August 2022 | www.AgeMedia.pub
Faith / Family / Friends / Farming
Meet the
of Hutchinson County
WINTERSTEEN Family
Evan and Ivory Wintersteen. Story begins on page 22. 33
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TURNER COUNTY FAMILY
Blanche and Allen Vannorsdel, center, with their family. Left rear: Dan and Lacy Johnson (and daughter Audra, inset). Left front: Jessica, Shawn and River Vannorsdel. Right side: John and Angie Pelaggi with their son, Cole, and daughters, Autumn and Sienna.
A POSITIVE BALANCE By Bob Fitch
The Vannorsdel family’s formula for success is simple: Do the best with what you have. Investing in land improvements, relying on a professional agronomist, having a great hired man and avoiding unnecessary risk are all part of the equation. A lifetime of farming experience by Allen and Blanche Vannorsdel plus the banking background of their son, Shawn, add up to a positive balance in their farm’s long-term ledger. 6
The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2022
Shawn graduated from the University of South Dakota with a degree in economics. He started his banking career in Yankton, followed by time in Freeman, and finally in Chancellor. He and his wife, Jessica, married in 2003. Jessica grew up on a farm near Davis. She’s also a graduate of USD and is a speech therapist, starting in Yankton and, since 2016, in the Viborg Hurley School District with the Southeast Area Cooperative. As a speech therapist, she helps students with speech sounds, language and vocabulary. She also teaches children how to use symbols or devices to communicate if they're not able to do so using the spoken word.
Shawn and Jessica like to travel with their son, River, who is 6½. River said he likes their trips to Okoboji and Omaha. His favorite things are baseball, recess, kittens, and Grandma’s pie and mac and cheese. He also plays a lot with his best bud, their chocolate Labrador named Millie. GENERATIONS Allen said his father, Paul, was from Kingsley, Iowa. “Dad hauled oats from Kingsley up to my grandfather who farmed just a mile south of Shawn, Blanche and Allen Vannorsdel; and Les Sampson who helps during harvest. here. Mom was still living with my grandfather helping him on the majority of the roles on the farm. Throughout his farm. Those two took a liking to each other.” Paul married career in financial services, he was actively farming, Evelyn in 1947 and they lived in Kingsley for a year, before especially during spring and fall. Two years ago, he moving to the Viborg area to farm and feed cattle. Evelyn gave up banking altogether. was part of the third generation of the Larsen family to farm in Turner County. Blanche said, “It’s really nice to have the confidence Prior to joining his father and his brother, Merlin, in the farming operation, Allen studied agriculture at Mitchell Technical College, while Blanche took a secretarial course there and worked for Dr. Burt Tiesen in Freeman. They were married in 1975.
in him that he can take over. We go away and don’t really worry about anything. So we’re really thankful.”
Thirty years later, as the next generation began to farm, Allen and his brother decided to separate their interests, with Merlin’s family hanging on to the cattle feeding operation. Blanche worked side-by-side with Allen in the field through their years together. “I could operate just about everything except I wouldn’t drive a semi or a combine. But any other kind of equipment I can do.” Allen added, “She’s done it well. She could drive a semi if she wanted to.” Blanche also enjoys gardening and is the farm’s chief rock picker. “She’ll see one rock in the field, go to pick it up, and pretty soon she’ll have a hundred more,” Shawn said. But she and Allen spend more time golfing now than picking rocks. Two years ago, they bought a small place in Arizona where they enjoy warm weather in the winter, golfing and riding ATVs in the mountains. “It’s a completely different kind of riding there with the desert and rocks and lots of canyons and beautiful scenery. We usually have a destination and camaraderie with others,” she said.
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On their drive to and from Arizona, they stop in Fort Collins, Colorado, to see their daughter Lacy, her husband, Dan Johnson, and their daughter, Audra. Allen and Blanche’s other daughter, Angie, lives in Durham, New Hampshire. Angie is married to John Pelaggi and they have a son, Cole, and twin daughters, Autumn and Sienna. Blanche and Allen’s winter residence in Arizona was part of a plan where Shawn phased out of banking and took over the
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Shawn, Jessica and River Vannorsdel.
Allen said, “So we’ve kind of changed roles; he’s the boss and we’re helping him …” “… when we want to,” Blanche joked. Allen and Blanche are long-time members of the Hurley Adventists Church. Allen was active in the Jaycees and Blanche in the Jaycee Women. She coached girls softball for 12 years and is on the board of the Pioneer Memorial Hospital Foundation. INVESTING IN LAND IMPROVEMENT At one time, the Vannorsdel farm had about 100 acres which regularly had stress issues, but that’s been reduced to only about one acre (aside from an extreme drought like this year). “When profits were good we invested that capital into tile to improve the ground for the long haul,” Shawn said. Blanche said one of the keys to the operation’s success was hiring Rob Dressen as their independent agronomy consultant. Shawn
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After a lifetime of hard work, Blanche and Allen are enjoying the winters in Arizona.
agreed: “He’s been invaluable. We were on the forefront of variable rate fertilizer and precision technology 17 years ago. We farm every acre a little bit differently. The change in the soil types, the drainage and other variables – all of that is factored into how he puts together our fertility and seeding maps.” Adjusting inputs based on the potential yield of each acre helps them maximize their return on investment. Shawn added, “We've been blessed with landlords who have been very easy to work with. And we’ve had opportunities to add some acres to the operation which allowed us to make room for a hired man. Now we just need Mother Nature to cooperate.” That hired hand is Jake Buehler, who moved from being part-time help to working full time for them in March 2021. “When I knew Mom and Dad were going to move to Arizona over the winter, there's so many projects that I
The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2022
can't do by myself. Jake has been a great addition." In addition, for the past decade, they’ve been fortunate to have retiree Les Sampson from Viborg help during harvest. LESSONS FROM A CAREER IN FINANCE “Seventeen years in the banking industry gave me an opportunity to see so many different operations and what was working and what wasn’t working,” said Shawn. “It was a priceless education. Being able to have that experience brought so many more opportunities and advantages to the farm itself. Without the networking I had with different growers and businesses, this business would be that much more difficult to manage.”
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Moe Parish includes Romsdal Lutheran Church, Trinity Lutheran Church, and Lands Lutheran Church, all located south of Canton and west of Hudson in Lincoln County. All three churches were organized in the early 1870s by Norwegian immigrants. The three congregations jointly formed Moe Parish in 1919 and began to share a pastor.
Lands Lutheran Church.
For the 150th anniversary, events on Saturday, Sept. 17 include a golf event at the Alcester golf course. After the golf tournament will be a BBQ at Moe Parish Park. Also at the park will be displays of cars, tractors, antiques and family/church heritage items.
For more information, follow the parish on its Facebook page or watch for more Whether information you’re seeat k in g livin a skilled, www.moelutheranparish.com g com
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LINCOLN COUNTY FAMILY
Kadee and Jaron van Beek with their children, Tatum and Kyzer, on their farm near Worthing. All photos by Ashley Dekkers, Ashley D Photography.
IN LOVE WITH FAMILY, HOME AND SIMMENTALS By Bob Fitch
Jaron and Kadee Van Beek of Worthing are eager to tell stories about their cattle, co-workers and kids.
“I’ve always been in the cattle business, ever since I was a little boy. Dad always had commercial cows and I loved to help with the calving. I was always outside,” said Jaron. Jaron grew up on the Hudson farm of his parents, Kevin and Tina Van Beek. Father and son jumped into the world of purebred Simmental cattle in the fall of 2012 with their first purchase at a sale in Auburn, Kentucky. They continued to buy registered stock and were able to have their first sales in 2015. Their female sale is the first Saturday in November and the bull sale is the second Saturday in April. “In the Simmental world, I can give you a
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black, a black blaze face, a red, or a red blaze face. The ability to give you four color coats is a huge point that brought me to the Simmental world,” he said. Simmentals are particularly renowned for the rapid growth of their young, providing more combined weaning gain and milk yield than any other breed. “Simmentals are a strong market to be in, but also a tough market. Simmentals are a very marketable bull, but you have to build your name. It doesn't happen overnight.” But customer confidence in the performance of Hilltop Simmentals has grown rapidly and word of mouth has been strong. On top of local buyers, customers are coming from Missouri,
Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Mississippi and Kentucky. At their female sale in the fall of 2021, Hilltop cattle were sent to 18 states plus one province in Canada. The star of the show is genetics from the heifer Red Jewel. “Dad bought Red Jewel in 2014 for $46,000. I thought he was completely nuts and told him we’d never get our money back. But, over the past eight years, that cow has generated probably well over half a million,” Jaron said. Red Jewel ranks #3 on the Simmental all-time cow card list in the United States; and is #1 on the Red Simmental cow card list. While Red Jewel died of cancer and lies under a head stone next to his flag pole, they flushed her, have sold her eggs and raised her babies. He has a few more eggs from Red Jewel frozen for future use. “Her legacy will keep living on. We have several of her daughters we’re flushing now. Red Jewel is by far our cornerstone donor and will be for years to come.” TJ Main Event is a SimAngus bull who walks at Hilltop. In the U.S. he is the number two bull with the most registered calves. “We own all pasture rights to him. He’s one of the best SimAngus bulls to walk the earth.” Their other most important bull is E S. Right Time whose semen will bring anywhere from $700 to $1,100 for one straw of semen. “He is not open to the public; he is locked up and I own fall rights on him. His first son sold two years ago for $230,000.” A Right Time son called K1 that Jaron owns has been attracting a lot of interest from big players in the semen market. It’s possible the bull calf could sell for as much as six figures in the spring. About 60 calves have been sold out of K1’s mother (Sugar C4) – her high selling son sold for $130,000. PERFECT PLACE TO CALL HOME Jaron said his long term goal is to build customer confidence and a reputation so that people want to drive to Worthing, South Dakota, to buy. “My homerun result is to sell just absolutely astounding bred heifers and bulls.”
A little sibling love between Tatum and Kyzer.
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In 2017, Jaron bought out all of the cows from his dad. He initially rented facilities from his parents, but knew they weren’t planning to leave the farm anytime soon. In 2018, he and his wife discovered the perfect spot to plant their flag just north of Worthing. It’s a former horse farm with a heated barn and a big machine shed. “It was love at first sight. It just hit home for me and Kadee. We absolutely love to call this place home,” he said. “A big draw for me was this calving barn because we can have our sales right here at home. We don't have to move the cattle. It’s a little more homey for people to be able to come here to the farm to look at the cattle. Another huge thing for me is being on a hard paved road two miles off the interstate. So many cattlemen run up and down 29 – I have had more visitors passing through here versus what I would have had at Hudson.” They’ve added new concrete and bunks every year since moving in. Heifers are pastured in the Hudson and Hawarden area and “come home” to Worthing for the winter. THE RIGHT PEOPLE
Father and son headed off to work.
Just as important as the right cattle and the right location and facilities is having the right people in place. “Craig Lackmann has actually been with our operation for 14 years. He was under my dad first, starting the day we graduated high school. He's been with us through thick and thin. He's by far my best friend. He takes care of our feeding operation; all the feed rations and all the mixing; and he's our mechanic.” His other full-time employee for the past four years is his brother-in-law, Adam Louwerse. “Adam is the pasture-goer, the cattle overseer. He knows how to pick the sick ones out.” Adam is also pushing Jaron to move records on CattleMax with information collected on iPads. But Jaron admits he’s stubborn and likes old-fashioned pen and paper. His third key employee is part-timer Ryan Dolieslager who was brought on to help Hilltop Simmentals break into the show world. “He’s a master. He knows how to break cattle and clip them immaculately.” In addition, Ryan helps out with other tasks such as running equipment and fencing. “I can't say enough about all three of them. I could leave for a month and this operation would be taken care of just as good, if not better. I don't have to tell them what to do.” All three run cattle with Jaron’s herd – Craig under the name Riverside Simmentals, Adam under Louwerse Cattle Co. and Ryan under Dolieslager Show Cattle. CLOTHING AND KIDS Jaron also is happy to spend time talking about his wife, Kadee, and their children, Tatum and Kyzer.
Tatum loves the kitties at the farm. 14
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Kadee is the daughter of Doug and Kathy Klarenbeek, also of Hudson. For many years, Klarenbeek’s owned and operated Hudson Meats & Sausage, but are now enjoying retirement. Kadee owns and operates Willow Creek Boutique in Rock
Valley, Iowa, with her sister, Shayla Louwerse. Willow Creek offers clothing for women of all ages. The store started in Jaron and Kadee’s home as an onlineonly shop (shopwillowcreek.com) in February 2019. Six months in, during a “rally in the valley” promotion, the sisters did a trial run with a retail storefront in downtown Rock Valley. “The Rock Valley community came in strong and helped out and they decided to keep going,” Jaron said. Rock Valley is something of a clothing mecca with the popularity of Nearly New Town and The Economy Shop which draw customers from a vast geographic area. Willow Creek opened in its current location in November 2020. “They’ve never looked back. They have just kept growing and they can’t thank their customers and the Rock Valley community enough,” he said.
graduated from Western Christian High School in Hull.
Even though Jaron and Kadee grew up just a mile apart and both called Hudson home, they didn't meet each other until they were 20 and 17 because Jaron went to Netherlands Reformed Christian School through 10th grade and graduated from Rock Valley Public High School. Meanwhile, Kadee
The couple married in 2015. Their daughter, Tatum, is four years old and is very active in gymnastics in Sioux Falls and hopes to be in accelerated gymnastics this fall. She also enjoys swimming in their backyard pool with her friends and cousins. “She’s the sweetest little girl you'll ever meet. She's too nice.
Hudson natives Jaron and Kadee Van Beek found the ideal home and farm just north of Worthing. Kadee commutes to Rock Valley to run Willow Boutique.
She gets that from Mama.” Two-year-old Kyzer is a “wild man” who is always on the go. “He’s a little shadow of Tatum. She jumps in the pool – he jumps in the pool. He wants to be in gymnastics like her, so he’ll join their ‘Ninja Warrior’ course up there. He's an onery one and a stubborn little boy. He probably gets that from me.”
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SILOS AT SUNSET PHOTO BY JOEL SCHWADER. facebook.com/joelschwader1
August 2022 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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MINNEHAHA COUNTY FAMILY
Jolene and Wade Burggraff with their children, Layne and Taylor Kuper, and Sommer Burggraff.
HELPING NEIGHBORS IS JUST WHAT COUNTRY PEOPLE DO By Bob Fitch
Don’t underestimate the generosity or the memory of farm folks.
Twenty-nine years ago, Wade Burggraff helped his neighbors who suffered damage from a tornado which swept through the Colton area. “There was a line right across here that was taken out. I went to the neighbor’s with my dad’s skid loader to move trees and used my dad's truck to haul trees, doing all kinds of stuff.” Wade thought no more of it – because helping neighbors is just what country people do. Fast forward almost three decades and a big wind blew into this part of the countryside again. When the derecho struck on May 12, 2022, Wade and
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Jolene Burggraff’s acreage was hit hard as were many farms in the region. “I bet we had at least 16 to 18 huge evergreens that were probably 75-100 foot tall – every one of them tipped over or broke off,” Wade said. Part of a grain bin crashed into the house and the garbage dumpster blew end over end and landed near the house. Their daughter, Sommer, was home alone in her upstairs bedroom. After watching a tree get blown down, she moved down to the main level, but it was even more chaotic there. Glasses and dishes in the kitchen were knocked
to the floor and shattered. “Yeah, that was crazy. It was not fun. It looked like a scary movie happened. All the drawers and doors were open in the kitchen,” Sommer said. Jolene said, “The house could have fallen down on Sommer or the sheds could have fallen down on the animals. We all were in a different spot when the storm hit. But we all got back here safe.” The morning after the storm, their neighbors, Tim and Fay Ramstad, pulled into the yard and said an excavator and loader were coming in a hour – and they asked “Where do you want us?” Wade replied, “I can't afford to pay for an excavator and loader, guys.” But Tim said, “I remember 29 years ago you came and helped me, so this is payback time.” Wade said, “That’s awesome to have neighbors who would do that.” Their son Layne “had seven of his friends from Lennox who came and helped and never asked for a single dime. They just love to help and they’re great boys,” Jolene said. Many other friends came to help and then her boss and others brought food and drinks to feed the volunteers. Wade said, “I bet you there were 75 to 100 people here working that day. Let me tell you, that many hands can pick up a lot of branches. It was the whole community coming together just to help clean up. After Ramstad’s got done digging holes and moving trees to where I could handle it, they went to the next neighbor and the next neighbor. I mean they just kept going – and they just forgot about their own job for a week or so.” Jolene added, “We couldn’t ask for any better help than we had after that storm.”
Sommer Burggraff designed the family brand.
FARM FAMILIES Wade has been part of this neighborhood his entire life. He is one of 17 children of the late Joe and Alice Burggraff. His brother operates the nearby family farm today. With 17 children, Wade said, “Come Christmas, we didn't get much because there was just too many kids. But actually we got a lot – because there was a lot of love there.” Wade’s daughter, Sommer, is a graduate of Tri Valley High School. She went to college at the University Center in Sioux Falls for graphic and web design. She’s works in management at HomeGoods in Sioux Falls. “I'm more of the artsy kid in the family to where I do photography and painting. I designed the brand for their acreage.” Jolene grew up on the Lennox farm of her parents, Verlyn and Joann Muller. “We raised cattle, sheep and hogs. My brothers and my sister and I were all involved in 4-H and three of us were involved in FFA.” She took part in high school rodeo as a youth and spent a lot of time going to horse sales with her dad. “I was going to the State Fair before I was even old enough to participate in 4-H. My parents would put me on a trolley with a little pillow and a blanket. They’d come back and get me when the show was done. That’s when it was safe to do things like that.”
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The Burggraff home immediately following the worst of the derecho storm.
Part of the volunteer clean-up crew the day after the derecho hit.
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Her children from her first marriage, Layne and Taylor Kuper, are both veterans of 4-H and FFA. Layne will be a senior at Lennox High School, where he’s active in football, track, FFA and 4-H. He placed ninth in the state last year for dairy cattle judging. During the 2021 Lincoln County Fair, Layne showed the reserve champion market sheep; took first place in sheep showmanship; and was champion of the round robin contest. He lives half-time at Lennox with his father and also works at an area feedlot. Taylor graduated from Lennox High School. She started showing steers at just eight years old. Jolene said, “She was just a little girl with this 1,400-pound Red Angus steer and she was the junior points champion for South Dakota Red Angus that year.” In addition to the Red Angus, she also showed sheep, pigs and goats. “I learned some of the best life lessons that I still carry with me today and met some of the greatest people that turned into lifelong friends,” Taylor said. Today, Taylor works as a nurse’s aide in the pulmonary department at Sanford; is training to become a registered nurse; plus has a 19-month-old son (Ryver) and another one on the way. Her fiancé, Nick Lunstra, works for Noles Dragline & Construction and they live between Baltic and Renner. Taylor and Sommer were friends before Wade and Jolene even knew each other. The girls played competitive softball together and their parents met at the first game of the season eight years ago. Six years ago, Wade and Jolene purchased their home and
30 acres east of Colton. They’ve been cleaning it up ever since – and May’s derecho increased the workload. After the storm cleanup is finished, they’ll plant new trees and eventually build a new house. Wade said, “We fell in love with this place when we bought it six years ago. And then all of sudden on May 12th, the trees were gone. But, you know what, we still love it.” FRIENDLY CONVERSATIONS Old house or new house, record winds or a peaceful calm evening … no matter the circumstances, this plot of land where they raise sheep, run a few horses, and bale hay is home sweet home. “When we're here, there's always somebody stopping by or we go to the neighbors. We just sit and have some beers and shoot the bull,” Wade said. Friendly conversations with their neighbors roll right into the friendly conversations they enjoy at their full-time jobs. Both Jolene and Layne Kuper won the Round Robin competition at the Taylor Kuper with her fiance, Nick Lunstra, and their Wade work for Equipment Blades Lincoln County Achievement Days in 2021. son, Ryver. The couple is expecting another boy. of Tea. “Our customers are easy to talk to. When we go out to the about not being a full-time farmer. Wade’s professional life included dairies, they're so willing to show Jolene, Taylor, Layne and Sommer time as a farm hand and 32 years you around, and they're so proud all help with baling, but none of helping to build fire trucks, first at of what they have and what they've them would classify it as “fun” like Willy Siemonsma’s welding shop built. They know what it's like to Wade does. Sommer said, “With and then at Rosenbauer in Lyons. work hard and we know what it's Jolene or me driving the tractor, like to work hard. So we’re on the I think Layne gets the short end SQUARE BALING: FUN OR NOT? same level,” Jolene said. Equipment of the stick on the baling deal.” Off the farm, winter or summer, Blades is a distributor of heavy Layne didn’t disagree: “Baling hay is the family enjoys spending time on equipment wear parts, including definitely more fun for Wade than their side-by-sides. In the summer, edge systems for skid steers, for any of us.” they go to lake homes owned by excavators, bulldozers, graders, Sommer said Jolene would be lost two of Wade’s brothers. In the loaders and snow plows. if she couldn’t spend time with their winter, they like to travel to the Jolene has worked there about four sheep, especially during lambing Black Hills to snowmobile. Layne years. Her job has expanded from season. Jolene said, “There's times also spends free time hunting caring for the website and blog to I'll sit out there on the bucket and everything from pheasant, deer now doing inside and outside sales just watch and wait and just be and coyotes to geese and raccoons. and marketing as well as measuring quiet. This is probably weird, but He also bow fishes in the creek. buckets and equipment. Wade I've always said the best place to Fun for Wade would be throwing joined the company last November. cry is the sheep shed. If you need more square bales. Running the He manages incoming inventory, a good cry, you can always go to machinery and baling hay were two organizes and maintains the the sheep shed. I guess it wouldn't of his favorite chores growing up warehouse, coordinates shipping, be the same if there weren't sheep – and is what he misses the most and, if need be, does welding repair in there.” on buckets. August 2022 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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HUTCHINSON COUNTY FAMILY
Ivory and Evan Wintersteen during 2022 planting. Photos courtesy of Evan and Ivory Wintersteen.
CALLED TO SERVE HIS COUNTRY, FAMILY, FARM AND THE LORD By Bob Fitch
Evan Wintersteen was a nuclear missile operator in the U.S. Air Force and he was deployed to Afghanistan as a member of the Air National Guard.
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“Afghanistan was the not-scary part,” Evan said. What really took courage was asking out his future bride. The Air Force trained him to make decisions under stress, but nuclear missiles are apparently not as intimidating as a beautiful woman. “It was no small thing when you ask a lady like Ivory out. I was playing mind games in my head, I was saying, ‘Yeah, man, you should ask her out. No, no, she'd never date a guy like you. She’s too good for you …’”
The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2022
When he finally asked Ivory Niewenhuis Ries out, it was the day before he was flying to Covid quarantine en route to deployment in Afghanistan. So their first official date was delayed four months while he performed intelligence analysis in a theatre of battle. “If I never do anything else that cool in the Air Guard again, I'm okay with that because I was doing the job in a combat zone and, yep, we made a
difference. We did good work,” said the graduate of South Dakota State University. During the deployment, technology provided a means for Ivory and Evan to regularly communicate. “We got to know each other without the pressure of actually having to date right away. It was a fun four months,” Evan said. When he returned, they dated for several months before he asked her parents, Dennis and Jackie Niewenhuis, for permission to marry Ivory. “I cried, her dad cried, we all cried – it was a good time.” A decade after they first met at a church event for high schoolers, Evan and Ivory were married on June 12, 2021. “I should have married her a long time ago, but I wasn’t ready yet. The Lord had not done enough work on me to be worthy of her,” he said.
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While Evan had considered a longterm career in the Air Force, he felt called to return to farm with his parents, Ken and Lynn Wintersteen, of Olivet. “Dad was very supportive with my plans to come home and start farming while simultaneously serving in the Air Guard. It’s a good deal. I get to do a job I love for 28-29 days a month, and then I get to go put on the uniform and do something else cool on a weekend once in a while.” FAMILY TIES The Wintersteens have a stock cow operation, background cattle up to about 1,000 pounds, and grow corn and soybeans. Ken and Lynn also own and operate Menno Livestock Auction. Ivory grew up near Corsica on her parents’ farm, where they dairied for a time before transitioning to beef cattle. “I got to do the fun
things like the bottle calves and just hanging out on the farm. It's a little bit different now because I have to pay attention to how farming actually works,” she said. Her parents have since moved strictly to being corn and soybean growers. After graduating with a degree in communications from Dordt University in Sioux Center, she lived in Colorado. She ended up shifting away from her college major and became a dental assistant instead. “I found out I really enjoyed it.” After a year, she was able to secure a dental assistant position closer to home at Platte. Now she works at a practice in Freeman. Evan and Ivory are expecting a baby in December. “We absolutely have the rest of our life figured out and everything is in order and nothing is ever weird,” Evan said facetiously. “Some days I feel like I’m treading water, right? But here, hold on to this baby.”
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Ivory and Evan Wintersteen on their wedding day in 2021 with their parents, Dennis and Jackie Niewenhuis of Corsica and Ken and Lynn Wintersteen of Olivet.
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He’s planning for the baby to be part of life’s daily adventures. “I'm going to get one of those baby carriers with the front mounts facing forward. We can use that skiing and motorcycling, and we can use it on the farm so they can be strapped in when I'm driving tractor.” The baby will be the first grandchild for Ken and Lynn and the 13th for Dennis and Jackie. Ivory said her mom assured her they are just as excited for this grandchild as they were for the first one. APPRECIATING WISDOM While the couple prepares to learn the ropes of being parents, they continue to learn about the latest practices and technologies in agriculture. They’ve adopted auto-track planting technology and planted no-till soybeans earlier than ever – and planted them deep, following the studies which say to “put them where the water is.” “Our neighbors sell seed. They said the instructions on the bag say to store the seed in a cool dry place – what
Evan Wintersteen with his squad in Afghanistan in 2020.
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better place to store them this spring than in the ground?” They’d like to grow their land base, but the high cost of land makes that difficult for a young farm family. While his dad is pushing responsibility and ownership his way, Evan said, “From a completely selfish standpoint, I want my dad to farm as long as humanly possible because I love working with him. He is wise. Ivory’s dad is the same way. I covet the wisdom they have.” He told Ivory it’s her job to keep him in line, too. “I need you to check me when I do dumb things. That's one of the things I love about you. I forget who said it, but they said, ‘If you're going to be dumb, you better be tough.’ I like to think I'm not real dumb. But, if I have enough toughness, then I can be a little dumb once in a while.” LET US TELL YOU ABOUT JESUS Off the farm, Evan and Ivory are very involved in the Menno area Fellowship of Christian Athletes. “I like working with high school kids. It's such a formative age to influence them. School is great, but those extracurriculars are so influential in crafting and molding boys and girls into young men and women.” Ivory agreed. “Kids aren’t talking about their English or math classes. They’re talking about sports or music.” Evan and Ivory with a sonogram photo of the newest Wintersteen who will arrive in December.
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Whether kids are in sports, music, other extracurriculars or not, all teens are invited to attend the FCA Huddles. “Just come in at night so we can tell you about Jesus and love on you a little bit – because there's a lot of kids who don't get that at all,” Evan said. “High school kids these days get a bad reputation. People say they’re aloof or always on their phones, but I think they just have a very quick filter. I think you have to tell them the truth and be real with them. If you’re not shooting straight, they are moving on to the next thing; they’ll be looking to find truth somewhere else.” He doesn’t envy kids today. “I don't know if there's ever been a harder time to be a young adult just because of the saturation of everything around them. You can combat that by telling them the truth in love. You can't just put the fear of God in them and beat them with the Bible. That’s not how it works. It would be easier if that’s how it did work. There's too much media out there for them to accept anything that's not the truth.” Ivory and Evan attend the United Methodist Church in Olivet. She grew up in the Reformed Church and didn’t know she was marrying something of a theologian who reads a lot of religious texts. He said his reading included this inspirational and faith-affirming message. “The Reformed Church says there are no maverick molecules, there's nothing that takes place on this sphere, in this universe, that is outside of God's purview. Because if there was, that would mean that something is more powerful than God in that aspect. And if something is more powerful than God, then we're worshipping the wrong thing. Right?”
KEEPING LOCAL HISTORY ALIVE
‘HER CHILDREN ARISE AND CALL HER BLESSED’ By Daniel Flyger
Prov 31 says, “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.” Antonia Konechne Klima Hirsch Pesicka was such a woman. Antonia was born Feb. 4, 1851, in Moravia. She married Ignatz “Nick” Klima. Both families were descended from a long line of “Hussites”, the spiritual followers of Jan Hus, the great Czech reformer who lived a full hundred years before Martin Luther. These evangelical believers called themselves “Unitas Fraterum” which is Latin for Unity of the Brethren. This pre-Reformation sect had survived persecution in their homeland; many having come to Pennsylvania in the 18th century. Nick and Antonia’s ancestors were among pockets of the group which had secluded themselves to remote villages in what is today the Czech Republic.
The Michael and Antonia Pesicka family.
ALWAYS HERE. ALWAYS CARING.
Having heard of the opportunity for “free” farmland and freedom to openly practice their faith in America, the young family saved enough to book passage to the U.S. with all their possessions in one small trunk. Among the items in the trunk was a Czech Bible printed in 1845. This Bible and her strong Christian faith sustained Antonia through life’s tragedies. The young couple and their five small children booked passage to America in 1885. Their destination was Dakota Territory Publisher’s note: Farming Families magazine shares local history stories because it’s a way to connect and learn from our shared past. Local history expert Daniel Flyger was approached by a family who had a heartfelt account of an inspiring family matriarch. We are thankful Farming Families was selected to share this story. It reminds me of my own grandmothers’ generation and beyond. These women led their families and set an example for many generations beyond their lifespan. The challenges they faced were overcome by faith and perseverance and it is that faith that is symbolized in the 170-year-old Bible which is referenced here.
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Antonia Konechne, Klima and Amalia (Molly Prochaska).
Antonia’s 1845 Bible written in Czech that accompanied her from Moravia to the United States and throughout her life. The binding of this Bible easily opens to the book of Job; it is not difficult to assume she often read those specific passages for comfort during her difficult life.
where distant relatives had already settled between Tabor and Tyndall. With his young family safe aboard the ship, Ignatz left the ship to secure some food for their passage. They were traveling in steerage and he discovered they had to supply their own food for the trip. It was during this time Ignatz was mugged and severely beaten. Shortly after his attack, some men brought him to the ship so he could sail with his family to the Land of Opportunity. Ignatz died aboard the ship due to his injuries and was buried at sea. Antonia was left with five small children – the youngest but a baby – and no husband, no home, and no money.
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Antonia and her children to travel to Yankton, Dakota Territory. Upon arrival in Yankton, she was able to find someone who spoke Czech who helped her find a cousin living near Tabor. News of her plight spread. Joseph Hirsch from near Tyndall had lost his wife and he had five motherless children. Antonia and Joseph married out of convenience and, in 1887, had a son they named Adolph.
Unable to speak English, the family arrived in New York with hope in the Lord as their only asset. How was Antonia to provide for her children and make it halfway across the North American continent?
But tragedy struck again. On January 10, 1888, Joseph and Antonia butchered a hog. They borrowed a wash tub from a neighbor to use in making sausage. The morning of the next day, Joseph set off on foot to return the tub to the neighbors. By afternoon, the infamous blizzard of 1888 struck. Joseph’s frozen body was found on the prairie some days later. Now Antonia was left with six children of her own plus five stepchildren.
God provided through the generosity of the other passengers, even though they were very poor themselves. Knowing of the young widow’s desperate circumstances, the passengers collected enough money to purchase train tickets for
An older couple by the name of Reich had heard of her situation. The Reichs showed up at her door and offered to take one of the children to raise as their own. They had but three requirements: the child needed to be a young girl, she
The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2022
must have blue eyes, and she must not have red hair. Little Frances fit the bill. There were many tears at the parting. Frances only spoke Czech. The Reichs spoke German. Antonia tried to console the girl in Czech and they parted. Two years later, Antonia was to visit the girl whom the Reichs renamed Emma. This time there were tears again for mother and daughter because Antonia spoke Czech, but the child had forgotten the Czech language and could only speak German. News of her situation again spread and another Czech man, Michael Pesicka, who had homesteaded near Lakeport, S.D., in Yankton County had lost his wife and had seven children. He and Antonia married, and she became stepmother to this family and also had her own children from her two previous marriages. It was reported by one of the Pesicka stepchildren that “Antonia was a kindhearted, hard-working, deeply devout Christian who was a mother to this large brood.” Michael and Antonia had two daughters together: Rose and
Antonie. Michael died in 1900. The farm was heavily mortgaged and so Antonia had to vacate their home. She took the children who were not married and moved to her stepdaughter’s home. The youngest of Michael Pesicka’s daughters by his first wife had married and moved to Charles Mix County where many Czechs had taken advantage of homesteads made available on what had been the Yankton Indian Reservation. Antonia and the family who was still with her and her sons from her first marriage found land to rent near Lake Andes. While there, death again knocked at their door, and 14-year-old daughter Rose Pesicka died.
The contents of this trunk contained all the worldly possessions Antonia had when she arrived in the US as a just widowed mother of 5 young children.
With her faith in God and pioneering determination, Antonia and her children took advantage of homestead land available west of the Missouri River, where they settled near Belvidere. Antonia lived a difficult life there in western South Dakota, turning the sod and pioneering in a barren land so different from the lush hills of her home in Moravia. She did all the things a pioneer farm woman did in those days – kept a big garden, canned, raised poultry, milked cows, butchered, sewed clothes, cooked meals on a wood stove and lived without the modern comforts of electricity and running water. She raised not only her own children from three marriages, but also the half-orphaned children of two other families, instilling in them her values and faith. As Proverbs says, “She looks well to the way of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness.” Antonia remained at Belvidere until graduating to heaven in 1929 at the age of 78. Many of her descendants live in the Belvidere area until this day. Other descendants of her own children and the children she helped raise are scattered across South Dakota and other states.
Photo taken of Port of Hamburg, Germany in the 1880's. This was the same location and time period that Antonia’s first husband was beaten and robbed while trying to procure food for their trip to America. Some men helped him onto the ship with his family, where he died shortly thereafter due to the injuries he sustained and was buried at sea.
The worn and soiled pages of her old Czech Bible still speak to us of her faith. It is evident she loved and read the Psalms a lot. In addition, the Bible naturally falls open to the 14th chapter of Job. No doubt she could identify with the first verse which says, “Man is a few days and full of trouble.” Her life was one of trouble yet she experienced that God doesn’t always remove us from our trials and tribulations but He brings us through them.
Antonia no doubt found words of hope and comfort in the rest of Job 14 that says “Though we die, yet by faith, we will live again.” The impact of her Christian faith is still felt by the descendants today – not only of her own children but also the descendants of the children she helped raise. As Proverbs 31 Verse 28 says of a virtuous woman: “Her children arise and call her blessed.”
August 2022 | www.agemedia.pub | The Farming Families Magazine
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The Twin Rivers Old Iron Association will host a Harvest Festival on September 10-11 in Delmont. The association’s mission is to preserve agricultural heritage. The event features old-time farm demonstrations plus displays and parades of vintage tractors, machinery, cars and trucks. In addition, the Harvest Festival includes music, flea market booths, horse and tractor wagon rides, and a kids barrel train ride. For additional information, find Twin Rivers Old Iron Association on Facebook, see www.twinriversoldiron.org, or call Glennis Stern at 605-928-3792 or Austin Miller at 605-933-0597 30
The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2022
• ¼ cup fresh basil leaves • 1/4 cup feta crumbles
DIRECTIONS: 1. In a large bowl, add all of the ingredients for the salad: sweet corn, peach slices, cucumber sliced, cherry tomatoes, avocado, and arugula. Alternatively you can arrange the salad on a platter if you are entertaining. 2. Next make the dilly tahini dressing by mixing together the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl: tahini, lemon juice, maple syrup, water, dill, garlic powder, salt and pepper. 3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss with tongs, or you can drizzle it over the salad on the platter for a more beautiful effect. Top with pumpkin seeds, basil and/or feta, if desired. Sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
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freemanshoppingcenter.com • acehardware.com FreemanShoppingCenter.com • AceHardware.com • HeritagePharmacyFreeman.com freemanshoppingcenter.com • acehardware.com BLACK/WHITE LOGO ON WHITE BACKGROUND
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The Farming Families Magazine | www.agemedia.pub | August 2022
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