brooke De Boom, is a registered nurse working in the emergency room at Spirit Lake Regional Health Care.

Craig Coop is proud of its support of local communities and causes. Donations and other support is provided to multiple FFA programs, fire departments, town projects, livestock shows, and school programs.

Dave and Connie (Hutton) De Boom with her son, Brett Hutton, on the day he earned his degree as a doctor of nursing practice.

MAINTAINING TRADITIONAL VALUES

General Manager Doug Schurr replaced John Becker in 2013. Doug has been at the forefront of some of the coop’s largest expansions, including the addition of 1.5 million bushels of storage, a large truck shed, a feed warehouse, and many efficiency upgrades. He said, “Every dollar spent here is for the members and spent with them in mind. For example, the grain receiving wait times are shorter because we invested in our member’s wants and needs. It is important to most patrons to have three things: Fast, quality service; familiar faces; and a good financial year resulting in paid dividends.”

Today, 530 members hold equity in the coop. The coop paid $890,000 in dividends in 2022 and deferred equity is paid current through 2015. The coop has 15 full-time and three part-time employees. Craig Coop is located on Highway C-12 in northern Plymouth County. In addition to grain marketing and storage, the coop also offers custom feed mixes, liquid supplements, nutrition consulting and other services.

Jerry and Judi Puhl with their grandson, Gannon Lienhard.

FLAG DAY IS OFTEN OVERLOOKED

Flag Day is regularly overshadowed by the louder, more widely known Independence Day holiday. There may not be fireworks every day of the year like July 4th, but every day is Flag Day, not just on the officially-observed date of June 14th. Flags fly every day in northwest Iowa and across the country outside of banks, post offices and other government buildings; plus inside and outside of schools, businesses, homes and inside churches. The fabric of the red, white and blue is woven through the lives of Americans as a touchstone of citizens’ patriotism and love of country.

The Stars and Stripes was first recognized as the nation’s symbol of patriotism and loyalty by the U.S. Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. The Congressional resolution adopted a flag of 13 red and white stripes bordered by white stars on a field of blue. A flag of this design was first carried into battle on September 11, 1777, in the Battle of the Brandywine.

The June 14th date held little public significance until after the American Civil War. In the ensuing years, communities such as Hartford, Conn., New York City, and Philadelphia laid

Photo by Marissa Whipple.

claim to holding the first observance of Flag Day. William T. Kerr is credited with founding the American Flag Day Association in 1888 while still a schoolboy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Both President Wilson, in 1916, and President Coolidge, in 1927, issued proclamations asking for June 14 to be observed as the National Flag Day. But it wasn’t until August 3, 1949, that Congress approved the national observance, and President Harry Truman signed it into law. The only historic observance more overlooked in the patriotic parade of dates is Constitution Day, but that discussion will be saved for another day.

AND NOW … THE REST OF THE STORY

Most Americans have a pretty good grasp on the basic history and significance of the U.S. flag, but what do you know about your home state’s flag?

According to www.statesymbolusa.org, Iowa was almost 75 years old before the state banner was adopted by the Legislature in 1921. Iowa was only 12 years old when the Civil War broke out. After the war’s conclusion, patriotic Iowans did not adopt a state banner because they felt a national banner was the only one needed. At the turn of the century, sentiment began to shift towards having a state flag. Iowa’s flag was designed by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Iowa National Guardsmen stationed at the Mexican border during World War I requested an emblem of Iowa to represent their unit.

The flag consists of three vertical stripes: the blue stripe stands for loyalty, justice and truth; the white

stripe for purity; and the red stripe for courage. On the white center, an eagle carries streamers in its beak which are inscribed with the state's motto: "Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain." The name "IOWA" is in red below the streamers. The eagle carrying streamers also appears on Iowa's state seal.

Sources

• www.va.gov/opa/publications/celebrate/flagday.pdf

• https://statesymbolsusa.org/symbol-official-item/iowa/ state-flag/flag-iowa

• Row of flags photo by Marissa Whipple.

• U.S. flag photo by Jnn13 via Creative Commons. Image cropped

IOWA FENCELINE AT SUNSET.

PHOTO BY BRETT DAVELAAR, BD PHOTOGRAPHY

A SPIRIT-LED, AUDACIOUSLY ADVENTUROUS LIFE

By Bob Fitch

• Why not enter the ministry?

• Why not move from Iowa to California?

• Why not work with pregnant teens?

• Why not adopt a child?

• Why not go on multiple mission trips to Guatemala? Why not return there with your five children aged seven and under?

• Why not become a nurse?

• Why not plan to adopt another child, and then adopt twins instead?

• Why not buy an acreage in northwest Iowa, but then return to Guatemala for a year with your six children?

• Why not return to Iowa and convert an old cattle shed into an event center called The Triple Box?

• Why not have full-time careers in addition to raising six kids, providing foster care and running an event center?

Justin and Vicki Schrock of Orange City have packed a lot of living into 23 years

The Schrock family in front of The Triple Box event center, which is located south of Orange City. Pictured are Angelique, Caleb, Emilee, Vicki, Naomi, Justin, Miya and Kira.

By Bob Fitch

The story of Justin and Vicki Schrock is one of “Why not?”

A WELL-TRAVELED PATH FROM IOWA TO GUATEMALA

Serving in the Christian missions field in Central America has been an ongoing ministry in the lives of Justin and Vicki Schrock. In 2000, Vicki’s uncle and aunt paid for them to go on mission trip to Guatemala. They spent 10 days there with Paradise Bound Ministries. “We just served the Lord and learned a lot about ourselves, Jesus, and what our future held,” Vicki said.

They made a number of return trips to Guatemala, including a very meaningful one with Vicki’s parents and siblings. In 2009, friends there called and asked them to put the word out to supporting churches that Paradise Bound Ministries needed help for a summer – they were looking for people who were good with kids, had nursing skills, and could drive a van. With unsuspecting inspiration from their pastor and support from the consistory at Maurice Reformed, the Schrock family answered the call. With their five children at the time, Justin and Vicki helped the team in Guatemala during summer 2010.

Fast forward to 2014, both Justin and Vicki quit their jobs, rented out their new home and answered a call to return to Guatemala. The staff of Paradise Bound Ministries had grown from two to 24 people. Justin said, “They needed help organizing clinics and organizing staff. So I was the missions operation director and Vicki put her nursing and organizational skills to work.” From 2014-2015, all eight members of the Schrock family lived in Guatemala. In addition to helping organize the medical clinics and providing foundational medical care (parasite medications and vitamins), they helped build houses and did pastor trainings.

“We didn't go down with a timeline,” Justin said. “We decided we’d stay there until the work was done. In about a year and a half, we worked ourselves out of a job. They had all the right people, they had just needed to get shifted around into the right place. That was really encouraging to see.”

He described Paradise Bound Ministries as an organization that literally goes to the end of the road and then a mile further. “That's what drew us to them … the mentality to help the lost and forgotten, not by giving handouts, but by providing a hand up.”

of marriage. According to Justin, “If you had to sum us up, the motto we live by is: ‘Why not?’ If an opportunity comes along, I’m not afraid to jump in the swimming pool – but I do check to make sure there’s water in the pool first. Vicki's the one up on that diving board ready to jump, saying ‘Let’s go do this!’”

It's rarely that simple, though. Included in the question of “Why not?” is a process of prayer and discussion. “Just because you can doesn't mean you should,” he said. “Everyone's wired differently, and God's going to use people in different ways. Scripture talks about the different parts of the physical body, and it's the same with people having different roles spiritually.”

Vicki added, “A calling to me starts out as a desire or want; and then it turns into a prayer.” If the idea doesn’t go away, then it’s time to seek wise counsel and further dissect the opportunity. “Like Justin said, I'm a jumper. If I get an idea, I just kind of go for it. But Justin provides checks and balances to make sure this is right for our family. There’s a lot of discussion around the dining room table just discerning what the Holy Spirit is saying to us.”

Justin said, “A lot of people will look at a situation and list all the reasons why they can’t do this or that. For us, if we feel like God’s leading us to do it, well, why not? Let’s go on this adventure.” Growing up, Vicki’s parents instilled in their children the idea of ‘Why don't you try it?’

Justin and Vicki met as students at Northwestern College in Orange City. Justin grew up in the town of Adel, Iowa, near Des Moines. Vicki grew up north of Maurice on the farm of her parents, Phil and Kathy Dykstra. At Northwestern, Vicki was pursuing a degree in social work and Justin majored in

Christian education, with a goal to be in youth ministry. They were married the summer before their senior year. After graduation, Justin got a position as a youth pastor at Calvary Reformed Church in Ripon, California. Vicki worked at Bethany Christian Services in a group home for pregnant teens.

MISSIONS, MAURICE AND MANY BABIES

Central to their lives have been more than a dozen mission trips to Guatemala (see sidebar story on page 19). In addition to this ongoing ministry, they wanted child adoption to be an important part of their lives together. Back in California after their first mission trip, one of the teens at the group home where Vicki worked asked them to adopt her daughter.

“That’s how our oldest, Angelique, came to join our family. I helped take care of her as a newborn and then she moved to our house when she was four months old.”

Fourteen months later, their son, Caleb, was born.

Three years after moving to the West Coast, Vicki's home church, Maurice Reformed, called Justin to be its youth pastor. They lived in Maurice and he served for 10 years at the church which typically draws in three times the town’s population on Sundays.

When Justin took his position in Maurice, Vicki became a social worker at Sioux Center Health. In 2006, she decided to attend Northwest Iowa Community College to become a registered nurse. “It’s been the best thing. Being a nurse has been very fulfilling for me.” After graduating, she worked at Promise Community Health Center.

Their daughter, Emilee, was born in 2006. In 2009, they adopted twin daughters, Miya and Kira. When Vicki was pregnant again in 2011, eight-year-old Caleb threatened

Naomi, age 4 at the time, took charge of guiding the cement chute to the right spot during early stages of construction. Every family member found a way to help.

An antique triple box wagon meets visitors at the front doors of The Triple Box event center.

All hands on deck! Kira, Emilee and Naomi hard at work on the grout put in after the cement pour.

to cut off his leg if the new baby was a girl, too. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed. He and his youngest sister, Naomi, ended up having perhaps the tightest bond of all their children.

According to Vicki, “Each one of the kids brings a very unique dynamic to our family. And, at the end of the day, they get along really well together.”

Angelique, 20, is pursuing a degree in social work at Grand Canyon University, a Christian college in Phoenix, Arizona. Caleb, 19, is attending Western Iowa Technical College in Sioux City, studying police science.

Emilee, 17, will be a senior at Unity Christian High School in Orange City. Her mom said, “She owns the coffee equipment here (at The Triple Box event center) and she really wants to be a chef or a baker, and maybe have her own coffee shop and bakery.” If that doesn’t work out, she also likes to fix cars, so maybe she’d be a mechanic!

Twins Miya and Kira are 14 and will be freshmen at Unity Christian. Vicki described Miya as their “hostess” because, even though she’s reserved, she wants to make sure everyone is taken care of and comfortable. Kira is creative, artsy and more social. Vicki’s prayer that the twins be different and not be competitive with one another was answered; the girls excel in very different areas.

Naomi, 12, will be a seventh grader at Orange City Christian School. She's mature, practical, and loves to help the underdog and serve people. Justin said, “She's one of those who says ‘Don't tell me I can't do it because I'm too young.’” When construction was happening on The Triple Box, she was just four years old, but treated it like a job, helping pour cement and however else she could.

NEW HOME AND MORE ADVENTURES

For many years, Schrocks looked for an acreage in the Maurice area. In 2012, Vicki’s brother, Dave (who was a plumber at the time and now farms with his brother and dad, plus operates Dykstra Repair and Sales), ran across what looked to be an ideal property. Things moved quickly: Open house on Saturday; return visit on Tuesday with Vicki’s dad who affirmed the house had “good bones” and potential; an offer was made on the same day; and the offer was accepted on Wednesday.

Most people might have said, “Ok, now we’ve settled down.” But not Justin and Vicki. Two years later,

they both quit their jobs, rented out their new home and answered a call to return to Guatemala.

After returning from their longest mission to Guatemala, they wanted to find an enterprise the family could do together to generate income. Between a high school job and many years in youth ministry, Justin had background in event planning and execution. After looking at various options, Vicki’s dad, Phil Dykstra, and church friend, Kent Mouw, ingeniously figured how to convert an old cattle shed on the Schrock acreage into an event space with a large free span area. Weather allowed for pouring of the cement floor in early December 2016.

Kathy and Phil Dykstra, have been an inspiration in the lives of Vicki Schrock and her family. Phil played an instrumental role in the remodel of an old cattle shed into The Triple Box event center.

The first event was a graduation reception in May 2017 and the first wedding reception was in July 2017. Since then, the Schrocks have hosted weddings, reunions, anniversaries, quinceañera parties, funerals, homeschool events, gym activities, church services, Christmas parties and leadership retreats.

The multiple use nature of the facility is reflected in its name: The Triple Box. A triple box was a wooden wagon used by pioneers for hauling grain from the field, livestock to market, bringing the family to church on Sunday, or other tasks. A triple box had multiple functions and was simple. Justin and Vicki said The Triple Box event center operates in the same spirit – multiple possibilities with a simple flair.

The couple credited her parents for always demonstrating resourcefulness. Vicki mirrors those skills –discovering surprising places to buy

unique items, from building materials to fixtures for their event space.

Phil and Kathy Dykstra also cultivated a sense of family esprit de corps in this and other projects. “It was an allhands-on-deck family project,” said Vicki. “We all worked together to get it done. We also feel really blessed to be in this community with people who are willing to come alongside you to help.”

Both Justin and Vicki have been able to work careers around running the event center. Vicki is an instructor in the nursing department at NCC and Justin works for Martin Brothers, a distributor of food products, kitchen supplies and other supply lines.

Through events at The Triple Box, “We do feel blessed and honored to be part of people's special days. We feel strongly about helping them create memories and a great shared experience,” Vicki concluded.

Providing

Justin and Vicki in The Triple Box’s the rustic-looking side room, just off the main event space. Often used as a bride’s dressing area, the room includes a private bath, comfortable seating and a loft.

AT PEACE ON LIFE’S JOURNEY

By Bob Fitch

Loren and Terri Vanden

Bosch are complementary cohorts in life’s endeavors. She is his sidekick in the hog barns and he is her sidekick at quilt shows.

Loren went right into farming with his father and brother after graduating from Western Christian. Terri grew up in southwest Minnesota near Valley Springs, S.D., on the farm of parents, Marlin and Karen Vis. Terri graduated from Southwest Christian High School in Edgerton, Minn. She decided to go to nursing school to become an LPN.

The story of their life together didn’t exactly have an auspicious beginning. Terri’s roommate, Cheryl Den Boer, was a friend of Loren’s from Western Christian. Cheryl told Loren, “Hey, I know this

girl who grew up on a farm and I think you’d hit it off.” Of course, the blind date had to wait until after harvest. Loren shared the story of their first date: “There were four other girls living there. I had no idea who Terri was or what she looked like. In fact, I couldn’t remember her first or last name. So I was going to go out with whoever came to the door. That's how much I knew when I got into this.”

On that first date, a friend hollered Terri’s name across the theatre parking lot – clueing Loren in on her first name. However, for three

Loren and Terri Vanden Bosch in her quilting shop in their home west of Doon.

more weeks, he still didn’t know her last name. “Finally, I thought I was clever to ask: ‘By the way, how do you spell your last name?’ But I was thinking, ‘Please, Lord, let this be a hard last name.’ And her response was ‘Vis, V-I-S.’ I felt like such an idiot.” But Terri wasn’t taken aback, “I didn’t suspect anything, because sometimes people spell it V-I-S-S or V-I-X, so I was used to it.”

STANDING THE TEST OF TIME

Nevertheless, their marriage has stood the test of time since 1986. Like his parents, the couple lived frugally. However, in the cold winter of 2014, when the water in the only toilet bowl froze solid in the old, rented farmhouse where they lived, they decided to build a new home. They enjoy having their children and grandchildren live nearby. Their daughter, Ashley, and her husband, Tyler Attema, live near Inwood. Ashley is super creative and previously was an interior designer at a Sioux Center furniture store before becoming a stay-athome mom. Tyler is a fire fighter for Sioux Falls Fire & Rescue; plus does diesel mechanic work on the side at their acreage. They have three children: Emily, 9, and Will, 7, go to Inwood Christian School; and Isaac, 5, starts kindergarten in the fall.

Loren and Terri’s son, Josh, is a conservation officer for the South Dakota Game Fish & Parks Department. He’s based out of Canton and patrols along both the Sioux River and the Missouri River. He lives in Harrisburg and, in September, will marry Laura Carlson, who has a seven-yearold daughter, Estelle. Loren said Josh is chip off the block with his high-energy work drive. Terri said a youth spent doing hog chores and practicing football instilled a strong work ethic.

DAD HELPS HIM GET STARTED

When he graduated high school, Loren was glad his dad needed more help on the farm. His parents, Leonard and Geneva Vanden Bosch, grew corn and soybeans and had a small farrow-to-finish hog operation. “A few years into it, Dad gave me the money to buy two sows. He told me, ‘When you sell the hogs, pay me back. If there’s anything extra, we’ll take the feed off and the rest is yours.’ And that's how we started off. It was a nointerest loan because that’s what dads do.”

His dad started farming a half section on a crop-share basis beginning in the 1950s. Sixty-some years later, Loren and his brother,

Leon, now farm 1,100 acres and continue the arrangement with landlords who live in Chicago. In 2005, Leonard, Leon and Loren purchased 80 acres. With a little bit of emotion, Terri said that was the first land her father-in-law ever owned: “He was so proud and excited to have bought it.” Loren said his dad could never buy land because his mom suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and there were always bills to pay at Mayo Clinic. “He literally spent millions taking her to the doctor. We figured out the bills he paid accumulated

Providing Feed and Vet Supplies for over 30 years. We also provide consulting services for feedlot cattle and cow calf pairs.

The Vanden Bosch family in the Black Hills. Front: Estelle, Emily, Isaac and Will. In the back are Josh and his fiance Laura; Ashley and Tyler Attema; and Terri and Loren.

to the equivalent of three farms. He basically operated hand-to-mouth, making monthly payments until Mom passed away – and then several more years after she died.”

Two acres of the new land was carved out for Loren and Terri to put up a hog barn and later a second one, and, finally, their home. He and his brother later bought a little bit more land. Loren both owns hogs and custom-finishes others.

SILENT COMMUNICATION

“Terri is essential on loading hogs,” Loren said. “You tell people that and everybody says, ‘You still love each other?’ Well, it was a learning curve when we started out. But now it's so good that when we go in to sort, we barely communicate.”

The couple pre-sorts the hogs the night before and gets up about 4:45 a.m. to load them out. He said, “It's to the point where she is just as good, if not better, at reading hogs. She can see if a hog is going to turn or not. We don't say a word.” Terri added, “We know exactly what the other thinks and exactly what's to be done. We can do a load in about 45 minutes. Ever since 2005, I've helped with every load, except for two when I had breast cancer last year.”

The only time they ever got mad at each other was during harvest in 2014 when they were also in midst of finishing construction on their house and had to agree on little things like where to put the plug-ins. Terri laughed, “We were both stressed and so tired we couldn’t see straight. During sorting and loading, we did throw a panel at each other. We both did.”

Terri said her quilting customers think it's hilarious she helps sort and load hogs. “They say to me: ‘You get smelly and dirty and then you make these pretty things?’”

QUILTING, FABRICS AND CREATIVITY BRING HER JOY

Terri has been “running wild” in the quilting business for 30 years. Previously, she made wood crafts to

sell. Then friends took her to a quilt shop and she got hooked. She founded Lizard Creek Quilting and, in 2007, she borrowed $10,000 from Farm Credit Services to buy a longarm machine. Taking quilt tops others have made, she uses the longarm to finish quilts by stitching together the top, the batting and the backing. She impressed Loren when she paid it off in a year-and-a-half.

“I was never competitive in things like sports. In fact, in grade school, they used to fight over who had to take me on their team. But, in quilting, I’m very competitive. I'm very precise. My points have to match and I like my colors to be right. I've entered quite a few contests and won quite a few ribbons. In 2016, I entered a national contest by AccuQuilt in Omaha. I designed an original quilt block and won first place.” AccuQuilt displayed the block essentially as a billboard on the side of their warehouse, visible from I-680. The display was 17 feet high and wide.

“Winning gave me confidence,” she said. Winning also gave her opportunities and contacts. As the contest winner, she was featured in a national quilting magazine. Since then, about 40 of her quilts have been featured in magazines. People across the country recognize the name Lizard Creek Quilting.

She’s a frequent speaker at quilt guild meetings, where Loren serves as her sidekick, selling her merchandise and being her driver. In addition, she’s begun designing patterns for her Signature Fabric lines, four of which are being sold by Island Batik. She relishes the chance to use her creativity in different ways. “I like to do things for a while and then I’ll look a different direction and think ‘Oh, pretty thing. Let's try this;’ or ‘Ooh, shiny thing over here. Let's try that.’ If there's anything quilt-related, or anything that can be made or tried with fabric, it's what I do. It brings me joy.” Loren said, “The best saying on her wall is: ‘My brain has too many tabs open.’ That's exactly her. She's a hog-sorting, quilt-making, fabricdesigning, motorcycle-riding, good cook and grandma. She's all the above.”

Terri at work with the long arm device in her quilt shop.

A potting table decorated with a hanging quilt and matching colors in the flowers and pots.

Terri’s quilt block was displayed larger-thanlife at the Accu Quilt Factory in Omaha, visible from I-680.

Three sections of a 12-set series of “Sew True Quiltlets” which Terri developed in 2022:

• The left one is for May: The theme is the Lord is unchangeable. Even when the wind and rain and snow are rough on your tulips, the buds remained tight inside the leaves until it was time for its purpose.

• The middle one is for August: The refreshment you enjoy when eating watermelon is an allusion to the Bible verse of “Jesus is the living water.” When you trust in Jesus for living water, you’ll never be thirsty again.

• On the right, the November quiltlet focuses on the Abundance of God. Just as God provides oak trees and acorns for the squirrels, He came to give believers abundance, something that is added to make life happy, including joy, peace, fellowship and other blessings.

BLESSINGS SHARED, BLESSING RECEIVED

“I've never been scared to put my faith into my work. That's very important to me,” Terri said. “Even when I first started out doing woodworking things, I added a little tag with a Bible verse on each thing I sold.” Her Blessing Baskets design helps people recognize that “The Lord gives you all of these blessings to put in life’s basket.”

Last year, she was inspired to design a new quiltlet pattern for every month, each focused on one of God’s truths. She continued designing even when she was shocked with a diagnosis of breast cancer in April 2022.

“I don't know how people can survive hearing that diagnosis, or any traumatic diagnosis, without having the assurance of knowing that, even if I die, I'll go to heaven. The verse that I clung to was: ‘Go in peace for the Lord is watching over your journey.’ No matter where the journey goes, you can be at peace because He's there.” The cancer was caught early; doctors were able to do radiation during the surgery to remove the tumor; and ongoing hormone inhibitor treatment has been going well.

Many quilters follow her on social media and they have proven to be blessings and prayer warriors for her during cancer treatment. Terri has become more bold in sharing her faith in person and online even at the risk of having a few customers turn their back. “At my core, that’s who I am. I have to tell people about my personal relationship with Jesus.”

ON THE GO. AGSTATE

FROM

MARSHMALLOWS DIPPED

IN

CHOCOLATE

INGREDIENTS

50g white chocolate

50g milk chocolate

1 pack lollipop sticks

Selection of cake sprinkles

1 bag marshmallows (about 200g)

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat the chocolate in separate bowls over simmering water or on a low setting in the microwave. Allow to cool a little.

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