The Farming Families of Iowa—October 2022

Mary and George; Cody and Abbey; and Angie and Dave Laughton. Story

The Farming Families is distributed free exclusively to the farmers, ranchers and producers in rural Sioux, Plymouth and Lyon Counties. All rights reserved. Content in this magazine should not be copied in any way without the written permission of the publisher. The Farming Families assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or photographs. Content in articles, editorial

advertisements are not necessarily endorsed by The

A FEW SHEEP OR A LOT:

‘A GUY’S GOTTA GET UP TO DO CHORES ANYWAY’

By Bob Fitch

Dave Laughton’s father wouldn’t let him show cattle at the fair as a kid. “But Mom and Dad suggested sheep. So my flock today is kind of a 4-H project gone wild.”

Dave started farming right out of high school. “Dad gave me my first 40 acres and I grew from there. Cattle were interesting, but I didn't really care for them. I helped a neighbor do his hog chores, but that just wasn’t for me either. I just got drawn to sheep. I started at 20 ewes; was at 25 for a long time; and then I jumped to 100 and was there for a long time. Then I jumped up every year for many years. Whether it’s 100, 600 or 900 ewes, a guy’s got to get up to do chores anyway, right? It's not hard for me to get out of bed and go farm because I enjoy it,” he said.

“My sheep are in the middle of 30,000 confinement hogs in a 2-mile radius around me. It's kind of crazy, all these hogs and I’ve just got sheep. But I’ve always enjoyed watching them grow from birth to market.” The Laughtons also grow corn, soybeans and alfalfa; and have some grass fields.

Founded in 1904, the Laughton century farm is straight north of Le Mars on Highway 75. Dave and Angie’s son, Cody, represents the fifth generation to farm the ground. Dave and Angie live in the house

Cody, Abbey, Angie, Dave and Jenna Laughton.

built in 1936 by his grandfather, Lloyd Laughton. “My dad grew up here with all of his sisters. When Mom and Dad got married, they moved a mile away from here.”

‘I GUESS IT WORKED OUT’

Dave’s parents, George and Mary Laughton, still live where they planted themselves upon getting married in 1961. Growing up, George said, “We had hogs, cattle and chickens; and probably some sheep at some time.” They had both a beef feedlot and cow-calf pairs. He attended a nearby country school house through the eighth grade. That was the end of his formal education. “He had farming to do,” Mary said. Years later, George moved the school house to their farmstead and used it as a combine shed.

Mary is originally from Estherville. While attending nursing school in Sioux City, she lived with George’s cousin, who set them up on a blind date. Sixty-one years later, George said, “I guess it worked out.” George taught his grandson, Cody, how to do pretty much everything on the farm, including welding, which was Grandpa’s specialty. George would draw up a plan for his welding project, but wouldn’t tell his family what he was working on because “They’d tell me it wasn’t going to work.”

Mary added, “Cody spent a lot of time with Grandpa in the tractor and combine. He was a good babysitter.” But Angie noted that the Grandpa George babysitting service didn’t really take hold until after Cody was potty-trained.

WHO WAS DOING THE CHASING?

Angie grew up in the Lake Park/Harris area on a farm. “Dad had corn and beans and had hogs for many years. Mom helped on the farm and took care of us kids.” Angie and Dave knew each other through mutual friends and they really connected at a friend’s wedding. “Yeah, she was chasing me around the altar,” Dave said. Angie rolled her eyes in response. “Yeah, whatever. I think it was the other way around.”

They started dating in 1991 and got married in 1995. Angie worked in town for a few years until Cody was born in 1997. Daughter Jenna was born in 2001. Angie was a stay-athome mom until Jenna became a sophomore at Le Mars Public High School.

Three years ago, Angie started her own business in Le Mars, called Zenergy Skin & Soul Studio

Dave and Cody Laughton and a small share of their sheep herd.

with

(www.zenergyskinsoulstudio.com)

Zenergy provides skin and scalp treatments including spa facials, hydrafacials, peels, and scalp health treatments. “Spa facials are so relaxing. You can take a nap and wake up with beautiful skin,” she said.

Jenna lives in Phoenix where she goes to Mesa Community College and is studying to become a vet tech. Jenna chose Arizona to spread her wings and “to make her mom more nervous,” Dave said.

Both Jenna and Cody were active in 4-H. They showed sheep at Plymouth County Fair, Clay County Fair, Iowa State Fair and Aksarben. Cody showed the champion market lamb at the Plymouth County Fair two years in a row. Jenna also showed rabbits and, one year, they both showed dogs. The Plymouth County Fair continues to be a highlight of the year because Dave, Mark Loutsch and Tyler Meyer are the lead organizers of the annual “Taste of Lamb” event where lamb burgers and lamb rib chops are served. “Most people are surprised at the taste of it and a bunch of people come back to say ‘This is really good,’” Dave said.

EXPERTISE ON BOTH OLD AND NEW DEERE

Cody’s professional life today is a mix of farm work and a full-time job with AgriVision in Le Mars. “I have probably 30 head of sheep and I’ve got 80 acres I rent.” He’s been a diesel technician working on John Deere equipment for about five years. “I set up the new combines, tillage, trackers and everything else. We’ve got a lot of recon combines where we repair and replace parts. We try to do about 100 combines a year in the shop. This time of the year is pretty busy.”

Dave joked that Cody is also his personal mechanic. During high school, Cody overhauled both a JD 3020 and 5020 as FFA projects. “So I’ve worked on a 3020 all the way up to some of today’s equipment where you don’t even need to be in it.” He graduated with honors from the diesel tech program at Iowa Lakes Community College.

Seven years ago, he met Abbey Rieken the day before she graduated from Le Mars Public High School (Cody graduated a year later). A year ago, Cody and Abbey had what Dave calls “a destination wedding” – the destination being the Orange City Courthouse. They married just before Abbey was to be deployed to Qatar with the 185th Air National Guard, which is based in Sioux City.

A year later to the day, Cody and Abbey had a full-blown

Three generations of farmers: Dave, George and Cody Laughton. Cody overhauled and painted the 1964 John Deere 3020 tractor as part of an FFA project. Combining

church ceremony and party. She is an assistant for the civil engineering squadron. During the week, Abbey is an Air Guard employee of the state of Iowa. When she’s deployed or on monthly maneuvers, she’s employed by the federal government. “I do the same job that I do during drill weekends. I just get paid differently.”

Abbey has dipped her toe into helping with the sheep. However, Cody said, “She thinks she's the sheep whisperer after she loaded 1 load.” Abbey replied, “You told me it was going to take us 2 hours to do this. And I said, ‘No, it's not.” And it took us just 12 minutes.”

Cody plans to come back to the farm when his dad retires. In a jestful spirit, he said he plans to retire from John Deere at age 40 and Abbey will do the same from the Air Guard. Then they’ll just farm as a hobby.

LOVES FINISHING SHEEP

For now, Dave is content with the size of their sheep operation. “Labor is the big issue holding us back.” Angie agreed: “It was different when Cody was home in high school and his buddies were around to be a couple extra hands. They’d run down and check on the ewes and lambs at midnight.” Dave added: “There was always somebody willing to do the work.”

Some producers have been moving to sell their sheep at lighter weights, but Dave holds onto them until they’re finished. “I love the finished product. The majority my work is in January, February and March when they're being born. That’s the most intense time of the year. It’s time consuming but I enjoy it. Then we go right into field work of course.”

He starts selling sheep about the end of June and continues

to sell every week up until about November 1st. A contract with Superior Farms out of Denver takes the guesswork out of the market. He delivers to the buying station at Hawarden. Everything goes on a truck to Denver.

Angie and Dave are enjoying the transition to being empty nesters. “Life was always fun before, but in a different way. We used to be running off to sheep shows and football games and dance competitions,” she said. Dave added: “Now we're kind of running for ourselves, you might say. Angie bought a convertible to help us take off into our next stage in life. We both work hard. There's no doubt about that. We put in long hours and now we’re able to take the time off for ourselves.”

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Donations and other support provided annually to multiple FFA programs, local fire departments, town projects, livestock shows, school programs.

HARVESTING CROPS IN THE 1870S AND THE BIG CROP OF 1895

(The first reaper we saw) only cut the grain, while a man rode on the rear of the machine and raked it from the platform with a wooden rake, but much grain was still cut with the cradle (a heavy scythe) … The cradle was a great improvement over the sickle or crescent shaped knife that is still used to trim corners or ends.

When we came to Sioux County in the fall of (1872), there was about 5 acres of broken land on the homestead, which father sowed to oats the following spring. As we had no reaper, our neighbor Bastian Van Iperen came with his McCormick reaper which was a self-rake and cut the oats … We all thought that it was a wonderful invention.

The Walter A. Wood reaper … had the advantage over the other kind of reaper in that it delivered the grain in a compact bunch that was easy to bind, while the spread out pile of the other

The McCormick Reaper revolutionized grain harvesting in the U.S. and the world.

The following story is excerpted from the book “The Story of Sioux County,” written by Charles L. Dyke and published in 1938. While the book includes some history of the county as a whole, it frequently focuses on the story of his family who were early pioneers in eastern Sioux County. He was born in 1867 in Wolvega, Friesland, The Netherlands. After coming with his parents and eight siblings to the U.S., the family first lived in Wisconsin before homesteading near Hospers in 1872. After marrying Gertrude Maris in 1897, he made his home primarily in Orange City until his death in 1957. He co-founded the Sioux County Capital newspaper and was its associate editor for many years. Some edits have been made to the text to account for length.

reapers had to be raked together before binding. The grain was bound with straw taken from the grain deposited on the ground by the reaper.

Four good binders could keep up with a reaper and sometimes bind side by side, and the better binders would help the slower ones … at its best, "ground binding" was a hard and disagreeable job and the harvester was soon introduced with good success. The Marsh harvester, later the Deering, was the first one introduced in Sioux County.

The first (harvester) we ever saw was on the farm of Walter Van Rooyen, living a mile south of where is now the hamlet of Newkirk. They used three horses tandem on the machine, one on each side of the tongue and another at the end of the tongue. Cornelius Van Rooyen, the oldest son, stood in front on the binding platform, his father stood at the rear, while the oldest daughter, Gertrude, stood between the two to help with the hard work. The second son Huibert drove the machine, while the third son John, rode and guided the horse in front.

As the work was a little too hard for father and daughter, they hired a "green" Hollander to help with the binding, and it fell upon Cornelius to show him how to bind and to break him in on the harvester. While the Hollander was confident and bravely tackled the job, he could not handle it. At that moment, Lane Vogelaar, a neighbor came along, and the new Hollander complained that it was no job for a human being. Then said Vogelaar. "A little binding job amounts to nothing. I will show you how to do it." … While the exhibition was going on, the elder Van Rooyen stood on the corner to watch and had a good laugh out of it.

There was much rivalry among the young men then as to who was the best binder, as there is now in cornhusking. But binding on a harvester was hard work … it was killing work which no boy of 16 would now be expected to do. But fortunately it was the last year that we had to do it, for we traded the harvester for a Champion Twine Binder to Gerrit Rozeboom, the then famous implement man, and the next year when we had a harvest of 100 acres of small grain and 100 acres of flax, we cut it all ourselves, with pleasure and satisfaction.

(After a day of harvesting), we would go home, we younger ones lying on our backs on the fragrant straw in the wagon box, watching the stars and singing the songs we loved. Harvesting in pioneer days was hard work, but there was also poetry, romance and joy in gathering the golden harvest, for the customs of the people were simpler than they are today.

THE BIG CROP

The year of 1894 was the last of a series of dry years and wheat yielded only about 10 or 12 bushels, oats a little more, and corn was almost an entire failure. During those dry years the states of Dakota and Nebraska were completely dried out …

Serving northwest Iowa farmers and homeowners since 1886.

Reaping oats the old-fashioned way. Painting originally published by the Quaker Oats Co.

… Living at that time was not on as high a plane as at the present and consequently the economic pressure not so intense, the shortage of crops did not affect the financial world as at the present, and with renewed hopes the farmer again worked in the spring of the following year.

At that time the country was slowly recovering from the panic which began in 1892 but while money was short there were few financial losses in this part of the country and not many farmers lost their homes. The growing season of 1895 was ushered in rather dry and fear was expressed that it would be a repetition of the year before, but enough rain fell to start the crops and later about as much as was needed.

At first the small grain looked yellowish and suffering but as time went on there developed the greatest crop Sioux County had ever known before or since. That year

was the second of our career as a traveling salesman and mechanical expert for the Warder Bushnell and Glessner Company, manufacturers of Champion binders, reapers, and mowers.

As the Champion binder was a low and light machine, we had a hard time in handling this enormous crop. Wheat went as high as 45 bushels to the acre, oats up to 125, and we cut barley in the Floyd bottoms that yielded 72 bushels per acre.

The weather before September was cool and a peculiarity of that year was that it froze in every month except September … As cool weather suits small grain, there was no rust and the straw was a beautiful yellow. The quality of the small grain was of the very best except in the flat lands of Lynn and Capel townships and similar places where it was nipped by Jack Frost while in the milk and some so badly that it was unsaleable and had to be used for feed.

September was very hot with hot winds, and as the tasseling was over long ago this hot weather was just the thing for corn and an enormous corn crop matured as if by magic. But while the quality of the kernel was unexcelled, the cob had grown too fast and was spongy and it was soon discovered that the corn would not keep. As the panic was still being felt and the crop so immense, the price was low. Wheat sold at 40 cents, barley at about 15, oats at from 5 to 8, and corn 8 to 10 cents.

(Speculators) bought the corn and stored it in cribs near the railroad stations. As the following summer was rather wet and hot, trouble with the cribbed corn soon developed and crews of men and boys were hired to sort the rotting corn. But as the cob was so spongy, the corn that had been thought safe to keep again began to rot.

As corn was cheap and coal was the usual price, corn became the principle fuel in homes, business houses and schools. It was a strange sight to see farmers driving up to the coal bins and unloading the beautiful yellow grain for the object of furnishing heat and going up in smoke.

Before the McCormick Reaper, the grain harvest was done entirely by hand.

The McCormick Reaper harvesting in heavy grain.

The McCormick Reaper was promoted in an advertisement in the Sioux City Journal in May 1872.

Sources: 1) “The Story of Sioux County” by Charles L. Dyke. 1938. 2) “Cyrus Hall McCormick,” by Herbert N. Casson. 2013.

“Libby” Benson, Au.D., CCC-A, FAAA

CORN HARVEST

PHOTO BY MAGGIE MAE, CREATIVE CO.

OLD PARLOR MEAT COMPANY

THE LORD PLANTS A SEED AND IT GROWS

By Bob Fitch

You could say Curt Van Grouw was in the right place at the right time. In 2019, he decided to open a butcher shop. Demand for custom meat processing was high, but no one knew the demand would skyrocket when Covid clogged up the country’s supply chain. Curt thinks it’s more than a lucky break that he decided to start Old Parlor Meat Company east of Rock Valley.

“In 2019, I got a seed planted in my head. And I can’t explain it other than the Lord put it there. I always wanted to be self-employed and involved in agriculture. I got really interested in the butchering world,” Curt said.

“I was in agriculture from a very young age. I knew it was a field I wanted to be in one way or another.” His parents, Lee and Donna Van Grouw, dairied near Boyden before purchasing a Rock Valley farm site in 1991. “They moved here and built a dairy from scratch and raised a family of four

Curt and Emily Van Grouw with their son, Waylon.

kids. We were all involved in the farm whether it was chores or milking after school or on weekends.”

Curt had planned to come back to the family farm after he graduated from college, but his parents sold the cow herd in January 2012 when his father got a job in town. Curt was a junior at Dordt University at the time.

After graduating from Dordt, he worked on a cattle ranch in Missouri for a short time and then moved back here and was involved in the dairy genetics business. Finally, for five years, he worked at Hull Feed & Produce operating the sheep and cattle feed mill and delivering feed.

THE ENTREPRENEURIAL BUG

Then he got bit by the entrepreneurial bug and set out researching the field of meat processing. “I started with business planning and saw there was an opportunity. I started renovating the old milk house here in the fall of 2019, while continuing to work part-time at the feed mill. Since I had no experience butchering, I worked part-time for a local butcher shop just to see

YOU WILL ALWAYS BE CONNECTED TO YOUR GRAIN STORAGE. MONITORS YOUR GRAIN FROM THE PALM OF YOUR HAND. SIMPLE AND ACCURATE. FREE TECH SUPPORT FOR LIFE.

There is nothing more important than protecting your grain harvest. Tri-States Grain Conditioning systems will help you remotely monitor your grain, save on energy costs and improve your overall grain storage.

the flow and getting some of that knowledge.” He built the small processing facility in the space that had been his dad’s milking parlor – thus the name “Old Parlor Meat Company.” The state gave its stamp of approval to the processing facility in February 2021.

Without going to technical college, how do you train to become a meat processor? “You read a lot of books and you watch a lot of YouTube videos. There are so many resources and videos out there. I made a lot of connections on Instagram – there's

kind of an online butcher network all across the world. They shared with me and helped me decide on things like what knives and equipment to use; how to do my packaging; and the basics of breaking down a carcass. I was so green I just asked a million questions and the whole network was very open to helping.”

He had a false start with a mobile slaughtering unit. Such units are popular in the western U.S., especially in California and Washington state. But it’s more difficult to do in Iowa’s colder weather and regulations. So he decided to walk away from that and instead added slaughtering capabilities onto his processing facility.

NO LOOKING BACK

“Family and friends helped us do the construction ourselves. My fatherin-law is a carpenter by trade and he drove in from Chicago and framed everything up in two days, which was impressive. Family and friends helped me start to finish. It was in a time when building materials were hard to come by and it was nice everything fell in place with the lumber yard,” Curt said.

“Since a year ago August, we really haven't looked back. It’s been busy.

I’m pretty much a one-man show.” His wife, Emily, is a full-time nurse in Rock Valley and is able to help a little on weekends. His mom helps a couple of hours here and there during the work week. “But essentially, start-to-finish, I’m doing it all. I schedule three beef a week and maybe sprinkle in a pig or there. It’s not as crazy as some other places are, but I am scheduling into next year.”

Deciding how far out to book business is a balancing act. “Scheduling far out into the future provides stability to the business, but when you’ve got a young family and have no idea what life will look like, you also want to have some caution.”

He said the worst part of the job is telling producers “no.” According to Curt, “There's a real demand this time of year when there are feedlots full of fat cattle. I probably get 5 to 10 calls a week on emergency-type deals. And it's just really tough to take on a whole beef when my schedule is already full. I can take maybe 1 emergency out of the 50 calls I get. As livestock producers ourselves, I know they're in a really stressful situation and they've got a high value animal and they want to get at least some of their investment back.”

CONTROLS • SPRAY TIPS • PLASTIC FITTINGS • AND MORE

A WHOLE NEW WORLD

Curt’s wife, Emily, is a native of the Chicago suburbs. “So this is a whole new world to me in general. You can say I’ve learned a lot in the last four years.” She works full-time as a nurse at the family clinic at Hegg Memorial Health Center in Rock Valley. She originally moved from Chicago to Sioux Falls and worked at Sanford Health. Curt said, “She moved to Sioux Falls to be closer to her sister who was playing volleyball at Dordt. Again, the Lord had his hand in every step of that.” Emily didn’t know Curt was formulating a plan to become a butcher. “I can honestly say when we were dating I don't remember hearing about this dream until right after we got married. I was shocked at first that's for sure.” Curt said jokingly, “I locked her up before I dropped it on her.”

“But he's ran with it ever since and I couldn't be more proud,” she said. “My parents are very much city people themselves. So it's a different lifestyle here, for sure. But they’ve visited and seen it all and they approve.”

Curt and Emily got married in 2019 and live in Hull. Their son, Waylon, just turned 2; and another child is due to arrive in December. At the end of the day, Curt leaves his work phone at the shop so that he’s not distracted and when he gets home, it’s family time. “If we lived here onsite, I know how I’d be sneaking out here a little bit after the kids are in bed. This way, I get a nice break,” he said.

“Growing up in a Christian family, my parents always set a good example on living a good life and letting people see God through how you interact with them. In the dairy, my dad was a great role model for me as a man and a father and business owner,” Curt said. “Maybe how we interact with our customers and others will have an impact on their life, maybe not. But I am conscious of trying to make a positive impact and hopefully they can see Christ in the way that we act. Also, it’s important to us to be good stewards of the livestock God entrusts us with. The animals are a gift we’re given.”

LOOKING AHEAD

“I feel like we've survived the initial challenges of the business start-up process. I am putting together future plans,” he said. “Actually, in the next few weeks, I’ll get the ok from the state to start selling some retail meat. I'll be buying inspected meat from distributors and cutting that into steaks and roasts and ground products and just see where it goes. I can’t sell anything I slaughtered myself since I'm not a USDA inspected plant.”

In the long term, he’s got room to renovate/expand and maybe add a little retail store and more processing room. He’s looking to add further processing and specialty type products in the future. He’s looking forward to a partnership with Dordt University and setting up an internship program.

Curt Van Grouw cuts beef at the Old Parlor Meat Company near Rock Valley.

CARROLL STREET TREATS CHRISTIAN BUSINESS MODEL REFLECTS GOD’S GLORY

By Bob Fitch

A lot of kids set up a card table on the curb and sell lemonade and some cookies.

An hour or so later, their enterprise draws to a close. On Carroll Street in Rock Rapids, youthful entrepreneurial spirit has a little more staying power.

Eight years ago, Reece, Liam, Ayda and Blake Vander Zee set up a stand outside their home and sold ice cream sandwiches. A big slab of Wells Blue Bunny ice cream bookended by two homemade cookies proved to be a popular treat among their neighbors and friends. They didn’t know they were actually launching a business.

“We didn’t know it was going to be this big. We just did it for fun,” said Reece, the family’s oldest sibling.

“The second year, we set a goal of selling 300 treats. Now we can make that many treats in about an hourand-a-half.” In fact, he figured the family – under the company name Carroll Street Treats – has baked somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000 cookies as part of selling

Meredith and Joe Vander Zee with the Carroll Street Treats team: Blake, Ayda, Nora, Liam, Reece and Evan.

25,000 to 30,000 ice cream sandwiches over the past 8 years.

Their mom, Meredith, said, “The business has definitely grown as the kids have grown. And that's been really cool.” She and husband, Joe, now have six children – Reece is 16; Liam, 14; Ayda, 13; Blake, 11; Nora, 7; and Evan, 4. Carroll Street Treats took a leap of faith in 2020 and became commercially certified which allows them to sell through other retailers. “Before that, it was just kind of a hobby in the summer. It really ramped up over the last couple of years,” Reece said. Meredith added, “Because of Covid, the kids were home from school. That gave them a chance to finish the commercial kitchen and set up wholesale distribution so they could sell to other partners, instead of just pushing the product on their own.” Their commercial kitchen is in a small rented space located nearby.

Becoming commercially certified “really opened up the doors and it’s been really fruitful. Plus it gets it out of the flow of our house, which is really nice,” Joe said. “Reece has baked a lot of cookies over the years. But he’s a junior in high school now, so there’s a point when he’ll be gone at college. One of the great things about having six kids … as they get older each one takes on more responsibility. We try to connect the talents of each one and try to showcase God's glory through the roles that they play based on what they're good at.”

The last couple years, Liam has learned how to manage the money and be the bookkeeper. He’s also the #1 ice cream scooper. Ayda is doing more baking, heads up inventory and distribution

management, plus does a lot of the sandwich wrapping and putting the label stickers on. Joe said, “When you're doing 2,200 treats in a week, you’ve got to stay organized with the ice cream and where you're storing orders and what flavors get delivered where.”

Nora made clear that she plays an important role applying the stickers. She also helps out by putting sugar and cinnamon on the snickerdoodles. “And I also like to eat them,” she said. Evan, along with everyone else, also helps with taste testing.

The ice cream sandwiches from Carroll Street Treats include a generous slab of frozen goodness to go with the homemade cookies.

Blake was also

their

at

the health inspector stopped by. He showed the inspector their food handling and safety procedures and signed off on the paperwork on behalf of the company. Joe said, “Everybody takes a turn at the fair booth. Not only do we sell our treats, but we meet people and share our story. There’s a lot of good fellowship and networking that can happen at the fair.”

several local convenience stores and restaurants plus Sunshine grocery stores in Rock Rapids, Rock Valley and Luverne. Shari’s Kitchen food truck sells the treats. They’ve sold treats for weddings and for employer-sponsored staff events. The treats were available at the canteen at Inspiration Hills Church Camp and were sold at Risefest at the Rosie’s Boutique/Touch of Hope Ministries booth.

Touch of Hope Ministries, which promotes economic sustainability and helps build homes in a village in Haiti, is one of the charitable causes the Vander Zee children have supported. Reece said their “Pay It Forward” donations have also helped fund local playground improvements; basketball hoops at daycares; summer camp fees; Vacation Bible School; and school lunches. About 14 percent of the company’s gross sales are given to worthy projects or organizations in the community such as Vacation Bible School and paying for school lunches for those in need.

Serving farmers in southeast SD and northwest IA

SEMI and AG TIRES (new and used)

MOBILE TIRE REPAIR AND SERVICE

Enter to win a $50 fuel card by texting TIRE to 72727

712-753-4800

2403 US Highway 18

Inwood IA 51240

www.oak-street-station.com

Nora listed off the ice cream flavors they use … chocolate, vanilla, mint chocolate chip, strawberry, salted caramel, and cookies and cream. Ayda said the cookies they bake are monster, chocolate chip, snickerdoodle and chocolate. Reece said the best-selling sandwiches are the monster cookie with vanilla ice cream and the snickerdoodle with salted caramel ice cream.

Carroll Street Treats sells its product through 14 retail partners, including

“Something we try to instill in the kids is that we can share the Gospel, regardless of what we're doing,” Joe said. “We really intended for this to be a purposeful ministry. We've been blessed beyond measure and we can be good stewards of his resources – not just with our money but also with our talents and our time. Hopefully it shows not only by the gifts that we give, but also in how we treat our customers and how we treat our suppliers. We think business can be a great avenue for the Gospel. We're trying to show the kids what a Christian business looks like.”

Meredith added, “When you truly serve and surrender your finances to Him, then He does create an abundance that we would have never expected. Where we are now is not something that ever would have crossed our radar five, six, seven years ago.”

Blake helps put the stickers on the wrapped sandwiches and bakes a little. Meredith predicted he’ll be the director of sales and marketing one day.

managing

booth

the Lyon County Fair this summer when

Liam, Blake, Nora, Evan, Ayda and Reece Vander Zee.

Why does MANURE SMELL? IT’S THE GASSES!

AMMONIA - the release of nitrogen equal to about 40 units per acre from building losses and field application.

HYDROGEN SULFIDE - one-third the loss of sulfur from manure.

METHANE - the loss of carbon in high PH and anaerobic conditions.

ONE A.C. PIT PUCK will control the gasses in 2,000 gallons of liquid manure for $3.50

It is the gasses that destroy the steel and concrete, and cause explosions in your buildings!! Gasses also cause coughing in hogs and workers!

QUESTIONS? CALL:

Verlyn Sneller: 712-441-6359 | Dennis Von Arb: 712-540-2439

NuForce

Kevin: 712-441-2334

DISTRIBUTORS:

Feed Tech Inc.

Verlyn: 712-441-6359

Van Voorst Equipment

Shawn: 712-449-6629

Von Arb Ag Dennis: 712-540-2439

WE WORK FOR THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURE AND THOSE WHO WANT TO BE A PART OF IT.

None of the revenue from Carroll Street Treats is used for family expenses. After their Pay It Forward donations are given as “first fruits,” then the Vander Zee kids receive

a portion of the net income based upon their role in the company and the time they put in. Each one puts half of his or her income in savings and the other half can be spent at their own discretion.

Joe and Meredith are both natives of Rock Rapids and their parents and other family members live in town or nearby. Meredith said, “We definitely like the richness of small town living. We have incredible amounts of support and live very full lives – but we’re not busy in the sense of being harried or overwhelmed.”

For 9 years, Joe was the executive director of Justice For All in Rock Valley, a service-based ministry helping people in poverty in Mississippi, Iowa and other parts of the country. But he stepped away from that job in order to stay home with Evan while Meredith developed a business ministry called Soul Strong which launched two years ago.

Soul Strong provides spiritual coaching to help people engage, explore and embrace their stories in a place of mental, emotional, social and spiritual support.

Now that Evan is starting preschool, Joe is joining Soul Strong, doing men’s ministry, discipleship and leadership development; complementing the work Meredith does in marriage enrichment meetings.

The couple will also continue to be partners transporting their kids to sports and other activities and helping out with Carroll Street Treats. “We’re a firm believer that our biggest ministry is putting our children first,” Meredith said.

MORE INFORMATION

• Find Carroll Street Treats on Facebook or Instagram

• Soul Strong: www.soulstrongspiritualdirection.com

Evan is the Chief Taste-testing Officer.

Nora is the Chief Sticker Officer.

The right care. The right place. The right time.

SPICY DR PEPPER SHREDDED PORK

From www.thepionerwoman.com

From birthcare to urgent care ... pediatrics to geriatrics ... screenings to surgeries … we offer the right care at the right place at the right time.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 whole large onion

• 1 whole pork shoulder ("pork butt"), 5 to 7 pounds salt and freshly ground black pepper

• One 11-ounce can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

• 2 cans Dr Pepper

• 2 tbsp. brown sugar

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay them in the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Generously salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the pan. Pour the can of chipotle peppers over the pork (include the sauce). Pour in both cans of Dr Pepper. Add brown sugar to the juice and stir in.

Orange City Family Medicine: 712-737-2000

Hospers Medical Clinic: 712-752-8800

Mill Creek Family Practice: 712-448-2000

Orange City Walk-In Clinic: 712-707-6070

Hospital/Emergency Room: 712-737-4984

2. Place lid tightly on pot, then set pot in the oven. Cook for at least six hours, turning roast two or three times during the cooking process. Check meat after six hours; it should be absolutely falling apart (use two forks to test.) If it's not falling apart, return to the oven for another hour.

3. Remove meat from pot and place on a cutting board or other work surface. Use two forks to shred meat, discarding large pieces of fat. Strain as much of the fat off the top of the cooking liquid as you can and discard it. Return the shredded meat to the cooking liquid, and keep warm until ready to serve. (You can also refrigerate the meat and liquid separately, then remove hardened fat once it's cold. Then heat up the liquid on the stovetop and return the meat to the liquid to warm up.

Serve on warm flour tortillas or hamburger buns. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, avocado slices, salsa, and whatever else you'd like.